Uniting Communities, Tackle Global Issues

Dear Supporters, 

We can't believe that half of 2016 is already over! We wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on how the first half of our year has gone and tell you how we have been putting your donations to use all around the world. 

Fiji

In February Fiji was devestated by Cyclone Winston. The village that we work in, Silana, was completely destroyed and the villagers, our Fijian family, have lost everything. We have been completely overwhelmed by the support of our GVI Alumni since then and have raised over £45 000 for the relief and recovery efforts. 

Since February we have been able to provide

• Basic food items such as flour, rice, lentils and tinned fish.
• Household products to help improve hygiene practices including antibacterial soap, washing detergent, bleach and dish soap.
• Basic wound dressing kits including gauze, antiseptic solution, micropore tape, cotton wool and bandages.
• Tools for the clear up operation- 22 pairs of safety boots, 34 sets of gloves and 38 protective masks, as well as basic construction tools including shovels, rakes, pinch bars, tin snips, nails, rope, cable ties and hammers.
• Water tanks and repairing of water systems. Hand in hand with this, we have been running WASH training to increase awareness of the spread of disease. 
• Hiring a grader to level out an area on higher ground where people will start to build their homes. 

There is still much to be done, including rebuilding schools, libraries and community centres, but the Fijians are definietly Stronger Than Winson!

Laos

Our project in Luang Prabang has been going from strength to strength and we couldn't be happier!

So far this year we have managed to

• Sponsor 47 students on individual sponsorships for 2016
• Support 78 students on class sponsorships for 2016
• Teach 800 students taught daily 
• Grow our women's empowerment class to 35 disadvantaged girls and we are about to sponsor them each a bicycle so that they can get to class more safely. 
• So far we have 10 hours of computer classes per week, using 8 laptops we were able to purchase towards the end of 2015. 

Thailand

We have secured enough funding so that we were able to sponsor an extra elephant to come and live freely in the forest in Chiang Mai. So we now have 3 elephants, Lulu, Sah Jah & Khum Suk. 

On our shark project we are busy getting a book on shark conservation translated into Thai. We will then be printing them and distributing them to local schools. 

Carbon Fund

So far this year we have been able to purchase and install a solar system unit at our base in Jalova, Costa Rica, taking them completely off the grid! In the next few months we will be doing the same at our base in Limpopo, South Africa. 

All of this is only possible because of your kind and generous support and we thank you!

With Gratitude, 

Kate

The GVI Trust, Operations Manager

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