Computers arriving at Renngin Charitable School for Orphans in Guinan County.

New Day funded the packing and transportation of around 20 used computers from Shenzhen to the Renngin Charitable School for Orphans in Guinan County – part of LOVEQTRA’s network.  The computers were donated by the Global Sources company in Shenzhen and the donation was facilitated by the Hinrich Foundation and Captivating International.

Our project with Shakti Samuha in Pokhara, Nepal, ended in February 2013.  You can view a full report here: 2012 end of year report submitted to New Day Asia- Feb 2013

The Sewing Room at Daughters.

In March 2013 New Day made a grant of US$18,000 to Daughters of Cambodia.  This is the 3rd grant New Day has made to the organization.  The grant will be used to cover staffing costs, business operations and running costs for the Sewing room and the counseling, medical and day care building.

Daughters continues to develop their six fair trade businesses and now employs the majority of clients in their Sewing Room.  You can read their latest report for New Day here: new day.daughters update.

Visiting the Sharana night shelter outside Pondicherry.

On March 7 and 8, 2013 New Day members Shannon Rogers, Paula Marriott, Catherine Copping and Liza Green traveled to Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu province to visit the Sharana project.

New Day has been funding Sharana (previously Kalki) since 2008.  Our funding has focused on the Girls’ Program led by social worker Amala Devi.  This program works with girls living on the streets or slums of Pondicherry to bring them into the various Sharana programs including the Drop In Center and Night Shelter where they receive counseling, education enrichment, nutrition and care.  The Girls’ program also runs workshops and conducts out reach visits into the communities where these girls live.

Young girls from the Girls' Program

During the visit New Day members also had the opportunity to learn more about other programs run by Sharana in Pondicherry and the surrounding areas including a carpentry training program for boys and a microcredit program for village women.

New Day member Paula Marriott at the Sharana Drop In Center

Daughters Thank You to Edge of Ember and Sheer HK

In November 2012, two local businesses, Sheer and Edge of Ember, hosted a fashion show charity event in Hong Kong that raised funds for two New Day projects.  New Day Project Manager, Shannon Rogers, worked with Sheer and Edge of Ember to arrange for Daughters of Cambodia and Shakti Samuha’s Pokhara shelter in Nepal to each receive US$3,000.  New Day was happy to connect these two charities with Sheer and Edge of Ember, and to help ensure that such hard raised money is put to good use. You can read a report from Daughters of Cambodia on how the funds were used here: Daughters Charity Fashion Show Report 2012-13

If you would like to know more about Sheer or Edge of Ember, their websites are below.

http://www.edgeofember.com

http://sheer.com.hk

Shakti Samuha Thank You to Edge of Ember and Sheer HK

Liza Green with fellow panelists Ken Ito and Deval Sanghavi and moderator Dr Rob John.

Liza Green, New Day co-founder, was invited to represent New Day at the 2012 Credit Suisse NUS Philanthropists Forum on November 16, 2012 at the National University of Singapore.

Liza was a panelist on the “Maximising Impact Through Collaborative Giving” panel moderated by Dr Rob John, Senior Visiting Fellow National University of Singapore Business School.  The two other panelists were Deval Sanghavi, Partner and Co-Founder of Dasra India and Ken Ito, Japan Advisor Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN).

The panel explored the model of giving/investing circles that are taking root in a number of Asian countries and how such circles enhance effective philanthropy.  You can look at the New Day presentation here: CS Philanthropy Forum – New Day

APLE education and awareness sessions in vulnerable communities.

In January 2013 New Day gave APLE a grant of US$10,000 to cover the following annual expenses in their Phnom Penh office: US$5,014 for personnel costs, US$480 for administration costs and US$4,457 for project activities costs.

This grant was made in consultation with APLE and after pledges from their other donors for grants that will cover the costs of their full operations in 2013. You can read a report on APLE’s activities for the period of July-December 2012 here: Project Progress Report-Jul-Dec2012 for New Day.  Their October-December Newsletter can be read here: APLE Newsletter October – December 2012.

New Day would like to thank Linklaters for their ongoing support.  The 2012 and 2013 New Day grants to APLE were co-funded by Linklaters.

Ziad and Seila spoke about the work their organisations are involved in, the challenges they face and the many women and children they are helping every day.  You can read their presentations here: CASC presentation for New Day(26 Nov) and APLE Presentation for New Day 26.11.2012.

New Day member Rohan Kalbag also spoke about his visit to the Shakti Samuha project in Pokhara, Nepal, with his wife Shannon Rogers.  Everyone enjoyed hearing about their experiences and seeing photos from their visit.

You can read the New Day project and financial update here: New Day November 26, 2012 Meeting Presentation.

The operating room at Children's Surgical Centre.

Work at the CASC continues with the provision of surgeries, legal aid and ongoing care for victims of acid attacks.  A central part of CASC’s focus is to advocate for comprehensive laws to prevent these attacks by regulating the sale of acid and prosecuting perpetrators of acid violence.  New Day received the following positive update from CASC Project Manager Ziad Samman:

Acid Law: The Cambodian‘Acid Law’ was passed in December of 2012. However, only the ‘punishment and sentencing’ aspects have been enacted. The details of all regulatory aspects of the legislation are dependent on a sub decree that is currently still under development, therefore the sale and distribution of acid remains unregulated at this stage. However, we have received information from sources in the Ministry of Interior that the sub decree is likely to be finalized and put into effect before the end of 2012.

Legal Cases: In 2012 CASC has had some successes in the court room. Two legal cases went to trial both resulting in the conviction of the perpetrators – one eight year sentence (in absentia), and one 10 year sentence (with the perpetrator in prison). However it is worth noting that these cases did not fall under the Acid Law as they relate to attacks that took place in 2011 before the law was enacted. We are expecting the first legal cases to be tried under the new legislation before the end of 2012. 

Statistics: Over the past 2 years the number of acid attacks recorded has decreased dramatically. In 2010 CASC recorded a total of 26 acid attacks resulting is 43 people being burnt. So far in 2012 CASC has only recorded a total of 6 confirmed acid attacks, four accidental burns, and two suicides by drinking acid, resulting in a total of 13 people being burnt. One can speculate that this is partially due to the development of the acid law, the up scaling of prevention activities (by organizations such as CASC and CCHR), and the increased publicity relating to acid violence issues in the local media.