Addressing the Water Challenge in Maasailand
In typical Maasai households, women have to walk 5-10 kilometers (3-6 miles) for a bucket of water. Imagine if an entire village had water storage facilities at each household, safe and affordable for all, reducing labor and time to fetch water, enabling the luxury of an occasional bath, and if purified, water for cooking and cleansing, thus reducing disease incidence.
A hafir water storage system is a trench that is lined and covered with plastic sheeting. This home water cistern filled by rain surface water provides the means for a Maasai household to keep small vegetable gardens irrigated throughout the year. Starting in July 2009, Global Service Corps-Tanzania began constructing these innovative water harvesting tanks in Maasailand, with the assistance of a generous donation of plastic sheeting from two local hardware stores, Bulk Supplies and Olotu Trading Company Ltd. These hafiirs were created through the generous hard work of local villagers, along with GSC and Tanzanian university volunteers. To finish reading this story, click on the photo to the left. To learn more about how you can participate on this and other sustainable agriculture and food security projects, go to http://www.globalservicecorps.org/site/tanzania-agriculture-and-food/
Tanzania HIV/AIDS Prevention, Health, and Life Skills Day Camp
You Can Help GSC Create a Generation Free of AIDS in Africa!
Did you know that the pre-teens and teenagers are among the most vulnerable to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa? Here’s how your support will help students in Tanzania become equipped to live healthy lives free from HIV/AIDS!
During June, Global Service Corps organizes a two-week long Peer Education HIV/AIDS Prevention, Health, and Life Skills Day Camp. GSC staff and volunteers work with approximately 200 – 300 Tanzanian high school students and teachers to help educate youth about HIV/AIDS 
prevention. These camps are designed to be an interactive way for students to learn about HIV/AIDS, prevention, relationships and sexuality in a fun, creative, and ultimately sustainable manner. Students then disseminate information about HIV/AIDS, life skills, and other health issues through peer health clubs at their schools throughout the rest of the year. Surveys make it clear that programs are needed to move youth from awareness and knowledge to actual behavior change. This is a primary goal of these camps.
In order for GSC to maintain this vital work with the youth of Tanzania, we need your help. Even from far away, you can help to fight the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS and assist in saving lives. Your support and donation of any amount is needed now; with your help we can send a Tanzanian student to Camp, train and support a Camp counselor, buy lunches for the students, and purchase supplies. Visit our online Secure Donation Page accessible at: http://www.globalservicecorps.org/site/donate/
Buddhist Immersion-EFL Program Expansion
Global Service Corps (GSC) Thailand is excited to offer our expanded Buddhist Immersion-EFL Program to those interested in learning about Thai Buddhist culture, while also giving back to the local community. Working with an established and respected Buddhist monastery (wat), this program provides participants with the opportunity to become truly immersed in the Thai culture and Buddhist way of life by living at the wat while teaching English to Buddhist monks.
GSC is fortunate to have formed a strong working relationship with a wat that is home to approximately 200 novice, senior and visiting monks, many of whom wish to learn more English. The wat is situated in a beautiful and serene setting with lakes and lush greenery surrounding the many temples, educational buildings, dorms and meditation centers. Following Buddhist practices, volunteers can participate in the traditional day-to-day activities of the monks, including the opportunity to learn and practice meditation several times throughout the day. Regardless of your level of knowledge about Buddhism or Thai culture, this program provides you as a GSC volunteer with a level of cultural immersion and service-learning rarely experienced by most volunteers. For more information, see http://www.globalservicecorps.org/site/thailand-buddhist-immersion/
Introducing Our New Cambodia In-Country Coordinator
GSC is happy to introduce our new Cambodia In-Country Coordinator, Sophy Tun. Sophy received her B.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and has taught both English and Khmer at a number of schools in Cambodia. Sophy also earned a University Diploma of Technician in Food Technology and Chemical Engineering. The skills she obtained working as a technician studying the resistance of HIV at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge make her a great resource for GSC’s programs focusing on the prevention of and education about this deadly disease. Sophy works to coordinate all volunteer placements, while also providing valuable cultural insight into the Cambodian culture. For more information on our Cambodia service-learning volunteer programs in the areas of teaching English, HIV/AIDS prevention, orphanage care and international health, go to http://www.globalservicecorps.org/site/cambodia-service-learning-programs/
Global Service Corps 