Exhibition Featuring Works of Mallorca Photographer Hannah Satz Raises €1400 for Lotus Outreach

From April 5-17, 2013, photographer Hannah Satz exhibited her works at the Gallery Sa Tafona of Hotel La Residencia in Mallorca, Spain, with 100% of proceeds benefiting Lotus Outreach International. Despite inclement weather, the opening reception was packed with enthusiastic local and international patrons of the arts. To date, eight photographs sold to international buyers, netting €1400 for Lotus Outreach programs in India and Cambodia.

Born in Australia, Hannah lived in Jerusalem for many years, in India for five years, and has now lived in Mallorca for the past 10 years.  As a photojournalist, her core interest has been photographing pilgrimages across the world. Hannah has also created several films on China, Bali, Bhutan, India, and has contributed footage to 1Giant Leap.

“Lotus Outreach resonates with me because it helps women and young girls as well as the most vulnerable populations,” shares Hannah. “In addition, my great admiration for Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Glenn Fawcett drove me to personally connect with the organization, which was recommended to me by a friend.”

A survivor of breast cancer, Hannah also felt compelled to put her energies toward bettering our world. “I feel that I was so lucky to have detected it early and felt that it was time to give back and help others.”

Please join us in thanking Hannah for donating her time and talents to the communities served by Lotus Outreach. For more information on the photography collection, please contact Hannah at hansatz@yahoo.com.


 

The Power of Advocating Reform

Lotus Outreach believes that good stewardship means not duplicating projects and programs that are already underway, be they implemented by other development organizations or governments. Perhaps more importantly, however, we believe that we can get a lot more mileage from our investment of time and money if we augment what already exists. In the case of our core education programs, for example, this means supplementing (v. replicating) the government education system through transportation programs, scholarships, and tutoring. Unlike some of our counterparts in the charitable sector, we don’t build private schools or fund private scholarships. We believe that if education is going to be effective, compulsory, and universal, we must invest in improving the government system rather than turning our backs on it.

Our LEARN project has been championing this philosophy in rural India by working to eradicate corruption from the public school system using independent monitoring, legal advocacy, public interest litigation, and community mobilization. One of the most important tools in our arsenal is India's landmark 2009 Right to Education Act, which requires the federal government to put up 65% of the funding necessary to ensure the constitutional right to education of every child in India. By serving as an anti-corruption watchdog, LEARN is working to ensure this funding ends up where it belongs: in India's classrooms.

RTE is no doubt one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation the world has ever seen, and putting it into practice is already proving difficult. That said, UNICEF just reported the following achievements as a result of RTE:

"The implementation of Right to Education Act (RTE) has ensured that education budget in most of the states is doubled. 99 per cent of India's rural population now has a primary school within a one-km radius [and] many as 11 million more children are now enrolled in schools.”

Lotus Outreach celebrates this tremendous success, and we know LEARN had a role in making it happen, particularly in the Mewat district of Haryana. We believe that a functional common education system in India can be realized within our lifetimes, and RTE is our greatest weapon in bringing this vision to life.

To read more about how LEARN is ensuring the implementation of RTE, click here.

"Orphans" and tourists in Cambodia...

What happens when "suffering" becomes an attraction on a tourist itinerary? In Cambodia, it appears to be increasing the demand for orphanages (which mainly function as day shelters for street children) despite the fact that the actual number of orphans in Cambodia is decreasing.

These day shelters may create needless distance between children and their parents, and could emotionally damage the kids by constantly creating and breaking short-term bonds between children and tourists. Is this a form of exploitation? Maybe, though it is likely rooted in good intentions (in most cases, but not all). The problems presented by short-term relief approaches are manifold, and Lotus Outreach is thus a strong advocate of development-based projects (which work to build the capacity of families to meet their own needs). That said, many of these children do in fact have nowhere else to turn, and the 180 degree backlash against orphanages risks making the real orphans invisible again.

Have you visited an orphanage in Cambodia or in another a developing country? What was your experience like?

2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

A fascinating study on the giving habits of millions of online donors has been summarized into a simple, compelling infographic. 

Lotus Outreach has fared moderately better on email "churn" than the average nonprofit, but there is little doubt that people's inboxes are overwhelmed these days. Despite this, we are still seeing online giving increase. It appears donors are fatigued with the volume of online appeals, yet becoming more loyal and generous at the same time.

What do you like and dislike about the online fundraising practices of nonprofits?

Vote for Lotus Outreach to win a 5K grant at 5forfairness.org

We are in the final days of 5forFairness.org's grant competition, and with only 5 votes between us and the leading org, every single vote will make a difference.

To help out, visit 5forfairness.org, become a member by donating $5 and then cast your vote for Lotus Outreach. It's that simple! If we win, the $5,000 grant will support holistic aftercare for victims fo sex crimes and human trafficking at our women's shelter in Cambodia.


Questions? Please contact us at info@lotusoutreach.org.