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| The SLCDO is committed to providing
help for the helpless and hope for the hopeless through
mental, social and spiritual development. We aim to
influence communities in such a way that there is a
long term movement away from poverty toward prosperity.
The awe-inspiring valleys and mountains of the Karakorum,
Hindu-Kush and Himalayan mountain ranges converge in
what is known as the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Diverse
in language, ethnicity and religion, an estimated 1.5
million people live in the region. The majority of the
population live in remote villages and rely on subsistence
farming, mining and basic tourism to survive. The same
mountain peaks and harsh climate that draw the elite
mountain climbing community to this region make access
to basic health care, electricity and education severely
limited for most communities. Due to their remoteness
and limited accessibility, many villages receive little
outside, development support.
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The Remote School Development Program was
established to provide urgently needed resources, materials,
training and support needed to bring improved education to
rural schools in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Through strong
partnerships with communities and regular assessment and monitoring,
over 400 children in the region’s most remote communities
are benefiting from the Remote School Development Program.
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RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Community schools in the remote villages of Aishi, Goach,
Gamsing and Darminder are currently receiving support
to assist with teacher salaries and training, construction
projects, school supplies and equipment, and scholarships
for children in need. In one village, a portable tent
school was setup in the high mountain pastures to provide
education during the summer to children whose families
travel seeking pasture for their livestock.
FUTURE PLANS:
The SLCDO would like to expand provision of support
to two additional, remote villages in 2009.
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To make a donation in support of the Remote School Development
Program,
please
click here.
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SLCDO has been very successful in recruiting and utilizing
short and long term foreign volunteers from around the world
to assist in education and community development work. We
have endeavored to "fill the gap" that volunteer service organization
volunteers had filled prior to 2001. Well over 100 foreign
volunteers have visited Pakistan since 2003 specifically to
work in schools and various non-governmental organizations
performing many tasks, projects and community development
services. Most have worked as teachers but many have volunteered
countless hours in: building construction, painting, computer
technology, implementing communication systems, making concrete
blocks, building playground equipment, welding, design and
engineering, electrical work, agricultural consulting and
many more services. Our foreign volunteer program has greatly
helped the SLCDO and other partner non-governmental organizations
offer affordable education and specialized services.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
From January to May 2009, facilitated over 40 foreign volunteers
that accomplished diverse projects and worked in several schools
and non-governmental organizations throughout the Northern
Areas of Pakistan.
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CURRENT VOLUNTEER NEEDS:
- English teachers (professionally trained teachers, TESOL
trained teachers, or untrained but passionate to help out
- we can use you)
- Carpenters, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, engineers, laborers
- Health Care professionals, computer technicians, videographers
- And much more...
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To learn more about how you can get involved as a short or long term volunteer,
please contact us by email at info@shininglightngo.com.
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SLCDO often works with other like-minded organizations developing and implementing
projects with a community development focus. In the past, projects have included:
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- Partnership with Samaritan's Purse to deliver 600 boxes of toys, health care
products, and school supplies, to impoverished children in three remote rural villages,
to two local non-governmental agencies, and to the families of inmates at the Gilgit jail.
- Planning and development of low-income housing projects.
- Development of English literacy services in partnership with
CEENA Health & Welfare Services (which provides care and shelter to abandoned and
impoverished children), and the Hashoo Foundation Gilgit (which provides care and
shelter to young women from low income families).
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For more information about opportunities for partnership
in community development projects, please contact Mr. Mike
Gordon at info@shininglightngo.com.
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