Alternative Gifts International (AGI)
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Rwanda and Republic of Congo
Healthcare to a Struggling Population
In an effort to continue to preserve the fragile ecosystem of the parks where gorillas are protected in central Africa, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund continues to address the ongoing poverty and health issues of the populations which are encroaching on the preserve lands. The Fund is working with local communities such as Bisate village in Rwanda to develop new sources of income, healthcare - including critical and prenatal care, clean water, and disease prevention. As people's standards of living improve and alternative sources of income are found, there is more incentive for them to understand and respect the natural environment in which they live. The survival of the people and the gorilla populations in these areas continue to be closely intertwined.
One month critical services, including prenatal care -$55
One week care - $14
Healthcare and Wheelchairs
Over the past several years the critically impoverished country of Haiti has been buffeted with one disaster after another. First there were hurricanes, then devastating earthquakes which were followed by a cholera epidemic in some of the shanty towns where people took refuge when their homes were destroyed. Many still live in critically sub-standard housing where disease is rampant.
Haiti Healthcare Partners runs a clinic serving over 4,000 people near Grand Coline. Doctors travel by motorcycle to deliver vaccinations, pre-natal care and services to patients too ill to travel the sometimes long distances to the clinic. In addition, especially since the 2010 earthquake where so many sustained injuries leading to amputations, there has been a critical need for wheelchairs in Haiti. Free Wheelchair Mission seeks to supply the disabled poor with mobility and the means to live independent lives by distributing easily assembled and maintained wheelchairs in Haiti, as well as Chile and Peru.
One days supply of medicines for mobile clinic $39
One wheelchair for the disabled $66
The Nature Conservancy, Brazil
Preserving and Renewal of the Rainforest
Only 7% of the Atlantic Rainforest remains in South America, but it is still one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. It supplies clean water for more than 130 million people in Brazil, is home for 23 species of primates, 1000 species of birds, and more than 20,000 species of plants, many of them found nowhere else on earth. It is a critical resource for our planet.
The Nature Conservancy, long active in the area, has committed to restoring 2.5 million acres of forest with one billion native trees, placing forests on a path to recovery while also protecting wildlife. A donation for funding the planting of seedlings supports this important work.
100 Native rainforest trees - $110
20 native Rainforest trees - $22
AHEAD Tanzania and The Gambia, Africa
Solar Cooking and Environmental Preservation
In developing countries of Africa, the demand for wood for cooking leads to a rapid loss of trees, erosion of soil and pollution of waterways. AHEAD works to reduce deforestation by teaching communities how to harness the sun for solar cooking. Solar panel and box cookers can reduce the use of wood by as much as 50% by using the sun's energy. This technology also reduces emissions of toxic fumes and smoke, and AHEAD is currently teaching individuals in eleven villages of around 1500 each in the Gambia and Tanzania to use solar energy to purify water and prepare meals.
One solar oven - $17
Water pasteurization indicator - $6