Orphans International
Encyclopedia
Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW) is a charitable organization
created to house and educate orphan
s and abandoned children. In response to the crisis facing orphaned children around the world, former investment bank employee Jim Luce
founded Orphans International in 1999. OI's headquarters are in New York City
.
Through its network of small "homes" for children, OI provides immediate aid to some of the world's most disadvantaged children. OI operates on an annual budget of less than a half-million dollars. OI houses and educates children orphaned and abandoned after the 2004 Tsunami
in Sri Lanka
and Indonesia
and 2004's Hurricane Jeanne
in Haiti
.
, Indonesia
in 2001. It became active in housing orphans in Aceh
, Indonesia
; and Galle
, Sri Lanka
after the 2004 Indian Ocean
Tsunami. Beginning in 2008, OI also supports foster care
for Tsunami orphans in Sri Lanka by supporting children living with members of their extended families. OI provides tutoring, English classes and jobs training, such as sewing classes and hospitality classes. In 2009, OI also served 27 Aids affected orphans in Moshi
, Tanzania
.
With the AIDS epidemic, natural disasters, low world health standards and widespread poverty
contributing to a global crisis for children, OI's model of "Raising Global Citizens" seeks to make a difference in both the short-term needs of children and the long-term improvement of disadvantaged communities throughout the world by raising children as responsible citizens. OI's mission is interfaith
, interracial
, international
, and intergenerational – that is, it discourages discrimination on the basis of faith, race and nationality and seeks to utilize the experience of senior volunteers. OI seeks to benefit orphans through education
and vocational opportunities that are coupled with a nurturing environment, proper nutrition
and healthcare. OI also monitors the children's education and provides after school tutoring, computer classes and English classes. OI intends to give each orphan support until graduation with a baccalaureat degree. OI does not place children for adoption, but rather seeks to help them live successfully in their native countries and cultures.
OI's homes: Orphans are referred to OI by local social service agencies. The children are generally preschool age (2–4 years old) when accepted by OI, and the average age of the children in OIs programs was 9 years old as of 2008. OI's foster homes generally have four children per home and a house "parent" who was raised in the local culture and religion.
OI's family care model: In 2008, OI began experimenting with a new extended-family foster care model, which it calls "Family Care", to help extended families in Sri Lanka. There, aunts, uncles and grandparents were offered training and financial support to take care of orphans. Family care allows OIWW to care for twice as many orphans on the same budget, compared with renting, building, staffing, or maintaining an orphanage.
OI has received donations from over three hundred benefactors from around the world, many of whom have become child sponsors. It receives no government money. OIWW is associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations
OI's activities include overseeing a semi-annual World Congress, publishing the e-newsletter
OI InterNews, and maintaining a website. OIWW approves global NGO and corporate "Partners for Progress". The sixth anniversary benefit of OI, in October 2007, was held at the home of Peter Yarrow
of Peter, Paul, and Mary, who entertained the group by singing his song "Puff the Magic Dragon".
, Former President of the United Nation's General Assembly, and Prince Albert
of Monaco
, The fifth anniversary benefit of OI was held at the United Nations in November 2006.
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
created to house and educate orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s and abandoned children. In response to the crisis facing orphaned children around the world, former investment bank employee Jim Luce
Jim Luce
-This was written by Jim Luce:Jim Luce, baptized James Jay Dudley Luce and born 1959 in Hamilton, Ohio, is a former investment banker, as well as activist, organizer, philanthropist, and international development specialist who founded the United Nations-affiliated Orphans International in 1998 and...
founded Orphans International in 1999. OI's headquarters are in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Through its network of small "homes" for children, OI provides immediate aid to some of the world's most disadvantaged children. OI operates on an annual budget of less than a half-million dollars. OI houses and educates children orphaned and abandoned after the 2004 Tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and 2004's Hurricane Jeanne
Hurricane Jeanne
Hurricane Jeanne was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the season, as well as the third hurricane and fourth named storm of the season to make landfall in Florida...
in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
.
OI's history, philosophy and models
OI opened its first home in SulawesiSulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in 2001. It became active in housing orphans in Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
; and Galle
Galle
Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka and it lies in Galle District....
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
after the 2004 Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
Tsunami. Beginning in 2008, OI also supports foster care
Foster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
for Tsunami orphans in Sri Lanka by supporting children living with members of their extended families. OI provides tutoring, English classes and jobs training, such as sewing classes and hospitality classes. In 2009, OI also served 27 Aids affected orphans in Moshi
Moshi
Moshi is a Tanzanian town with a population of 144,739 in Kilimanjaro Region. The town is situated on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, a volcanic mountain that is the highest mountain in Africa....
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
With the AIDS epidemic, natural disasters, low world health standards and widespread poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
contributing to a global crisis for children, OI's model of "Raising Global Citizens" seeks to make a difference in both the short-term needs of children and the long-term improvement of disadvantaged communities throughout the world by raising children as responsible citizens. OI's mission is interfaith
Interfaith
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
, interracial
Interracial
Interracial is an adjective related to a supposed racial group. It can have different connotations in different contexts:* Interracial marriage is marriage between two people of different races....
, international
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
, and intergenerational – that is, it discourages discrimination on the basis of faith, race and nationality and seeks to utilize the experience of senior volunteers. OI seeks to benefit orphans through education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and vocational opportunities that are coupled with a nurturing environment, proper nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
and healthcare. OI also monitors the children's education and provides after school tutoring, computer classes and English classes. OI intends to give each orphan support until graduation with a baccalaureat degree. OI does not place children for adoption, but rather seeks to help them live successfully in their native countries and cultures.
OI's homes: Orphans are referred to OI by local social service agencies. The children are generally preschool age (2–4 years old) when accepted by OI, and the average age of the children in OIs programs was 9 years old as of 2008. OI's foster homes generally have four children per home and a house "parent" who was raised in the local culture and religion.
OI's family care model: In 2008, OI began experimenting with a new extended-family foster care model, which it calls "Family Care", to help extended families in Sri Lanka. There, aunts, uncles and grandparents were offered training and financial support to take care of orphans. Family care allows OIWW to care for twice as many orphans on the same budget, compared with renting, building, staffing, or maintaining an orphanage.
Administration and structure
OIWW sets the global worldview, mission and standards for its project nations. It consists of ten officers. The OI executive office is in New York City. Founder Jim Luce is a director of OIWW. He also founded an American-based fundraising arm, OIA, but OIA split from OIWW in November 2009. The OI staff is assisted by volunteers who help with fundraising and other tasks. Its annual budget is less than a half million dollars.OI has received donations from over three hundred benefactors from around the world, many of whom have become child sponsors. It receives no government money. OIWW is associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
OI's activities include overseeing a semi-annual World Congress, publishing the e-newsletter
Newsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
OI InterNews, and maintaining a website. OIWW approves global NGO and corporate "Partners for Progress". The sixth anniversary benefit of OI, in October 2007, was held at the home of Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...
of Peter, Paul, and Mary, who entertained the group by singing his song "Puff the Magic Dragon".
Global focus
OI advocates service to humanity and attempts to instill in children an appreciation of both national and global citizenship and both modern technology and traditional arts and crafts. OIWW plans to bring internet connections to all of its projects to expose the children to information from around the world accessible on the internet. Global Advisors to OI include Haya Rashed Al-KhalifaHaya Rashed Al-Khalifa
Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa is a lawyer and diplomat from Bahrain who was the President of the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly which began on September 12, 2006, and closed on September 17, 2007...
, Former President of the United Nation's General Assembly, and Prince Albert
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the ruler of the Principality of Monaco. He is the son of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly...
of Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, The fifth anniversary benefit of OI was held at the United Nations in November 2006.