GVI Charitable Trust

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GVI Charitable Trust

“With the aid of the GVI Charitable Trust we have been able to improve the lives of hundreds of families through schooling, training, nutrition programmes, reduction of indoor air pollution and disaster relief all over Latin America.”

Doreen Cabrera - Project Director: The Phoenix Project

Why are we here?

The GVI Charitable Trust was set up in 2005 to help with disaster relief following the devastation caused by Hurricane Stan in Guatemala. After an overwhelming response from past volunteers the GVI Charitable Trust has gone on to manage and fundraise projects with many of GVI's Partners overseas.

What are our goals?

to promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment;
to advance education and research for the benefit of the public in the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment;
to relieve sickness and preserve and promote the good health of persons;
to relieve poverty, financial hardship and distress.

The GVI Charitable Trust is successfully achieving these goals in many countries, with aid available to grass roots organisations to make a difference in their own environments or communities in over 30 countries globally.

Visit our Charitable Trust web site at www.gvi.org.uk to find out more.

How are we doing?

Through the generous donations and support of volunteers, corporations, trusts and foundations, here are some of the successes that have been made possible through the GVI Charitable Trust since its inception:

Global Eden Project, Costa Rica

Through the Global Eden Project the GVI Charitable Trust aims to help protect some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Together with partners in Costa Rica, the GVI Charitable Trust aims to purchase land to be managed with the local peoples. The land will be managed as a nature reserve with use by tourists in a world class eco-lodge staffed by local community members with a 50% profit sharing scheme. This in turn will have a research section and resident scientist(s) to continually monitor the effects of the lodge and human use. Finally there will be an education centre offering free resources for local communities. With the right management and this monitoring we will be able to ensure that this project is a world leader in sustainable use and revenue building for local peoples. It will become a figurehead for ecotourism everywhere. This innovative scheme aims to begin with the communities and ecosystems of the internationally important Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. This area has been designated an area of high biodiversity and, as such, in need of protection.

Wasini Island Development Fund, Kenya

The village of Mkwiro on the island of Wasini in southeast Kenya is the home of an orphanage for poor and parentless boys from across south-eastern Kenya. This fund was initially set up to transform the orphanage from a barren, bed-less, orphanage into a bright, vibrant and stimulating place for the orphans to live. Beds and mosquito nets have greatly increased the health and vigour of the children and along with concrete floors, water storage and murals on the walls have greatly increased their quality of life. This has been so successful that the building of a second orphanage is currently being funded for the girls of the region. On top of this vital work, the GVI Charitable Trust is funding the running and staffing of a pharmacy on the island that has been stocked by DANIDA funding. Finally the fund is helping reform the water collection and storage on the island. This vital resource is in short supply on the island and working with an international engineering firm, we are bringing this to the attention of the World Health Organisation.

Condors, Argentine Patagonia

One of the largest flying birds in the world, this majestic bird is threatened from many sources. The GVI Charitable Trust has aided with funding from a large American company to enable the work of local researchers to continue. Through this work we hope to ensure the continued survival of this species in Argentine Patagonia and increased understanding and awareness of its behaviour and habitats.

Plan Ancianos, Guatemala

In Guatemala the GVI Charitable Trust are piloting a program to increase awareness of age issues and health of the elderly. At present this section of the community is neglected, undernourished and suffering increasingly from chronic health problems that are badly understood at present amongst the aging population in Latin America. This issue is becoming more prominent with predictions that by 2025 1 in 7 Latin American people (98 million) will be over 60. Also many of the elderly women in Guatemala have no one to look after them having lost sons, husbands, brothers etc. in the civil war. This program will is now being rolled out across Honduras, Peru and Ecuador due to its success.

Carbon emission reduction, Guatemala and Honduras

In Honduras and Guatemala, the GVI Charitable Trust is aiming to expand a program of building sustainable stoves. The building of low emission, high efficiency stoves helps families in many ways. 1) Indoor wood smoke is a greater health issue than malaria, these stoves therefore have direct health benefits. 2) By burning fuel in a much more efficient manner they reduce carbon dioxide emissions. 3) By using less fuel they in turn become an indirect income generation tool as villagers have to buy less fuel. 4) They are also a tool for reduced cutting of forests for the same reason. The success of these stoves has been ensured through local indigenous leaders acting as examples for the stoves so that other families can see the effects they are having.

Indigenous Education, Ecuador

At present GVI volunteers teach and fund the primary education and nutrition of hundreds of indigenous children in the rural villages of Urcusiqui, Muenala, Huayrapungo and Larcacunga. Through this partnership they are able to receive an education rather than working in the fields from a very young age, with average household incomes below $1US per day. The GVI Charitable Trust is now raising funds to secure Secondary education for all the children over the coming years. Not only are the costs prohibitive to the local families, often the children feel that they are not ready, so with GVI's primary school programme, the children are better equipped mentally to move onto Secondary school, and with the help of the GVI Charitable Trust, the economic constraints are removed.

What Next?