Projects & Partners
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I have learned that a little can do so much.
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THRIVE: Tanzanian Health & Resilience Initiative Valuing Education
The kindergarten we helped to found in 2005 is expanding its scope via THRIVE. We are using education as a basis for developing resilience of the orphans as well as those providing healthcare in the neighboring clinic/hospital. We will be developing programs for local nursing students and orphan children in collaboration with local doctors, nurses, and staff. We will have a particular focus on counseling to people with HIV infection and AIDS. We will be in Moshi. The ages of children are between 3 to 12 years. The name of the hospital is Huruma Designated Hospital and is in Kilimanjaro Region in Rombo District. The primary illnesses of patients in our hospital are Malaria, T.B, Pneumonia, Immunosuppression, Diabetes, and Hypertension. THRIVE quite simply stemmed from a personal relationship I had with a guide I met while on a climbing trip there and pre-dated the Center's start, but certainly was catalytic to its coming into being. What is amazing to me is the amplification effect of what are very easy and simple "interventions" on our part. These are things ANY psychologist/individual could do and likewise have a wonderful impact. The Center works with Fr. Aloyce Urio who is in charge of a group of orphaned children as well as being a Chaplin at a local Hospital. Over the years he'd query me about a child having a certain physical or emotional problem and I would respond back with suggestions, materials and whatever I could get my hands on and ship it to him. If it was outside my skills, I would consult with an ad hoc team of friends in medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or what-have-you specialty, for help. And they always come through. Aloyce once mailed me a letter about many of the children being manifestly sad and tearful. The caretakers did not know how to respond, so they felt not discussing the children's emotionality was best for the children. I sent Aloyce a set of basic counseling materials on grief and loss, some group exercises, active listening, empathic responding, Rogerian methods, and other "counseling 101" materials that were for children, with the caveat that they were developed and used in the West and that he needed to use his best judgment as how to adapt them for his use. I also explained ways in which he could consider their use as well as contraindications. This seems to be very useful for him. The caretakers felt supported and empowered to have tools, supervision, and the approval to indeed talk about the children's emotional lives with them. Over time I learned that the children also had experienced therapeutic benefit. But what happened next is a great example of a quite incredible however unintended consequence. |
One day the Bishop who was responsible for the Region was visiting and happened to see the materials I had sent Aloyce sitting on his desk. After being asked what they were and learning more about them, he asked if he could borrow them to make copies and distribute to the other clinics, hospitals, and orphanages he would be visiting, and if Aloyce would be able to "consult" with his counterparts at those sites as a follow-up.So, what took me perhaps three hours to compile and write, and cost less than nine-dollars to send, was now being used not only in Aloyce's area, but now with many, many other children, who otherwise would not had such therapeutic and emotional support. This is what I mean by amplification. Aloyce's time and postage cost in writing me and mine in return yielded an immense impact on the staffs and the children in a number of villages, both now and in the future. I could never have planned nor imagined that would happen. This is the kind of thing that I encourage readers to think about if they a so inclined to be involved in this kind of work as the bang-for-the-buck can be exponential. Imagine the impact we could make in the lives of others if each one of us just did something like this just once in our lifetimes. The Center has also consulted on managing the emotional health problems that some of the nursing students who came to the Huruma Hospital for practical training were experiencing, again with my tutorial coaching notes and sending copies of materials suitable for group and individual uses. Similarly, I had never really thought about how (or even if) the orphaned children went to school. They did not I learned. So, Aloyce believed their chances for a better life were improved if they could read and had knowledge-based skills as well as labor-based training. I agreed and we set forth on creating a modest school. In 2005 we received word that the Ministry of Education had approved a kindergarten for the children that Aloyce now "manages." We continue to be on-call for any help we can give, and always for free. In fact we conduct fundraisers for them and are active in fiscally supporting the children in any and all ways under Aloyce's watchful and measured stewardship. The Center's philosophy for the projects it works on is to continuously be a free consultant; we really don't want to have "ownership" of any projects. We want to help incubate them, greenhouse them, and then launch them. We'll always be available if needed ever-after. We can use volunteers and donations to continue meet the multitude of daily needs that arise. |
Building a Preschool for Toktogul:
Community-Led Early Childhood Education in Rural Kyrgyzstan
A Dream Born from Community Need
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In Toktogul, Kyrgyzstan, only 20% of children have access to preschool education. Existing preschools are severely overcrowded—classrooms built for 25 children hold 50-60 students—teaching methods remain unchanged since the Soviet era, and children with disabilities are almost always turned away. Local teachers and parents crave something better for the children in their community.
Ratbu Satarova, a renowned English teacher who has served Toktogul for over 30 years, heard these requests. In 2019, after losing her daughter Elvira to cancer, Ratbu began raising her infant grandson. As she searched for quality early childhood education for him, she felt firsthand the critical need for high quality preschool care. Together with Sarah Silverman, a special education teacher and former Peace Corps volunteer who has partnered with Ratbu since 2009, they decided to build a preschool unique in the region that would address the needs parents and teachers had identified: smaller class sizes, modern play-based pedagogy, inclusion of children with disabilities, and professional development for educators. Listening to the Community, Building Solutions In 2023, Ratbu and Sarah won a U.S. State Department grant that enabled them to work with two early childhood experts, Julia Snyder (a Nationally Board Certified preschool teacher and teacher trainer with 46 years of experience) and Dr. Gillian McNamee (a professor of early childhood education and teacher educator at the Erikson Institute) These two experts developed a play-based preschool curriculum that blended research-based best practices with Kyrgyz cultural expectations. Gillian and Julia were also able to travel to Toktogul, Kyrgyzstan in order to deliver a week-long training for preschool teachers, the first in-person professional development preschool teachers in the region had ever received. Following the training, teacher-participants helped run a six-week pilot preschool program testing the new methods, which served 16 children. Students were so engaged they asked to return every day. Parents immediately began asking when the full-time preschool would open. The team was thrilled with the success of the pilot program, but at the same time the pilot program revealed something unexpected: families were bringing children with special needs—precisely because other preschools had turned them away. Teachers found themselves navigating new challenges and using weekly coaching sessions with Gillian and Julia to explore how to best serve these students and include them in meaningful and productive ways with the other children. By the end of the pilot program, teachers were requesting another training in inclusive education. In 2024-2026, the DKG International Educators Foundation awarded $9,000 to address this community request. Partnering with pediatric occupational therapist Dr. Jennifer Rosinia, they developed inclusive education training that brought together preschool teachers, young adults with disabilities, and parents. Part of the grant included the purchase of playground equipment that would make it possible for students with physical or sensory special needs to play together in the same space as their peers, a crucial tool to help build an inclusive mindset in school and the community. |
The impact rippled outward. Teacher-participants led trainings at their own schools. The Ministry of Education invited Ratbu to present these methods to every preschool teacher in the Toktogul district. What began as a pilot program had sparked a district-wide movement—all driven by local educators and families.
Building a Physical Home The successes of the teacher trainings and preschool pilot program revealed both the power of the model and its limitation. Although the new methods and ideas presented in the trainings have gained great traction, this project requires a permanent facility that could serve more children and families in order to become a model school and hub of innovation and inclusion.The community has shown extraordinary commitment to making this dream a reality. Through Ratbu's NGO, Bilim Nuskasy, and with support from numerous sources, the community has raised over $147,000. Local volunteers helped dig the basement. Donations and grants have funded land, fencing, water systems, walls, roof, wheelchair ramp, and adaptive playground equipment. To open the doors, approximately $70,000 is still needed for kitchen equipment, doors and windows, heating, indoor plumbing, flooring, insulation, and painting—the basic infrastructure to provide safe, functional space for young children to learn and for teachers to grow professionally. A Model for Change Once operational, the Toktogul Preschool Project will serve as a demonstration site where teachers can observe inclusive, play-based methods in action. It will provide the quality early childhood education that local families and teachers have been requesting.This community-based project, led by one of its most respected educators, in response to requests from local teachers and parents has already been a powerful force for change and progress in Toktogul. A fully operational preschool space will only amplify that impact and, most importantly, give countless children across the region better access to the best possible start to their life at school. How You Can Help Through a fiscal sponsorship arrangement with the Center for Global Initiatives, U.S. donors can make tax-deductible contributions disbursed directly to Bilim Nuskasy for completing construction and covering startup costs. Everyone working on this project is a volunteer and every single dollar will go directly to the preschool. Your support will help answer the call that Toktogul's teachers and parents have been making: for accessible, inclusive, high-quality early childhood education. You'll help build not just a building, but a model that demonstrates what's possible when communities lead their own development. To make a tax-deductible donation to support the Toktogul Preschool Project, please click the donate button below. To learn more about the preschool and Ratbu’s work in her community for the last 30 years, please visit our website. |
The New Humanitarians Documentary
Inspiration, Innovation, and Blueprints for Visionaries
I have had the honor to be involved in several important projects and initiatives over the years, but I honestly have to say that there are few what I am prouder of than this unique and groundbreaking documentary series – The New Humanitarians.
I am the author of the 3-volume book-set – The New Humanitarians (https://amzn.to/4b9476o) and I’m very excited to announce that the 41 amazing humanitarian organizations profiled in these books are now the basis for a new docuseries on YouTube and an audio version exclusively on SoundCloud.
The Center for Global Initiatives is honored to make this freely available to audiences world-wide.
So, buckle-up and welcome to a trip around the globe. You will travel to six continents. These are the stories of The New Humanitarians - changing global health inequities, changing education and relief, and changing sustainable development and social justice.
These are their stories – stories of need, of response, and of accomplishment. They an inspirational account demonstrating the power of the individual triumphant over the challenges of poverty, illness, conflict, or a litany of injustices. My friend, Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, said of the project that it is a counter to the pervasive “pornography of the trivial” that infects much of what exists in the media today.
I suspect he is correct.
I have been fortunate to have the rare and heady opportunity to work with some of the most innovative humanitarian organizations in the world, to collaborate with their incredibly talented leaders, and to call all of them my friends.
It is my hope that this new series will provide a unique behind-the-scenes glimpse of some incredible organizations, offer valuable insights, present their insider experiences, and share advice that few would ever have access to.
Praise for the Project
Chris Stout is a humanitarian’s humanitarian, and his fingerprints are all over project everywhere in the world that have to do with the relief of human misery and the enhancement of human health and dignity. This new work is a remarkable capstone to his efforts.
J Harold Ellens, PhD
Research Scholar, University of Michigan
Chris Stout is a world-class humanitarian who has taken the time to vividly explore the inside world of those who have succeeded. Perhaps with this new appreciation, more of us will eventually fulfill our own personal quests to make the world a just a little bit better.
Pat de Leon, MD, MPH, JD
Past President of the American Psychological Association
I guarantee that you will be awed by this series.
I am the author of the 3-volume book-set – The New Humanitarians (https://amzn.to/4b9476o) and I’m very excited to announce that the 41 amazing humanitarian organizations profiled in these books are now the basis for a new docuseries on YouTube and an audio version exclusively on SoundCloud.
The Center for Global Initiatives is honored to make this freely available to audiences world-wide.
So, buckle-up and welcome to a trip around the globe. You will travel to six continents. These are the stories of The New Humanitarians - changing global health inequities, changing education and relief, and changing sustainable development and social justice.
These are their stories – stories of need, of response, and of accomplishment. They an inspirational account demonstrating the power of the individual triumphant over the challenges of poverty, illness, conflict, or a litany of injustices. My friend, Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, said of the project that it is a counter to the pervasive “pornography of the trivial” that infects much of what exists in the media today.
I suspect he is correct.
I have been fortunate to have the rare and heady opportunity to work with some of the most innovative humanitarian organizations in the world, to collaborate with their incredibly talented leaders, and to call all of them my friends.
It is my hope that this new series will provide a unique behind-the-scenes glimpse of some incredible organizations, offer valuable insights, present their insider experiences, and share advice that few would ever have access to.
Praise for the Project
Chris Stout is a humanitarian’s humanitarian, and his fingerprints are all over project everywhere in the world that have to do with the relief of human misery and the enhancement of human health and dignity. This new work is a remarkable capstone to his efforts.
J Harold Ellens, PhD
Research Scholar, University of Michigan
Chris Stout is a world-class humanitarian who has taken the time to vividly explore the inside world of those who have succeeded. Perhaps with this new appreciation, more of us will eventually fulfill our own personal quests to make the world a just a little bit better.
Pat de Leon, MD, MPH, JD
Past President of the American Psychological Association
I guarantee that you will be awed by this series.
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Himalayan Rescue Association Collaboration
We are proud to announce that the Center for Global Initiatives is now collaborating with the Himalayan Rescue Association.
In my recent trekking expedition to Everest Base Camp, I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet with the volunteer medial staff of the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) the Khumbu village of Pheriche at an altitude of 14,343 feet.
HRA is a voluntary non-profit organization formed in 1973 with an objective to reduce casualties in the Nepal Himalayas, especially keeping in view the increasing number of Nepalese and foreigners who climb into the remote wilderness of the Himalayas.
One of the most important tasks of the HRA is to try to prevent deaths from Acute Mountain Sickness. For over 43 years, the HRA has helped make the Himalaya safer for climbers and provided needed medical care for the local population.
In my recent trekking expedition to Everest Base Camp, I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet with the volunteer medial staff of the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) the Khumbu village of Pheriche at an altitude of 14,343 feet.
HRA is a voluntary non-profit organization formed in 1973 with an objective to reduce casualties in the Nepal Himalayas, especially keeping in view the increasing number of Nepalese and foreigners who climb into the remote wilderness of the Himalayas.
One of the most important tasks of the HRA is to try to prevent deaths from Acute Mountain Sickness. For over 43 years, the HRA has helped make the Himalaya safer for climbers and provided needed medical care for the local population.
