HuiLi entered our Infant Nurture Program in March of this year. He has an esophageal obstruction and has had an operation. He has sparse hair on his little head, and there is always a smile on his little long face.Skoll Award
The Skoll Foundation has announced that Half the Sky is one of 11 winners of its 2008 Awards for Social Entrepreneurship in the area of Economic and Social Equity..
The 11 organizations were chosen by Skoll because they "have created innovative, proven solutions for tackling the world’s most urgent social and economic challenges" and their “models for sustainable change have already yielded significant impact” and have the potential to “amplify their reach across regions, countries and continents.”
In addition to Half the Sky, the organizations receiving the awards are: Amazon Conservation Team, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), Arzu, Digital Divide Data, KIVA, mothers2mothers, Partners in Health, PeaceWorks Foundation, Population and Community Development Association and Visayan Forum Foundation.
“We are thrilled and honored to be presented with this award because it is a recognition of the life-changing impact of our work to ensure that every child—no matter how humble her beginnings—has a loving adult in her life and that the emotional connection between a loving adult and a child is as important to healthy human development as food, shelter and medical care.
"The award is also a testament to our generous global community—individuals, foundations and corporations—who make the work we do possible. Never have we needed their help more as we grapple with the challenge of reaching every child living in a Chinese welfare institution,” says Half the Sky’s executive director Jenny Bowen.
Bowen learned first hand about the devastating effects of institutionalization when she and her husband adopted a toddler from a Chinese orphanage who was severely under-developed. In time, her new family’s loving attention enabled their daughter to blossom, and the idea for Half the Sky was born. Beijing-based Half the Sky establishes and operates infant nurture and preschool programs, provides personalized learning for older children, and establishes permanent families for children with disabilities. In 2007, Half the Sky was invited by the Chinese government to expand its life-changing programs now operating in 38 institutions to 300 institutions and beyond. Half the Sky’s long-term strategy is for local governments in China to operate the life-changing programs themselves. “We know solutions exist around the world that have transformed millions of lives, in a sustainable way, across education, health, environmental and other social systems,” says Sally Osberg, president and CEO of the Skoll Foundation. For more information visit www.skollfoundation.org |