Since 1963, more than 3,000 Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) have served in Costa Rica in a variety of projects in the areas of health, education, the environment, community development, agriculture, small business development, and youth development. Throughout the program's existence, Volunteers have been consistently well received by the Costa Rican people and local partner agencies. The children, youth, and families (CYF) project was the primary sector of the Peace Corps/Costa Rica program from 1998-2002. In 2003, a second project in rural community development (RCD) began, which focuses on the poorest rural communities in the country. In 2005, a third project in Community Economic Development (CED) began. In 2010, a fourth project began in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). History and Future of Peace Corps Programming in Costa Rica: Peace Corps/Costa Rica (PCCR) celebrates Peace Corps 50th anniversary in Costa Rica in 2013. PCCR has been operating continuously since January 23, 1963, with the arrival of the first group of 26 PCVs who were assigned as English and science teachers to public schools

Everyone has a story to tell. But not all have voices. That's what drove me to write this book --- to serve as a small voice to a marginalized, discriminated against and oppressed tribe in the Philippines; the Badjao. My experiences take place on the island of Mindanao. Mindanao is the Southern most and second largest island in the entire Philippine archipelago. This book divided into two parts; the first part tells about the world I used to revolve in back in the First World and the second part the one I am now living with my new-found Badjao friends in the Third World. This is not a history book nor is it an ethnography book. This is a narrative of my actual experiences with my Badjao friends in the Philippines and how they changed my general viewpoints about life and strengthened my spiritual faith. This is a book about my journey towards understanding a widely misunderstood group of people in this part of the Philippines. I don't claim to know all about them, I simply love them. In the end, it was them who gave me more lessons in life than I thought I could teach them. I taught them ABCs and arithmetic. They taught me resilience, freedom, contentment and happiness. By purchasing this book you will help change the world. Well, maybe not the whole world, but certainly the world of the Badjao children who attend the Babina Monare Badjao Learning Center. Thank you for your purchase.

Since 1990 in America and around the world, philanthropy and international development, together "HELP," emerged to become a revolutionary force. It alters the political landscape outside the traditional political theater, influencing basic social conditions and institutions. How this RELIGINDUSTRY grew from the passing of baskets in church, the benefits it provides and the distortions it creates is the subject of this book. HELP is an industry in that it now comprises a huge part of the American economy, more than ten percent, with professional schools, organizations, journals and influential lobbying groups. Charity is a universal movement, marked by social media, weekly marches and meetings and self-congratulatory celebrity endorsements, a religion, in that it requires us to participate on faith. The expansion of marketing strategies obscures the best-intentioned charitable motives. Innovative marketing techniques such as "Cause Marketing," "Ethical Consumerism," and "Crowd Sourcing" employ a broad range of tactics: the proclamation of (unreachable) goals, meetings, blogs and media events, in an orgy of Orwellian language. Financial institutions and corporations seek to transform the non-profit sector into profit-making organizations, blurring the distinction between the two. A new megawealthy class influences society behind a scrim of "good-works." Their foundations, once small in number and a force for pluralistic debate, risk becoming a national plutocracy that overwhelms democratic processes, assuming direction of areas once the purview of government, (e.g. health and education). Individually, according to their own values, they dictate policies and the means to implement them. Paradoxically, while claiming they support those in need, many work to sustain a system that increases economic inequality, using financial and political power to avoid taxation, that is, the funding of government for social services. Traditionally, American philanthropy has been separate from international developmental assistance. The HELP revolution brings them together. National and international HELP relies upon the same non-profit resources, marketing strategies and personnel, employing the same methods, practices and values. It is not a coincidence that the Gates, Soros and Clinton foundations, to name a few examples, work on projects in America, Africa, and India. As in America, international developmental assistance employs hundreds of thousands of individuals. Agencies such as the UN, the World Bank, national organizations (e.g. USAID), and private philanthropy and NGOs support projects in a hundred countries, highly-paid officials and experts as well their support staffs. Academia, HELP's handmaiden, provides the intellectual foundation, with ongoing debates in articles, books, blogs and meetings. Consultants move from universities to foundations to international organizations and back, creating an appearance of self-aggrandizement or conflicts of interest. HELP has become so enormous, its influence so persuasive, that control, even understanding, is impossible. In an industry afflicted by self-perpetuating bureaucratic policies, conflicting social goals, inefficiencies, unknown consequences, erratic measurement strategies and ill-spent budgets, how to discern effectiveness? Who pays? The society as a whole and those in need, in particular. Efficient charities suffer as other more popular if less urgent philanthropies absorb resources. Philanthropy to assist the impoverished and those in need remains a strength of American society but does the new, enormous professional class overwhelm good-works in size as well as funds? Does the HELP revolution improve the social fabric at home and abroad? Does the new religindustry imperil charity through commercialization? What are the motives behind the megawealthy whose foundations shape the industry? And, is the growth of this new oligopoly a democratic or an anti-democratic force?

"Casebound book printed in full color, using vivid inks and high quality paper. This is the story of one kid. A story of what one, visually impaired kid from Kansas can do. A kid with contagious generosity, setting an example for individuals and corporations to become more philanthropic to change our world. A kid who responded to a challenge, and redefined himself. Jeff Hanson's art is hanging in Warren Buffett's home. The Association of Fundraising Professionals named Jeff "Young Philanthropist of the Year." The Small Business Administration named Jeff "Young Entrepreneur of the Year." The trifecta Jeff Hanson is defined by art, philanthropy and entrepreneurship. Not the kid down the street who lost his vision to a brain tumor. Jeff Hanson will raise one million dollars for charity before he is 20. One million by 20 "

As a small boy in the 1920s, David Ronald Johnston was blinded when a dental procedure went horribly wrong. That did not stop him living a remarkably full life, qualifying as a top-level shorthand typist, becoming a personal secretary and then going on to take increasingly senior positions in the charity Oxfam, eventually beating 500 other candidates to win the post of Regional Organiser and become a driving force for the organisation. His daughter Linda has written this book as a tribute to her father's remarkable love, courage, determination and strength.

"We Are The Work" is about how Men Stopping Violence (MSV), a small, social justice nonprofit, got to do big things, about the intriguing characters that formed and were informed by MSV's mission, about how men and women learned to work in solidarity to address men's violence against women (VAW), about their successes and failures, the lessons which became the Core Principles that guide their work. One of those principles, We Are the Work, means that no matter where or when you enter the struggle to end VAW you have to start and stay with examining yourself. You have to identify both your strengths and your "blind spots." And It's not about whether or how you transcend those "blind spots." It's that you have to know that they're there and how you will address them. This book tells the stories that illuminate those personal and institutional challenges. The rhetoric and analyses used to tackle this thorny issue are only part of the story. "We Are the Work" gets to how all of that talk about eliminating violence against women stands up to real-world challenges. Here are the take-home lessons from 30 years in the trenches of social justice work.