Campus Y

Advocates for Grassroots Development in Uganda (AGRADU) is a UNC student initiative aiming to support indigenous grassroots efforts at community building and economic development in Uganda. AGRADU helps to educate and to raise awareness about international development from a grassroots standpoint by giving students the opportunity to participate directly in such efforts!

Through building and sustaining a relationship between Ugandan community-based organizations (CBOs) and UNC – Chapel Hill, AGRADU offers support with skills and resources via student interns and serves as a liaison for external funding and networking. The experiences of student interns will help to elevate the consciousness of the UNC community by exposing students to new cultures, histories and African issues. 

Website: http://agradu.weebly.com 

The Bhutanese (Refugee) Empowerment Project (BEP) is an effort by to help resettle the recently arrived Bhutanese refugees to the United States. In 1880's, many people migrated from Nepal to Bhutan. Their descendants, numbering hundreds of thousands, were suddenly asked to leave Bhutan in 1980s because of several political reasons. The UN facilitated refugee camps for them in Nepal where they lived for 17 years, and now the US has accepted 60,000 of them. They will join us in the next 2-3 years, and about 80 of them have already arrived in the triangle. All of them have a green card, and will become American citizens in the next 5 years. These refugees are given only a few months of support from the government and the resettlement agencies. After that, they are required to become self-sufficient.  The most pressing needs are for financial assistance, employment, education and basic material needs. They also require support to help them make the transition to this new land.

We plan to help them resettle here, through

1, Help with education
2. Raising funds (essentially to help find them jobs),
3. Visits to malls, libraries, etc to help them get around and be confident Americans.

To begin with, our main role will be tutoring, and will expand gradually. The task is challenging, yet enjoyable, and very much doable by us. Its about a people suddenly made refugees. And we can help. We can be an agent of positive change in the lives of those who probably need it the most. We are working together with our partner organization in the community called Sewa USA.

Website: http://www.sewausa.org/bhutanese-refugee-empowerment-project 

The Carolina Hunger Education and Activism Project (C.H.E.A.P) is a special project of the Campus Y committed to combating both local and global hunger by engaging students in education, activism and awareness. C.H.E.A.P gives students the opportunity to learn about hunger through campus and community events, volunteer with community organizations such as the Bread ministries and table, and package meals to be distributed through school lunch programs with Stop Hunger Now. The name C.H.E.A.P was carefully chosen to express the idea that ending world hunger is an affordable and sustainable venture.

We, as members of the North Carolina Coalition for College Access, understand the invaluable opportunities for positive intellectual and personal development enabled by attending college. We believe that all academically qualified students should have access to higher education, adding value to our communities and the state of North Carolina. We will defend everyone's right to college access through policy advocacy, education, and service.

Website: http://www.unc.edu/~hbar/cca/index.php?cca

Contact: Ronald Bilbao  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Contact: Rachel Craft    This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

La Fundacion del Hogar de las Ninas Madalaes serves as a foster home for 22 girls in the Dominican Republic. It is located in La Victoria, a suburb of Santo Domingo. Maria Elena Beltran, the founder of the home, was born one of thirteen siblings into extreme poverty. With fierce determination, she managed to obtain an education and rise out of poverty. 13 years ago Maria Elena says that she received a vision from the Virgin Mary, asking her to take in two needy girls. Thus La Fundacion del Hogar de las Nanas Madelaes was born. Ever since then, Maria Elena has devoted her entire life to the home and her girls. She feels called to provide and advocate for the children who otherwise would be forgotten, become teen mothers, or be forced to turn to prostitution. The Fundacion relies on support from the community, international organizations, and individual donations.

Our Three Goals:
1. Fundraise for a new home: Projected Goal: $80,000
2. Create relationships with the girls
3. Service: This Spring Break (2009) our group will take 10-12 participants down to the Dominican Republic for a service trip. There students will help out in the community, spend time with the girls, and conduct workshops with the girls and local children. Members will also have the opportunity to go on individual summer trips to the home.

The UNC-Duke-Bennett Millennium Village Project (MVP) provides the opportunity for students and professors to engage in an academic dialogue to critically assess the Millennium Villages™ development model and its' progress in achieving sustainable and scalable poverty relief. Through communication with our Kenyan partners in Maurenyo, we can connect classroom theory with on-the-ground change. The UNC-Duke-Bennett MVP provides for UNC, Duke and Bennett to unite their campuses behind a single cause. There are several student groups at each school working toward various components of the UNC Millennium Development Goals, including healthcare, women's rights, hunger relief, and environmental issues. The sponsorship of a Millennium Village™ allows these groups to band their passions behind this single unique opportunity to forward their causes on-the-ground. The goal of $1.5 million to sponsor a village cannot be achieved by one student group. This goal has motivated students to work together within and across universities and colleges, to connect with the community, and to reach out to alumni and parents who want to contribute to the MVP.

http://www.ncmvp.org

Project HEAL is student-run and student-founded 501(c)(3) global health organization based at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Project HEAL is also a special project of the University of North Carolina's Campus Y. Project HEAL's overarching mission is to engage undergraduate students in international service experiences to facilitate culturally relevant and locally-driven sustainable development in Lawra and Kumasi, Ghana. Project HEAL has pledged a comprehensive commitment to the health and wellness of the people of Ghana in an effort to improve access to basic health knowledge, overall quality of care, and availability of vital medical supplies. The ultimate goal of Project HEAL is community-based sustainability with local health officials leading such initiatives.

SAT Solutions offers free test prep and tutoring to students from Chapel Hill and Carrboro City Schools through the Blue Ribbon Mentor Program.

Students for How Our World Works with Arts is out to explore and to immerse ourselves in that dynamic intersection between the arts and social activism. Through fostering dialogue between students and performers who come to Memorial Hall to involving the campus in a
collaborative art project every year, we are seeking ways to ENGAGE ourselves and our peers using the power of the arts and our passion for the issues.

This year, we are completely psyched to be focusing on The Gender Project, the Carolina Creative Campus program for this year.
We also have a blog:
http://showw-with-arts.blogspot.com

A special project of the Campus Y, Tugbeawo raises funding to provide scholarships for girls in Ghana. Tugbeawo was started by a UNC student after she studied abroad in Ghana and volunteered with a girls' school. Tugbeawo also seeks to partner with other groups on campus that seek to empower women and promote equality internationally.

World Micro-Market, a Campus Y initiative, is a weekly international forum and emporium for students to economically empower individuals around the world and to develop awareness about international issues. WMM imports goods from NGOs and impoverished/vulnerable individuals from around the world to create another market for them, thereby contributing to the alleviation of poverty and supporting their self-promotion. The profits will be going to an international charity organization. At the market, a global issue or project will be featured by a UNC organization, group, or individual to sensitize students to that particular issue and to present ways in which students can become involved.