Following the devastating tsunami that struck Thailand’s Andaman Coast in late 2004, EDC HHD Asia collaborated with the local education bureau in Phang Nga Province to implement a project for youth in four Moken "sea-gypsy" communities as well as in Baan Nam Kem village, one of the locations hit hardest by the tsunami. A key EDC-supported activity was the creation of a sea-gypsy primary school. In the four Moken target communities this project has achieved a 100 percent enrollment rate, which is especially significant given that in 2003, only 25 percent of students in the community went on to the seventh grade.
China Health-Promoting Schools Project
In China's Zhejiang Province, EDC/HHD has worked with the World Health Organization, the Chinese Centers for Disease Control, and local ministries of health and education to provide training and assistance to schools in a pilot project from 2000-2002 to improve nutrition and establish "Health Promoting Schools." The nutrition interventions targeted approximately 7,500 students and their families, together with 800 teachers and school staff. Based on promising results that showed improvements in nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among students, parents, and school staff, this project was scaled up province-wide. From 2003-2005, EDC/HHD provided technical assistance, raised awareness of the importance of the health-promoting schools approach, and conducted qualitative evaluations in selected schools. During that time, the health promoting schools project expanded to 51 more schools reaching approximately 93,000 students and 6,800 school staff with comprehensive school health programs on psychosocial development, nutrition, tobacco use and prevention, oral health, and injury prevention. Evaluations showed tremendous achievements in how the health promoting schools concept has been put into practice and a wide range of self-reported changes in attitudes, knowledge and behavior of school administrators, teachers, students, and parents.
Capacity Building for Taiwanese NGOs
We implemented a series of workshops and trainings over a two-year period to 70 employees of Taiwanese civic organizations (i.e., NGOs, non-profit organizations, and foundations), who had a strong interest and high potential for advancement in international development work. Workshops concentrated on the critical skills and techniques needed for monitoring and evaluation, professional communication, partnership formation, reporting, and proposal development. Additional topics focused on NGO management, human resource management, financial management, fundraising, leadership, and resource mobilization.
