International Humanity Foundation (IHF)

MISSION:

IHF envisions a world in which leaders and citizens alike have interacted with and have an astute knowledge of the world's poorest and most marginalized populations. We believe that education should be freely available to all to all those who seek it. Our volunteers agree, and wish to "pass it on" by interacting, teaching and learning while at our centers in Thailand, Indonesia, and Kenya. With just a few hours a week, our volunteers, children and sponsors are changing the world we live in.

International Humanity Foundation believes in absolute transparency and functions almost entirely through efforts of a hundred plus unpaid volunteers from around the world giving their time, skills, energy and love to help our family in Kenya, Thailand and Indonesia. IHF is led by Carol Sasaki, who founded IHF 30 years ago. IHF has offices in Indonesia, Kenya, Thailand and a small part-time volunteer office in San Diego, California. But our true workplace is online and around the world, consisting of people interested in learning about the world's varied cultures. IHF is a training ground for those hoping to learn leadership skills in reducing poverty and abuse. We believe the best teacher is honestly shared experience, especially among new and veteran volunteers alike. IHF has been run for many years only by Carol and locals around the centers who learn through trial and error. Recently however, volunteers worldwide have also joined in and gained knowledge through personal experience.

IHF is a non-religious, non-political, non-profit organization that strongly believes in an equal opportunity for all and in preserving the cultures, traditions and beliefs of the marginalized communities it works in.

http://www.ihfonline.org

OUR PROGRAMS:

Our programs are designed to fulfill our mission of both educating the poor and educating the educated about the poor. For example, many people do not realize that public education is not free in countries such as Kenya, Thailand, and Indonesia and that therefore most of the poor are unable to afford to send their children to school.

The Education Program (TEP) allows a person to sponsor a child's education costs for only USD $10.00 per month, which include the costs for tuition, books, uniforms and graduation ceremonies.

We have many other wonderful programs including the Class Sponsorship, Orphan Sponsorship, Medical Sponsorship, Famine Feed, Survival Program and Tribal Peace Farm.

http://www.ihfonline.org/programs.php

IHF has four locations in Indonesia, one in Kenya, and one in Thailand.

We established the centers in Kenya because we wanted to work in a country where famine existed but that was also relatively safe for our volunteers to work in, so they could visit famine-stricken areas to personally see what the effects of hunger on society are, to learn what the signs of malnutrition are and to help those who face malnutrition.

The Thailand location in Chiang Rai was established as a preventative measure against the trafficking of children as sex slaves, which has been a major problem in the region since the Vietnam War. According to the UN, human trafficking is the third largest portion of the black market in developing nations after the trade of illegal arms and narcotics and this fact is unfortunately prevalent in Thailand, a country where sexual slavery has started incorporating into the tourism industry.

Indonesia has IHF centers in Jakarta, Bali, Aceh, and Medan. These centers primarily focus on educating children through the TEP and Class Sponsorship programs with some centers teaching over 400 students. The centers provide an informal place for children from lower economic classes to work with volunteers, which teaches the children to feel comfortable with people from different backgrounds at a young age.

http:www.ihfonline.org/locations.php