AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

How We Make A Difference

"The Big
Birthday Wish"

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54 deep clean water wells dug or rehabilitated.
Clean water wells help prevent disease and keep people and animals alive in droughts. Our wells impact the lives of over 20,000 people.

2400 nomadic children in 37 remote primary schools received support.
TurtleWill provides classrooms, dormitories, latrines, meals, teachers, school supplies. Without TurtleWill’s support, education for these tribal children would not be possible.

33 tribal students on scholarships for secondary and higher education funded.
TurtleWill provides the only possibility for many to go beyond primary school.

104 food, sewing and handicraft cooperatives funded.
TurtleWill teaches income-producing skills that generate independence and self-empowerment, particularly for women.

2010 ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH ONLY $631,000!

Highlights include:

• Urgent and life-saving drought relief work in Niger providing 32 tons of
  millet for the nomads and 17 tons of fodder for the animals
• 90 extremely malnourished children saved from the jaws of death
  through our special Feeding Program
• 12 blocks of latrines built for 6 primary schools in Mali and Niger
• 19 primary schools supported funding education for 2550 primary
  school children in Mali and Niger
• 18,584 patients in Mali and Ethiopia treated including emergency
  life-saving evacuations to the nearest hospitals for 12 patients
• 6 life-saving water wells dug or restored in Mali and Niger

Details per country Include:

In MALI:

We funded 5 primary schools in the Timbuktu region which we have built from the ground up with 995 Tuareg, Bela and Moor children. Funding includes classrooms and desks, wells, latrines, storerooms, teachers, meals, school supplies, uniforms, goat herds, donkey carts for hauling water and millet grinders for the families so school girls can do homework instead of housework.

Each school now has four brick classrooms with steel roofs and a school well.
Students are in Grades one through four.

Each school is also now equipped with separate blocks of latrines for boys and girls. Latrines are so important because they help motivate young girls to stay in school. Without latrines Many girls will drop out of school because they become very modest as they reach puberty.

• We launched two new adult education programs for 100 adults Installing solar lighting at two of our primary schools so that we can run adult literacy classes for men and women at night.
• We ran 5 Mobile Clinics each equipped with 3 doctors and three nurses and all the necessary medicines, treating 13,316 patients just in 2010.
• We dug 3 sorely needed water wells for the Tuaregs, one for Tourari School, and two for Tuareg communities with no nearby clean water sources.
• We continued to work with the Handicapped Association of Mopti, repairing their van that was donated by our long-time donor musician Robert Plant.

In NIGER:

• We conducted a massive Drought Relief campaign rescuing both Tuareg and Wodaabe nomadic communities and their animals from severe life-threatening conditions by providing both food for the people and grain for the animals.
• This campaign also included a special life-saving Feeding Program for 90 extremely malhourished at-risk children, saving them from the jaws of death.
• We dug and repaired 3 wells providing clean water sources where sorely needed for Tuareg and Wodaabe nomads.
• We supported 12 primary schools for 1600 nomadic Tuareg and Wodaabe children. Support includes meals, teachers, school supplies, dormitories, latrines and school wells.
• We are especially proud of our Middle School educational work. We now have 2 Student Residences for Grades 7-10: one in Tchirozerene for Tuareg students, and one in Agadez for Wodaabe students. Students are accepted on the basis of grades and live and eat at the residences. We also provide supplemental education in the afternoons to combat the lack of teachers and materials in the public schools. We also have four students now in Grades 11 and 12!
• We continued to help the handicapped community in Agadez with wheelchairs, drought relief and flood-damaged house reconstruction.

In ETHIOPIA:

• Our Mobile clinics returned to action treating 5,268 tribal peoples in the Omo Valley, and accompanied by 8 TurtleWill volunteers.
• We continued to provide scholarships for 6 students for higher education, including an MBA in business, a lawyer and 4 nurses.

Educating children is so important because it means educating the entire family. Through our Mobile Clinics we keep everyone healthy. We’ve treated 83,000 people since we began this Medical Program in 2002!

2009 ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH ONLY $447,000!

In MALI:

• We funded 8 primary schools with 950 Tuareg, Bela and Moor children. Funding includes classrooms and desks, teachers, meals, school supplies, uniforms, goat herds, donkey carts for hauling water and millet grinders for the families so school girls can do homework instead of housework.
• We ran 4 Mobile Clinics, treating 12,000 patients just in 2009. And we’ve added more clean water sources by digging 2 wells.
• We ran a special vaccination campaign hiring the Department of Public Health in Timbuktu to vaccinate 940 children.
• We helped many to advance economically by funding 2 handicrafts cooperatives, 2 goat herds, and an irrigation pump for rice cultivation.
• And we continued to work with the handicapped providing and repairing wheelchairs and supplying sound equipment for their amazing theater troupe.

In NIGER:

• We supported 15 primary schools for 1500 nomadic Tuareg and Wodaabe children with meals, teachers, medicines and school supplies.
• We are especially proud of our new educational efforts at the Middle School level. In addition to our Student Residence for 24 Tuareg students in Grades 7-10, we have created two Academic Centers for 24 Wodaabe students in Grades 7 and 8. The supplemental education we are providing is sorely needed to combat the lack of teachers and materials in the public schools.
• We dug 3 wells, helped rescue the handicapped community from horrendous floods in Agadez, and saved Wodaabe cattle from drought with emergency feed.

In ETHIOPIA:

• We are funding surgeries for 30 children with cleft palates, club feet and burns.
  And we are starting up our Mobile clinics once again.
• We continued to fund 11 students for higher education.

2008 ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH ONLY $360,000!

Despite the ongoing Tuareg rebellion in Niger and the start of the recession in the US, we accomplished a lot!

In NIGER, we have:

• continued to fund 12 primary schools for 875 nomad children with meals, school
  supplies and books, latrines and supplemental teachers;
• maintained our scholarship program for secondary education with 11 students in
  residence;
• sponsored three students in Nursing School in Agadez;
• and, as always, we continue to help our handicapped friends.

In MALI, we have expanded our efforts to include:

• treating 9,242 people in our Mobile Medical Clinics;
• funding seven primary schools for 500 nomadic children with classrooms, desks,
  meals, school books, a school goat herd and supplemental teachers;
• the rehabilitation of three wells;
• providing an irrigation pump for a recently settled Tuareg community to do rice
  cultivation on the banks of the Niger River;
• funding 2 handicrafts cooperatives for men and for women;
• providing remote Gourma Rharous Hospital with sorely needed medical equipment;
• funding a welding shop for our handicapped friends in Mopti.

In ETHIOPIA, we are

• funding 18 tribal students on scholarships studying to be nurses, lawyers, pharmacists,
• lab technicians, accountants and in tourism. This includes five students at University level and four students graduating this year in law, pharmacology and tourism.

AWARDS AND DOCUMENTARIES

We were honored with a prestigious “Yunus” award for our Humanitarian efforts at the Millennium Micro for Macro Summit held in Phoenix, and we are featured in a documentary all about TurtleWill on Profiles in Caring TV show.

2007 ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH ONLY $487,000!

In NIGER, we:

• dug or repaired 12 wells;
• supported 18 primary schools for nomadic children providing dormitories, latrines, wells, meals, supplemental teachers, storeroom, sewing class, uniforms and blankets;
• funded our Tchirozerene Student Scholarship and Residence Program with 11 students in grades 7, 8 and 9;
• sponsored 3 Tuareg students for Nursing programs;
• funded an Adult Literacy Program for the Handicapped in Abalak;
• continued building of our Student Residence for Girls in Agadez;
• funded Emergency Relief Animal Fodder banks for Tuareg and Wodaabe herds;
• purchased a herd of goats for a Wodaabe nomad community;
• continued aid to the Handicapped communities;
• ran 3 Mobile Clinics among Tuareg and Wodaabe nomads treating 4428 patients;
• Recycled $36,000 in Micro-Credit Food Cooperatives loan repayments to help pay for projects.

In MALI, we:

• funded 3 schools for the Tuareg nomad children of Kidal with meals, blankets and uniforms, with funding from singer Robert Plant;
• launched 2 new primary schools for nomad Tuareg children in the Timbuktu region with classrooms, teachers, desks, school supplies and meals;
• provided an irrigation pump and well for rice cultivation for the new Tuareg community at Sakankora;
• ran 4 Mobile Clinics among Tuareg, Songhai, Bela, Fulani and Moor tribes treating 8823 patients.

In ETHIOPIA, we:

• ran a Mobile Clinic among Mursi, Hamar and Karo tribes treating 1861 people;
• continued ongoing medical treatment of little Algo Goito, with deadly Burkitt's Lymphoma
• sponsored 23 students for higher education for the 2007/08 school year

A total of 15,112 patients treated In our Mobile Medical Clinics operating in Niger, Mali and Ethiopia!

2006 ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH ONLY $403,000!

In NIGER, we:

• ran four mobile clinics treating 7,600 people;
• funded cereal and fodder banks serving hundreds of people and animals;
• fed 133 infants on our Father Cow Feeding Program for severely malnourished children;
• dug 4 new wells;
• funded 29 more micro loan food cooperatives;
• supported 17 bush schools with dormitories, emergency meals, supplementary teachers, blankets, uniforms and medicines;
• continued aid to the handicapped communities

We are very pleased with our Micro-Loan Food Cooperatives where your donations work the hardest! We recycled $25,000 in micro-loan repayments to fund:

• ten more food cooperatives
• a training program for our Cooperative managers
• more dormitories
• a scholarship program for 12 nomad students
• another well
• the purchase of a jackhammer and generator for well digging.

In MALI, we:

• ran three mobile clinics for Tuareg, Fulani, Songhai, Bela, Bozo tribes treating 6,100 people;
• purchased small herds of goats and sheep for 46 refugee Tuareg families;
• for the Tuareg TINAIT communities of Assana and Acharane: funded an irrigation pump; pump well; fencing, seeds, training for a women's vegetable garden, and a handicrafts cooperative.
• for the Tuareg nomads of Kidal, with funding from singer Robert Plant, built 6 dormitories for 3 primary schools and provided blankets, uniforms.

In ETHIOPIA, we:

• ran a mobile clinic among the Mursi, Karo, Hamar treating 2200 people
• sponsored 21 students for the 2006/07 school year in secondary and higher education.

2005 ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH ONLY $339,000!

In NIGER, we:

Provided Drought Relief for Tuareg and Wodaabe nomads. ?Within three months we dug 15 wells, funded 25 food cooperatives, and emergency food for children, adults and animals.

We continued the year with our food programs for children and adults. Our "Father Cow" program gives monthly enriched powdered milk at $20 per month per child.

In addition in NIGER, we:

• ran three mobile clinics treating 5800 people, at a cost per patient of $6.82.
• funded 11 sewing cooperatives.
• supported 10 bush schools with more dormitories, emergency meals, solar lamps, supplementary teachers, blankets, uniforms and medicines.
• began a scholarship program for secondary education.
• continued our ongoing assistance to the handicapped communities in Abalak and Agadez.

In MALI, we:

• ran two mobile clinics for remote tribes treating 2297 people and saved the life of a child with meningitis.
• supplied remote Hombori Hospital with medicines.
• funded materials for rice cultivation and a women’s leather cooperative for the refugee Tuareg of TINAIT Association outside of Timbuktu.

In ETHIOPIA, we:

• ran a mobile clinic among the Mursi, Karo, Hamar treating 1777 people.
• funded more surgeries for cleft palate and club feet.
• sponsored 19 students for the 2005/06 school year in secondary and higher education.

In INDIA, we:

• funded yearly support for Tumudibandh Youth Hostel in Kutia Kondh tribal territory.

2004 ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

In MALI, we:

• ran one Volunteer Funded Medical Program in January with 6 full days of bush clinics among the Tuareg, Fulani, Songhai, Bela and Dogon tribes treating 1022 people, saving the lives of two babies and provided life saving surgery for an adult.
• outfitted remote Hombori Hospital with medicines, medical supplies and beds.
• funded a grain storeroom, irrigation pump for rice cultivation, women's leather cooperative and another 40 goats for the refugee Tuareg of TINAIT Association outside of Timbuktu.
• funded a women's sewing cooperative for the Songhai village of Zindiga, and helped finance an AIDS and Public Health Workshop for the women of Timbuktu and Gao.

In NIGER, we:

• ran 2 Volunteer Funded Medical Programs in March and October, during which we ran 14 days of bush clinics among the Wodaabe and the Tuareg. treating 3106 people, with a 30% increase in patients from the previous year at the same sites.
• purchased 16 donkeys for the Behamey Wodaabe nomads whose animals died due to disease.
• funded 3 meals per day for our five bush schools for nomadic Tuareg. children, until WORLD FOOD PROGRAM agreed to take over the job for us!
• funded 5 storerooms, 10 dormitories for boys and girls, medicines, utensils, school desks and uniforms for these same bush schools.
• funded 11 reimbursable food cooperatives, 3 handicrafts cooperatives, 7 women¹s sewing cooperatives and 3 adult literacy programs.
• dug 3 new wells and repaired t others for the Wodaabe and Tuareg nomad populations.
• funded 82 goats and a garden/ecology project for Baraka Association of Wodaabe nomads.

In ETHIOPIA, we:

• ran one Volunteer Funded Medical Program with 6 days of bush clinics among the Mursi, Karo, Hamar and the Erbore, treating 1655 people. We witnessed significant improvement in people treated the previous year and the number of patients also increased by 20% at the same sites.
• ran our first Mobile Bush Clinic Program staffed with local doctors and nurses only, treating 1181 patients.
• took over the support of the little bush school at Duss for the Karo tribe, including 3 meals daily which enabled an additional 60 children to attend who live 15 miles away.
• funded more surgeries for cleft palate and club feet repair of Borana tribal children.
• sponsored 19 students for the 2004/05 school year in secondary and higher education.

In INDIA, we:

• funded another full year of support for Tumudibandh Orphanage and Youth Hostel in Kutia Kondh tribal territory.

2003 ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

In MALI, we:

• On a Volunteer Medical Mission in January, ran three bush clinics among the Tuareg, Dogon and Bozo treating more than 600 patients.
• Financed an irrigation pump for Tuareg refugees living along the Niger River.
• Funded sound equipment and a bus (with the help of Led Zeppelin singer, Robert Plant) for a talented musical troupe of handicapped young people in Mopti.
• Purchased 100 goats and sheep, food against drought and funded a vegetable garden for the refugee Tuareg of TINAIT Association in Timbuktu.

In NIGER, we:

• On a Volunteer Medical Mission in March, ran four bush clinics among the Tuareg and the Wodaabe treating almost 900 patients.
• Purchased seventeen wheelchairs for handicapped Tuareg and Haussa, and provided them with a soldering machine to facilitate their workshop production.
• Purchased two months of feed for 32 drought-stricken cows for the Wodaabe.
• Helped fund a school room, grain storage and boutique for Wodaabe nomads.
• Started the 2003/04 school year for our five Tuareg bush schools funding three daily meals to enable more nomadic children, especially girls, to attend school.
• Funded medical supplies for the remote dispensary of Tchintoulous aiding Tuareg nomads in the Air Mountains.

In ETHIOPIA, we:

• On a Volunteer Medical Mission to Ethiopia, ran three bush clinics among the Mursi and the Hamar treating more than 1400 people.
• Funded the surgeries and medical care for another five children from the Borana area.
• Funded educational sponsorships for twelve students.

In MONGOLIA, we:

• Purchased four herds of cashmere goats for blight-stricken nomads in the Gobi desert.

In INDIA, we:

• Provided a full year of funding and support for Tumudibandh Youth Hostel for Kutia Kondh children in tribal India, Orissa state.

2002 ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

We ran 3 mobile clinics in Mali, Niger and Ethiopia.

In MALI, we:

• Built a Women¹s Literacy Center for the Songhai village of Zindiga in remote Mali where 98% of the women are currently illiterate.
• Dug two wells for the Tuareg in Mali.

In NIGER, we:

• Purchased thirteen wheelchairs for the handicapped in Niger in a town overlooked by humanitarian efforts. Most of these individuals have spent 40+ years scooting around on the ground.
• Funded five more nomadic bush schools in Niger including meals, school supplies, blankets, medicines and uniforms.
• Dug two wells for the Wodaabe in Niger.
• Funded six sewing and handicrafts cooperatives in Niger, teaching over 200 Tuareg and Wodaabe men and women important income-generating skills.

In ETHIOPIA, we:

• Provided twelve tribal children in Ethiopia with corrective surgeries for cleft lips, cleft palates, and clubbed feet.

In INDIA, we:

• Provided a full year of funding and support for Tumudibandh Youth Hostel for Kutia Kondh children in tribal India, Orissa state.