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Leo Igwe’s ongoing project to support and protect those accused of witchcraft was the recipient of a small grant from Foundation Beyond Belief last quarter. (Igwe’s project is also our featured Human Rights beneficiary for the second quarter of 2014.) In the story below, Leo Igwe shares the story of a victim of witchcraft accusation…

FBB members and our community gave almost $70,000 last quarter to improve the lives of people around the world. Four of our featured charities, will receive grants of more than $10,000 each, and we hope from now on, as FBB grows, we will be able to increase all of our grants sustainably over the $10,000…

By AJ Chalom, Humanist Giving Program Coordinator

We’re kicking off our fifth year of compassionate humanism with a fantastic new slate of charities. These organizations work to prevent suicide, teach the world about climate change, help some of Guatemala City’s most vulnerable children access education, serve as an advocate for homeless LGBTQ youth, and make sure children raised in devoutly religious homes have access to the medical care they need and live free from abuse. Learn more about these organizations below. Members, to adjust your donation allocation for this quarter, log in and select “Manage Donation” on the right side of the page.

	Encore Poverty and Health: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) seeks to reduce suicide rates through initiating and participating in projects that develop, implement, and evaluate innovative approaches to suicide prevention. Their programs concentrate on social awareness, reducing the stigma of mental health disorders, and early intervention.
	The Natural World: 350.org is a massive grassroots organizing network that raises awareness of climate change and the use of fossil fuels worldwide. Their use of video and social media is extensive. Their goal is to provide scientific information regarding climate change to a cross-section of the world’s population to inspire them to take action.
	Education: Safe Passage provides educational opportunities for children who live in and around the Guatemala City garbage dump. These children often spend their days with their family scavenging for wood, metal, and other materials to earn money and help build housing in the slums at the base of the dump. Pathfinders Project will work with Safe Passage in May of 2014.
	Human Rights: Ali Forney Center’s mission is to help homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth be safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood. FBB’s grant will be appropriated to Ali Forney Center’s Learning, Employment, Advancement & Placement (or LEAP) program, which provides career and educational advancement services for homeless LGBTQ youth. This program concentrates on providing legal assistance and financial stability counselling. They also cultivate a community of acceptance for their clientele. The Human Rights beneficiary this quarter is the first selected under our new RFP process. We invited pre-screened charities to participate in the RFP process to provide additional information about their programs.
	Challenge the Gap: The Child-Friendly Faith Project is a new endeavor that spreads awareness of how to support children in devoutly religious homes and protect them from abuse. They furthermore encourage devout communities to provide proper medical opportunities for their children. The group does not want to convert people; instead, they want to make sure that all children are being raised in abuse-free homes.
	Small Grants: Women’s Leadership Project (WLP) is a feminist humanist college prep mentoring program for girls of color in South L.A. high schools. WLP fills a vacuum in a school district that has few programs that specifically address the intersection of sexism, racism, misogyny, and heterosexism in the lives of young women of color. The majority of their students will be first-generation college students. The WLP college-prep curriculum sends girls of color to four-year colleges and universities at above-average rates.   Leo Igwe Research Project: Many women accused of witchcraft by their communities in Ghana have also endured torture and beatings. Stripped of their belongings and shunned by family and friends, they are often unable to get medical treatment for their injuries or to ensure their own safety from further harm. Nigerian humanist Leo Igwe, who is currently fighting witchcraft accusations in Ghana, has created a victims’ fund to provide initial support for these women. Foundation Beyond Belief is proud of its ongoing commitment to supporting this fund.

Members, don’t forget to log in and select “Manage Donation” on the right side of the page to allocate your donations for the first quarter.

The year is swiftly drawing to a close—this is your last chance to distribute your donations among our five featured beneficiaries for the fourth quarter of 2013. Here’s a quick look at this quarter’s amazing beneficiaries:

Water Ecuador is working to improve access to clean water in rural Ecuador. Their water centers help the local communities in a number of ways: Each center provides affordable, clean water (up to 8,000 liters every day) at about one-fifth the price of water shipped in from a major city, and then they use the revenues generated by water purchases to pay for maintenance of the water center and the water manager’s salary. Pathfinders Project will be working with Water Ecuador in 2014 to help with clean water education and construction of their newest water center. 

Bat Conservation International is leading the crusade to educate people about the importance of bats to our ecosystems, and to protect bats from the many threats facing them today. White-nose syndrome is an epidemic decimating North American bat populations—BCI is working to stop the spread of the disease through education and outreach. They also work to protect bat habitats, like the Bracken Cave in Texas, where a new housing development could mean disaster for the local bats.

Roots and Wings International improves access to education for indigenous people in Guatemala. Their college scholarships allow students to train for skilled professions and then return to their home community to put their education to work. In 2011, FBB members funded a grant to RWI that established their Foundation Beyond Belief scholarship. Our FBB scholar, Miguel Lamberto Sohom Tzáj, has used the scholarship to study medicine at University Rafael Landívar en Xela. Each donation of $3,800 is enough to fully fund a scholarship, so FBB member donations in the fourth quarter of 2013 will likely be enough to fund two or three new RWI scholarships. 

Apopo approaches human rights with a unique blend of science, technology, and animal activism—they train African giant pouched rats to search for landmines and screen for tuberculosis. Apopo’s HeroRATs start their training at just four weeks old, beginning with socialization and moving on to honing their exceptional sense of smell. The program creates local jobs in areas such as Thailand, Angola, and Dar es Salaam, where trainers are hired from local populations to work with the organization.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is an interfaith coalition that promotes reproductive health and choice. They focus on the ethical reasons for choice and personal responsibility, using their beliefs to support reproductive rights, and they fight against the often religiously motivated reasoning used to oppose reproductive access on both national and state levels. Recently they’ve been speaking out against overly broad religious exemptions in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and calling attention to the plight of immigrants and undocumented workers, who are vulnerable to violence and have limited access to contraception and reproductive health care.

This quarter’s Small Grant is funding our new FBB Kiva.org account. Starting in 2014, funds raised for this grant will be used to create a Foundation Beyond Belief microfinance account, which will immediately make a significant number of $25 loans. Our goal is to use only secular microfinance institutions (MFIs) and concentrate on loans that have fast repayments (6 to 9 months). The Foundation Beyond Belief Kiva account will join the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious team.

The Pathfinders are currently in Ghana working with Leo Igwe’s camp for those accused of witchcraft. According to Conor Robinson, the director of Pathfinders Project, “The visit to the camp for alleged witches has been even more meaningful than expected. Internet is limited, but we are working hard to collect the heartbreaking stories of these victims of superstition and prepare them to be shared. The human rights abuses suffered by these women are unimaginable. There is no redress and very little aid.” Earlier this quarter, they worked with Kasese Humanist Primary School, Mustard Seed School, and Isaac Newton High School in Uganda, and the Alliance for African Women’s Initiative in Ghana. Click here to support their ongoing worldwide service trip.

Our year-end fund drive is off to a great start! Thanks to generous donors, we’ve raised about half of our goal of $15,000. Your donations to our year-end drive support our Humanist Giving program, the 80+ secular teams doing volunteer service as part of our Beyond Belief Network, our Humanist Crisis Response program, and the Pathfinders Project and Humanist Action: Ghana, launching in 2014. Click here to make a donation and get our fifth year of compassionate humanism off to a roaring start.

Don’t forget to sign in to your account and allocate your donations for the fourth quarter (on the right side of the page, choose “Manage Donation”).

It’s time to help us choose our next slate of featured beneficiaries! Because Foundation Beyond Belief is a member-driven organization, and member donations will support the selected beneficiaries, we welcome our members’ comments and preferences to help us make beneficiary selections.

We’re seeking member input to help us choose an encore Education beneficiary, as well as our Human Rights and Challenge the Gap beneficiaries. Click here to take the survey. The survey will be open until August 5. After the jump, keep reading for a look at the nominated charities.