Past Projects
AGCF has supported many projects all over the world. Here are a list of the projects we have funded in Aziza's memory.
Cambodia
The Crimson Curtain, Phnom Penh
In March 2006, the Foundation sponsored the filming of the documentary The Crimson Curtain, which highlighted the challenges of feeding, housing and educating over 120 needy children in one of the poorest areas of downtown Phnom Penh. In early October 2006, the documentary was premiered for a London audience just prior to which The Aziza Foundation learned that the Tonle Bassac slum area, where the film was shot, was to be cleared for redevelopment with all residents to be relocated outside the city limits. Spurred by the desire to establish a more permanent presence in Cambodia, the Foundation launched Aziza’s Place, a home and learning center for disadvantaged children which opened its doors on Feb 14, 2007.
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Myanmar
The Little School – Mandalay
At a mere cost of $800, supporters of the Aziza Foundation funded an annual teacher's salary, and the rental costs of "The Little School" in Mandalay, a free school that teaches approximately 120 slum children ages 5-17 basic reading, writing and math skills.
Perhaps more importantly, "The Little School" in Mandalay provides a respite for children who might otherwise spend their days collecting plastic bottles and other discards to do what they can to augment the income of their parents. . The Foundation ceased support for the Little School in 2009 when repeated requests for progress reports failed to elicit any response from the Administrative staff at the center.
Pakistan
The Citizens Foundation School / Aziza Yasmeen Ghori Campus, Karachi
In March of 2006, the AGCF collaborated with a highly-regarded Pakistani NGO, The Citizens Foundation (TCF), to fund the construction of an elementary school approximately 45km outside of Karachi in the Sindh Province. TCF was founded in Pakistan to build schools and make education affordable.
The Aziza Yasmeen Ghori Campus began accepting its first students in August 2006 and had one of the best student enrolments in the history of TCF in any new single unit school, in the first year.
There are 160 students now studying on the campus. The AGCF sponsored the construction of the school complex and grounds, and the procurement of furniture and teaching materials at a cost of $85,000, and also supported initial operating costs of $14,700 for the 2006/2007 academic year. Normally, students are accepted only in the lower grades (K-2) and are annually graduated into the next grade such that within three years from the opening of the school, the maximum capacity of 180 students in grades K-5 is reached. However, the need for a school in the area of the Aziza Yasmeen Ghori campus was so high that 160 students already enrolled, further confirming the decision to build a primary school in this location.
India
Aziza Yasmeen Ghori X-ray Clinic,
Tamil Nadu
Along with members of the Ghori family resident in India, the AGCF helped establish the GGK Ghori .Health Clinic & Aziza Yasmeen Ghori X Ray clinic in Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu in Southern India. The center provides free health examinations and medical check-up to the local community, including X Ray to help diagnose patients. The center is staffed entirely by volunteers and mainly by members of the extended Ghori family who are medical practitioners. We understand that the Health Center and XRay clinic are still operational but currently receive no financial support from AGCF.
Uganda
LBL Foundation, Kitgum
The Aziza Foundation partnered with the LBL Foundation for Children to fund an after-school sports and cultural program for displaced orphan girls in Kitgum in northern Uganda.
The girls are severely disadvantaged, having survived atrocities in war-ravaged sections of northern Uganda. At an annual cost of $2,500, up to 100 orphaned girls have been given the opportunity to engage in sports, music, and dance to help them toward recovery from difficult and often traumatic starts.
This program provides a safe after-school space for orphaned girls, to contribute to their emotional healing and ultimately to their intellectual development.
USA
Blue Lake Fine Arts Academy
The Blue Lake Fine Arts Academy’s Aziza Ghori Memorial Endowment Fund was created in May 2003 as part of Blue Lake’s permanent endowment. The Fund provides perpetual scholarship assistance for Blue Lake’s annual two-week Music Camp for one student enrolled at Henry Haig Elementary School in Dearborn, Michigan (which Aziza attended). The primary selection criteria are creative passion and financial need.
Blue Lake’s Fine Arts Camp was founded in 1966 and provides a summer music program with art, dance and theater programs for talented young people. Since the establishment of the US$5000 Aziza Ghori Memorial Endowment Fund, three Haig Elementary School 5th grade students have received the scholarship and attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Academy’s specialized music program at the Camp for two weeks of the summer. The endowment will be considered fully-endowed at US$15,000 and will then provide a full tuition scholarship.
USA
Chelsea Center for the Development of Arts (CCDA)
In September 2003, the Foundation made a US$2,500 grant to the Chelsea Center for the Development of Arts to endow a Scholarship in perpetuity in Aziza's name and to honor her love for the arts.
The endowment funds an annual grant to a 5th grade student from the Chelsea school system who is enthusiastic about the arts and shows promise as an artist.
The grant is for a one-week summer camp or a six-week Fall/Winter session. To introduce the grant, a one-time youth workshop for all elementary school-aged students was held in November 2003.