The Green Tara Project

The beginning of a new year is an excellent time to look toward the future and  imagine what could be accomplished.  At our last meeting, the GTP Board did just that.  Here is a summary of the goals we’ve set for GTP in the coming year:

1.  Train more girls.  We have the goal of training another 300 girls this year, focusing our efforts in India for now.  Why India?  The short answer is this:

While India, like many other parts of the world, has economic factors that lead to women and children being trafficked, it also has fairly unique societal (i.e. caste system; intergenerational prostitution) and cultural (e.g. devadesis) attitudes that make enslavement not only accepted, but, in some areas, even expected.  GTP wants to reach out and positively impact the live of women and girls who suffer in particular because of these circumstances.

However, GTP also recognizes that human trafficking happens right in our own backyard, so this year we have set a goal to begin outreach to local anti-trafficking programs.

2.  Revisit Girls Trained in 2010.  We want to go back to follow up with the 100 girls who were trained initially in 2010 in order to assess what impact those efforts had, and how we might improve in our approach and service.  And it has to be said:  there is not a day that goes by that those girls are not thought of.  So, this goal ties in with both Goal #1 and Goal #3.

3.  Two More Project Trips.  To achieve our goal to train more girls, and do follow up, we are looking to have two trips in 2012.  The first one has already started to be arranged and will be in April.  More details to follow in a later post.

4.  Recruit Trainers.  As a newly-formed non-profit, we wrestle with the divide between what we want to do and what is doable with what we have.  We would like to have ‘clearinghouse’ type of centers in major trafficking areas all over the world that provide hands-on training.  However, right now, it is only Belle who has the hands-on training experience.  Short of cloning her, we want to start bringing others on to do this work, too, and have set a goal for 2012 to start a recruitment effort.  To that end, we are drafting a recruitment process and figuring out by what criteria people will be recruited.

5.  Have Predator Identification Materials Translated and Illustrated.  This is one of those things I thought would be so easy, and which has proven so hard.  We are working on locating resources.  If you know of anyone, please contact us.

6.  Website.  While this blog has been a nice place, we all know that a website would be more useful.  We hope to have a skeleton site done by the summer, with a final done by fall.  Hey, this may seem like a long time, but since this is work that is being done in sparcely available spare time, it’s what we can do.  Again, if anyone can help with this to expedite our efforts, woo and hoo and please contact us. : )

All for now.  Check back to get more news of the April trip which we should be announcing shortly.

Things have been quiet here on the blog front as GTP concluded 2011 by focusing on laying its organizational groundwork.  We want GTP to last, so we’ve spent a lot of time in 2011 noodling on what we want to build and how to build it starting with a solid foundation.  To that end, we did a lot of unglamorous work such as researching, business plan writing (ugh), and form filling and submitting (double ugh).  While not noteworthy in the grand scheme of things, this work is essential to GTP’s growth into a fully functioning non-profit dedicated to empowering at-risk women and children.  Here’s a brief summary of what we accomplished:

1. Formation of Board
2. Incorporation
3. Bank Account
4. 501(c)(3) Filing
5. GTP has PayPal

Formation of Board – Three people have joined GTP’s efforts in the last six months.  Not only have they been instrumental in keeping things going during  unglamorous activities such as filling out paperwork (loads and loads of it), and fine print reading on forms, but they’ve provided much laughter and food, two things a person or organization should never be without.  These people will be officially announced on a “Board Members” page that will be added to this post soon.

Incorporation – GTP received its incorporation on October 25, 2010.

Bank Account – In December, GTP established its own bank account.

501(c)(3) Filing – Also in December, GTP filed for tax exemption status.  We are aware that receiving a final dispensation could take several months.  However, our legal advisor has stated that donations can still be accepted, and receipts for those donations issued, so our work can proceed.

PayPal – GTP has set up a PayPal account to accept donations.  While money is always nice, we also have need for skills and equipment.  See our ‘Please Donate’ page (left sidebar) for details on how to support GTP.

Stayed tuned for upcoming posts this week, which will include:

– GTP’s goals for 2012

– A note of thanks to GTP supporters

– Recognition of January being ‘Anti-Trafficking Month’

– Announcement of new self defense and karate projects here in Illinois and abroad

Thanks for reading!