Belgrade, Serbia The Incest Trauma Center (ITC), one of our partners working in Belgrade, provides crisis services and counseling to victims of sexual assault, with a particular focus on incest. The center is the only organization in all of Serbia with this expertise, and so, for the last several years, it has worked to train thousands of individuals (5,000, to be exact) on how to identify this assault and also how to prevent it. Those trained include government workers like police, health care professionals, teachers, and social workers. The Incest Trauma Center also works directly with children in educational settings.

Subotica, Serbia We approached the school around 11:00 PM. It was on a quiet street, and there were almost no lights on inside. But as soon as I began to wonder whether we were in the right location, a young man burst through the big doors and warmly welcomed us to his school. He was a club leader and, as an older volunteer, worked to prepare and monitor the children and youth that participate in the Moonlight program. He brought us upstairs to put down our belongings and to see the snacks they were preparing. We quickly were ready to go down into the basement, where the original Moonlight Club was being held.

Belgrade, Serbia I arrived at the Atina (Serbian for Athena) office early in the afternoon. I had met the group’s director in February 2007, and GFC has been supporting Atina since this past fall. Upon visiting the group, I was extremely glad that we have been able to support such outstanding work for such a vulnerable population.

Atina works with victims of human trafficking by providing direct assistance in the form of psychosocial and legal support, family mediation, and holistic reintegration. Through a partnership with the International Organization for Migration and the Belgrade police, Atina provides long-term assistance to identified victims of trafficking to help them overcome their trauma, regain their self-confidence, and avoid revictimization.

Arusha, Tanzania After three intense days, the workshop has come to an end. Just a few hours ago, I said good-bye to the last participant to leave for the airport. I carry with me the sentiments of Pamela Kola, GFC's international fellow, expressed during our closing ceremony. She stated that although we only had three days together, we had done a year's worth of work.

During the last day, we discussed the role that advocacy plays in education. The participants were engaged in a closely guided discussion on why their particular advocacy initiatives (whether convincing the government to take ownership of community schools or establishing safe-sex programs) worked and what others can learn from them.

Monduli, Tanzania We spent most of today on a site visit to Monduli Pastoralist Development Initiative (MPDI), a current GFC partner that provides early childhood education for Maasai children. Though we woke to an overcast day with heavy rains, the drive from Arusha to Monduli was pleasant. Surrounded by hundreds of hills and Mounts Meru and Kilimanjaro, Arusha is truly a magnificent city. I took pictures of the landscape, but they failed to capture the city's natural beauty.

We stopped first at the MPDI office to get an overview of the organization prior to traveling to the communities where its early childhood development (ECD) centers are located. During our drive, we saw Maasai children, some as young as 6, tending to their cattle without any adult supervision. Pastoralism is a way of life for the Maasai, and MPDI faces quite a challenge in promoting the education of children.