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Liangshan Yi for Empowerment (LYFE) Center is a non-profit and non-government

organization that was organized by domestic and overseas people who care about Yi people’s development and registered in civil administration bureau. Taking women and children affected by drugs and HIV/AIDS as the main work target, the LYFE center focuses on public welfare movements including capacity building and right protection in countryside communities.

Since its establishment in March, 2005, the center has accepted project support from some organizations, such as, Am Cham, Global Fund, China Market Development Plan of World Bank, NIKE Foundation, American China AIDS Foundation, American China AIDS Aid Foundation. Besides, we have collected 350,000 RMB and rescue commodities that value 2200,000 RMB.

With the help of these fund and projects, LYFE are mainly implementing the following work:

1. To relieve children orphaned by drugs and HIV/AIDS. Till now, LYFE  have provided life relief for more than 300 orphans as well as their foster families; education and medical aid for over 200 orphans. Especially, the three full-boarding loving classes we established have been warmly cared about by society.

2. To organize Yi women affected by drugs and HIV/AIDS to implement production self-help movement. Presently, LYFE have originated 2 handicraft cooperatives of Yi women, organizing and training more than 200 poor Yi women, having them participate in the cooperative and therefore increasing their income. In September, 2006, the handicraft project has won the “accepted project prize” of “the 1^st round social public welfare pilot project”.

3. To spread the knowledge of drug control and HIV/AIDS prevention with the form of ethnic folk art. In April, 2005, we established a folk art group in Zhuhe township of Zhaojue county. Since then, the art group has practised education of drug control and HIV/AIDS prevention by Yi traditional art performances which have become very popular in Yi communities. In July, 2006, based on the folk art group, we tried to find several more famous folk musicians and formed the “Liangshan Yi countryside art group”. Trough 2 months’ diligently practising, the new art group has recently accomplished a theatre in Yi mother tongue named Mountain Villages First Coming out of Nightmare. The art group has accepted the appraisal of the related government bureaus and is permitted to implement tour performances in the whole Liangshan Prefecture.

4 Meanwhile, the NIKE Foundation project that LYFE have applied collaborating with Mercy Corps International Organization has begun. LYFE plan to train 350 Yi girls in Yi communities to empower them to find a job. In addition,LYFE will implement peer education among 2500 adolescents in 12 villages of 2 townships so as to explore a new mode of HIV/AIDS control in Yi communities.

Now The LYFE center has 86 staff, 3 project offices(18 administrative personnel), 4 countryside work stations(10 community workers), 1 countryside art group(19 members),1 community peer education group(24 educators), 4 loving classes(195 children) and 2 handicraft cooperatives(210 Yi women). Also, LYFE have over 100 domestic and overseas volunteers participate in our activities in communities. The center staff all have undergraduate’s degree. Some of them have graduate’s degree. Most members of the board of directors are university teachers and academic researchers. LYFE rented about 500 square meters’ office and activity space equipped with computers, internet and other office supplies. In the field of administration, with the help of experts from Mercy Corps, LYFE are improving the financial administrative regulations, project monitoring and evaluating systems and comprehensively training the administrative staff.