The World In Harmony web site will be available soon. The following is a synopsis of what World In Harmony has attempted to accomplish over the past twelve months. The tragedy of the Afghan refugees compelled us to seek a way to alleviate their horrendous suffering. Thanks to Professor Muhammad Yunus, President of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, an innovative institution which provides micro-credits to the poor, World In Harmony is collaborating in a project to help Afghan refugee women. Our donation has been converted into a revolving fund project to provide loans to approximately 1,000 Afghan refugee women. Grameen Trust will monitor the use of the fund and make sure it reaches those for whom it is destined. We also contributed to an humanitarian aid mission carried out by the Spanish Red Cross, financing the cost of 1,475 blankets and 3,384 plastic containers for water, which were air freighted to the region in early November last year. In collaboration with the Greek Orthodox Archbishopric of Athens, World In Harmony has provided subsidies to numerous families, victims of the earthquake which Athens suffered in September 1999, as well as to poor families living in East Tracia. The Archdiocese of Athens carried out the distribution of subsidies. We were also pleased to continue our collaboration with the Contemporary Education Foundation of Istanbul, whose student dormitories were destroyed by the devastating earthquake which affected the region of Marmara in August 1999. We have continued our collaboration with the Philani Nutrition Project of South Africa, a community-based child health and nutrition organization operating mainly in the outskirts of Cape Town. World In Harmony assumed the cost of the milk requirements for seven pre-schools at the Philani nutrition centers. In addition, World In Harmony has contributed to the Education & Development Programme of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, whose primary objective is to change the focus of young people from "job seeking", to entrepreneurial development and wealth creation; thus empowering youth skills that enable them to participate in the formal employment sector and discourage them from participating in criminal activities. World In Harmony has collaborated, again this year, with the Ila Trust, Medicare and Rehabilitation Multi-Service Centre which, since 1994, provides medical facilities free-of-charge, to the weakest segments of society (predominantly the victims of stigmatic diseases such as AIDS), in the areas of Eastern India. In addition, Ila Trust provides professional training in handicrafts and local artisanal skills, which provide a means of income generation. We congratulate them for the inspirational work they are performing. We are happy to inform you that we continue our collaboration in the ALBOREAR Project, together with BASF SPAIN, which the Parish of St. Pius X is carrying out to help disadvantaged young people living in extremely precarious conditions in marginal, conflictive neighborhoods on the southern outskirts of Sevilla, and who are exposed to high-risk situations. Thanks to the generosity of our devoted donors, the annual educational expenses for 30 young people enrolled in the ALBOREAR programme have been funded by World In Harmony. Finally, in Vietnam, Dr. Tran Xuan Hoai, Director of the Vietnam National Center of Sciences and Technology / Institute for Applied Physics and Scientific Instruments, has finally been able to start up his Interactive Learning Stations Project -consisting of two classrooms for education and training-, to be realized over a two-year period. This pilot project is oriented towards improving knowledge about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases among primary health-care workers of the communities in the region of the Mekong River delta and in the mountainous areas of Central Vietnam. We take this opportunity to thank the CODESPA Foundation for conducting the supervision and making on-site evaluation of the progress of this wonderful project, which World In Harmony is carrying out thanks to a grant from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, and to congratulate Dr. Hoai for his tireless efforts to ensure the success of this project. We are deeply grateful to all our generous donors who make our projects a blessing for the beneficiaries. Irene, Princess of Greece President (abridged by the Greek Royal Family Office, London) Back to Irene... View more profiles of the Greek Monarchy... Click here to view the family tree...