The Pendulum Project

Pendulum Project Granted Official NGO Status;
-- Becomes Registered Non-Governmental Agency After 5 years Providing Essential Support to Burgeoning African Population of Orphans and Children Affected by HIV/AIDS --

CAMBRIDGE, MA. —September 25, 2006-- The Pendulum Project, a non-profit humanitarian organization that helps families and communities care for, support, and protect orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi, a sub-Saharan African country that has been hard hit by AIDS, announced today that it has been granted official NGO status.

The Pendulum Project is a non-profit humanitarian organization that helps families and communities care for, support, and protect orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi, a sub-Saharan African country, where the AIDS epidemic is raging. In Malawi, the eighth poorest nation in the world, the number of orphans and children at risk is growing exponentially. We empower local, “on the ground” Malawi-based organizations that need help doing the hard work necessary to combat poverty, disease, and human suffering. With offices in both the United States and Malawi, The Pendulum Project provides frontline, hands-on, tangible resources – the small grants, personnel support, training, basic technology, and medical supplies that give these orphaned and vulnerable children a fighting chance to overcome the devastating effects of this pandemic.

“Malawi is in a desperate battle for survival,” said Ellen McCurley, Executive Director of the Pendulum Project. “We feel passionately that this is the day we need to turn this horrible human tragedy around. We believe there is a way to build that bridge – to pass the generous resources and goodwill of donors more directly to those who are so obviously in need.”

The work of The Pendulum Project is based on the conviction that what the caregivers in Malawi need are partners – partners in hope, advocacy and resource procurement. Its work is based on the belief that these organizations should be self-managed, with a stake in their own development and well-being. Aid should go to worthy, indigenous development projects, aimed at both short and long term relief, spurring the formation of community-based initiatives; that these organizations and the people who run them are the key to sustainable social change and economic development.

Boston Globe Article: ‘Going the Distance’
Ellen McCurley, co-founder and Executive Director of The Pendulum Project, was featured in a recent Boston Globe article entitled “Going the Distance”. Read the full story, click here.

Boston.com Article: 'I'm one of six children. I'm the only one left.'
To read the 2003 Boston Globe article featuring Ellen McCurley and the ongoing crisis in Malawi, click here.

Ellen McCurley featured at Holy Cross.
Ellen McCurley spoke in early November to students at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. To read about her presentation on the effects of violence on children in Africa, click here.

Elizabeth Sheehan Hosts Educational Fundraiser Party.
On Saturday November 5th, The Pendulum Project participated in a grassroots, parlor or "house" party hosted by US Board Chairperson Elizabeth Sheehan, a former Physicians Assistant who has seen the realities of Africa while working on the ground. Liz gathered their friends, family and neighbors to educate them about the work being done on the ground in Africa by The Pendulum Project. Ellen McCurley, co-founder and Executive Director, spoke about the crucial role community-based programs fill in the impoverished communities where Pendulum works. Ellen's son Jim, who recently spent a month with Ellen in Malawi, Liz Sheehan, and undergradute Matt Basilico, President of the Harvard AIDS Coalition, also spoke. Former Director of US Operations and photographer/film-maker John Alberts presented his short film featuring children from one of The Pendulum Project's partner community based organizations. The audience, made up of approximately seventy-five people ranging in ages from sixteen to sixty, also viewed video interviews with three different care-takers from projects supported by The Pendulum Project. We would like to say a special thanks to Liz Sheehan for warmly opening her home to our work. We ecourage others interested in getting involved with Pendulum to host a house party, big or small, to continue spreading the word about AIDS in Africa and a commitment to bring about change.

Pendulum Project’s Speaking Schedule
The Pendulum Project is looking forward to an active winter speaking to a number of diverse audiences. Executive Director Ellen McCurley will speak at Holy Cross College Center for Peace and Conflict, the Holy Cross AIDS Compassion and Awareness Week, Assumption College, Easton Middle School, Northborough First Parish Church Unitarian, Worcester Medical Center through the Fallon Foundation, and other locaitons throughout the Boston and New York City areas. Please contact us at info@pendulumproject.org if you would be interested in having The Pendulum Project come and speak at your company, school or place of worship about our work with children who are orphaned or made vulnerable by the AIDS pandemic in Africa.

The Pendulum Project Forms Alliance with Face-to-Face AIDS
The face-to-Face AIDS team came to Malawi with a goal to use the art of film and photograpy to capture teh amazing stories of people being played out amidst the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
After four weeks of filming and living with community-based organizations partnered with The Pendulum Project in Malawi, Project Director Ken Wong, Shawn Hainsworth, Eric Hevitch, Ron Warren, and Patrick Bowers returned to the U.S. to tell the story of every-day malawians and began assembling a new film and photo mosaic exhibit. The project, called "Face-to-Face malawi," presents a unique opportunity for the American public to experience what it is like to live in a country where HIV/AIDS, along with poverty, malaria, and TB, touches every aspect of life.
The photo mosaic exhibit will launch at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA on November 28th and then be moved to Boston Medical Center for World AIDS Day on December 1st. For more information on how you can suppoort FAce-to-Face projects or how you can bring it to your area, please contact Ken Wong. Email:director@facetofaceaids.org or visit www.facetofaceaids.org.