While embodying a strong entrepeneurial spirit, the Mirror Art Group is a charity organization relying on the donations and generosity of others to establish new projects that will produce their own revenues and support other, non-profit ventures. Many smaller projects rely entirely on the funds generated from within the Mirror Art Group and cash raised from the fundraising website.
The money raised also pays for scholarships for hilltribe children to attend secondary school. While government school may be free, books, uniform and transport to and from school are not. Many children whose villages are far from their schools have to spend the week in town, and have not the means to pay for their accomodation and living expenses. The scholarship fund finances all these costs, an average of $50 US per child per year.
In additiion to scholarships, two other emergency funds are maintained to lend money to villagers in time of acute need. The Traditional Culture Fund is a resource for villagers who must perform an expensive rectification ceremony (in the occasion of death or another inauspicious occurence) and do not have the cash on hand. A seperate fund intended to assist with medical emergencies is also available.
The Fundraising Project supplements these costs and helps boost the efforts of other programs by generating funds on the web site. This page keeps a database of over 10,000 generous individuals who the Mirror Art Group refers to as Volunteer Donors. Many of these are concerned people who do not have the time to volunteer as teachers but would still like to make some kind of contribution to the Mirror Art Group. The web page keeps track of the donors and sends newsletters to keep them abreast of developments advanced by their contributions. If you would like to know more about how you can make a contribution, please visit our How You Can Help page.
