East Meets West (non-governmental organization)

East Meets West, known in the United States as Thrive Networks, is an international non-governmental organization that creates evidence-based programs and technologies in health, water, sanitation, and education for people in Asia and Africa. It was founded in 1988 by author and humanitarian Le Ly Hayslip and is based in Oakland, California, USA.

It operates in the fields of healthcare, education, and clean water and sanitation aiming to help people in Asia to achieve self-sufficiency.

Among the key programs are: providing low-income children with education, clean water, and medical care, a surgery program to heal heart defects in children (Operation Healthy Heart), a scholarship program to improve educational outcomes (SPELL), a dental program, support for children with disabilities, and a clean water and sanitation program.

In 2011, it invested over US$13 million in its programs. East Meets West has a four-star rating and was listed as one of the "10 Charities Expanding in a Hurry" on Charity Navigator.

In 2014, EMW relaunched in the United States as Thrive Networks.

History
From Le Ly's early projects - Mothers Love Pediatric Clinic and Peace Village Medical Center - East Meets West emerged as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Vietnam, which realized many socially important projects in the country.

In 1993, East Meets West received a grant from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and constructed the Village of Hope, a shelter and safe haven for 136 needy children from Central Vietnam.

Since 1998 the organization in partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies has participated in building of Vietnam's medical and educational infrastructure, including university libraries and general hospitals, including a 200-bed cardiovascular center in Huế and a twelve-story English Language training center in Da Nang.

In 2003, John Anner left the Independent Press Association to head East Meets West.

In 2006, East Meets West co-organized medical equipment donations for Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi.

In 2008, EMW began its expansion to Laos, Cambodia, and Timor Leste, with subsequent programming in the Philippines, India, and Myanmar.

In 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded East Meets West a US$10.9 million grant to improve sanitation and hygiene practices among the rural poor in Vietnam and Cambodia.

In 2013, EMW and Blue Planet Network signed a definitive agreement to merge, bringing together EMW's “pay for performance” water and sanitation programs and Blue Planet Network's online collaboration and impact analysis platform.

In 2014, EMW relaunched in the United States as Thrive Networks but continues to operate as East Meets West in Asia. Thrive Networks adopts a new nonprofit business model: using mergers and shared ventures to increase impact.

In 2015, after 13 years with EMW/Thrive Networks, John Anner stepped down as CEO.

In 2016, EMW Vietnam welcomed a new Country Director, Loan Duong.

Education programs
The Scholarship Program to Enhance Learning and Literacy (SPELL) program provides 10-year scholarships to children from Vietnam's poorest families.

The anti-trafficking ADAPT program, implemented by EMW's partner Pacific Links Foundation, works to stop trafficking at the source by providing vulnerable girls with resources.

The School Construction program builds primary schools and kindergartens in rural areas so more children can attend school. Vietnam does not have enough schools to meet the needs of its population EMW has also helped fill in the gaps in Vietnam's higher education system by building key educational facilities such as university libraries, research centers, and sports complexes.

Village of Hope is EMW's disadvantaged children's center that provides children from the most difficult circumstances with a safe haven where they receive a full education, job training, and skills to help them reintegrate into society.

Healthcare programs
Through the healthcare programs, EMW provides direct assistance to individuals, supports families, trains medical staff, and works to improve systemic capacity by developing and constructing improved medical facilities.

The Breath of Life (BOL) neo-natal health program treats over 50,000 babies a year through appropriate technologies. BOL provides custom-designed, low-cost equipment to hospitals, and targeted training to medical personnel, to save the lives of infants suffering from common newborn pathologies. To ensure sustainability, BOL works to strengthen linkages with local health authorities to involve them in integrating these technologies into the larger health system. EMW's neonatal health model was adapted and replicated to serve Laos, Cambodia, and Timor Leste in 2008 and more recently in India, Myanmar, and the Philippines. BOL formed a major partnership with GE Healthcare in 2011.

The EMW Dental Program serves 15,000 Vietnamese children annually through its modern dental clinic, school dental trailer, and rural outreach project that utilizes portable field equipment. The program recently treated its 100,000th patient.

The Operation Healthy Heart program addresses the most common birth defect, congenital heart disease, by providing lifesaving cardiac surgery to critically ill children. In addition, EMW provides training to medical staff in numerous hospitals.

EMW provides a comprehensive support system for the disabled through its Support Network for People with Disabilities (SN-PWD) and its INSPIRE Sports program. Many of these disabilities are caused by exposure to Agent Orange and dioxin, an issue EMW is addressing through a new campaign of healing for Agent Orange survivors.

EMW builds key medical institutions that are a crucial link between our grassroots development programs and large-scale capacity building. In the past decade, with major support from Atlantic Philanthropies, EMW has invested over $50 million in building large-scale hospitals in Vietnam.

In 2015, Embrace, a non-profit organization founded at Stanford University in 2008 to treat newborns suffering from hypothermia, joined Thrive Networks’ healthcare programs. EMW/Thrive's health portfolio strategy and scope of work were refined to focus on newborn health.



Clean water and sanitation
Through the Clean Water & Sanitation Program, EMW provides a sustainable water supply to communities and ensures that the local people are fully invested in the project. To maximize the health benefits, EMW incorporates a hygiene and sanitation training component to address the need for improved sanitation, another critical public health issue.

Accountability and results of the EMW water system model are insured by the Output-Based Approach, where funders such as the World Bank provide reimbursement for a water system only after its functionality is tested and a requisite number of household connections verified. While most villagers pay for their monthly water usage, the program subsidizes the costs of pipe connections and fees for water delivery to the neediest through its “Poorest of the Poor” program.

The program's critical sanitation component supports hygiene behavioral change by promoting awareness of practices such as hand washing, installing hand washing stations in schools, and building hygienic latrines in communities with existing EMW water systems.

To date, EMW has helped finance the construction of 12,500 latrines in partnership with Watershed Asia and USAID. Since the Clean Water & Sanitation Program's inception, EMW has built over 200 water systems and brought improved sanitation to almost 62,500 people.

EMW received a US$10.9 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve sanitation and hygiene practices among the rural poor in Vietnam and Cambodia. EMW's program will benefit 1.7 million people in 344,000 households and 290 communes in Vietnam and Cambodia while working with local organizations, government partners, banks, and private enterprises. The grant uses a results-based approach to sanitation and hygiene aid, which requires an initial investment from recipient families and communes, and then rewards them when results are achieved.

Partners and Funding
EMW partners with government organizations, international organizations, foundations, local associations, hospitals, and educational institutions to enhance the quality of their programs and expand their scope and impact. Key partnerships include GE Healthcare, Design that Matters, Blue Planet Network, VNHELP, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, Osprey Packs, Masimo, International Children Assistance Network (ICAN), Evidence Action, Design that Matters, MTTS, and Pacific Links.

EMW receives funding support from government agencies, foundations, corporations, and individuals. Key funding includes The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Global Partnership on Output-based Aid, USAID, AusAID, Irish Aid, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Lemelson Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Boeing Company, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wellcome Trust and Dubai Cares.

Geographic areas served
Thrive Networks/East Meets West is currently serving communities in nine countries throughout Asia and Africa, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, the Philippines, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Benin, and Uganda.