The International Foundation for the Peaceful Elimination of Opium Crops (IFPEOC)

The International Foundation for the Peaceful Elimination of Opium Crops (IFPEOC) was established in 1998. The founder, Larry Chung, registered the IFPEOC in Quebec, Canada in 2021. Mr. Chung first entered the mountainous areas of northern Myanmar in 1995 where he became committed to supporting the people of the Golden Triangle to rise up from their isolated status. He encouraged the natives of the Wa autonomous state to abandon production of opium for their livelihood and to look to other social and economic ways to live. From the signing of an anti-drug declaration by the leadership in 1996, through the successful execution of an opium crops eradication initiative in 2005, the Foundation has worked to guide and support the leadership of the Wa Self-Administered Division in Myanmar to replace poppy cultivation with other crops.  Since 2012, the Foundation has often visited the Wa Region to review and study their activities. The Northern Wa region is host to thousands of ancient tea trees that are centuries and even thousands of years old. This is a precious natural resource is a lifeline for the Wa people. Since 2015, the Foundation has guided the work of developing production of ancient tree tea, including the adoption of trees on Tea Mountain in the Wa Region. The Foundation also oversees the construction of Hope Primary Schools to provide basic education for children in remote mountainous areas.  Contact at info@ifpeoc.org.

World Scholars Cup

The World Scholar’s Cup is an annual international academic program. More than 15,000 students from over 65 countries participate every year. The program was founded by DemiDec, in particular by Daniel Berdichevsky, in early 2006. The first World Scholar’s Cup took place in Korea in 2007: a small regional tournament hosted at the Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies. The first “global” round followed a few weeks later, bringing together students from Korea, Singapore, and the United States.

The idea behind the World Scholar’s Cup was to create something different than traditional academic competitions and conferences: a celebration of the joy of learning, a tournament as rewarding for the team that came in last as the for the team that came in first, an enrichment opportunity that motivated students not just to demonstrate their existing strengths but to discover new ones. From that small beginning--a “world finals” more aptly described as a “world starts”--the World Scholar’s Cup has grown to reach tens of thousands of students in dozens of countries.