Oriel
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Sunlight from an arched window falls across a peach plaster wall painted with the word oriel

Oriel Foundation — Light for learning. Glass for giving.

Light for learning. Glass for giving.

明窗基金會

In formation · Not taking donations yet

We are a foundation in the making for families who need a hand and the children we love. We start with learning, add everyday support for children and for families who are struggling to get by, and grow toward the roads, buildings and schools a community needs.

Join the founding circleRead the plan

Founding stage. We are not taking donations yet. Giving opens once the foundation is registered, and every transaction will be public from the first one.

Learn, live, build

Three steps, in this order. We take the next one only when the one before it works and a local partner asks for it.

  1. 01

    Learn

    Tutoring, books, school supplies, reading corners and scholarships, run with local teachers.

  2. 02

    Live

    Meals, clean water, health checks, a safe way to school, and living support for families having the hardest time. The things that decide whether a child keeps showing up.

  3. 03

    Build

    Classrooms, libraries, toilets, safe paths and, when a community asks for it, a whole school.

Proof, not promises

Charity runs on trust. We want ours to run on records anyone can check.

A public wallet
Gifts in stablecoins and crypto go to one published address. Anyone can follow them on a block explorer.
Spending you can trace
Each payout is linked to a receipt, the partner who received it and what it paid for.
Reports people can read
Every quarter, a short report in English and Korean, with the on-chain record next to it.

Card and bank gifts will be welcome too, and logged on the same record. How transparency will work

The ledger so far

We keep our own progress the way we will keep every gift: in order, dated, and public. Each block is a set of things we actually finished.

  1. Block 0

    • Name chosen: Oriel Foundation (明窗基金會)
    • Website, plan and field journal published
    • Safeguarding and transparency principles written
    • CHAINBRIEF signs on as media partner
    • QURATOR pledges a share of its revenue

How we work

Local people lead

Teachers, parents and community groups on the ground decide what is needed. We fund and support; we don't parachute in.

Children are never the attraction

No orphanage visits, no short trips to play with kids, no volunteer left alone with a child. We send skills, not sightseers.

Every photo has consent

We photograph with a guardian's written consent, never at a child's lowest moment, and we never publish where a child lives.

Small first, then bigger

One community and one partner before we take on a second. Buildings come only after the programs inside them work.

Read our safeguarding policy

Where we are going

  1. Oct–Dec 2026 Now

    Founding

    Charter, advisers, a first local partner, and the paperwork to register as a nonprofit.

  2. Jan 2027

    Public launch

    The journal and social channels go live and the founding circle opens.

  3. 2027

    First programs

    One community, one partner: learning support, everyday basics and living support for families in need, with the first on-chain reports.

  4. 2028 onward

    Build

    Classrooms, libraries, water and safe routes to school, built with the communities we already know.

Field journal

Notes, photos and numbers from the work, posted as it happens.

See every post

Column

Essays on giving, volunteering and keeping a public record: what we believe, and why.

All columns
  1. No. 3How a small foundation will work: local first, and a failure reportMost aid money still bypasses the local groups who do the work. Before we choose our first partner, here is how we plan to pick, trust and report on them, misses included.
  2. No. 2Glass for giving: what we will put on the recordTrust in charities is low, and people say they need it before they give. Here is what we will publish, from the first transaction, so trust can be checked rather than asked for.
  3. No. 1How we will visit: small, slow and on the recordWe plan one field visit every quarter. Before the first one, here are the rules we will keep when we get there.

Notes

What we are reading on giving, children's education and on-chain transparency. Every item links to its source.

All notes
  1. No. 4Who gets to grade the workA climate warning that reaches into classrooms, a Hong Kong forum on Asian giving, and an aid system that rates itself more kindly than the people it serves.
  2. No. 3The long viewA Mangyan teacher and a physics teacher honoured in the Philippines, and a co-founder of Child's Dream on whether small work is "a drop in the ocean".
  3. No. 2Trust is something you write downA regulator's new crypto fundraising guide, a gap between trust in nonprofits and in philanthropy, and a short list of what volunteers should never do.

Partners

CHAINBRIEFCHAINBRIEF, a crypto news outlet, is our media partner and will report our progress gift by gift.

QURATORQURATOR, an art docent service from the same founders, has pledged a share of its revenue. Its gifts begin once we are registered and will be recorded in our public ledger.

We are looking for a first local partner, in Korea or abroad: a school, community group or registered NGO already working with children.

Talk to us about partnering

Open the first window with us

Join the founding circle and we'll write to you when giving opens, when we pick our first community, and when there's a way to help that fits what you do.

Join the founding circleAsk on Telegram