Projects for Fiscal Year 2017–18—Part 3

By BGR Staff

10. Haiti: A School Feeding Program for Students in Jacmel

BGR’s partner in this project, the Art Creation Foundation for Children (ACFFC), is a US-based organization (founded 1999) whose mission is “to build a passionate community of future leaders, visionaries and dynamic thinkers who are empowered to better their lives and their world through the arts and education in Jacmel, Haiti.” The partnership with BGR will provide the students at ACFFC with at least one nutritious, filling meal per day on each of the six days of the week they attend school. Many children in Haiti will not attend daily education programs if meals are not a component of the program. For many of the students enrolled at ACFFC, the meals they receive there are their only opportunity to eat. Without the feeding program many of the children would spend their days either looking for food or working rather than attending school or being part of an art program. The feeding program is implemented by the staff of three kitchen personnel who prepare a minimum of 360 meals per week. BGR’s grant covers about a third of the total budget for the program. Annually renewable program

11. Haiti: Improved Production and Diversification of Crops in the Artibonite Valley

This project, with our partner Oxfam America, supports improved rice production and backyard vegetable gardening in the Artibonite Valley in Haiti. Agricultural activity is one of the main sources of income for this population, focused on rice produced in the Artibonite Valley. Attempts to increase the production of rice face structural constraints. In spite of this, Oxfam has worked for approximately five years to help smallholder producers to develop the potential for rice cultivation and maintain the livelihoods of poor families. Previous projects have encouraged the adoption of innovative farming practices such as the Sustainable Rice Intensification (SRI) techniques, irrigation, post-harvest improvements, and improving production practices in vegetable gardening.

The proposed project will leverage the grant from Buddhist Global Relief to expand upon existing activities in the small rural community of Délogner, in the third communal section of Petite-Rivière. This vulnerable population (pop. 5,139, 90% poverty rate, 50% food insecure) experienced a flood in January 2017, which nearly annihilated agricultural production, their primary means of subsistence. By reinforcing ongoing efforts in response to this recent shock, the project will directly reach 224 beneficiaries through a suite of activities including SRI training, establishment of an agricultural credit fund, rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructures (5 km of canals), agricultural diversification with backyard vegetable gardening, provision of specialized SRI equipment and plastic sheeting for drying of harvested rice, establishment of collective local nurseries, and local partner capacity building.

12. Haiti: Meals for Hungry Kids in Port-au-Prince

This project continues our long-time partnership with the U.S.-based What If? Foundation, which works in Haiti through its partner on the ground, Na Rive, to provide life-sustaining nutrition to children in the Ti Plas Kazo Community of Port-au-Prince. For many children Na Rive’s Lamanjay food program continues to provide their only substantial meal of the day, and many children will walk miles just to receive this meal. Between 500 and 750 meals are distributed each weekday. Each hot meal includes a portion of rice, beans, vegetables and a piece of protein. Preparations for the day’s meal begin at 7:00 am in the kitchen at the Father Jeri School, which began operation in September 2016. The school now houses a fully equipped kitchen where all the food is prepared. The program is helping to support the children’s physical and cognitive development and to nutritionally support their parents as well.  Annually renewable project

13. Haiti: A School for the Children of Ti Plaz Kaso, Port-au-Prince

The Father Jeri School opened its doors in September 2016 and is offering children in the Ti Plas Kazo community in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a wonderful opportunity—to receive a quality, affordable education. The building is clean, filled with natural light, structurally sound and designed to be an environment for learning. The school provides a challenging academic curriculum along with real world learning outside of the classroom and opportunities for leadership and civic engagement. The physical space and curriculum, in combination with the commitment from teachers, students, and families, is providing a unique educational opportunity for poor Haitian children. The grant from BGR, administered through the What If? Foundation, is the second in a three-year project. The purposes of the grant are as follows: (1) Ensuring that salaries are competitive to help retain a quality teaching and administrative staff. (2) Installing a water pump to get water from the underground tank that collects groundwater to the tank on the roof, which supplies every room in the school with water, including the bathrooms and kitchen. (3) Purchasing four laptop computers for administrative staff and teachers. (4) Providing school supplies to ensure that teachers have the materials they need to create a strong learning environment. This includes paper, pens, chalk, and books. Year two of a three-year project

14. India: A Girls’ Home and Women’s Social Service Center

This grant to BGR’s partner, the Bodhicitta Foundation, will help to sponsor the education and training of 30 teenage girls in danger of child marriage or unable to finish high school and university due to poverty. This will be the second such three-year program implemented by Bodhicitta with financial support from BGR. The girls have been brought from some of the poorest regions in India. They are being instructed in nursing, social work, and law as well as in job training so they can become agents of change and help others when they return to their villages. Through the grant, the girls will receive school fees, clothes, shelter, books and all their other expenses.

The women’s social services center will offer legal help to women facing divorce, domestic violence, and land disputes as well as job training to poor women in sewing, computers, English, beauty therapies, and so on. The legal service is offered for free by the previous batch of girls trained as lawyers and social workers. Bodhicitta’s food program makes 6,000 meals per year for undernourished slum children. On top of this Bodhicitta offers youth groups, counseling, health and human rights workshops, and interventions.

15. India: Prosperity through Resilient Agriculture in Uttar Pradesh

This is the second year of this project, “Prosperity through Resilient Agriculture,” with BGR partner Oxfam India. The project aims to improve the food and livelihood security of women farmers. The project is supported entirely by BGR. Through the program, women farmers will obtain increased access to government schemes and inputs and adopt climate resilient agriculture practices for improved agricultural output. The goal of the project is to contribute to increased resilience and improved income of smallholder farmers, especially women.

In five core villages in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, intensive work will be done with women farmers, with focus on self-financed agriculture development initiatives of women farmers.  The project area is populated primarily by marginalized Dalit and poorly educated and landless people. Five farmers’ field schools (FFS) will be established in strategic locations for accelerating spread of improved agricultural practices. A women farmer’s collective will be formed and strengthened in core villages to carry forward self-managed agriculture initiatives and advocacy for policy and practice changes. An intensive mobilization will be done in the core and peripheral villages of the project area to advocate for increased minimum support price (MSP) of crops. Women farmers’ support centers will be established for timely and efficient agricultural works and farmers groups will be trained in climate resilient agriculture (CRA) practices to minimize crop failures and improve production. Year two of a three-year project