Projects for Fiscal Year 2017–18—Part 4

By BGR Staff

16. India: Nutritional Support for Garden of Peace School
NEW PARTNER

White Lotus Trust, an affiliate of Lotus Outreach, is a grass roots level organization in India working toward the development of a common school system, seeking to ensure the Right To Quality Education, especially in government schools. The Trust runs a holistic educational program called Garden of Peace, which provides students with the traditional primary school curriculum, English and Tamil courses, training in meditation and in philosophies of non-violence. The program supplies the students with school uniforms, books and other materials, transportation, and nutritional support twice a day. All of these services are critical to the holistic enrichment of the students’ lives and the long-term sustainability of their educational commitment. The nutritional component is at the program’s core, especially considering that the facilities are situated on an organic farm. The students and their parents are involved in farm activities, helping to grow a portion of the food served to the students. The school serves morning and midday meals to all students, which creates a further incentive for the support of the children’s continued education.

The grant from BGR will cover nutritional support for 174 students and assorted staff members for an entire academic year. This funding will facilitate Garden of Peace’s holistic educational and wellness objectives.  The grant will go toward the purchase of food items for direct nutritional support for the students. This includes rice, ragi (finger millet), gur (a sugarcane product), vegetables, cereals, oil and spices, and other items for the provision of two meals daily for the students and assorted staff members.

17. Jamaica & Haiti: Nutritious Morning Meals for Young Children

The Trees That Feed Foundation was founded in 2008 and is currently run by two Jamaican natives, Mike and Mary McLaughlin. TTFF has worked in the Caribbean for over eight years and maintains an intimate working knowledge of the people, economies, and agricultural sectors of both Jamaica and Haiti. In Latin America and the Caribbean more than seven million children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition, which has a far-reaching negative impact on health and cognitive development. To address these challenges, TTFF has partnered with BGR on a school-feeding project in Haiti and Jamaica that provides children in both countries with nutritious, locally-sourced morning meals at their local schools. These meals will be produced by local small businesses. In addition to alleviating hunger, this model encourages a gradual increase in availability and accessibility of nutritious food within communities and a gradual decrease in reliance on continuous charitable food donations.

The key objectives of this project are: (1) to alleviate hunger, (2) to provide nutritious food for children in need, and (3) to build economic opportunity so communities can become self -sufficient. This project will provide approximately 36,000 meals to young schoolchildren at ten schools within Haiti and Jamaica. Each of the ten schools will be able to provide a breakfast meal to three classrooms of 30 children, about three times per week, for a full semester. This project will dovetail with other separately funded TTFF programs that help to build local markets for nutrient-rich food. Annually renewable project

18. Kenya: Improving Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition

Over half of Kenya’s population lives in poverty. Undernourishment is prevalent among children, affecting roughly 41% of children. It is a leading contributor to an infant mortality rate of close to 5%.  Kenya’s poor nutrition outcomes are the result of a complex interaction of factors. Poor health-seeking behaviors among pregnant women and caregivers of children exacerbate the problem. As a result, undernourished children and mothers are not identified and proven preventative treatments, such as vitamin A and iron folate supplementation and deworming medication, do not reach those who need them most.

BGR’s partner, Helen Keller International (HKI), is currently working in five counties in Western Kenya (Busia, Bungoma, Kakamega, Trans-Nzoya and West Pokot) to improve access, delivery, and utilization of essential nutrition-related services within a framework of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) programs. Kakamega County, which is densely populated with more than 1.6 million people and a poverty rate of over 50%, requires additional support if it is to succeed in improving health and nutrition outcomes for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable women and children. The grant from BGR, the second in a three-year project, extends the current HKI health and nutrition interventions in Kakamega County to address the crisis of infant and childhood mortality. The grant from BGR sustains the program in its entirety.

With this grant, HKI is working with the Ministry of Health and Action Against Hunger to design and deliver proven programs to reach mothers, infants, and children in need of assistance.  The project  will improve delivery of nutrition health services, as well as offer access and training at the community level.  HKI also works with the Kakamega County Health Management Team to assess and act on the results of a baseline survey they are designing and implementing. The program will have a direct beneficiary impact on 255,000 children and adults and an indirect benefit on an additional 380,000 community members. Second year of a three-year project

19. Kenya & Malawi: Grow Biointensive Sustainable Mini Farming for Improved Food Security and Nutrition

Our partner, Ecology Action of the Midpeninsula, founded in 1971 and based in California, disseminates the GROW BIOINTENSIVE system of agriculture worldwide through publications, classes, workshops, internships, apprenticeships, and outreach programs. GROW BIOINTENSIVE improves agricultural productivity and soil building methods, using less land area and water in degraded areas. Using this methodology, Ecology Action has helped start sustainable agriculture projects in Mexico, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, and elsewhere in Africa, providing solutions to the challenges confronting small farmers.

Drought conditions in Kenya and Malawi are worsening and were  recently declared a national disaster by Kenya’s President.  With support from BGR, Ecology Action will provide training in the GROW BIOINTENSIVE system to farmers in Malawi and Kenya, partnering with the Grow Biointensive Agricultural Centre of Kenya (G-BIACK). In Malawi, women  who are the primary victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis—and more specifically widows—are among the worst affected and most marginalized sectors in the country. Ephraim and Charity Chirwa train primarily widows and woman farmers at the Mbowe farm and in villages near Mzuzu city. The team also trains men, although in smaller numbers. Children of all ages assist their families in the production of food and are a critical part of the farming community.

Kenya’s Red Cross says 2.7 million people face starvation if more help is not provided. GROW BIOINTENSIVE is one of the few solutions available to the smallholder farmer in Kenya. It is reported that the G-BIACK mini-farm is one of the few properties in the area that is green and producing food successfully. In Kenya the G-BIACK team has started working in three new communities, Ngorongo, Maragua and Mangu B. They are aiming to train 200 farmers in each of these communities in 2017–18.

20. Nicaragua: Educational Sponsorship of Girls

BGR’s partner, the North Country Mission of Hope, is a spiritually-based humanitarian organization committed to fostering hope and empowering relationships with the people of Nicaragua. The organization is registered in the U.S. as a 501(c)3 and in Nicaragua as an NGO. Working with local community leaders, the Mission’s primary objective is to empower the people to help themselves.

The education of poor girls is a major aim of the Mission. In Nicaragua families with limited financial resources choose to send their sons rather than their daughters to school. This leaves another generation of young females uneducated and at increased risk of rape and childhood pregnancy. Mission of Hope aims to break the cycle of poverty by sponsoring the education of as many girls as financially possible. In partnership with Mission of Hope, BGR is sponsoring the education of 112 girls, including six who are attending university.

With BGR sponsorship, each student receives coverage of tuition and/or registration fees; the schoolbooks appropriate for their grade level; an insignia, which every student must have sewn on their school shirt; and the government-mandated school uniform, along with black shoes and white socks. Additionally, each student will receive bi-annual parasite medicine treatment and a free physical at the medical clinic located on the Mission of Hope compound in Chiquilistagua. Tutoring is available for girls who need additional assistance.  The goal is to encourage and empower the girls to complete their high school education and aspire to either vocational or university level.  Annually renewable project

21. Sri Lanka: Computer Skills Education for Girls from Low-Income Families

Founded in 1984 the vision of CENWOR—the Centre for Women’s Research—is gender equality and the empowerment of women in Sri Lanka. Its mission is to promote research, training, lobbying, advocacy, and monitoring gender-related issues facing women and girls in Sri Lanka. This current project with CENWOR provides access to skills development for approximately 60 girls selected from low-income families to equip them with employable vocational skills in computer technology and to facilitate their upward occupational mobility and socio-economic development.

The project financially supports:  (1)  approximately 20 women students in low-income families with the appropriate qualifications who are enrolled in the Diploma in Technical Education (level 5) and Advanced Diploma in Technical Education (level 6) programs of the state Colleges of Technology (COTs), located in each province; (2) approximately 20 women in low-income families enrolled in the second (Advanced Diploma level) year and the final year of the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) program conducted by the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC)—a fee-levying external degree program;  (3) approximately 10 women in low-income families enrolled in the fields of multi media and web technology, mechatronics technology, software technology, building services technology of the University of Vocational Studies (UNIVOTEC); (4) approximately 10 women in low-income families enrolled in the fields of Higher National Diploma in Quantity Surveying and Higher National Diploma in Engineering (Civil) at the Advanced Technical Institute (AIT), Galle. Additionally, gender sensitization programmes will be conducted to motivate the women to challenge negative gendered norms that limit their opportunities for upward career mobility. Annually renewable project

22. Sudan: Helping Farmers in South Darfur Affected by Conflict & Drought

This project with long-time BGR partner Oxfam America will be launched in the Belail locality of South Darfur, in Sudan. Sudan is affected by multiple crises: poverty, inequality, conflict, poor governance, drought, marginalization, and gender disparities. The main humanitarian needs in Sudan result from sporadic conflict coupled with natural drought. New and protracted conflict-related displacement has hindered access to basic services and disrupted livelihoods and food security, especially for rural people. Acute malnutrition in children under the age of 5 is above emergency thresholds in different areas across the country, and some 4.6 million food insecure people are in need of assistance.

Due to the protracted nature of the crisis in Darfur, it is essential to address food security needs as well as to build longer-term resilience through food security and livelihoods capacity building. This project aims to address the critical problem of food security by providing agricultural inputs and training on improved farming techniques to a total of 500 households (appx. 2,500 people).  Activities will include: meetings with community leaders to agree on beneficiary selection criteria and suitable types of crops and tools, provision of drought tolerant and early maturing cereal seeds (sorghum and millet), and suitable cash crop seeds (groundnut and watermelon) for self-reliant food production, provision of hand tools.

The project will train 200 farmers (100 male and 100 female) on water harvesting techniques suitable to their land type, to enable them better utilize rainwater to increase crop yield per unit area. This training will also be associated with general agricultural extension skills such as seed selection, planting time, planting density, tillage, mulching, integrated pest control, and proper weeding.