Empowerment projects
All the projects we support today and in the past are focused on empowerment. Our aim is to provide help and relief right now through health and development programmes that will ultimately bring independence to the communities involved.
Empowerment means helping people to get the skills and training then need as well as supporting practical considerations such as construction and equipment. Many of the projects we support involve seminars and workshops that help the local communities to attain the right level of skills, how to work with money, and how to establish a small business.
When we began in 1994, the number of projects we funded each year could be counted on one hand! But today we support a wide range of needs.
In 2018 we funded the nutritional nursery school programmes we are operating in two countries – Northern Kenya and Ethiopia. Comprising 29 nutritional nursery schools, these cater for over 2,000 children aged between two and six, who will each receive two healthy meals a day, as well as basic nursery education. Our commitment to education is significant and we are running a number of programmes, one especially focused on girls’ education, given the importance, especially for the Nomadic population, that the families permit their girls to go to school. We are also running a major educational programme in Ethiopia for young people, and in addition to a number of other programmes there, we are educating over 50 children through sponsorship programmes whilst also supporting a primary school run by our partner group.
Water is always key and requires larger programmes. We have been running one major water programme that is sponsored by the States of Guernsey Development Fund which enables water to be provided for the extensive herds that the Nomadic pastoralists keep; their animals being a primary representation of their wealth.
We are running three health and welfare projects in Turkana and the Philippines. These are very important in providing basic healthcare, especially for young children and mothers, given that there is no government provided infrastructure in the areas in which we are operating.
A major part of our budget in 2018 related to three infrastructure projects. Firstly, in South West Ethiopia, where we are reaching out to support the Nyangatom tribe of semi-Nomadic pastoralists. Additionally, we are engaged in building latrines at schools in Malawi, and are helping to build a new school in Ecuador.
