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TogetherTHE NEWSLETTER OF FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY UK
AUTUMN 2019
Walking
BIKORIMANA
EQUIPPED
TO FLO
URISH
Welcome MessageOne of the oldest monastic documents is the ‘Rule of St. Augustine’. Within it, the theologian and philosopher outlined how he believed a Christian should live. He wrote;
“Those who have the strength to lead simple lives should consider themselves the richest of people. For it is better to be able to make do with a little than to have plenty.”
As we start new programmes in Burundi and Kenya this coming October - which you can read about in this
newsletter - our prayer is that we can impact on the character of people so that they can flourish as God intended.
We have made bold commitments to support tens of thousands of people on a journey of discovering and applying their God given gifts, and we would love you to join this adventure with us.Our local teams on the ground need all our support, encouragement and prayer if they are to lead these communities
out of abject poverty - through the application of biblical principles.
Please do email or call me if you would like to chat through how you or your church can be involved in our work. The amazing truth is that we can all learn so much about God’s purpose for us by observing the joy of those who learn to live simply.
God bless you!
Warmest Regards.
As this newsletter is being written, we are preparing for a very special event that will be taking place on Thursday 5th September in London. Hosted by the UK Ambassador for the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Ernest Ndabashinze, our FH Burundi Country Director, Jerry Kazadi, will be presenting the launch of our new child-focused programme, “Equipped to Flourish”.
This five-year programme will expand our work across the nine hill communities in Mwumba, in order to improve the living
conditions of all children and other vulnerable adults.
In Burundi, over half of children under five are severely malnourished - leading to stunted physical and mental development. This malnutrition, along with Malaria and other water related diseases, are major causes of child mortality.
Our goal is to implement a variety of health, nutrition, education, food security and livelihood projects throughout the whole area. In order to achieve this, we will need to raise £1,000,000 over the next five years.
We know this sounds like a big ask, but we see proof every day of how these kinds of projects really can help transform communities from striving to thriving;
This is Bikorimana, a 10-year-old boy whose
BURUNDI LAUNCHSeeing Transformation in Mwumba
Food for the Hungry UK - 47 Burgess Wood Road South, Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 1ELPhone: 01494 674898 Email: [email protected] Web: www.fh.org Registered Charity No. 328273We are a Christian international development organisation that has been walking with the poor globally since 1971. We tackle the root causes in order to graduate communities out of poverty.Contributors: Copywriting: Sarah & James Smart (The Smart Solutions Co.),
Design: John Tromans (X313 Design). All images are used with permission.
Paul CorneliusUK CEO01494 [email protected].
2 Walking Together www.fh.org Walking Together www.fh.org 3
We know what can be achieved.Will you walk with us over the next five years to see more and more lives transformed just as Bikorimana and Anitha’s have been?
To make a donation today, please use the response form on the inside back cover and designate your gift for Burundi.
For further information on the programme and how you can be involved:Please email us at [email protected] or call 01494 674898.
family are farmers. His frequent sicknesses caused by parasitic worm infections, were a frustration for him and his parents. Food for the Hungry helps to provide the medicine for the government run deworming campaign in which Bikorimana participated.
Now he has been treated, new infections will be prevented and the burden on Bikorimana’s family and the whole community is reduced. He is getting stronger every day and can begin to participate in his school activities.
Anitha is a farmer who lives with her husband and four children. Like most rural women in this area, Anitha had limited knowledge of good nutrition for herself or her family. She told us;
“Malnutrition is a very big issue in my community; I wanted to go back my father’s home as I was growing weaker because of lack of food. We hardly got even one meal a day. My son Romeo suffered from malnutrition when he was 9 years old. We were very disappointed and felt so much stress while facing this challenging situation.”
Food for the Hungry started teaching on hygiene and nutrition in Anitha’s
community, which she attended. She is now an elected representative of her cascade group. She continued;
“After the training my mindset has completely changed, and I started applying knowledge gained in my everyday life which led me into a positive transformation in my family.”
Anitha was taught about restorative agriculture and now farms beans, maize, sweet potatoes, rice, cassava and bananas! The harvest keeps her family full and healthy as well as providing a steady income for all their other needs.
The support Shamim has received through our child sponsorship programme has changed the course of her life.
This is the reason that FH exists. We seek to give the poorest children an opportunity to build a future and a hope for themselves, their families and their communities.Well done, Shamim!
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
Child sponsorship gives Shamim a future and a hope.Shamim is from one of our communities in Uganda. Having completed her secondary education, she has now moved on to vocational training.
Recently she sent a letter to her UK sponsor
CHILD SPONSORSHIP IN UGANDA
ANITHA
Walking Together www.fh.org 54 Walking Together www.fh.org
One good thing leads to another in KenyaHere at FH, we have learnt from experience that a well-functioning livestock market leads to more trade, higher income for farmers, improved child nutrition and better education.
In the desperately dry regions of Northern Kenya, climate change and neglect have threatened the nomadic communities dependent on livestock for their livelihood. We are pleased to say
that the UK government have agreed to finance a new project addressing this.
The FH team on the ground in Kenya will be working to improve the efficiency of two livestock markets in Moyale and Jirime, benefiting 35,000 families living in the area.
This work will complement other community transformation activities; from training women in business skills to educating farmers in how to get fair prices for their livestock.
UK government recognises our workEarlier this year, the Department for International Development (DFID) commissioned representatives to visit FH’s work in Uganda. We were complimented on our work in Namutumba District and invited to speak at a DFID learning event in Nairobi. Ian Johnson from UKFH and Alex Odongo from FH Uganda explained how incorporating beneficiary feedback into projects adds to impact. This is at the heart of FH’s work – empowering communities to manage their own development and journey out of poverty.
Uganda Success StoryEdith grows cassava, maize, vegetables and groundnuts on her three acres of land, which she then sells at the market. Her husband Richard is a long way from home earning a modest wage as a teacher so most of the household responsibilities must be met by Edith. She learned about the need for a diverse diet for her 3 children through FH’s nutrition education programme. By following post-harvest handling methods introduced by FH, Edith has vastly cut down wastage and has been able to store her produce safely until market prices are higher. She now has enough money to buy more varieties of vegetables to feed her children and reinvest money into her business. She is also able to pay into a savings scheme to cover future medical needs.
Post-Harvest HandlingFollowing the late, but heavy rains in Namutumba (East Central Uganda), gathering in the harvest was not the last hurdle. It needed drying and storing away from the ravages of weevils, rats and mould. Farmers in the district have previously experienced losses of up to 40% between harvesting and selling. In order to sell grain quickly before it spoiled, farmers in the area resorted to undercutting each other in the marketplace – which sadly drove prices lower and lower.
Intervention from FH - which included setting up savings and loan schemes - plus another grant from DFID,
enabled farmers to buy air-tight, plastic or steel containers for storage of grain helping extend the life of their harvest and ensuring they received a fair price at market.
Department for International DevelopmentIn Kenya In Uganda
Walking Together www.fh.org 76 Walking Together www.fh.org
Mozambique AppealTHANK YOU SO MUCH!In the last edition of Walking Together we shared an urgent appeal for emergency relief in Mozambique after the devastation of Cyclone Idai. We are pleased to let you know that your generosity meant we were able to contribute over £15,000 to help those left homeless and vulnerable.
The FH office was right on the ground in the area and so were able to start helping immediately. In partnership with the Mozambique government, the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF, we began distributing food and hygiene items. We were able to help 1174 households within the first few days alone.
Of course, your prayers for the area are still needed. Although there is no longer any coverage on the news, the people of Mozambique are still trying to get their lives as back to normal as possible. The rebuilding and the battle against disease goes on.
As we all know, washing your hands after visiting the bathroom is one of the first basic lessons we teach our children and the obvious benefits are taken for
granted, as are the facilities to carry out this simple exercise in sanitation. But what if you had no access to a proper toilet or a sink and water for washing?
What if you had not even received any teaching on basic hygiene?
The reality for the communities in Godagari, a sub-district in Bangladesh - known for having the lowest access to sanitation in the country - mirrored the scenario mentioned above. Only 19% of families had access to latrines or clean water. The nearest pond was the only place to wash and drink, while a nearby field was used for open defecation. It is no wonder that sickness and diarrhoea were rampant.
Working in line with the Bangladeshi Government water and sanitation goals, Food for the Hungry initiated the construction of 42 latrines, which consisted of a porcelain toilet with water access, a septic tank and a handwashing station enclosed with a brick wall, tin roof and concrete floor. 23 tubewells were also constructed – these function by the use of a pump to draw water beneath the ground to the surface.
Providing clean water and sanitation facilities only has a limited affect without education in hygiene. Therefore, small gatherings called Care Groups were
formed, made up mainly of women who were taught through a programme using the acronym WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene). These group members were required to pass on their knowledge to at least 10 neighbours. This kind of peer support, along with effective mediums of communication - such as community drama performances - have brought about the behaviour change necessary to make the project a success.
96% of the community are now using sanitary latrines and everybody has access to clean drinking water. Open defecation has reduced while people are living free of water-borne diseases and outbreaks of diarrhoea among children is now a rarity.
OVERALL, MORE THAN 300 FAMILIES BENEFITTED FROM THE BANGLADESH WASH PROJECT AND A FURTHER 8,000 INDIVIDUALS IN THE WIDER COMMUNITIES WERE ALSO REACHED WITH SANITATION AND HYGIENE AWARENESS.
BANGLADESH WASH!
A COMMUNITY DRAMA PERFORMANCE
8 Walking Together www.fh.org Walking Together www.fh.org 9
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Walking Together Response Form REF: AUTUMN19
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Thank
You!
We are so aware that we at FH cannot do what we do without all our wonderful supporters who are prepared to walk with us by donating time, talents and finances. We wanted to take this opportunity to say a HUGE THANK YOU to:
Eagle Foundation, who have generously funded the construction of four new classrooms and desks at Nyagihamba Primary school, Rwanda. It isn’t difficult to understand how a child’s education is improved when they can swop a dusty floor outside for a cool, shady classroom with a proper desk to sit at.
Fresh Leaf Foundation, who have funded desks for two schools in Ethiopia.
A very generous legacy, which has funded the construction of school classrooms in Rwanda.
Band Aid, who have funded the construction of a water distribution pipeline at a refugee camp in Uganda. This will ensure fresh, clean water for drinking and washing throughout the camp – which in turn will reduce sickness from water-borne disease within the camp and prevent dehydration.
Samaresh Nayak and Ian Johnson from Food for the Hungry Bangladesh and UK respectively, visited Guernsey’s Overseas Aid Commission to present the results of a successful water and sanitation project in Godagari Bangladesh and to discuss future opportunities.
Rwanda says:
“Urakosi”
Ethiopia says:
“Ameseginalew”
Uganda says:
“Weebale”
Bangladesh says:
“Dhonno-bad”
10 Walking Together www.fh.org
Food for the Hungry U
K47 B
urgess Wood Road South, B
eaconsfield, Bucks H
P9 1EL
