Makungwa Area Development Program

Transcription

1 October 2012 Makungwa Area Development Program Improving the well-being of children and families in Zambia a special report Bethel Church Dave Dawson, Missions Director 600 Shockley Road Richland, Washington world vision representative Ruth Nottingham Church Advisor World Vision, Inc S.W. Barbur Boulevard, Suite 205B Portland, OR 97219

2 Table of contents 1 Child sponsorship in Makungwa 1 Food security 2 Health 4 HIV and AIDS 5 Sponsorship activities 6 A story of hope 6 With deep appreciation

3 Bethel Church, World Vision is grateful for your partnership in our work in the Makungwa area development program (ADP). Thank you not only for your financial gifts, but also your faithful prayers and the relationships you ve built with more than 600 sponsored children in Makungwa and other Zambian communities. Your generosity toward children and families is a vibrant reflection of Christ s love toward people in physical and spiritual need. It is a privilege to present this report of recent accomplishments from Makungwa ADP World Vision Joyce, now 22, credits her sponsor Brenda for being a driving force behind her success in school. I managed to get this distinction [in English] because I was forced to understand what Brenda was writing to me, Joyce said. Joyce bought a dictionary and began studying and understanding everything Brenda wrote in her letters. As a result, Joyce excelled in written English and earned high grades in the subject at school. Child sponsorship in Makungwa World Vision s child sponsorship program transforms the lives of children in need by working alongside their community to find lasting solutions to poverty. Thanks to the caring commitment of sponsors like you, we can work with the locals to provide children and families with life s necessities such as clean water, healthcare, nutritious food, education, economic development, and hope for a better future. In most of our program areas, child sponsorship funds are pooled to make improvements that will help entire villages. World Vision often helps dig wells to improve access to clean water, provides agricultural assistance to strengthen health and food security, builds new schools, and provides training so residents can sustain and build on these improvements. We offer help in these and other areas according to the needs of the community because, in the long run, we have not really helped a child unless we also have strengthened the family and community to be self-sufficient. World Vision s work in Makungwa, which began in 2000, aims to improve the social and economic well-being of 54,000 people through activities that address food security, health, and HIV and AIDS. The following pages report on what your sponsorship gifts have helped to accomplish between October 2011 and March 2012 in Makungwa. Food security When World Vision works with a community to increase the quality and quantity of their food supply, we follow the old adage: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. We focus on equipping residents with knowledge and tools to begin and continue their efforts toward food security. In Makungwa, our goal is to increase agricultural production and productivity among small-scale farmers, benefiting 1,500 vulnerable households. Our work focuses on improving agricultural practices, such as conservation farming, which aims to conserve water, soil quality, moisture, fertility, and seed production, as well as the farmer s energy, time, and money. Recent achievements include the following: More than 200 farmers adopted conservation farming techniques, which increased farm productivity and enabled farmers to have a strong harvest to feed their families and earn money from the surplus. To learn more about these methods, 197 farmers attended field learning events. 1

4 What else is World Vision doing in Zambia? Thanks to the partnership of our child sponsors, we praise God for the following achievements in other ADPs throughout Zambia: Cases of diarrhea among children under 5 in Twachiyanda fell from 23 percent (in 2009) to 15 percent. Home visits, community-based care, and increased access to HIV services (including antiretroviral treatment) improved the lives of 600 people living with HIV and 7,920 orphans and vulnerable children in Twachiyanda. More than 1,800 women in Twachiyanda accessed prenatal, postnatal, obstetric, and newborn care. World Vision partnered with the community in Kapululwe to provide two schools with classroom blocks and 80 desks. Three hundred households in Kapululwe now have access to safe water after World Vision dug five wells. We also built five latrines at a school, benefiting 340 students. Local farmers in Sinazongwe were trained in organic farming and are enjoying improved crop yields, ensuring their families have sufficient food to eat. More than 20 teachers in Sinazongwe were trained in improved teaching methods and school management. In partnership with the Zambia Department of Fisheries, World Vision conducted refresher training for 63 fish farmers to improve their fish pond management skills. In the recent past, the production of fish decreased due to poor care of the ponds. The farmers have since cleaned their ponds and began giving their fish improved food. As a result of the trainings in fish farming and conservation farming, nearly 1,500 children are benefiting from increased production and efficiency. Their households will have enough food to last to the next farming season and will gain more income through the sale of crops. With a higher income, parents will be better able to provide their families with balanced, nutritious meals and other necessities such as shelter, clothing, education, and healthcare. To increase livestock production, World Vision began building a dip tank for farmers to use to prevent and treat diseases affecting their animals. The community formed a management committee that will be responsible for operating the dip tank, while the Zambian Department of Livestock Services will provide technical expertise. Once the tank is operational, farmers will have an accessible and inexpensive way to dip their livestock and reduce diseases among their cattle. World Vision, in partnership with Eastern Province Farmers Cooperative Limited (EPFCL), trained and supported 40 seed growers with 44 pounds of groundnut seeds, which were planted on nearly 31 acres. EPFCL already has committed to buying the peanuts from the growers. To prepare for natural disasters, World Vision trained 18 people on disaster risk reduction management. The training ensured that communities are well prepared to handle disasters and that any disaster response will prioritize the protection of children. Looking ahead The following is a partial list of activities scheduled to occur by March 2013: Mobilize and train 120 growers on seed multiplication, resulting in an increased supply of high-quality seeds Facilitate veterinary assistants to train 70 livestock farmers in cattle and pig production Train 15 fish farmers on fish farming and support them with fingerlings Connect farmers interest groups to microfinance institutions including HARMOS, a World Vision-affiliated microfinance institution to give farmers access to business loans Health Improving the health and nutritional status of community members especially children and women and reducing child and maternal deaths are vital components of World Vision s work in Makungwa. Our goal is to transform the lives of more than 26,900 children and adults, including mothers support group members, community health workers, and traditional birth attendants. 2

5 2010 World Vision Six-year-old Perpetual, a sponsored child in Makungwa, is fortunate to have a health center right in her neighborhood, thanks to World Vision. Many children do not have access to medical facilities and do not have routine health checkups. World Vision helped to refurbish the buildings at the health center, built a maternity wing, and dug a borehole that provides clean water. Recent achievements included the following: During a Child Health Week campaign, World Vision provided health centers with Vitamin A capsules and deworming tablets. More than 430 children up to 11 months in age were fully immunized, while 9,720 children between 6 months and 6 years received Vitamin A supplements. The immunizations and supplements promote normal eyesight, a strong immune system, and healthy development. World Vision partnered with community health volunteers, local radio stations, and a local theater group to raise awareness about child immunizations and basic hygiene practices. We have seen an increased number of mothers and guardians bringing their children for immunizations and to be monitored for growth. Growth monitoring promoters developed schedules for checkups and immunizations, so people will know when these activities take place in their communities. Thirty people were trained as hygiene promoters to increase hygiene education among households, and more than 1,402 people learned about good hygiene practices during a door-to-door campaign. Participants learned about proper handwashing and the health benefits of a sanitary environment. Nine water, sanitation, and hygiene clubs in nine schools (reaching more than 3,900 students) were trained in basic school hygiene practices. As a result, four of the nine schools now use containers with nozzles to wash students hands after they use the toilet. The students also began educating their parents about the health benefits of having a toilet at home and washing their hands at critical times. To improve children s nutrition, 62 nursing mothers learned about feeding infants and children, and preventing malnutrition. The mothers formed a support group and are teaching other women about the benefits of eating locally grown nutritious foods and promoting healthy living for their children. The support group is working closely with growth monitoring promoters to monitor children in the project area. During this reporting period, 18 underweight children were identified and given food supplements at health facilities. World Vision followed up on the use of insecticide-treated bed nets in the program area, as malaria remains to be endemic and is the main cause of death among children under age 5 in this community. We discovered that large meetings to raise awareness about malaria were not truly effective in Makungwa. Health centers and community volunteers agreed to adopt a door-to-door approach to teach households about environmental factors that breed mosquitoes and the benefits of using insecticide-treated bed nets. Our report showed that 4,377 children under 5 slept under insecticide-treated nets, and only 231 children were treated for malaria at health facilities. We partnered with Safe Motherhood Action Groups to promote the benefits of delivering babies at health facilities with qualified and skilled personnel. During the reporting period, 543 deliveries were recorded at health centers in Makungwa. 3

6 Through our health-related activities, World Vision aims to reduce common childhood illnesses and waterborne diseases such as diarrhea. Our hope is that with reduced cases of these diseases, more children will enjoy a healthier, more hope-filled future. Looking ahead The following is a partial list of activities scheduled to occur by March 2013: Facilitate 30 health outreach activities, such as teaching about proper hygiene behaviors such as handwashing or using latrines, in hard-to-reach areas within Makungwa Supply Vitamin A capsules, deworming medication, and fuel to the district health office during Child Health Week campaigns Assist health clinics in conducting refresher courses on malaria prevention and management to 70 community health volunteers and educating 12,000 community members on malaria control Train 20 hygiene promoters to reinforce good hygiene practices among community leaders and at four schools Facilitate growth monitoring promoters to educate 3,000 mothers and caregivers of children younger than 5 on healthy feeding practices HIV and AIDS World Vision s response to the AIDS pandemic in Makungwa is to help HIVpositive pregnant women access information on preventing mother-to-child transmission, and to provide HIV-positive newborns with care and support. Recent accomplishments include the following: World Vision trained 10 health personnel and nine community members on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The trainings focused on early detection of HIV among pregnant women during their prenatal appointments. Mothers were encouraged to deliver at health facilities where antiretroviral drugs are accessible during labor. The trained community members have begun following up with mothers whose babies were exposed to HIV during labor and have provided them with care to increase the babies chances of survival. Community caregivers continued caring for orphans* and vulnerable children through home visits. Caregivers received clothes and blankets for children, as well as shoes and medical supplies for themselves. These donations greatly motivated the caregivers and saved financial resources for capacity-building activities. In partnership with Mkanile Basic School, students from two basic schools learned about valuable life skills. During this reporting period, 190 boys and 145 girls ages 10 and up learned about HIV prevention. *The United Nations defines an orphan as a child who has lost one or both parents. 4

7 2010 World Vision Child sponsorship in Makungwa is helping youth like Mary and Lanson, who both are in seventh grade. Laston (right) attended class in a shack before World Vision built new classrooms at his school. The improvements in his learning environment are motivating him to pursue an education and become a medical officer or to work in the nation s Ministry of Health. Looking ahead The following is a partial list of activities scheduled to occur by March 2013: Assist health centers, churches, and traditional leaders in selecting 18 people to help promote the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission Increase the availability of counseling for HIV-positive couples, with the partnership of nine health centers, community leaders, and trained counselors Equip 30 voluntary counseling and testing counselors with HIV test kits Partner with Network of Zambian People Living with HIV and AIDS (a national organization for people living with HIV) to train 30 people in antiretroviral treatment adherence Sponsorship activities Thanks to donors like you, World Vision ensures that sponsored children are enjoying good health, experiencing the love of God and their neighbors, and are cared for, protected, and active participants in their communities. Between October 2011 and March 2012, our staff and sponsored children participated in the following activities: Forty community-based volunteers were trained in child monitoring standards. The participants included children s caregivers, lead farmers, and community health workers. They developed a plan to better collect information to monitor children registered in World Vision s programs. World Vision s staff members and children s caregivers monitored children s well-being (including health, education, and participation in community activities) once every two months. The purpose of the monitoring was to assess and respond to children s needs. After monitoring more than 2,800 children on their participation in education programs, World Vision discovered more than 27 percent of primary schoolaged children and more than 13 percent of secondary school-aged children were not attending school. In most cases, the children were not old enough to walk long distances to the nearest school. In other cases, schools were overcrowded and give priority to older students. Other children dropped out due to early pregnancies or their work in cattle herding. In response, World Vision began raising awareness in the community about the importance of education. World Vision trained parent-teacher associations from five schools about education standards and advocacy. The training empowered communities and schools to advocate for high standards for their children s education. Thanks to a partnership with Hasbro, students at Chadyera Basic School received educational reading materials. Enhancing the relationships between children and their sponsors is an important part of our sponsorship program. World Vision continued facilitating communication through letters and other gifts from sponsors. Nearly 4,500 pieces of mail were processed and sent, including Christmas cards, correspondence between sponsors and children, and introductory letters. Eighty-seven children participated in Good News clubs, which seek to nurture the spiritual growth of children. 5

8 Looking ahead 2011 World Vision The following is a partial list of activities scheduled to occur by March 2013: Train 30 community volunteers (caregivers, lead farmers, etc.) on child monitoring standards and child protection Verify children s participation in community/program activities at least once every 90 days Establish 12 reading, math, and livelihood clubs in schools Train 15 parent-teacher associations on education standards and advocacy Process and send children s replies to sponsors and introductory sponsorship letters A story of hope Leonard Sakala, 51, is a farmer who has ventured into a variety of farming activities. He began his farming endeavors after World Vision trained and gave him fingerlings to start fish farming and seeds to grow corn and beans. With his income from farming, Leonard supports his seven children. I have even managed to take my first-born daughter to college where she is pursuing a diploma in agriculture, Leonard said. He recalled a difficult life of poverty before he became a farmer, and wondered what his life would be like if it had not been transformed with World Vision s assistance. With deep appreciation During Christ s time on earth, He cared for people s spiritual needs, while also paying close attention to their physical challenges. He exhorted His followers to care for widows and orphans, and gave us an example of how to love those who are unloved by others. Bethel Church, thank you for following Christ s example by caring for the needs of people in your own neighborhood and around the world. An excerpt from your church s values statement reads: God has given us all gifts, abilities, responsibilities, and opportunities. We desire to be givers, not spectators or consumers. Indeed, Bethel Church is using its resources to help others, through local outreaches to needy families and mission trips in other countries. We are honored to partner with you through your sponsorship of children in Zambia, and we request your continued prayers for the families we are serving, our staff, and our upcoming activities. Because of your generosity, lives are being changed. Thank you for making a difference. P.O. Box 9716 Federal Way, WA worldvision.org ZMB13BETREP_172001_ World Vision, Inc. World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God s unconditional love for all people. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. 6