Global Rehabilitation Services

Mike Thomas with some of the children

Global rehabilitation Services (GLORES)
GLORES was started in 2004 by Cameroonian, Alfred Wingo, after receiving prosthetics training in the USA.
The work of GLORES in a poor rented building in Bafoussam, capital of the West Region of Cameroon, was observed by FIOH Fund trustee, Mike Thomas in 2009. He was impressed by what GLORES was achieving with very basic equipment.

A video showing Mike Thomas interviewing Alfred Wingo.
Disabled people in the West Region of Cameroon, especially children, suffer from neglect and discrimination due to ignorance and cultural beliefs about disability. There is a general lack of care and rehabilitation planning in the country and disabled children, who are mostly from poor families, rarely obtain an education and employment. They are often viewed as being possessed of evil spirits and a curse upon their parents. Hence they may be locked up at home and fed like animals and hidden from society. It is estimated that about 70% of disabled children suffer from neglect and discrimination.

GLORES organises its work in three major sections:

Prevention of disabilities through health education and encouragement of parents to vaccinate their children against diseases causing disabilities. Part of the education focuses on prenatal/postnatal care, nutrition, hygiene, genetic information and environmental pollution.
Physical therapy that includes therapeutic exercises, mobility training, functional re-education, occupational therapy and activity training for coping with everyday life.
Vocational training in 3 trades. The disabled person makes the choice of trade and is then able to undergo training in that trade for one year in a sheltered workshop environment. Younger children who cannot work are sent to local schools for their education. While the child is in school parents will take an active part in its education and prepare to take over responsibility for the child’s welfare later on. After successful completion of the training disabled persons are settled in their individual group ventures or employment and there will be follow-up by GLORES for a few months after treatment and training has finished.

Once a disabled person goes through the GLORES project he or she becomes a member of the GLORES family. GLORES monitors all the outcomes of its work in order to evaluate its effectiveness and introduce improvements where necessary.

The pictures below show some of the disabled youths and children before, during and after treatment:

glores10a-200

Moving testimonials of six of the children treated by GLORES

If you would like to support the work of the Future in Our Hands Education and Development Fund please make a donation:

Please support the work of the Future in Our Hands Education and Development Fund whose aim is to help and empower some of the world’s poorest and most marginalised people by:

UK residents can provide long term support by completing the FIOH FUND DONATION FORM and sending to the address shown on the form:
Direct grant to the charity’s bank account or by cheque to: Bank account details:
Co-operative Bank
IBAN: GB07CPBK08929965050707
BIC: CPBKGB22

Cheques should be made payable to the
Future in Our Hands E&D Fund
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Fundraising to help the work of the charities would be greatly appreciated

Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch report 2016

This is a summary of the CAMGEW 2016 annual report a complete copy of which can be seen here:

CAMGEW 2016 ANNUAL REPORT READY

CAMGEW logo

Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW) reflects its holistic approach to development through the activities described in its 2016 annual report prepared by its director, Wirsiy Emmanuel Binyuy. Most of these activities are located in and around Kilum-Ijim Forest area in the NW Region of Cameroon with her office in Oku.

Activities included:

Planting of indigenous trees to regenerate the important Kilum-Ijim natural forest.
Training and practical support for bee farming to produce the local distinctive white honey.
Marketing training and the establishment of a shop in Bamenda (capital of the region of North West) to sell the honey, its products and equipment.

Training in organic farming methods and raising of nitrogen-fixing trees for agroforestry.
Vocational training in dress-making, hair dressing, shoe making and repair.
Establishing a micro-credit and savings scheme for women and training in business management, including the use of computers.
Training for women in health and nutrition.
Training for communities in the basic human, statutory and legal rights of women.
Provision of counselling and advice for women who are subjected to physical and/or mental abuse.
Environmental and computer education for children.
Tree planting around the new centre for the treatment of disabled children which is located in Bafoussam, West Region.

Forest regeneration
The Kilum-Ijim natural forest contains several endangered species of flora and fauna, including the Bannerman’s Turaco (fauna), Newtonia camerunensis(flora) and has an important role to play in the mitigation of global warming. Despite these and the many economic benefits which can be derived directly from the forest, a large section of the original forest has been cut down to create farming land.

CAMGEW has played an important role in safeguarding the remaining forest by educating people about the environmental importance of preserving the forest and showing local people how they can gain an economic benefit from the natural products the forest provides.

CAMGEW has established nurseries to grow native tree species, including Prunus Africana, Croton Macrotachyst, Carapas Grandifolia, Pittusporum Veridiflorium, Zysigium Staundtii, Solanecio Mannii, Newtonia Camerunensis, Psydrax Dunlapii, Briellia Speciosa, Pyschotria Pendularis, Acacia, Leuceana, Mysposis, Tephrosia, Sesbania and Tree Tomatoes. Many of these have been planted in the forest by children and local community groups to regenerate sections of forest destroyed by domestic animals and fire.

Nitrogen fixing seedlings have been distributed to local farmers who are using agroforestry methods. Three nurseries have been established (Manchok, Mbockenghas and Ikal) with a capacity to raise 200,000 trees. The different species have been labelled with scientific and local names and their uses to educate the local community and school children.

In order to restrict the spread of ferns cuttings of Schefflera abysisinica and Solanecio mannii have been planted in the forest. The fern plants die once the trees grow above them.

Bee farming
Bee farming is an important activity in the preservation of the Kilum Ijim forest as the farmers have a vested interest in preserving the natural flora which provides nectar for the bees and preventing forest fires. CAMGEW has provided hives, training in good bee management activities and organised the farmers into cooperatives/village groups. It has also provided a shop in Bamenda to assist with marketing the honey. The training has involved 212 farmers and 85 cooperative executive members in 22 villages in 2016. CAMGEW has also provided training in the production of bee wax which is more profitable than honey. It also involves full utilization of the honey combs which might otherwise be discarded. 116 community members were trained in 2016, 21 of whom were women.

CAMGEW distributed 10 honey drainers, 100 suits, 30 buckets and provided management training including the establishment of a constitution and by-laws and the production of an instruction manual in cooperative law.

Organic farming and agroforestry training
CAMGEW distributed more than 900,000 seeds of Leucena, Tephrosia and Sesbania (for animal fodder) to over 139 farmers, including 38 women in 7 villages. These species are nitrogen fixing and can be grown together with crops including coffee, potatoes, beans, huckleberry, cabbage, yams, corn. In addition to providing nitrogen for crops, the trees provide shade and help prevent erosion on sloping ground.
CAMGEW also distributed 60Kg of bracharia seeds for obtaining fodder in the dry season when other feed is scarce. This will prevent farmers having to move their animals long distances to find pasture.

Vocational training
Unfortunately the CAMGEW training centre had to close down as a result of the lack of funding. However, the equipment was distributed to the trainers who then located to Elak where there was a greater customer base. Also since the CAMGEW initiative other training centres have been established in the community. Many of the trainees at the CAMGEW centre have established workshops in their own communities.

Health, human rights and nutrition training for women
CAMGEW has provided training about women rights to health services, nutrition, legal marriage and counselling as a result of physical and psychological abuse. This included education to reduce early pregnancies and nutrition to improve the health of teenage mothers and their children.

Information was also provided about sexually transmitted diseases and the benefits of legalised marriages. Information was also provided with the aim of reducing child trafficking.

Much of this work has been carried out with the young women of the Muslim Mbororo tribe who are known for high birth rates and low literacy. Most of the men keep grazing animals which are their main source of income. Counselling of the girls involved marital crises physical and psychological abuse, frustration arising from child trafficking, loneliness and stigma from unplanned teenage pregnancy.

Micro credit and savings scheme training for women
CAMGEW has been running a micro-credit scheme for women since 2015. Loans are given at an interest rate of 2% per CFA 1,000 with a 6 month repayment period. Each recipient must have undergone training provided by CAMGEW. 500 women had benefited from the scheme by December 2016.

Most women do not have enough the money required to open a bank savings account. The CAMGEW savings scheme enables women to open an account with as little as 500 CFA (about 35p). CAMGEW keeps its funds with the Manchok Credit Union. In 2015 CAMGEW trained 193 women and 153 received loans and in 2016 trained 483 women and gave loans to 390 women. Loans ranged from 30,000 to 120,000 CFA.

Environmental education
The nurseries established by CAMGEW have served as learning areas for children, schools and community groups in types of forest trees and their uses. Children have gained hands-on experience working in the nurseries and also gathering seeds from the forest.

Computer training for women and children
CAMGEW has provided basic computer training for women and children.

Tree planting at the GLORES treatment centre for disabled children
In 2016 CAMGEW planted 500 tree seedlings around a new centre for the treatment of severely disabled children based in Bafoussam in the West Region. These included, prunus africana, pittosporum, ornamental, palms, mangoes, plums and oranges.

Video productions about CAMGEW and its director
The following productions provide clear presentation of the comprehensive range of CAMGEW activities and how they contribute to the inter-relationship between various aspects of sustainable development:

Kilum-Ijim forest apiculture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBqEgnjsWSg

Organic coffee farming in Oku:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHKY15LEuos

Short video featuring CAMGEW director, Emmanuel Wirsy
http://www.dw.com/en/money-for-forest-honey/a-37473719

CAMGEW in other documentaries. (Emmanuel’s work is featured about 9 minutes into the video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCVVzGDXQmw&t=129s

CAMGEW FOREST VIDEO. This video is an excellent presentation of the work of CAMGEW and illustrates the link between bee farming and the preservation of the forest. It also shows children actively involved in the both the raising and out-planting of seedlings in to the forest :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TwdiXGj3zk

CAMGEW GENERAL ACTIVITIES VIDEO. This is a brief overview of activities of CAMGEW including its vocational training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyM89iaLnHw&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

WEB SITE:

www.camgew.org or www.camgew.com.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Time to remind ourselves of this:

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Centre for Community Regeneration and Development

ACTIVITY UPDATE AUG 2016

Education for sustainable development through sports in schools

CCREAD-Cameroon in continuation of its Education for Sustainable Development Programme, has mobilized more than 300 children and youths through environmental and conservation leadership camps, with sports as a uniting factor, to educate the children on climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable development goals, biodiversity conservation, sexuality and family planning, human rights, leadership and good governance. We need more volunteers for this ongoing programme.

ICT for development programme for youths within poor communities

CCREAD has set up a free ICT daily training unit which serves children, women and youths from extremely poor countries to gain generational skills on computer and ICT skills for development. The facility also trains students daily who are enrolled in schools without computer laboratories so they can be able to take official examinations in computer sciences. This project needs more trainers and those who can support to buy more computers, a projector and more desks for trainees.

Sexual and reproductive health rights education for abandoned teenage and single mothers

CCREAD volunteers are currently organizing weekly workshops for 25 single and teenage mothers on sexual and reproductive health rights. The aim is to educate teenage mothers to stay away from sexual and different forms of gender base violence, organizing them into action groups and linking them up with mentors for social and economic empowerment.

Supporting women and widows living with disabilities

CCREAD is currently supporting unmarried women with children living with disabilities and who are not employed through granting of micro financial support to start small micro enterprises which will enable them take care of themselves, send their children to school and meet their health needs. We have identified a total of 320 of such women with pressing needs and have been able to assist 15 of them already. We need more people to help this initiative.

To support any of these ongoing projects, kindly drop an email to: projects@ccreadcameroon.org

Children helped by the work of HEARTS – case studies

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CASE STUDIES

Child Name: Jagadeesh Babu Jonnalagadda

Class studying: Polytechnic final year (pre-engineering – 3 years course)

Age: 17 years

Family background: His parents died from HIV/AIDS when he was six years old. He has two elder sisters and an elder brother. Three of them are married and working. His brother used to come to see Jagadeesh but stopped coming since he got married. Jagadeesh doesn’t like the family because they don’t care for him. They don’t even invite him for vacations. Hence he likes to stay in the children’s home even for holidays. Considering his family background, we had to keep him in the home and send to college.

Education progress 2016: Jagadeesh is about to complete year 3 in Polytechnic after successfully securing ‘A’ grade in 10^th class final exams. He has joined in Bapatla Polytechnic College in Mechanical branch which is a three years course. In these three years of Diploma, he obtained 95% marks. After completion of three years, he is eligible to upgrade to Engineering 2^nd year or to get a job.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes drawing, reading, dancing and outdoor games like cricket, kabadi and volleyball.
In the High School, he won several certificates in Drawing competitions and essay writings.

In the home, as a senior boy, Jagadeesh helps other boys in getting ready to school and related activities.

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Child Name: Sampath Kumar Guntur

Class studying: 10^th class

Age: 15 years

Family background: Sampath’s parents died of Jaundice seven years ago. He has an elder sister and an elder brother. His sister is married and working in a cloth shop. His brother also recently married and is working as a Barber since they belong to this particular community. His grandfather died of a heart attack last year. He used to be visited by a distant uncle who is working in a bank but he got transferred to a neighbouring district hence he could not come to visit Sampath anymore. His sister never comes to see him. His brother and an aunt come to see him occasionally.

Education progress 2016: Sampath passed 9^th class in ‘B’ grade in final exams. He is an average student but trying hard to improve for the next class. He goes to Municipal High School in the town by a bicycle provided by Hearts. This year he will come to 10^th class which is a public examination.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes drawing, dancing and games like kabadi, carom board and cricket.
In the school he received a certificate and dictionary for the participation of planting trees.

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Child Name: Bhagya Laxmi Manchala

Class studying: 9^th class

Age: 14 years

Family background: Bhagya Laxmi’s father left the house and mother died of Cancer when she was a small girl. In the family they are four girls and one boy. She and her brother Bala Krishna are staying in the children’s home. Considering their family circumstances, Hearts agreed to look after them both. One of the elder sisters is married and died last year. Bhagya Laxmi is visited by her two sisters whenever they can. They go to work for their living. In the recent floods, their house collapsed. At present her sisters are living in a small hut which was built with donations from the community.

Education progress 2016: She has passed 8^th class in ‘A+’ grade in the final exams. In the units and half yearly exams she scored from 95% to 98% marks. Bhagya Laxmi is a brilliant student in the entire class. This year she will be studying English.

Hobbies / other activities:

She likes reading, drawing, dancing and games like skipping, coco and badmington.
In the school she won several prizes for studies in ‘A’ grade, essay writings and talent competitions.

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Child Name: Bala Krishna Manchala

Class studying: 9^th class

Age: 15 years

Family background: Bala Krishna’s father left the house and mother died of cancer when he was a small boy. In the family they are four girls and one boy. He and his sister Bhagya Laxmi are staying in the children’s home. Considering their family circumstances Hearts agreed to look after them both. One of the elder sisters is married and died last year. Bala Krishna is visited by their two sisters whenever they can. They go to work for their living. In the recent floods, their house is collapsed. At present their sisters are living in a small hut which was built with donations from the community.

Education progress 2016: He has passed 8^th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams. He studies well but due to his interest in sports he got less marks in the units and half yearly exams. This year for class 9^th he will be going to high school in the town. He will also be studying English.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes drawing, dancing and games like cricket and kabadi.
In the school he won several prizes for sports and cultural activities.
In the children’s home he performs well in any drama or cultural programmes.
He is a helping hand for other children in the home.

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Child Name: Dinesh Kandiyar

Class studying: Degree 1^st year

Age: 16 years

Family background: Dinesh’s father left the house nearly 10 years ago. His mother runs a small Tiffin centre left by the father. The family came to know that the father died of tuberculosis last year. Dinesh has an elder brother who is working and a twin sister who has at present discontinued studies. She used to stay in the children’s home but left because her mother wanted her to work.

Dinesh is visited by the mother and brother occasionally.

Education progress 2016: He has passed Intermediate and scored 7.5 points out of 10. He is an average student but trying to improve in college studies. In 2013 he attended 10^th class and passed in all subjects. He took the group MPC (Maths, Physics and Chemistry).

This year he is studying Degree (graduation) 1^st year with the same subjects. After completion of degree studies, he will be eligible to study university or to get a job.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes reading and playing games like cricket, kabadi and carom board.
He won several prizes for essay writings on national leaders.

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Child Name: Chenna Kesavulu Maruprolu

Class studying: 10^th class

Age: 14 years

Family background: His father died from jaundice 10 years ago. His mother works as a daily labourer. He has an elder brother who has discontinued studies and working due to mother being unwell. The mother and brother live in a small hut beside the canal.

Chenna Kesavulu is visited by the mother occasionally.

Education progress 2016: He is a brilliant student in studies and studying English. He has scored 95% marks in the final exams of class 9^th. This year he is studying 10^th class and will be writing public exams. He has good handwriting and is a role model for students in the school and children’s home.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes reading, drawing and games like kabadi and coco.
In the school he won several prizes for essay writings and cultural activities.
In the children’s home he participates in activities i.e planting trees, saving water and energy.

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Child Name: Jhansi Varadala

Class studying: 9^th class

Age: 14 years

Family background: Jhansi’s parents are daily labourers. Her father goes to building mason work and mother goes to agriculture works. She has an elder brother studying at home. They live in a small hut in Bapatla town. Jhansi’s parents are very poor and often migrate to neighboring districts to work. Jhansi likes to study and continue education. Her parents also like Jhansi to study unlike them. Her mother comes to see Jhansi whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Jhansi passed 8^th class in ‘B’ grade in the final exams. She is an average student in studies but showing interest to improve. She finds English medium difficult this year because until last year she studied Telugu (mother tongue) medium. She will be studying 9^th class this year in English.

Hobbies / other activities:

She likes reading, drawing, dancing and playing games like skipping and carom board.
In the school she participated in science exhibition and won a prize and certificate.
In the children’s home she participated in cultural programmes.

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Child Name: Esther Jangam

Class studying: 8^th class

Age: 14 years

Family background: Esther’s mother died when she was a small girl. She has a younger brother who was given for adoption at the age of six months. Then the father left the house and married someone else. Esther was left with her great grandmother who is very aged and could not go to work. Esther is happily staying in the children’s home. She is loved by everyone. Her grandma comes to visit her whenever she can. Recently a distant uncle is also coming to visit her.

Education progress 2016: Esther passed 7^th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams. She is a brilliant student. Since she joined the children’s home in the year June 2009, she is always coming first in her classes. Even though she studied Telugu medium until 2012, she picked up greatly to study English in 2013. This year she will be studying 8^th class in English.

Hobbies / other activities:

She likes reading, drawing, dancing and games like coco and carom board.
In the school she won several prizes and certificates for essay writings and cultural programmes.

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Child Name: Rafi Shaik Mohammed

Class studying: 10^th class

Age: 14 years

Family background: Rafi’s father is an invalid who is suffering from haemophilia. His mother is a daily labourer who works at a limestone factory. He has a younger brother studying at home. His mother has lot of burden to look after the family since the father needs medication very often. Rafi’s parents cannot come to see him but speak to him over telephone. His grandmother visits him whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Rafi passed 9^th class in ‘B’ grade in the final exams. He studies well but at the time of exams he gets nervous. He is studying English and goes to Municipal High School in the town. This year he will be studying 10^th class.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes reading, drawing and games like cricket, kabadi and coco.
In the school he won a certificate for essay writing on International Environment Day.
In the children’s home he likes to do gardening on Sundays.

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Child Name: Prasanthi Lingala

Class studying: Intermediate 1^st year (class XI)

Age: 15 years

Family background: Prasanthis’s father is a drinker and never cares for the family. A few years ago he left the house and came back recently. Still now he is torturing his wife and children. Her mother is a daily labourer who works at the local market. The mother is suffering a lot by physical abuse of the father. Prasanthi has two younger sisters who are staying with the mother. Her father never comes to see her at the children’s home. Her mother visits her whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Prasanthi passed 10^th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams. She is a brilliant student in studies. She always secures more than 95% marks. This year she will be studying Intermediate 1^st year and writing public examinations in English.

Hobbies / other activities:

She likes reading, drawing, dancing and games like skipping, coco and carom board.
In the school she won several prizes for essay competitions. She also won a certificate and prize in the science exhibition.
In the children’s home she participates in cultural programmes and likes to do gardening on Sundays.

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Child Name: Sujit Talatoti

Class studying: 7th class

Age: 12 years

Family background: Sujit’s mother died from tuberculosis when he was a small boy. His father then left the house and married someone else. Sujit has an elder brother who is also staying with him in the children’s home. For several years his father did not care for the family. Very recently he has started communicating with the boys. His grandmother comes to visit Sujit whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Sujit passed 6^th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams. He has much improved in education because of children’s home regular tuitions. This year he will be studying 7^th class in local Government elementary school.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes drawing; dancing and games like carom board and cricket.
In the school he won several prizes for sports and cultural programmes.

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Child Name: Sandeep Talatoti

Class studying: 8^th class

Age: 14 years

Family background: Sandeep’s mother died from tuberculosis when he was a small boy. His father then left the house and married someone else. Sandeep has a younger brother who is also staying with him in the children’s home. For several years his father did not care for the family. Very recently he has started communicating with the boys. His grandmother comes to visit Sandeep whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Sandeep passed 7^th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams. He has much improved in education because of children’s home regular tuitions. This year he will be studying 8^th class in local Government elementary school.

Hobbies / other activities:

He likes drawing; dancing and games like coco, kabadi and cricket.
In the school he won several prizes for sports and cultural programmes.

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Beneficiaries of the Poverty Alleviation in the Thar Desert project

Typical case histories of three people who benefited from the Poverty Alleviation Project in the Thar Desert, Pakistan managed by the Participatory Village Development Programme:

Radha
My name is Radha. I was selected as one of the beneficiaries of the FIOH PROJECT and I was given project management and handicraft skills trainings by PVDP and 25 fodder trees, 25 bair trees, one water tank, fuel efficient smokeless stove and a loan for handicraft making. I had never in my dream thought this kind of packaged support for reducing our poverty and vulnerability. Not only that my one son and one daughter were admitted in PVDP supported primary school but I also got the chance to learn to read, write and count up to 100 in adult literacy centre that was established by PVDP in our village.

I was one of the members of the Village Development Organisation and took an active part in the meetings and trainings to improve my knowledge and skills which gave me a lot of confidence to make decisions about my life and my children. I felt that I am terribly saved from falling into the trap of my in-laws who would never have given my children the opportunity to go to school. Also they would never had allowed me to join the adult literacy centre, attend community meetings and workshops which opened up my eyes and mind and gave me so much confidence to spend my life peacefully as a free human being.
I really feel that I have come to new life. The loss of my husband has been made good through PVDP support. Today, I am happy that despite serious droughts over last year, I am looking forward to getting some income from the sale of bair fruits in one or two years from the 50% of the trees which I have saved during the drought. I also managed to save 50% of the fodder trees on which my livestock will survive in the future years. I am already getting some income from the sale of embroidery work. I store my water in the tank which saves my time of fetching water from a distant well. The time I save is spent in doing embroidery work, attending community meetings and training workshops. I am also happy with my fuel efficient smokeless stove. When I used the traditional stove, I often used to have sore eyes due to smoke emission. With this smokeless stove I feel very comfortable, my eyes are protected, the stove uses less wood and cooks faster due to two burners. With so much of support from PVDP our family’s life has really changed.
I went to PVDP established vocational center in my village and learned to make purses and sewing clothes on sewing machines provided by PVDP. After the training I am happy that I can sew cloth and can earn money from this skill. I can also make purses which PVDP is trying to find market for. I am hopeful that when purses will sell and I can tailor make clothes for other people and earn handsome money which will help to reduce our poverty. I have become alive again! Thanks to PVDP and the FIOH Project.

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Indra
I am Indra. I have entered in the fourth year of this project which is helping to improve my family’s socio economic position. Now I am the active member of my village organization and active member of PVDP. I attended all trainings conducted by PVDP and also attended all programmes organized in our village by our Village Development Committee. Now I have the skills and confidence to give presentation of our community development work to our village people and outside visitors. I was also made aware of the important role of mother in looking after the children and their schooling. Now I take good care of all my children.
I also send my children to school and at home I make them study. I also help them where I can in their studies. I am supporting my community to becoming literate. Adult literacy classes are conducted in which I teach women to read, write and acquire numerical skills. The trainings and seminars I have attended have helped me in becoming aware of community issues which need our action to address them. I also realized that 8th class is not enough for me so I got admission for further studies. I now study at home and go to city to appear in exam. I am hoping to complete my matric over the next two years. I have a government job in which I am working as community health worker. I am helping women in their pregnancies and safe deliveries. PVDP health team regularly update my knowledge and skills about health care. I am very thankful to PVDP and the FIOH Fund that through their support my own and family’s life has changed.

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Welayt
I am Welayt. I have entered in the fourth year of this project which is helping to improve my family’s socio economic position. Despite my disability I feel more at ease and involved in various opportunities created by this project. After becoming a member of VDO for four years of this project, I have attended different training programmes and sessions such as handicraft training, livestock management training, and wild food preservation. I can now take care of my livestock and this year we preserved different vegetables which helped to somewhat secure our foods.
My mother and me make embroidery work which get sold in the local market and we earn some income from this activity. It is particularly helpful during drought times when most of our resources deplete. It is my wish that our daughters go to school to get education at least up to primary level to learn some basics of education that could help them in their future life.
We are strictly bound to comply with the set of rules of this culture. The changing of culture is not as easy as changing habits; it needs self persuasion and discipline. Earlier, women in my village were not allowed to attend meetings and trainings. My husband, after attending various trainings of PVDP on civil & political rights, project management, and livestock management etc. inspiringly, motivated to his community to provide same opportunity to their females for becoming active member of VDOs. But no one was agreeing for this change. PVDP in that situation organized more meetings and trainings to convince our community for female participation. Then, PVDP selected 16 households as beneficiary of FIOH Fund UK Project. We were provided with water tanks, bair trees, fodder trees, fuel stoves, and embroidery support loan with informative trainings. We hope to have more income in future through sale of bair fruits and handicraft work.
I am thankful to PVDP for providing embroidery skills to me and my daughters who cannot be educated due to our rigid culture, but they learned skills to earn at home. Another good thing happened is that my daughters can write their name and know counting of numbers by attending classes in Adult Literacy Centre of PVDP.

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Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch

Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW)
CAMGEW works to see social and environmental justice put at the centre of development. It works with all age groups. It works to see that the social welfare of children in Cameroon is improved, especially the girls who in many communities are deprived of opportunities to grow up to be future leaders.
It sees it necessary also to work to improve the lives of children in many rural and urban areas who lack the means to go to school and to meet their needs. It does this by trying to meet their basic needs, instilling in them the spirit of positive thinking and encouraging them to strive for excellence.
It seeks also to build the capacity of women especially those in the rural areas where most women are poor farmers. These women lack the agricultural skills and inputs to increase farm yields. They also lack crop storage techniques and facilities. This means they are unable to gain an income sufficient to meet their basic needs and pay for the education of their children. They need to be empowered to be economic and social leaders. Many of them are bread winners of their families. CAMGEW also works to provide women and children with basic needs like water, food, education, energy and shelter.
It works with children, youths and the old to create environmental awareness. and works with children through environmental education to instil in them the spirit to grow up to live in harmony with nature. It educates children about ecology e.g. rivers and lakes; marine ecosystems like the Atlantic ocean; land ecosystems like natural forests, botanical gardens, Zoos; pollution and waste management; gardening and tree nurseries.
It fights poaching, the bushmeat trade, illegal wildlife trade, deforestation, bushfires and climate change by trying to bring about a positive behavioural change in people involved in activities that are environmentally unfriendly. To bring this change CAMGEW carries out sensitisation, lobbying and advocacy at various levels of the society (policy makers, private sector, civil society and grass root populations).
CAMGEW encourages organic farming by improving on soil fertility with organic matter and encourages household organic waste sorting for use in farms to increase crop yields and also as a means of managing household waste. Agroforestry is another way CAMGEW promotes ecofarming. This was a traditional method used to improve the soil. It promotes integrated organic farming, horticulture (flower, vegetable and fruit farming) and apiculture (bee farming).

To discourage the use of plastic papers which are known to be non-biodegradable and to reduce the aesthetics of our environment, CAMGEW promotes the use of bags and baskets made from locally available materials like bamboo, jute, rattan etc that are biodegradable. These bags and baskets have been used in the past when plastics were not yet common. CAMGEW is building a campaign to see how biodegradable materials could be used for packaging instead of plastics.
The availability and affordability of modern energy is paramount to every development. Many rural areas lack this energy because they are far away from the national grid and also because they cannot afford it. Another, problem faced by Cameroon is the shortage of power due to dependency on one energy source – hydropower that is always affected by droughts brought by the changing climatic.
It promotes decentralised and diverse energy systems like small hyro, solar, wind and biogas systems exploited from the available natural energy sources like river fall, sun, wind and animal waste or plant matter respectively. It also engages in a campaign to reduce dependency on environmentally unfriendly energy sources like fossil fuels.
It takes part in fighting climate change from four key perspectives – mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology as identified in the global Climate Change Conference that took place in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007. During the Bali conference, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki moon said “no one-rich or poor-can remain immune from the dangers of climate change”.
To achieve all of above, CAMGEW uses media, gatherings, posters, newsletters and organised events like workshops. It therefore, sees creativity and innovations as a way forward to solve the global problems that plague humanity.
These innovations and creative ideas therefore need to be replicated and/or scaled-up to tackle global challenges. It believes that through partnership, networking, research and volunteerism this shared vision for long-term cooperative action among the people of the world to improve on lives and promote sustainable development, can be achieved.
A video showing activities at its vocational training centre in Oku can be seen here:

Centre for Community Regeneration and Development

Centre for Community Regeneration and Development
(CCREAD-Cameroon) is a youth led development organization established in 2004 and legally registered as a non profit organization in December 2006 with Registration Number: 379/AG/G.42/162/AJPAS under Cameroon Law of 1990 governing non political associations. CCREAD-Cameroon won the 2011-2012 World Bank Development Marketplace Competition on the promotion of good governance, is affiliated to Peace Child International, (UK), MIYC South Korea, an active member of United Network of Young Peacebuilders (Worldwide) and an NGO participant of UN Global Compact. CCREAD-Cameroon is also in Special Consultative Status with UN-ECOSOC

Vision
CCREAD-Cameroon helps to empower marginalised children, youths, women and indigenous populations merged with environmental sustainability through united youth actions.

Mission
Working in response to adopted community driven strategic plans, CCREAD-Cameroon currently has a mission to enhance the social, economic, cultural and political empowerment of children, youths, women and indigenous groups for poverty alleviation, better community organization, improved governance/human rights and environmental conservation and management.

Objectives
The activities implemented by CCREAD-Cameroon are guided by the following objectives:

Increase the application of good goverance, decentralisation, and democratic practices in hard to reach/marginalized regions.
Reduce the high incidence of poverty among marginalized women and youths with focus on hard-to-reach forest communities.
Increase basic education and health facility access for children, women and youths in poor communities.
Foster peacebuilding and conflict resolution initiatives in selected communities.
Increase the respect of the rights of children, and women
Raise environmental sustainability awareness and promote management actions among youths.

Operational area
South West, North West, West and Eastern Regions of Cameroon as core regions.

Activities undertaken
Leadership and peacebuilding training for women and youths. Through this activity, Cameroonian youths in Kupe Muanenguba Division through schools and women were drilled on leadership qualities, peacebuilding and conflict prevention/resolution skills mainstreamed with human resources management abilities/decentralisation education. A total of 4,692 youths and 1,982 women have received training.

Leadership training
Recognizing that corruption remains a key development limiting factor in most sectors in Cameroon, CCREAD-Cameroon has also joined other stakeholders in fighting corruption starting with schools in 2011. A national baseline study on the challenges of corruption and governance was completed and adopted.
A governance Education Manual was developed and 1,200 copies distributed to major stakeholders and 82 school anti corruption campaigns and advocacy forums were organised.
Schools management Boards were instituted and trained to fight and report corruption in schools in the South West Regions.
Governance training and fight against corruption campaigns were organised through youth actions.
Many inter tribal conflicts result from land problems and the marginalization of particular groups. CCREAD-Cameroon has been responding to these problems by organizing communities into groups, educating them and assisting them to start group initiatives for poverty alleviation/solving land conflicts.

Training women and indigenous groups on project planning, fundraising and networking
Started in 2011, this project helps women and youths constituted into development common initiative groups on identifying community problems, documentation, elaboration of micro projects, finding and mobilizing resources, creating relevant partnership monitoring and evaluation/reporting of their result to the general public. CCREAD-Cameroon has organized 12 regional trainings/follow-up workshops reaching 12 groups through 120 group leaders and members in the South West Region of Cameroon

Rise for Nature Programme
This is an integrated environmental sustainability programme which CCREAD-Cameroon launched in 2011 to respond to nature conservation and rural development needs in many hard-to-reach forest communities of Kupe Muanenguba region. Activities were targeted towards forest and wildlife conservation unsustainable practices campaigns, environmental education through schools, climate change and adaptation education, instituting alternative livelihoods activities with indigenous forest communities and advocacy for the respect of the rights to benefits from natural resources. Through campaigns and field actions, 25 communities have been reached, 27 schools covered and 2 regional advocacy forums held by the end of 2012.

In many parts of Cameroon, women still experience violation of their sexual/reproductive rights, cultural and political rights and exclusion from cultural inheritances. By December 2012 CCRead organised 6 regional advocacy and education forums on the rights of women. 30 women leaders were trained on human rights education and counseling and over 2,000 human rights education leaflets were handed to policy and traditional leaders.

Women’ rights activities
CCREAD-Cameroon has continued the donation of hygiene and sanitation materials (toilets, water, waste management materials and facility management). From 201o-2012, 5 toilets have been constructed for 5 community primary schools, 10 volunteer teachers were sent to teach in schools and 200 water drinking buckets and cups were distributed to school children.

Direct assistance to needy schools in marginalized forest communities
Working to end high mortality rates in rural communities CCREAD has focused on the training of traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in rural areas with emphases on communities with no health units. In collaboration with BKFA, CCREAD-Cameroon distributes each month 500 birthing kits to rural women and community centers to help in safe and clean delivery.

Planned projects for the future

Vocational training for youths and women on ICTs, Tailoring entrepreneurship, and leadership.
Scaling up of youth leadership and governance training.
School base peace, human rights, governance and environmental education.
Start of Rise for Nature Program Phase 3 in 5 communities on environmental sustainability and climate change adaptation.
Integrated poverty alleviation scheme for women and youths in need.
Assistance to 10 schools through classroom and toilet constructions.
Donation of birthing kits to rural women for safe and clean delivery

Team members
Hilary Ewang Ngide – Executive Director MS.c(Development/Environment, PGC(PPME), BS.c(Geo& planning)
Belinda Menyange – Programs Officer BS.c (Sociology/Anthropology)
Etienne Mponne – Projects officer BS.c (Environmental mgt)
Sylvie E. Epolle – Outreach manager LL.B
Cirus Msumbe Epie – Communications officer B.ED, Dip(Communications)
Ntungwe Remitus – Administrator LLB, Dip in PME
Lucy Etuge – Partnerships BA, Community development
Lyn Tim – Outreach Assist. LLB, Dip HRM
Anna Dressler – Coordinator.

Future in Our Hands Womens Co-operative, Oku

Future In Our Hands Cooperative Oku
FIOH Oku is a women’s farming cooperative made of over 5 Common Initiative Groups (CIGs) representing over five villages in Oku Subdivision. It was created on the 22nd of September 1999. It encourages the spirit of hard work, cooperation and togetherness in women. It is called a women’s cooperative because 95% of members are women. Her creation was thanks to the interest SHUMAS NGO and Future Our Hands had to empower women and the vulnerable in the Oku community. It has as motto: educate a man, educate an individual; educate a woman to educate a whole nation. This is because of the socio-economic importance of a woman in the purely African village community like Oku. Some of the projects realised by FIOH-Oku:-

Improving the processing and transformation of corn and cassava through mills and haulers donated by SHUMAS and her partners.
Offering loans to members at very minimal interest rates through a scheme developed by SHUMAS.
Through SHUMAS there has been the development of community health infrastructure for the village of Lui.
Regular production of organic food crops and other natural products for income generation and food security.
Attending agro-pastoral shows to market their produce.
Training and practising sustainable and integrated farming and livestock productions methods amongst her members.
Training and application of agroforestry techniques to her membership.

Oku is located in Bui Division of the North West Region of Cameroon. It is made up of 36 village communities mostly living along the slopes of the Kilum Mountain. The people depend mostly on forest resources, subsistence agriculture, cash crop farming, livestock production and local artisan work for their livelihood. The Kilum Ijim Forest found in the community is a naturally preserved moist montane forest with a surface area of about 20,000 hectares. It is located in the Mount Oku Ridge in the Bamenda Highlands and forms part of the High Plateaus Agro-ecological Zone of Cameroon. The geographic location of the area is latitude 6°07’N – 6°17’N and longitude 10°20’E – 10°25’E. It has very important and threatened Afro-Montane endemic animal and plant species such as Prunus africana amongst others. It is an internationally important biodiversity hotspot and a critical zone for carbon sequestration within the High Plateaus Agro-ecological Zone.
The Kilum area is one of the highly populated locations in Africa and Cameroon in particular, accommodating 144,800 people occupying about 328 km2 (439.3persons/km2); hence, high pressure on resources is inevitable. There has been progressive deforestation and degradation mainly due to agricultural expansion, forest fire and overgrazing. Fuel wood harvesting has also been a major cause of deforestation and forest degradation. The late 1980s decline in coffee prices triggered many farmers to migrate further up the slopes in search of new land to increase income through alternative crops.

Within two years of its formation the activities of the co-operative had a profound positive impact on the lives of the women:

Former situation

We were scattered and never cared to come together because we did farming far away from our homes because of the eucalyptus trees that were planted around our homes by men.
We thought that only men had the right to inherit the property of parents. We never attended seminars and training programmes.
We were shy to express ourselves among men and only played the part of listening.
Our opportunities for income-generation were very limited.
We thought HIV/AIDS was a curse from God and an opportunity for white people to sell us condoms.
We thought that bread and cakes production was the duty of men. We did not know the importance of business – buyam sellam.
If a woman was illiterate when she married we thought this was the last chance for her to become literate.
Single parents had to resort to work on farms just to feed the family. They had insufficient income for their children’s education.
Women believed that only men had the right to determine how many children they should bear.
Husbands decided which political party their wives should vote for in Elections.
Only men had the right to erect buildings and got the credit for doing so despite the help of women.
Men brought in second wives without the consent of the first wife, claiming it is their right.
Women thought only of their own needs and rarely discussed problems together. We did not engage with women from other villages.
Widows used to sleep on bare floors in very smokey houses that constituted a breeding ground for germs and diseases.

Current situation

We now farm around our homes and have enough time to come together. Children now attend school as they do not have to come with us to distant farms. We have gained experience by coming together e.g. joined savings and credit groups with small interest charged on loans. We now have small businesses that help to solve some of our problems like paying for school fees and drugs. We are healthy and do not have to rely on our husbands for money.
We have attended many seminars organised by SHUMAS and the Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace, Bishops House, Kumbo, Human Rights agent and the International Federation of Female Lawyers in Cameroon.
Now we express ourselves freely because of the lectures from SHUMAS and human rights agent who told us that every person is the same before the law and has the right to express his/her views freely.
We now produce tablet and powder soap and hire a hand cart for transporting items.
Through seminars we have learned that HIV/AIDS is real. We go out to schools and talk on the rural radio about the dangers and the precautioins that must be taken. There have been significant changes in sexual behaviour as a result.
We now have our own small bakery and members can take part in bread making and poff poff production. We sell what we make and employ male youths to carry to far distant places by motorbike to sell.
The eucalyptus replacement project has enabled women to have more time to engage in adult literacy classes. These include married women who were once illiterate.
FIOH Oku has encouraged single parents to join the co-opertive and learn how to engage in income generating activities. The co-operative has provided them with small loans and they are now able to sell items in the market. Some have been able to send their children to school and have given testimonies on how their lives have improved.
From the lectures and seminars women became more aware that men and women should jointly agree the number of children they should bear.
Through the education of the human rights agent and messages from Mike Thomas of the FIOH UK Fund, women now know their rights to vote in their own right.
Women now realise that they can take the initiative in putting up a building. Our women have bought a plot of land and have erected their own meeting hall.
Through the co-operative we have taught women the importance of marriage certificates and various types of marriage . If monogamy is the choice then men have no right to bring in a second wife or mistress.
We now have exchange visits with other womens co-operatives in our network. We exchange ideas and learn from each others experience.
Now most women, especially FIOH women, do not now sleep in such houses. When their husbands die they sit in a special room with friends who comfort them.

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Participatory Village Development Programme, Pakistan

Background
The Participatory Village Development Programme (PVDP) is a locally registered development non-government organisation (NGO) established in 1997 with a vision to see in the time to come a healthy, literate, civic and socio-economically self reliant community. The organization was formed with a mission to support the poor and disadvantaged communities in improving the qualities of their lives, through encouraging people to organize and mobilize themselves for social change.
PVDP was formed with a clear aim to tackle the causes of poverty and deprivation and bring about a long term difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged people of Tharparkar district of Sindh Province in Pakistan. To achieve this aim PVDP and the community embarked upon the challenging task of improving the natural resources upon which 90% of the poor and disadvantaged people depend.

PVDP and the Community will work together towards long term change by improving, the water resources, the livestock resources and the general tree and fodder resources of the target area. The improvement in the natural resources will contribute directly to the improvement of living conditions of the poor and marginalized people. When this happens, it will help the target groups to sustain the project’s benefits in the longer term.

The economy of Tharparkar is mainly based on livestock and cattle which people raise to eke out their daily living. 90% of the population of Tharparkar district live below the poverty line and women and girls are especially disadvantaged.

PVDP project area

Besides, improving the natural resources, PVDP and the community also work towards improving the health, education and the development of capacities of the communities, particularly the poor and marginalized groups.

The basic values of PVDP
PVDP respects the rights, culture and dignity of all people and stakeholders it is working with.

PVDP considers all human beings as equal irrespective of gender, caste, creed, beliefs, affiliation or political commitment.
PVDP gives top priority to the interests of the vulnerable groups such as women and children.
PVDP believes in participatory approaches in all its work and intervention.
PVDP opposes discrimination of all kinds.

The target group
The target groups of PVDP are the poorest households in the project villages. These households are carefully selected by PVDP staff and the village organization. The main object of the programme is to enhance the socio-economic, health and educational status the selected beneficiaries, 90% of which are women and children.

Major issues PVDP and the community aim to tackle are:

Gender inequality and poverty
Women and girls are more vulnerable to poverty in Tharparkar. This is mainly because of the gender inequality which has aggravated discrimination due to social cultural and economic reasons. There is unequal participation of women and girls in community life and there is hugely unequal access to assets such as livestock, land, health and education. PVDP is striving with the local communities to address the issues of gender inequality in order to reduce poverty and marginalization of women and girls.
Together with building assets of women, the project aims to bring about changes in attitudes, roles and behaviour that are essential for gender equality to be achieved.

Land degradation
The environment, which produces the most essential means of survival, namely food, fodder and fuel, is badly degraded due to human and animal pressures. PVDP and the community have taken the challenge to restore the land’s fertility through developing its pastures and grazing lands. PVDP is motivating the community to raise small flocks of animals, which are manageable and more economical to the households. At the same time PVDP also advocates and motivates the community towards smaller family units to reduce the overall pressure on resources.

Food security
For this purpose a poverty reduction model based on improving the assets of households and providing regular income to the households has been developed together with the project communities. The poverty reduction model calls for improving the natural resources with which the livelihood of majority is directly linked.

The objective of the poverty reduction model is to ensure secured livelihood for the poor and disadvantaged communities and reduce their vulnerability related to droughts and other disasters (earthquake).

Poverty reduction model of PVDP
To address the causes of poverty and vulnerability of disadvantaged communities, PVDP and its partner community organizations have developed a poverty reduction model based on production and harnessing of natural resources on sustainable grounds. A six activity based model is introduced through women at household levels. The model ensures development of permanent assets for women and a sustainable livelihood from livestock and land resources.

PVDP’s approaches to development work
Working with all the relevant partners – the stakeholders
PVDP strongly believes in participatory approaches in all its programmes. Consulting and involving marginalized people right from identification of problems to the planning, implementation, monitoring, review and evaluation stages is the normal practice of PVDP. PVDP believes that involving the community at every stage of the project development is vital to increase the chances of making a long-term difference and ensure that the benefits of the project will be shared fairly among the poor and marginalised communities. PVDP also seeks the collaboration of local government bodies particularly those relating to agriculture, health, education and veterinary services at district level.

Building the capacities of community staff and volunteers
PVDP believes in the capacity building of the community organizations it is working with, the staff implementing the programmes and of the volunteers, to be able to tackle the causes of poverty more effectively, more efficiently and in a sustainable way.

The aim of PVDP is to eventually shift the responsibilities of the project over to the community organizations over a number of years. It also means that over the years, the role of PVDP will reduce and role of the community will increase to the extent of taking over project activities and the management of community development work by the “Goth Sujag Markaz” – The Village Development Organizations of the villages.

Influencing opinion
Our constant interaction with project communities, government bodies and other stakeholders provides us an opportunity to use our combined energies and resources for the development of marginalized people and enable them to have more control over their lives.

PVDP, in the course of its work, aims to create more awareness of basic rights and equity issues at the family level, at government and civil society levels. This kind of awareness at various levels will help to influence attitudes and practices among decision and policy makers. The aim is also to create effective channels of communication between the grassroots and policy makers which is fundamental to influencing sustainable changes to the lives of the most disadvantaged people.

Building alliances and networking
PVDP has developed networking with various NGOs and government organizations in the development field. This kind of networking is helping PVDP to share experiences and exchange resources to create an environment of co-operation to bring about sustainable development initiatives for the most disadvantaged groups. Networking is helping to share lessons learned from project implementation of various network partners and in maximising impact and building organizational expertise.

Learn as we go along
PVDP is a learning organization. It learns from everything it does with the community and other stakeholders. The learning sharpens our vision and helps us to improve the way in which we work as an organization.

PVDP is a rights-based NGO
PVDP is a rights-based organization. It respects the rights, culture and dignity of all people and stakeholders it is working with. The organization considers all human beings as equal irrespective of gender, caste, creed, beliefs or political affiliation. PVDP gives top priority to the interests of the vulnerable groups such as women and children and their rights. PVDP opposes discrimination of all kinds.

Major programmes of PVDP
Community mobilization, awareness raising and forming of village organizations of men and women is part and parcel of PVDP’s development initiatives with local communities. The major programmes undertaken with the community are as follows:

Natural Resource Management Programmes:

– Livestock development programme
– Fodder and fuel development programme
– Water development programme

Health Development Programme:

– Safe Motherhood
– Expanded programme of Immunization
– Promotion of smaller family units.

Emergency Response Programme:

– Drought Relief and Rehabilitation Programme
– Emergency preparedness trainings

Capacity building programme:

– Capacity building at community level
– Capacity building at staff level
– Capacity building at volunteer level.

Lobbying, networking and influencing opinions:

– Lobbying for major issues of the district Tharparkar
– Networking with government bodies
– Networking with other NGOs
– Working to influence policies and practices.

Major achievements of PVDP
PVDP started its work with only 10 villages in 1997 when it was established. Work gradually expanded over last five years and at present this organization is working with communities in 60 villages with a population of about 50,000 comprising of about 7,000 households.

PVDP so far has supported the communities in forming 22 men and 27 women’s organizations who are regularly trained to build their capacities for self reliance. PVDP and village organizations have worked together to plant about 52,000 trees, grafted about 2,600 bair fruit trees, 400 rainwater harvesting tanks, supported 14,104 poor families in times of droughts and earthquake.

Besides these activities, the links of PVDP within and outside Pakistan has increased.
– PVDP’s work is widely recognized by the community and local government
– PVDP’s image as a development NGO is good in the Province of Sindh
– The staff has gained on the job experience in regular development activities and relief work.
– PVDP is member of Indus NGO Network, which only admits value based and functional NGOs as members.
– PVDP is mentioned as one of the leading NGOs of Tharparkar in the website www.tharparkar.sdnpk.org

pakstove This two- stove model provides the facility to cook two meals at one time. As the stove is smokeless, it saves women’s eyes from smoke related eye diseases besides preventing the internal portion of house and cooking pots from blackening. The major benefit of this stove is that it saves about 1/3rd of the fire wood. It is estimated that each household in Thar burns about 10 kgs of wood per day. With this stove, about 3.3 kgs of wood is saved daily and in one year about 1200 kgs of wood is saved..
The Thar population is about 1 million comprising of about 140,000 households. If one household saves equal to 1200 kgs of wood, all the 140,000 households together can save up to 168 million kgs or about 4.2 million mounds of wood equal to about 42,000 full grown trees per year if they are using this fuel efficient stove.
The stove has a great environmental impact. The use of this stove helps to improve our badly degraded environment due to cutting down of trees for fire wood. It also helps to reduce land degradation and desertification processes.
Cost of material for one fuel efficient stove Rs. 300
Cost of training per household Rs. 250
Cost of monitoring Rs. 150
Total cost on one fuel efficient stove Rs. 700 (£8)
(Value of annual saved wood per household: 1200 kgs x Rs. 3/- per kg= Rs. 3,600) (£40).

The objective of this programme is to motivate the community for raising small flocks of animals to reduce the overall pressure of animals on the grazing land which in turn will help to reduce land degradation and desertification due to over grazing.
Under this programme a poor family is supported with a unit of 6 she goats. The benefit of this activity to a poor family is two-fold; goat milk is used to overcome the problem of malnutrition commonly found in women and children due to poor diet and secondly, the male goat kids are sold to supplement poor family’s meagre income.
This is a revolving loan programme in which two goats are recovered by the project each year, this way all the six goats come back to the project in three years to help another poor family with the recovered goats.

The selection of a poor family for the Small Flock Programme support is made jointly by PVDP field staff and the Goth Sujag Markaz Committee (Village Development Committee) of the village.
The cost of a unit of 6 goat is about Rs. 7,200
Benefit to beneficiary family in three years:
Value of milk Rs. 20,000, (£222) and income from the sale of a male goat Rs. 15,000 (£167).

Grafting bair trees: This activity is conducted to support poor Thari households in raising bair fruits on their land for income generation. 50 bair trees of local variety are grafted with improved variety of marketable bair. It takes from two to three years to produce bair fruit which can be sold in the market to supplement family income.
Traditionally three rains are needed to ripen the Thari crop of Bajra and Guwar. If three rains do not occur on time, the crop becomes a failure. The bair fruits can be raised in one good rainfall. Even if subsequent rainfall does not occur, this activity still gives good results to the farmers.
One bair tree can produce a minimum of 20 kgs when it is in its prime. So 50 bair trees can produce up to 1000 kgs of bair fruits in one season. Normally the price of 1 kg of bair is between Rs.10 and 15 per kg. But even in the village it sells for Rs.5 per kg. The income that can be earned on 1000 kg production will be (1000xRs.5/-)
Rs. 5,000/-.
The cost:
Cost of grafting one bair tree comes to Rs. 50 including cost of transporation, staff time and cost of graft from another bair tree. So cost of 50 bair graft cost Rs. 2500 (£28).
The Benefit:
Annual bair sale (minimum) is Rs. 5,000 (£55).

Handicrafts: This activity is undertaken by PVDP and Goth Sujag Markaz to provide earning opportunities for poor women to meet the basic food needs for their families through sale of handicraft work.
The activity also helps to address the problem of food security among the poorest families in times of drought when food shortages lead to an increase in the illness and mortality rates amongst the poorest section of the community.
PVDP supports women with quality raw material for making embroidery which they can sell in the market. PVDP helps in improving the quality and design of the products so that they can fetch a market inside and outside of the country.
Cost
Cost of supporting one women with raw material comes to Rs.1000 (£11)
Benefit:
One woman on average can earn upto Rs.30 per day and in a year she can earn up to Rs. 10,000 (£111) without disturbing her daily chores (fetching water, cooking , tending goats, looking after children, helping in agriculture activities).