Update: Kuluje Sewing and Literacy Center

Like Elevage, it has been a while since we've brought you news about the Kuluje Sewing and Literacy Center in Niger, and we thought the best way to share what's been going on would be to show you through some of the beautiful photos from Judy and John's last visit.

We first wrote about Kuluje in April 2011, and the women are making excellent progress. The Center is currently teaching literacy and sewing skills to 23 young women in the community. 

If you would like to see more pictures of the women and the center, please visit our Flickr page.

Elevage Update

It's been far too long since we've written about our Elevage (sheep raising) project in Niger.

This income-generating program in Gonzare, Niger provides 20 women with micro-loans to purchase breeding sheep to begin building their own flocks. After 2 rounds of breeding, adults are sold to repay the loan. Lambs become the basis of the new--and fully owned-- new flock (please read the original post for more details).

 We hope you enjoy these pictures of the women involved, as well as some of their animals from John and Judy's last trip to Africa. For more pictures, visit us on Flickr.

Below is the final report on the project, which tells us that everyone involved has been satisfied with how it's gone. We've provided the whole report, so if you're interested in more details, please take a look! We are so grateful EPN volunteer, Frank Gontier, for his translation of the document.

Rapport Elevage (Translation)

EPN's New Water Project in Niger

Even though we have recently shared news of too much water in Niger, the problem of too little water is still a very real one. That being said, it's time to share a new project with all of you. This latest grant will be used to fund the Tonko Bangou village water project in Libore, Niger. 

This project has come about because of the initial passion of Pete Brach. The Brach family were major supporters of the Farmers of the Future project in 2011, and have also been major supporters of the work of Advisory Committee Member, Dov Pasternak, for many years

When Pete traveled with John and Judy to Niger last winter, he was moved by the plight of villages who had no access to water. They learned that the Nigerien government is building a water pipeline that will reach many of these villages, and will supply water to any village that pays to be connected to the pipeline. 

Pete was really impressed with the ability of water to transform the landscape, as well as the lives of the people in these villages. He had John stop on the road and take the two photos you see above. One is to the left of the road; the other is to the right - same spot in the road.The top photo shows the typical barren landscape of Niger, while the photo on the bottom shows an irrigated field, green, with acres of rice. Access to water is the foundation for a healthy population and a healthy economy. Pete immediately grasped this, and set a goal to raise funds to make as many connections as possible to the new public water pipe on order to bring safe water to communities along the main road southeast of Niamey. His efforts will make a world of difference for those people.

The first contributions total $6,200 ($3200 from Pete and $3000 from the Brach Family Charitable Foundation) to connect the village of Tonko Bangou to the government pipeline. Approximately 5,000 people will benefit from this grant.

If you're interested in helping out with this project, please visit the DONATE page.

UPDATE: Flooding in Niger

We'd like to begin by thanking everyone who donated to help our friends affected by the devastating flooding in Niger. The money that was provided by EPN, and our partner, Pencils for Kids, has been used to purchase rice, bednets, and drugs to help cover the highest medical risks.

We're also happy to report that larger organizations are getting involved. The Red Cross has visited the Libore region, and distributed some rice. Other relief agencies such as Unicef and ADRA have also indicated that they plan to visit.

So what now? Hamani has told us that plans still need to be developed to handle food storage, the rebuilding of homes, and repairing the farm land. We are still waiting for details on how all of this will affect the start of the school year and Farmers of the Future. Even with the delays to the project, we're so grateful to have been able to help, and will continue to do so however we can.

For more photos of distribution, and the people we're helping, please visit us on Flickr.

Full Farmers of the Future Program will be Ready for the Start of School

**PLEASE NOTE:  This post was drafted just before receiving news of the Niger floods. The good news for Farmers of the Future is that our 3 pilot schools were not flooded and the mini-farms are in tact. Unfortunately, many in the villages are homeless. They are being housed temporarily in the classrooms. We don't know when these families will be relocated and whether the start of the school year will be affected. Nonetheless, we are moving forward with our launch plans and will be ready whenever the school year begins.**


How do kids learn best? There's no one answer; some learn best in the classroom, while others learn by doing. With Farmers of the Future, our concept has always been to combine these two learning styles. The hands-on learning in the mini-farms has been in place for the last year, but the classroom curriculum has lagged somewhat behind. We had a "soft launch" of the classroom program last February, and now, after months of hard work, the complete classroom curriculum is ready to go. The full Farmers of the Future program as originally envisioned will be launched with the start of the new school year this October.

Lots of work has gone into completing the classroom program. First, we needed to finalize the teachers manual and student texts. The teachers manual identifies week by week, over a two year period, how to integrate FOF into the national curriculum. For instance, there are opportunities to bring specialized FOF topics into math, science, and environmental courses, which are some of the required subjects.

Next, we developed illustrated pamphlets for the students. These materials are complete, approved by the Ministry of Education, and ready for printing! 700 manuals are being printed; 600 student pamphlets and 100 teaching manuals. Scroll to the bottom of this post, or click here, to scroll through a .pdf of a sample student pamphlet. It's in French, but it should give you an idea of what's been produced.

You may be wondering just who is teaching the FOF program? The answer is simple--the regular teachers at the schools.  Since they have no prior knowledge of FOF's farming concepts and techniques, we have had to teach the teachers before they can teach their students. This is no small task, and if anything, we underestimated just how much training would be required. As a result, we have significantly increased this aspect of the program. Teachers have already completed two training sessions, in February and April, and they will take part in two weeks of rigorous training in September prior to the new school year. Additionally, they participate in monthly workshops where they discuss the program and its implementation, and prepare model classes for their peers.

October 1 marks the true launch of the Farmers of the Future program as originally envisioned! Our goals in this pilot phase are to develop the program, test it in the real world, identify what's working well and what's not, and make improvements. As such, we will be monitoring everything closely in order to fine-tune the program and ready it for expansion to other schools.

The over-arching goal of Farmers of the Future is to showcase the great potential of modern farming, and to give these children the tools to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. As always, you help to make all of this possible, and we thank you for your support.

Farmers of the Future Illustrated Pamphlet

An Urgent Plea To Help Those Devastated by Flooding in Niger

When your friends cry out for help, how do you answer?

Water is waist deep in many areas

Eliminate Poverty Now doesn’t do disaster relief, but weeks of heavy rain in Niger have caused massive flooding. One third of the 32,000 people in the Liboré villages where we work have been affected, and while international aid is beginning to trickle in, our friends have an immediate need for basics such as safe drinking water, food, and mosquito bed nets. 

Village damage

They have asked for our help, and we are doing our best to come to their aid by spreading the word and giving what we can, and by asking you to join us in our effort. Please send what you can to Eliminate Poverty Now for Liboré Disaster Relief. Every little bit helps.

-$10 buys a water bucket and bed net. 

-$50 buys a bucket, a bed net, and a 100 kg bag of grain.

Abandoned animals

We ask that you please pass this message on to 20 friends to help spread the word; there’s been no news coverage of this natural disaster in the US, but this recent article from the BBC is one of the better we’ve seen. 

Thank you.

DONATE NOW 

Flooded rice fields

Thank You...

This post is a simple thank you to all of our readers. We have been receiving wonderful feedback and support recently, especially after our recent news about EPN being registered with USAID (in case you missed it, view the post here!). 

We received an especially lovely note from Hamani Djibo, founder and director of the NGO LIBO, our partner in Niger. Hamani wrote (translated from French by our newest volunteer, Frank Gotier),

"I just want to inform you that this news made a lot of people happy in our community. EPN is changing lives here in Niger, especially in the rural town of Libore.
We cannot gather everyone to celebrate this major event which is bringing a lot of hope to all of us.
All we can do is congratulate the Craig couple, John and Judy, for taking on this bet and winning it step by step.
And they are making it happen because they have faith in what they do.
They are role models (inspirations)."

Hamani's support, and yours, means the world to us. EPN could not thrive without you, and for that we are so, so grateful.

Little Rock Scholars #3: Meet Millicent

 Little Rock Scholars- Millicent

                                                                                                                                                

At fifteen years old, MIllicent is a compassionate, spiritual, earnest girl with forgiveness in her heart.  Her inspiration comes from God, from her mother, and from Little Rock Early Childhood Development Center.

When we listened to Millicent tell her story, we were struck by the maturity with which she spoke of her unsupportive father. She spoke of him often in her story, and did not try to make excuses for his disappointing behavior, yet she includes him in her prayers and wishes to take both of her parents out of the slums someday.

“ My goals are to make good decisions in my life. I should not make bad decisions in my life, I should make good decisions so that I can help my parents, so that I can move them from where they are living right now. When I grow up, I’d like to help those students who can’t help themselves, who are in the streets, who don’t have food. And that is my wish to God, that one day he will give me courage so that I can help them.  

We have no doubt that given the opportunities and resources she deserves, she will do all she dreams of.

She WILL help students in need.

She WILL take her parents out of the slum.

It would be a privilege to send Millicent to secondary school.

She WILL change the world.

You can help by clicking

DonateNow

EPN is Registered with USAID

We are very pleased to share with you all that EPN has been accepted as a registered Private Voluntary Organization with USAID (the United States Agency for International Development), and we've been included in the 2012 Report of Voluntary Agencies Engaged in Overseas Relief and Development (VolAg Report)! Being registered means we are eligible to apply for funding from this very important U.S. government agency, which sponsors many worthwhile projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

Below is the letter we received, giving us the news. It provides more information and a couple of links you may find interesting.

"I am pleased to inform you that the 2012 Report of Voluntary Agencies Engaged in Overseas Relief and Development (VolAg Report), produced by the Local Sustainability (LS) Division in the Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, is now available.

The 2012 VolAg Report is the culmination of one year's effort by the IDEA/LS Division staff to collect, validate, and disseminate a clear, factual report about the private voluntary organizations (PVOs), cooperative development organizations (CDOs), and international PVOs (IPVOs) registered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as of April 1, 2012. The report is a compendium of PVO/CDO/IPVO activities and finances for fiscal year 2010 and contains information compiled from data provided to USAID during the annual registration process. 

The 2012 VolAg Report is available online and can be downloaded from the IDEA/LS Web site at http://idea.usaid.gov/organization/ls/.

IDEA/LS also maintains the online PVO Registry, which is designed to complement the annual VolAg Report. The online Registry is an interactive database that gives the public access to a subset of the registration information available to USAID staff. Updated nightly, the database can be searched by activity sector or country and provides users with PVO contact and program information as well as financial data. The database, at http://pvo.usaid.gov/usaid/, also provides e-mail addresses and links to PVO Web sites."

EPN Receives Grant from the Rotary Club

We are thrilled to announce that EPN has received a $1000.00 grant from the Carbondale Rotary Club, where Judy and John are members. The money will go towards RockPads, and with it, we will be able to supply 40 more girls with kits! 

This means that 40 more girls will be able to stay in school while they have their periods. If they can stay in school, they can earn more income and lift themselves and their families out of poverty. 

Secondary education for girls has the following effects:
empowerment of women, economic opportunity for women,
increases gdp, reduces infant mortality, reduces overpopulation,
reduces malnutrition, reduces the incidence of HIV/AIDS

The club has been very supportive of EPN, inviting John and Judy to speak to the group, and now donating $1000.00 for the RockPads project. Many thanks to everyone at the Carbondale Rotary Club, but most especially to the members of the international committee who reviewed the grant: Ann Harris, John Baker, Ted Miller and Tripp Adams. We are so grateful for your support.






We hope that you will all join us in thanking the Rotary Club for this generous grant. 






You can join the Rotary Club in supplying even more young girls with these kits by donating to the RockPads project. 

Little Rock Scholars #2: Meet Vincent

 Little Rock Scholars- Vincent

                                                                                                                                                 

Vincent is an intelligent, gracious, and hard-working young man.

We met him in that same classroom where we met Jane and the other candidates for the Little Rock Scholars program. He did not speak for as long as the girls, but the words he did share were powerful and well-spoken.

“Unfortunately, my father died in 2007. I only live with my mom. I remember that my father used to tell me that hard work pays. So I am working hard so that I can be a pilot. I take art, mathematics and social studies, all to help me become a pilot. My favorite sport is football because it keeps you busy. My mom supports me in all that I do. Thank you for being here."   

We have no doubt that given the opportunities and resources he deserves, he will go on to make his dreams come true.

He WILL become a pilot.

It would be a privilege to send Vincent to secondary school.

He WILL change the world.

You can help by clicking

DonateNow

EPN 2011 Annual Report

Hello! We have completed our annual report for 2011. You'll get an overview of our projects all in one place, and a way to see what we've accomplished and where we're going. Thanks to everyone who helped make the amazing achievements of 2011 possible. EPN would not be what it is without you. As John says in the wonderful executive letter that you'll read below, it's not easy, but progress is possible. And YOU are an absolutely integral part of that progress. We appreciate your support more than we can say, and we are proud to share this report and our accomplishments with you. We would love it if you would spend a few minutes of your time to scroll through and let us know what you think! 

2011 Annual Report Final (1)

Songhai Women's Capital Fund #4

Alice Chadare

                                                                                                                                                             

Alice views herself as an integral part of the development of her country. As she says, “Everyone chooses their goals, their work. You can make that contribute to society or not, but I want to see my country improve so I chose a career in agriculture.” 


After finishing her training with Songhai, Alice started a small soap business. Now, the loan from Eliminate Poverty is providing the means for Alice to purchase her own land to start a market garden. Very few women actually hold a land title in their name, so this small act of purchasing land has major implications. The acre of land Alice will start her garden on even came with some perks already in place that will set Alice up even better for success! It has a well, and Laurel trees, which are very profitable; the leaves (bay leaves) are sold for profit and used in sauce. There are also a few avocado trees on the property, another source of profit for Alice. 

Alice plans on planting leafy greens, tomatoes, and spicy peppers during her first season. We look forward to visiting Alice in her garden as she changes the area into a vegetable oasis.

"People always talk about famines here in Africa, but we have the natural resources to develop and avoid starvation. People just need to value and use all their resources like Songhai teaches."

Here is the video of Alice telling her story from our Songhai visit, with the translator. We hope you get a sense of where Alice is coming from and where she is going.

Join us in supporting Songhai and women like Alice by visiting our Donate page.

Songhai Women's Capital Fund #3

 Rebecca Madjro

                                                                                                                                                             

Rebecca graduated from Songhai in December 2011 and already has her small rabbit business up and running. She has 6 breeding rabbits right now, and one of the females just gave birth to 6 new babies! The first time Rebecca laid her eyes on a rabbit was during her training at Songhai. Since that day her professional goal was to start raising rabbits not only for her own profit, but to provide protein to people in her community. 

With the Eliminate Poverty Now loan, not only can she expand her small rabbit husbandry business, but she is also able to start a market garden to replicate the integrated system of agriculture that Songhai promotes. 

 

Rebecca wants to take the integrated system of production that Songhai teaches and turn it into a reality.  The photo to the left is the area inside of Rebecca’s concession where she plans to start her urban garden. Since Rebecca lives in Cotonou, the capital, this sets a great example for others to grow their own nutritious food right in their own homes. Rebecca also plans to have a larger garden outside of Cotonou for a greater production of vegetables. 

Rebecca is extremely excited to expand her business.

"Through my training at Songhai I saw the relationship between agriculture and animal husbandry. I saw how they re-enforced each other and thought that is an easy, good way to decrease poverty. I want to do that."

Here is the video of Rebecca telling her story from our Songhai visit, with the translator. We hope you enjoy it.

Join us in supporting Songhai and women like Rebecca by visiting our Donate page.

Songhai Women's Capital Fund #2

   Elvire Agbotome

                                                                                                                                                             

Elvire is married with two daughters. She began her venture into commercial agriculture by raising rabbits, and now that her rabbit business is taking off, she wants to diversify by also raising chickens and starting a market garden. 


Elvire’s passion for agriculture was initiated by the rampant malnutrition in her area. She hopes to help by raising chickens and eggs to provide much needed protein, and by growing vegetables to nourish her country.

When the micro-credit team visited Elvire's farm, they were incredibly impressed with the work already in place. There are currently 30 breeding rabbits housed in one building, with a second building available for raising chickens. The new chickens will be purchased with the micro-credit loan from Eliminate Poverty Now. 

“My end goal? To watch my daughters grow up in a country not known for its poverty, but for its strong, innovative women."

Here is the video of Elvire telling her story, with the translator again, when we visited Songhai. We hope you enjoy and get a sense of Elvire as a woman working to make a better world for her children.

Join us in supporting Songhai and women like Elvire by visiting our Donate page.

Songhai Women's Capital Fund #1

       Reine Kouton

                                                                                                                                                             

Reine knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in agriculture. At the age of 16 she entered the training program at Songhai where she learned how to raise chickens and make soap commercially.

In Benin, where chickens normally roam free and eat garbage or whatever scraps they can find, actually raising chickens is a revolutionary concept, and Reine plans on expanding her chicken business from simply selling chickens to eat to producing eggs, a much needed protein throughout Benin. 

   Reine is an ambitious woman planning to enter into the world of vegetable production. She wants to grow peppers, lettuce, and leafy vegetables commonly used in sauces. All are very rare in the Dowa area so Reine will be creating a new niche in the market to meet the increasing demand for vegetables. The best part is that Reine envisions an integrated system, using the waste from her chickens to improve the soil and increase yields.

“In 10 years I hope Benin will have a women president. Women are the ones working up steadily from their old roles in the home and we own lots of businesses in Benin. This is just the beginning for us. If women can keep improving their lives, Benin will develop too."

We hope you'll take some time to watch this video of Reine from our visit to the Songhai Centre. It's in French, it's lengthy, and there's a translator off screen. But when we edit it, it loses too much of her strength of spirit. Even if you only spend a few minutes listening to Reine tell her story, we know you'll get a sense of her spirit and personality. 

Join us in supporting Songhai and women like Reine by visiting our Donate page.