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.

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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

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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

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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.

Farmers of the Future--An Introductory Video

Hello!

We've had some professional help producing a new video about Farmers of the Future. Please take a few minutes to look at it. And let us know what you think--we hope you like it as much as we do!

Little Rock Scholars #1: Meet Jane

     Little Rock Scholars- Jane

                                                                                                                                                  

A much better photo of Jane where her beautiful spirit shines

Jane is an intelligent, articulate, spiritual fifteen-year-old girl.  Her inspiration comes from God, from her parents, from her siblings, from Little Rock Early Childhood Development Center.

We met her – along with other candidates for the Little Rock Scholars program – in a classroom lit only by natural light. The photo doesn’t do justice to what a beautiful young woman she is. We wish you could see how expressive her face and hands are – and how amazingly articulate and inspiring she is.

“My parents did not finish school and people call them names, which really makes me sad. I would like to be a well-known doctor. I pray I will not die young so that I can     work hard and take my parents out of this slum. I know what is waiting for me in the  future. I know it will happen. We must work hard to achieve our goals and dreams.”     

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

She WILL become a well-known doctor.

She WILL take her parents out of the slum.

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

She WILL change the world.

You can help by clicking

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EPN Receives NetSuite Gift

We have exciting news!

Eliminate Poverty Now is the recipient of a NetSuite grant worth $22,000! This high-powered business software will allow us to manage out finances, donor database and e-commerce. Everything is integrated, so information--whether it is a donation, a grant, or an expense--only needs to get entered once, and is then fed into the other reports and databases that we'll need it for. All of this means that we will be able to do a better job of maintaining up-to-date information, as well as being able to analyze and report it faster. It should also help us in terms of building relationships with our generous and gracious donors!

This gift saves us from having to buy a software package (which would not have been nearly as powerful since the value of this NetSuite award is more than we could have spent ourselves), and it will also save time and energy. As EPN has grown, so has our need for this kind of system. With this software, EPN will be more efficient and organized, which can only lead to bigger and better things for our projects.

We are so honored that NetSuite chose us, and we are looking forward to being on the other side of the implementation process and reaping the advantages of a professional, integrated financial/donor management system.

Announcing Our Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee

Every few weeks Judy and I look at ourselves and ask, "What the hell are we doing?!!" What do we really know about development in Africa? We've got no formal training. We've got little relevant experience. We're unfamiliar with the culture, the daily needs and the challenges these people face.

OK, we're passionate about giving people a chance to make a better life. We ask lots of questions and we're a pretty quick study. Our greatest strength is understanding how little we really know.

We came to the conclusion that Eliminate Poverty Now needs a major injection of smarts about third world development. And in the last few years we've been blessed to work with people who have the technical knowledge and decades of experience to keep us moving in the right direction. So we're proud to announce the formation of the Eliminate Poverty Now Advisory Committee. It will provide guidance on development initiatives, comment on specific project proposals and help connect us to outstanding people doing outstanding work. And it's a very impressive group.

Dov Pasternak

Let's start with Professor Dov Pasternak. As you know from previous posts, Dov is a world renowned agricultural scientist who holds a UNESCO World Chair in Desertification. Now in his early 70's, Dov spent the first 30 years of his career at Ben Gurion University where he and several colleagues developed drip irrigation and introduced it to many regions of the world. Over the last 10 years Dov has worked with thousands of rural farmers in West Africa to use agriculture as a path out of extreme poverty.

Pete Ondeng

Our next member is Pete Ondeng. Pete was the first professional relationship we built in Africa and remains one of our most valued. When we first met, he was head of East African Operations for the Millennium Villages Project. Pete has 20 years of experience with development work in Africa in a variety of capacities and organizations. He was recently invited by the Rockefeller Foundation to become one of eight members of a global steering committee to help develop what they describe as "the seminal guide to impact investing in the social enterprise sector." The framework will be presented at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro this June.

Rustom Masalawala

Our third member is Rustom Masalawala. We have known Rustom for many years and have worked closely with him in his role as Director of Business Development for the Millennium Villages Project. Rustom combines a technical background in computer science with 20 years of experience in corporate and non-profit organizations. His work with developing economies spans Africa and South Asia. In addition to his work with the Millennium Villages, Rustom was one of the first employees of the Acumen Fund, famous for their concept of "patient capital" to support promising social entrepreneurs.

Yitzchak Abt

The fourth member of our Advisory Committee is Yitzchak Abt. Yitzchak is one of the giants in agricultural development. He founded CINADCO (Israel's Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation) and served as its director for 30 years. As part of MASHAV, Israel's Center for International Cooperation, CINADCO has been sharing Israel's agricultural technology with developing countries around the world for decades. Over a remarkable 40 year career Yitzchak has overseen the implementation of hundreds of projects and training for tens of thousands of people from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Yitzchak is approaching 80, and is currently working with a number of NGOs in rural development. We're truly honored that he has agreed to serve on our Committee.

So there you have it! Our 4-member Advisory Committee comes with over 100 years of practical experience and provides us with a wide range of geographic and functional perspectives. We're truly grateful to each of them for agreeing to serve on the committee. And we're confident they will be a tremendous help in our search for partners and projects that can deliver real impact and lasting value.

Notes from the field #7: Farmers of the Future and the "3 N's" Initiative

We're hard at work to insure the pilot phase of Farmers of the Future is a success. But the goal of the program is to change perceptions broadly, not just in 3 schools. To do that we need strong support from the National Ministry of Education, as well as a program which aligns well with national priorities.

Pete Brach, at the garden his family foundation sponsored

We're delighted with the progress on both fronts. First, with regard to aligning with national priorities, our timing is just about perfect. There's a new administration in Niger and one of its top priorities is a program called the "3 N's." It stands for "Nigeriens nourrissent les Nigeriens," or in English, "Nigeriens feeding Nigeriens." It's all about Niger becoming self sufficient in the supply of food. The Farmers of the Future program encourages the upcoming generation to make their living by increasing production of nutritious food. So it's a great fit. And not surprisingly, it's enabled the program to gain widespread support wherever we go.

Our local partners, Hamani Djibo of ONG LIBO and Saidou Abdoussalam of ICRISAT, have done a great job of building awareness and support for the program at the National Ministry of Education. During our visit, we met with the National Minister, Mme Ali Mariama Elhadj Ibrahim, and Mme Amadou Hadijatou

Mme Ali Mariama Elhadj Ibrahim
Niger Minister of Education

Aboubacar, the head of Environmental Education, the arm of the Ministry under which the Farmers of the Future program will fall.

Both women are enthusiastic about the program. They rattled off its many benefits about as well as we could have. And their major question was, "Why only 3 schools?" We explained that we will be in a pilot phase for the next 2 to 3 years to insure we have a program that works effectively. But once we're confident we're achieving the desired results, we'll be ready to expand. Of course, we'll need to line up the financial resources to scale the program. But even the financial resources won't mean much without the enthusiastic support of the Ministry. So this is a big deal!!

As we said in the last post, Farmers of the Future is the most ambitious and complex project Eliminate Poverty Now has undertaken. We've made significant progress in turning Dov Pasternak's dream into a reality but still have a long way to go. Over the years we've learned that patience and perseverance are key to success with development projects in Africa. And no doubt Farmers of the Future will require more than most.

On a lighter note, communicating in three languages in West Africa (our English, French for educated professionals, Djerma for villagers) is a bit like playing telephone. You have to have a sense of humor to do this stuff. See what we mean here:

Notes from the field #6: Farmers of the Future Pilot Phase

After 2 years in development, we started the pilot phase of Farmers of the Future in October 2011. In this post we'll describe details of the program being tested and how it's going.

Farmers of the Future has two main components: a classroom curriculum covering seven major topics and practical experience in a "mini-farm" which we've created adjacent to the school. The program is taught over a period of two years.

In the classroom there are modules on how to grow vegetables and legumes, how to grow trees and how to raise small animals. More broadly, students learn about the environment and how it is changing, the need to manage water, the benefits of irrigation, the importance of nutrition and simple concepts of business. That's a handful for teachers to add to the regular curriculum and a lot for the kids to absorb!

The "mini-farm" has a vegetable garden, tree nursery and animal enclosure. In addition, each farm has a well, pump, and water reservoir for use in irrigation. And the farm is fenced to keep grazing animals out and protect the children's hard efforts.

The scope of the program is broad and continues to expand. The topics of environment and nutrition were recently added. We're looking to incorporate a school lunch program. And we're working out details for income-generating projects for mothers to accelerate attitude change in the broader community.

Suffice it to say, Farmers of the Future is EPN's most ambitious and complex project. As we traveled around to the three pilot schools and visited with all the key players it was clear that much has been accomplished and there's much still to do.

We had hoped to have all teaching materials completed by the start of the school year this past October. But the local supplier didn't come through and we lost valuable time. We conducted an abbreviated teacher training session in January and ended up with a "soft launch" of the program mid-year. We're working hard to complete the teacher's manual and student texts, including the two new subjects, in time for the start of the next school year this October.

 The mini-farms are up and running at all 3 schools and they look good. There's a punch list of items to address but nothing of major concern. Since the teachers typically lack practical farm experience we have an agricultural technician and assistant who work with the students and teachers in the mini-farm and the kids really enjoy the hands-on work.

The ultimate goal of Farmers of the Future is to change attitudes about farming and to recognize its potential to increase income and the availability of nutritious food. While the primary focus is changing attitudes among students, we don't want to miss the opportunity to influence parents as well. Students will have work assignments to do at home and parents will be invited to attend school "open days" where students showcase what they've been learning.

We're particularly excited by the opportunity to leverage the resources available at the school to support income-generating activities for mothers. With the school's available water, fencing and technical assistance there's an opportunity to add programs for adults at minimal additional cost.

For example, we're looking to add a tree nursery program for moms. Growing tree saplings for resale can be a very lucrative business. With relatively little additional space and use of water we can have 20 women growing 20,000 trees. Annual revenues will be approximately $25,000 and expenses only about $6,000. Profits would be split 70% for the individual, 30% to the collective to offset operating expenses, pay for school fees, and create a pool of money to fund other entrepreneurial ventures in the community. We're hoping that nothing will change attitudes faster than a successful profit generator for parents, the school and the community.

Farmers of the Future is our most ambitious project because the goal is to create a program that can eventually be scaled to hundreds or thousands of schools in Niger and other countries in the arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa. To do that we'll need support at the national as well as local level. In our third post we'll describe the exciting progress that's been made in building awareness and support at the highest levels in Niger.

In the meantime, check out this video from our visit to Farmers of the Future.