By Sage Lancaster | Fundraising and Outreach Coordinator
We are thrilled to share that we are at last able to start training for projects within Eight New Villages! You will have read about Sudan in the news lately as the country has been in turmoil. People have taken up the cry “We are Darfur” at last realising the tragedy of life there since the violence started in 2002. With restricted press and no items on Sudan television people have no way of knowing what happens in the rest of the country. There has been great uncertainty over the past months, and our Programme Manager and Project Leader have been unable to get things like fuel to reach our villages and begin delivering our life saving projects. Luckily, we have been in constant contact, even during the internet outage, because of their dedication, so we are fully up to date with all that has been happening. Things are still uncertain, but settlement is looking likely at the Federal level now, with on going talks.
Because we work directly with village leaders we have been able to find ways to help, despite the difficulties, teaching people to run our projects democratically and with the security necessary for their success. We will never adopt a village if we are not able to fully provide all that we have said we will - but sustainability of our projects is essential. That is why we had to delay until now to ensure we could provide all we promise.
Our main project is our goat loan, where we provide five nanny goats to each family of the 15% of families in the village democratically selected as being the most in need. A Billy Goat is also shared between three families - it works! The goats are given to the mother in each family, and as soon as she has passed on five healthy nanny goats to another family, the rest of the flock is hers. Something we could never have achieved without our help. There are 270 women who will receive goats in our new villages - for each of them this is a life changing time. They will have their first ever income which they can choose how they spend. It makes an enormous difference to each family.
We have just received a proposal for 30 new midwives, which includes midwives for these eight new villages! Training midwives provides young women with a secure and important profession and an income for life. Each midwife further empowers women in her own village by giving them information, medical help and the ability to deliver children whilst feeling safe, confident, and comfortable in her own health and the health of her child's. The presence of trained midwives in villages transforms mortality of both mother and child. In the past, Darfur had one of the highest rates of death in childbirth in the world. In recent years the lack of health care in villages was made worse by the dangers of travelling to the few hospitals. Our Kids for Kids Midwives have transformed life for women and young girls no longer fear marriage and having children. Our midwives also teach the dangers of FGM and train the various methods of contraception.
These are just a few examples of how much all our projects do to help women in Darfur, giving them an income and a voice. This income is, put simply, the difference between making decisions for their children to improve their lives and give them a chance. With an income, mothers can provide health care for their children as well as send them to school. You will see before our next project report that this project will include more about our Kindergartens too as we are building schools in villages to provide women with the resources to educate their young ones - both girls and boys. Starting school early has a major impact on future success.
Thank you, as always, for your fantastic support. Please remember to share our work with your social circles. We do not advertise, so it is purely word of mouth that gets our life-saving work out there!
By Sage Lancaster | Fundraising and Outreach Coordinator
By Sage Lancaster | Project Leader
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