WATER, SANITATION & HYGIENE (WASH) Each day, 1,400 children die from preventable water related illnesses. emerge poverty free has been working in Uganda since 2000, providing safe water, sanitation and hygiene training. We mainly target primary and secondary schools to keep children healthy. Together with our local partner, we have drilled over 200 water boreholes, installed nearly 60 latrines and helped thousands of girls and boys to access clean water. This has significantly increased attendance rates and boosted enrolment, especially amongst girls.
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When we drank water from the previous well, my children used to cry with a stomach ache and had to go to the health centre to get treated. Due to the lack of clean water, the children sometimes had to miss school and stay at home, either with sickness or because they were too thirsty and had no energy to learn.” Salvatore Opio, 45
Uganda Kenya Tanzania
Over the last few years we have expanded our WASH work and are now also providing schools in Tanzania with hygiene training and water tanks, and drilling water boreholes at schools in Kenya. We have also started working on menstrual health management projects in Uganda.
The latest addition of menstrual health training is crucial, as girls face even more obstacles to schooling when they enter puberty. Menstruation in the local language Lango, is called “two due”, which directly translates to “monthly disease”. Girls have to use dirty rags and as there are no toilets or water they often miss days of school. Once they fall behind on school work, they often drop out. As part of School Health Clubs, we are spreading awareness to both boys and girls about menstruation. We are teaching them how to make re-usable sanitary pads and that periods are a natural part of life. Teachers are also trained to offer support, which means girls are more likely to stay in school and gain an education. Moses, 13, is a member of a School Health Club. He says that the best thing of being a member of the club is that it keeps you healthy.
“It is great having clean water. I used to drink water from the swamp even though it was dangerous, I had to. I used to suffer from stomach pain. But now the water borehole helps keep me healthy and saves me time. No one think it is odd that I’m a boy making sanitary pads, or being part of this group. I also taught my 2 older sisters and my mum how to make sanitary pads for household use, but I don’t sell any.”
emerge poverty free 5 Skylines Village, Limeharbour, London E14 9TS www.emergepovertyfree.org Registered Charity Numbers 1045672 (England and Wales) SC038093 (Scotland) /emergepovertyfree
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AGRICULTURE & ANIMAL HUSBANDRY Food insecurity not only affects the physical growth and health of children but also their intellectual development, school attendance and academic performance. Without access to sufficient amounts of nutritious food, children will not be able to focus in school. Some get ill or have to stay at home because they lack energy. emerge poverty free is working together with our local partners to improve agricultural practices to increase yield, diversify crops and teach people about the importance of nutrition. Our largest agricultural project is currently running in Ikotos, South Sudan. emerge poverty free is training people (70% women) from 15 villages across the region, by establishing demonstration farms where they learn best practice. In addition to this, Nutrition Committees have been set up, to ensure that no children are malnourished.
“I want to be a part of the Food Security Project because it will help eradicate poverty in my village” Nathalia, 45
South Sudan Uganda DRC Burundi Kenya
Agriculture and animal husbandry is an important component to ensure sustainability in many of our projects. In DR Congo, a poultry project is helping our local partner to
become self sustainable and provide eggs to 700 orphans. They also have cows to provide milk for the youngest children. Several acres of crops are used both for income generation for host families of orphans and to provide children at two primary schools with lunch. We also have agricultural projects in: • Burundi: an agricultural programme provides a Street Children Project with funds and food. • Kenya: we teach rural farmers about new crops and the benefits of planting trees that provide food and prevent soil erosion. • Uganda: we have started training female famers and teaching mothers about the importance of nutritious food during pregnancy and for their children.
Angelina, 46, from South Sudan, has given birth to 9 children, but 2 died from malaria. Her husband was a soldier and died on the frontline. She now has 2 boys and 5 girls. Angelina never went to school, but both of her boys go to school, and one of the girls. The girls had to discuss amongst themselves who can go, as they all have different tasks to do.
“Because the rain is very unreliable, lunch is a priority for the school going children. I want to get training in food security to be able to feed my children. I have been elected to join the Nutrition committee. I want to be able to train younger community members.”
emerge poverty free 5 Skylines Village, Limeharbour, London E14 9TS www.emergepovertyfree.org Registered Charity Numbers 1045672 (England and Wales) SC038093 (Scotland) /emergepovertyfree
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INCOME GENERATION Over 40% of the population in east Africa lives in extreme poverty. Families, who can’t afford food, are also unable to buy school books, uniforms or pay for school fees. Therefore, we are investing in vocational training, business skills and microloans for adults, specifically focusing on women. Research shows a woman invests around 90% of her income in her family, whilst a man only invests 30-40% of his.
emerge poverty free is also running other income generating projects for women: • A sustainable fishing project in Tanzania focusing on vulnerable women. • A beekeeping and goat breeding project in Uganda specifically set up for women living with HIV/AIDS. • A bakery in South Sudan supporting refugee from Khartoum. For these programmes, we are targeting the poorest and most vulnerable people in the communities where we work.
“My greatest joy is seeing my children go to
school, get good medical services and proper food and clothing, which were very difficult before I joined the village savings and loan project.” Epiphanie, Rwanda In Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and DR Congo, we run Village Savings and Loans (VSLA) schemes, where women get access to business skills, including numeracy training and microloans. This has proven to be one of the most successful programmes to increase the family income. In Uganda, where our VSLA has been running the longest, family income went up from just £2.68/ month to £19.29/ South month in the last year. Sudan Uganda The beneficiaries DRC use their additional Rwanda income for food and Tanzania school fees as well as other basic necessities.
Jenerose lives in an old refugee camp in northern DR Congo and has been there for 11 years. As the war is officially over, the landowner is now forcing all of them to move. Jenerose lives with her husband and looks after two orphans; Irene, 18, and Benjamin, 16. She also has her own 6 year old child.
“ I use my microloans to buy and sell cassava, charcoal and beans and use the income from the sales to help feed my family and buy exercise books for my children. I’ve also managed to save enough money to buy some land so when the land owners give notice to leave, I can move to the house I am building. Without the microloan I would not have been able to do this.”
emerge poverty free 5 Skylines Village, Limeharbour, London E14 9TS www.emergepovertyfree.org Registered Charity Numbers 1045672 (England and Wales) SC038093 (Scotland) /emergepovertyfree
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ADULT LITERACY If you are unable to read, it is hard to understand why education is important for your children.
be included in the priorities of the government. Last year’s graduates in South Sudan include 6 women who have joined the police / fire brigade, 2 community health workers and 1 paralegal. Participants are now able to read letters, health information, community posters and help their children with school.
emerge poverty free carries out adult literacy classes in South Sudan, DR Congo, Burundi and Kenya. These literacy projects have proven to be a strong platform for awareness raising in the communities on local issues. It also creates job opportunities for the beneficiaries and encourages them to send their children to school.
Cornelia, 70, lives in Ukwala, Kenya. Both of her children have died from HIV/AIDS. Cornelia cares for her 3 grandchildren who are 3, 4 and 5 years old.
In all these projects, the participants learn how to read, write and count. They also get a greater understanding of the importance of education for their children. In addition to this, they learn about different topics relevant to their community. • In Misisi, the DR Congo, beneficiaries also learn about the environmental impact of artisanal mining. • In Ikotos, South Sudan, they learn about home economics and women’s rights. • In Ukwala, Kenya, they learn IT skills. • In the DR Congo and Burundi, the lessons are taught in local languages and French or Swahili. • In South Sudan and Kenya, all classes are in English as this is their official language.
South Sudan DRC Burundi Kenya
Few women in the rural areas know how to speak a single word in English, which makes them unable to participate fully in society. When adults are literate they can participate in decision making and their needs can
“I never attended school because my father denied me the chance. I want to learn so I can read the letters from school about my grandchildren’s performance and I will be able to help my grandchildren to do well.” Elisabeth, 22, lives in Ikotos, South Sudan. She gave birth to 3 children, but the first born died from malaria. She now has two girls, aged 2 & 5. She went to primary school but dropped out as no one could support her. She has joined the fire brigade but previously could not speak any English.
“Being able to speak English has helped me to be promoted and increased my salary. I use my extra money to feed my children.”
emerge poverty free 5 Skylines Village, Limeharbour, London E14 9TS www.emergepovertyfree.org Registered Charity Numbers 1045672 (England and Wales) SC038093 (Scotland) /emergepovertyfree
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SAFE MOTHERHOOD & MATERNAL HEALTH In some rural villages in Uganda, 1 in 4 babies die during or shortly after birth.
safe, hygienic birth. Through the project people learn about HIV, how to get tested and how to minimise the risk of transferring HIV to the baby at birth. In the villages where we have been working over the last 18 months in Kamuli district:
Their mothers are also at risk. In Uganda, the likelihood of dying from childbirth related complications is 60 times greater than it is in the UK. This makes having a baby one of the most dangerous things a woman can do in Uganda.
• The number of babies dying during or shortly after birth has halved. • The number of attended births has increased by 75%.
In Kamuli district, most women give birth at home without assistance, on a dirt floor with no running water, clean bedding or towels. It is typical for women to work up until they give birth and for their husbands to keep out of the pregnancy and birth, offering them little or no support. There are also cultural beliefs about hospitals being bad, which leads to a high number of unattended home births. Women often suffer from malnutrition, causing further complications. emerge poverty free works with a local partner to provide education for expecting parents on the importance of good nutrition during and after pregnancy and practical advice on which crops to grow. Many of the women live in remote places, so we train community midwives, provide them with bikes. We also provide Safe Mama Kits, which contain a clean sheet, soap, Uganda gloves, cotton wool, and a scalpel to ensure women largely avoid infections and have a
There is an urgent need to scale up this project to other villages and to continue to spread the knowledge and success. Zauja Namwase is 23 years old. We met her in November 2014 when she was pregnant with her second child. Her first baby had died because she was severely malnourished, causing problems with the baby’s umbilical cord. She didn’t know what had happened and her baby remained inside her for 7 months. She now attends the classes with her husband Paul who is much more supportive and in December 2014 she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
“I am so grateful for the project. My husband and I learned which food to eat for the most nutrition and what to look out for when I went into labour so we could get help. If I see other pregnant women, I tell them to attend the classes”.
emerge poverty free 5 Skylines Village, Limeharbour, London E14 9TS www.emergepovertyfree.org Registered Charity Numbers 1045672 (England and Wales) SC038093 (Scotland) /emergepovertyfree
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