By Angie Aebersold, VP Programs, The FAWCO Foundation
A very heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Development Grant recipients!
Through The FAWCO Foundation, FAWCO Member Clubs and FAUSA have been aiding worthy and reputable charitable projects throughout the world. Since 1997, we have distributed close to $550,000 to these worthy causes that lie dear and near to each recipient’s heart.
The Development Grant categories are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of Education, Environment, Health and Human Rights. Below you will find the 2019 recipients who were recognized at the Biennial Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. The 2020 Development Grant and Education Award slates will be presented at the end of September 2019. We hope to have as many nominations as last year, if not more.
EDUCATION: There were 3 DGs offered in this category
AW of Surrey Hope Through Education
The recipient: A Kindergarten for Tribal Children in India - Hazarwadi, Maharashtra, India which was nominated by AWC Hamburg.
Nandanvan has successfully used watershed development (“catching the rain”) in desertified areas of Maharashtra, India to replenish groundwater, increase agricultural production and to improve the lives of tribal inhabitants, who are among the poorest people in India. To ensure the sustainability of this socio-economic advancement, it is essential that children, especially girls, of these communities receive an education. Fundamental learning skills and habits necessary for attending public schools can be acquired in kindergarten. This DG will finance construction of a kindergarten building in Hazarwadi to serve 48 tribal families in three villages, where a watershed program was just completed. The 50m2 building will contain a classroom, kitchen and sanitation facilities. A needed foundation for future education will be provided, bringing sustainability to the new socioeconomic growth.
Educating Women & Girls Worldwide
The recipient: Keeping Backpacks Full of Hope - Dakar, Senegal was nominated by AWC Genoa.
Secondary education for impoverished girls delays child marriage and pregnancy, creates increased economic growth, reduces population growth and improves children's and women’s health. Secondary education can end the vicious cycle of poverty. Keeping Backpacks Full of Hope benefits 174 people – our 58 slum-dwelling girls and their parents – by keeping these girls in secondary school. WFG supported these girls throughout elementary school when there were no school fees and we promised our support until they completed school. The DG funds will pay for their school fees and supplies and increase our coordinator's visits to their families and teachers. Keeping girls in high school is a yearly uphill battle, and so worth fighting; it is one sure way of giving girls the power to make proper choices later in life.
Pam Dahlgren Educating Africa's Children
The recipient: Tools for Equal Opportunities: Tutoring Disadvantaged Girls in Niger – Niamey, Niger nominated by AAWE Paris.
Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ, focuses on educating 50 girls from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds in secondary school in Niamey, Niger. These girls come from illiterate families, have no electricity, walk more than one hour each way to school and frequently do not have enough food. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, at the bottom of the UN charts for girls’ education, and sadly at the top for early marriage. The DG funds will finance a tutoring program with specialized remediation teachers in small groups in key subjects, providing training and ensuring the girls have equal opportunities to not only stay in school, but succeed with diplomas that will help them find employment outside the home and break the cycle of poverty.
ENVIRONMENT: There was one grant offered in this category
Nurturing Our Planet
The recipient: Stepergy – Rural Morocco was nominated by the AIWA Rabat.
One billion people aren't connected to electricity. The absence of this essential resource makes it impossible for such populations to perform a number of simple tasks, and even harder for children to study or do their homework at night. Stepergy is a device that generates light by lifting a weight and it doesn’t need any other external energy. It is essentially composed of a pulley, gearings, a LED and a bag. To operate the device, you just have to lift, with the aid of the pulley, the weight of the bag, which falls gradually. Once the bag reaches the ground, it is simply lifted to repeat the process. Since the cost point of a single Stepergy is $30, the DG funds will allow production of 180 devices, and hence change the lives of 180 families lacking access to electricity. The population will have access to clean, renewable and sustainable lighting.
HEALTH: There was one grant offered in this category
Critical Health Concerns
The recipient: 2019 Fistula Foundation Fistula Repair Surgery Program – Africa and Asia was nominated by AWEP.
Fistula Foundation provides funding for women to receive free, safe obstetric fistula repair surgery through trusted partners in Africa and Asia. Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury caused by prolonged and obstructed labor that leaves a woman incontinent of urine or feces or both. A woman with a fistula is too often rejected by her family and shunned from her village due to her foul smell. Obstetric fistula most commonly occurs among women who live in low-resource countries who give birth without access to medical help. The only cure is surgical treatment. On average, the cost of one fistula repair surgery is $586 USD. The DG funds will restore to 9 women their dignity and give them hope for a new future.
HUMAN RIGHTS: There were two grants offered in this category
Breaking the Cycle Sponsored in part by AW Eastern Province
The recipient: More Than Just a Cup of Coffee: Barista Skills Provide Dignified Work to Survivors of Human Trafficking – Amsterdam, The Netherlands nominated by AWC Amsterdam.
This project will give survivors of human trafficking the chance to find dignified work by completing barista training. The DG funds will enable Not For Sale Netherlands (NFS) to expand their current culinary training to include coffee preparation. The funds will be used to pay the salary of the professional barista trainer and to pay for supplies and the curriculum. The goal of this sustainable project is to give women the skills to find employment as baristas at the two restaurants run by NFS, or with other companies offering internships and ultimately, full time employment. The project will give survivors the opportunity to build an independent life and prevent them from returning into the hands of traffickers.
FAUSA Effecting Change For Women and Children at Risk
The recipient: Training Potties for Refugees – Greece was nominated by FAUSA.
Refugee camps have an immense need for training potties. Conditions which may include shared bathrooms and cleanliness concerns make training without training potties very difficult, and many refugee children have extra difficulty potty training due to significant trauma. As a result, children stay in diapers longer than they might otherwise, putting additional strain on families, as diapers are very expensive. Earlier potty training is also better for the environment, as it saves unnecessary waste. At the current purchase price, the DG funds will allow CTF to purchase 1,833 training potties for refugee families in camps in Greece. Due to the nature of refugee communities, we expect that once each family is finished training, they likely will pass along each potty to additional families.