2017 PROJECTS
D.R. Congo - Forfait Mama (maternity services)
Ethiopia - Youth career training in Mekele
Cameroon - Library in Mogong-Moutourwa Primary School
Kenya - Family and professional training in Kilifi
South Africa - High school education improvement in Soweto
Togo - MAREM family reintegration center in Lome
Democratic Republic of CONGO
“Forfait Mama”
Promoter: Centre Congolaise de Culture de Formation et de Développement – CECFOR
Beneficiaries: 400 pregnant women and 400 babies
Harambee contribution: € 40.000
Demographic studies of Congo from 2013/2014 showed the infant mortality rate to be at 28 deaths per every 1.000 live births, with the maternal mortality rate at 846 deaths for every 100.000 deliveries. Annual health spending is $24 per person. Medical expenses in the country are to be paid up-front in the case of public or private entities. For this reason, expectant mothers tend not to resort to healthcare during pregnancy and childbirth, preferring instead to depend on the help of neighbors and in places completely deprived of appropriate hygienic conditions. The economic difficulty is not the only problem: culturally, gestation and childbirth are looked at as simply a natural phenomenon whose dangers and future consequences tend to be thus underestimated.
Activities
Monkole hospital wants to offer medical attention to 400 pregnant women each year, in 3 locations – Eliba, Kimbondo and Moluka – all situated in rural areas. The assistance includes a health service called “Forfait Mama” which includes laboratory tests, ultrasounds, medicines, preventive antimalarial treatment, etc. The future mother would have to follow the indications given by her personal doctor. In this way, she will have the opportunity to deliver the baby in Monkole Hospital for free. The neonatal unit at Monkole will help the baby in its first year of life, assuring care against congenital diseases, receiving vaccinations and attention in the weaning phase.
ETHIOPIA
Professional Training Program for Youth in Mekele, Ethiopia
Promoter: Operation Rescue ORE
Beneficiaries:
Harambee’s Contribution: € 34.600
Ethiopia finds itself before the phenomenon of the migration of its youth, which is why the government is putting a plan into action to fight against youth unemployment in the leading sectors of the economy, such as construction, agriculture, and business.
In this context, in tune with government directives, this project contributes to an improvement of the living conditions of its youth, leading to their employment in local communities, in order to avoid forced emigration.
Activities
The project will be carried out in Mekele, which is found in the Tigray region (780 km north of Addis Abeba). The project consists in providing work for 50 youth each year in construction projects, as the demand is high and the supply, low. The instructors and professors are local and work in this sector. The activities foreseen include:
- Establishment of a management team to follow and evaluate the project
- Development of a yearly operative plan and distribution of tasks
- Analysis of abilities and training needs of the 50 youth selected
- Attainment of equipment for the laboratories and production
- Organization of trimestral training courses in block and brick production
- Training on the job
- Orientation seminar on how to set-up cooperatives and micro-businesses
- Marketing activities
- Setting up production units and sustainability support plans
- Follow-up and evaluation
CAMEROON
Library in Mogong-Moutourwa, Primary school
Promoter: Action Monde Pour Tous – AMT
Beneficiaries: 111 boys and 100 girls attend the primary school
Harambee’s Contribution: € 9,500
The upper North area of Cameroon is its poorest region and with the lowest level of education in the country. The majority of the population live in rural zones that lack educational structures. The current social situation harbors an attitude of resentment due to the poverty and lack of resources, which leads to a high level of emigration among the youth. In this context, the actions of Boko Haram create a feeling of fear and insecurity, obliging the inhabitants of the area to leave in massive exoduses, exposing them to the spread of disease, famine, food shortages, and destruction of social and family ties.
Activities
The hope is to equip this school with the educative materials it needs for the most basic levels. The books will be kept in the center and will be at the disposition of present and future students. This initiative already means a lot to the people, as it constitutes a message of hope for the future.
KENYA
Family and Professional training of Women in Kilifi, Kenya
Promoter: Kianda Foundation
Beneficiaries:
“Outreach Program” – 200 women between 15 and 40 years old
“In-House Program” – 20 young women between the ages of 16 and 25
Harambee’s contribution: € 15,000
Kilifi district (coastal region) is experiencing a strong surge in tourist activities and in its agricultural sector. The local population is not taking advantage of this opportunity for lack of technical knowledge and professional training, with the consequential phenomenon of marginalization and economic inequality. This situation nurtures attitudes of mistrust, indifference, and resignation among those who live in the area, all of which prevent growth or improvement in living conditions.
Activities
In 2010, the Kianda Foundation inaugurated the TEWA center for professional training directed at economically disadvantaged youth experiencing high levels of poverty in the Kilifi District. With this project, TEWA hopes to offer a solution by way of two programs aimed at the personal and professional future of the women who live in this district.
Outreach Program: A program to improve the quality of life of the local female population through basic interdisciplinary courses: literacy, nutrition, hygiene, cooking, sewing, and maximization of crop and livestock yield, in Kuruwitu, Kibalawashe, Lusangani and Timboni.
In-House Program: This course will be developed at the TEWA center and is directed at girls between 16 and 25 years old. The program includes a 12-month hospitality and catering course, accessible for all educational backgrounds.
SOUTH AFRICA
Improvements in High School Education in Soweto, South Africa
Promoter: Komati Foundation
Beneficiaries: 80 teachers
Harambee’s contribution: € 12.000
South Africa suffers from high levels of unemployment among its youth. The main cause is an inefficient educational system, an inheritance left by the apartheid. Teaching was one of the few professions that Africans were allowed to hold. Many of them became teachers out of necessity, although they lacked both the aptitude required as well as true passion for this important task. Additionally, the teaching profession has become very politicized, which is why it is difficult for the Department of Public Education to adequately train its teachers or elevate the level of professional quality.
On the other hand, many children lack assistance and/or a nurturing family environment, growing up in family surroundings with little structure and low levels of education. In general, the population suffers from having an overly passive attitude, extremely dependent on government initiatives and funding. In this context, children lack motivation and fail to study sufficiently, which is why the government has established that a 30% school performance suffices for passing on to the next grade level. This project aims to prepare students to successfully finish school, offering academic support and specialized help so that each student is able to develop their capacities effectively.
Activities
The program includes 30 sessions given throughout the duration of the school year. The activity is carried out thanks to collaboration from university students. Many of them are students getting their Masters in Chemical Engineering at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Every Saturday, there is a session dedicated to the development of personal abilities, including non-cognitive ones. These sessions are oriented towards the growth of the working and intellectual skills of each student, such as comprehension and growing in personal responsibility in one’s studies.
TOGO
Reintegration of Homeless Children
Promoter: Mouvement d’Action pour la Réinsertion des Enfants Marginalisés – MAREM
Beneficiaries: 40 children reintegrated into schools and 25 youths reintegrated into the workforce
Harambee’s contribution: € 18.000
The phenomenon of “street children” is a growing reality in Lomé. The causes may be found in the problem of a difficult urban environment, and in the lack of protective structures. Additionally, there are family problems: conflicts, absence or loss of parents, etc. In the area where the MAREM association works, there are 200 new cases of street children annually, between the ages of 8 and 17 years old. In particular, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases of minors 10 years of age.
Activities
- MAREM WOEZON is the welcome center and also the place for identifying children, who come from very different geographical, ethnic and social backgrounds. A team of experts evaluates the personal story of each one, to facilitate their process of immediate re-integration and so that they can go through the residential center MAREM EMERA. On average, the children stay in EMERA for two years. A team of specialized educators take responsibility for the integral formation of each child and the preparation of families who will then welcome the child at the end of the rehabilitation. The educators accompany the children also in the delicate phase of reinsertion in school or work.
- MAREM will offer psychological help to children throughout the duration of their stay in EMERA and for two years following their rehabilitation in order to avoid situations that might lead them back to “street-life”.