NEWS & UPDATES
Empower Bumbogo Secondary School Students Through Our Poultry Initiative!
As the Giving Season unfolds, let's embrace a cause that enriches lives at Bumbogo Secondary School in Rwanda. Our team at Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds is proud to introduce our Poultry Initiative, following the success of our agriculture project. This initiative is a commitment to providing essential nutrition to every student, fostering both academic and personal growth.
As the giving season unfolds, let's embrace a cause that enriches lives at Bumbogo Secondary School in Rwanda. Our team at Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds is proud to introduce our Poultry Initiative, following the success of our agriculture project. This initiative is a commitment to providing essential nutrition to every student, fostering both academic and personal growth.
During our visit in May, Father Noel, the principal, shared the triumph of our initial project: a school farm yielding fruits and vegetables, significantly reducing the school's budget previously spent on these items. Now, we're expanding with the Poultry Initiative. Starting with 1000 hens, the project will not only provide eggs for the students' diets but also generate income for the school through sales. This income will support ongoing costs like chicken feed and veterinary care. The school's farm already hosts rabbits, cows, and pigs, whose by-products are used as compost and manure, making this a holistic approach to sustainability.
Why Poultry?
Poultry farming offers more than just eggs – it's a sustainable way to enhance student nutrition. Eggs, rich in protein, are crucial for cognitive development and maintaining a balanced diet, which is essential for academic success and general health.
Our Goals:
Successfully establish and manage the poultry operations.
Consistently provide protein-packed eggs for student meals.
Boost student well-being through better nutrition.
Your Role:
We need your support to turn this dream into a reality. A contribution of $3,100 can kickstart this impactful project. Your donation means more than just providing meals; it’s investing in the future of these young minds.
How to Help:
To contribute, visit https://gofund.me/74c01894. Every donation, big or small, plays a crucial role in shaping a healthier future for the students at Bumbogo.
Together, let's transform this Giving Season into meaningful action for health and education!
Partner Spotlight for Women's History Month: Yorlor Karyar Gaye
“Women’s History Month is important to me because of the transformations I have made in the lives of rural women, girls, and persons living with disabilities that enhanced their standard of living and wellbeing through our economic empowerment programs that increase the income of rural community dwellers and create job opportunities; abolishing cultural barriers (harmful traditional practices/FGM/Cutting) and ending all forms of violence against women, girls, and people living with disabilities.”
Water Access is a Women’s Crisis. Access to clean water changes lives for women and children around the world.
Women's History Month, which is celebrated in March each year, is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions and achievements of women throughout history. One important aspect of women's history that is often overlooked is the role that women have played in securing access to clean water.
Worldwide, women and girls spend an estimated 200 million hours every single day collecting water. This burden robs women and girls of time to learn, time to be a kid, time to earn an income, time to rest, and time spent with family. In many parts of the world, women are primarily responsible for collecting water for their households. This task can be incredibly time-consuming and dangerous, particularly in areas where water sources are scarce or contaminated. Women may have to walk long distances, sometimes for several hours a day, to collect water from rivers, lakes, or wells. This puts them at risk of physical injury, as well as exposure to waterborne diseases.
In addition to the physical dangers, the time spent collecting water can also have a significant impact on women's education and economic opportunities. When women are responsible for collecting water, they may not have time to attend school or work outside the home, which can limit their earning potential and overall quality of life. When you remove this barrier, one of the most immediate transformations is school attendance for young girls. Globally, female enrolment in school increases by 15% when a community gets access to clean water.
Recognizing the important role that women play in water access is essential to promoting gender equality and sustainable development. By investing in clean water infrastructure and technologies, we can reduce the burden of water collection on women and girls, freeing up their time for education and economic activities. We can also work to promote gender equality in decision-making processes related to water management and conservation.
Water access is an important aspect of women's history that should be acknowledged and celebrated during Women's History Month and throughout the year. By recognizing the contributions of women in securing access to clean water, we can work towards a more equitable and sustainable future for all.
Quick Facts:
785 million people (one in ten) lack access to safe water.
2.2 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water.
UNICEF found that in 80% of households for which water collection is necessary, women, and girls are responsible for retrieving water.
Partner Spotlight
Meet Yorlor Karyar Gaye, the Executive Director of our partner organization, Humanity Care Liberia. Yorlor has worked to bring numerous women’s training sessions to her community in Nimba County, Liberia, and for her, this has made all the difference. These training sessions work to build capacity for advocating for women’s rights. Their programs are centered on teaching women how to advocate for integrating county development protocols to end violence against girls and women.
Madam Yorlor Karyar Gaye is an activist and humanitarian who is the founder and executive director of Humanity Care Liberia (HCL), a local nongovernmental organization that has been working with impoverished and marginalized rural women, girls, and people living with disabilities in building their capacities and strengthening their resilience in ending all forms of violence against women, girls, and people living with disabilities (VAWG & PWDs).
She is actively advocating for and creating awareness about reproductive health rights, access to services, and enhancing women’s economic empowerment by educating them in political participation, decision-making and establishing income-generating innovative alternative livelihood activities that mitigate climate change effects in rural communities and alleviate poverty and hunger.
HCL has provided safe drinking water to schools and communities; and provided meals for school kids through their school garden program for the past nine (9) years now.
Women’s History Month is important to me because of the transformations I have made in the lives of rural women, girls, and persons living with disabilities that enhanced their standard of living and wellbeing through our economic empowerment programs that increase the income of rural community dwellers and create job opportunities; abolishing cultural barriers (harmful traditional practices/FGM/Cutting) and ending all forms of violence against women, girls, and people living with disabilities.
How you can get involved: No matter how old you are, where you live, or whether or not you can give, you can help end the water crisis—and you can start right now. Please share this post to your social media presence to let your family and friends know the importance of Women’s History Month and if you’re able, head over to our website to make a one time or continuing donation. 100% of all donations go directly to the partnerships and projects that we fund.
If you would like to get involved in other ways, we would love to chat! Our amazing volunteers have previously helped at our events, and even launch their own funding campaigns. Please do not hesitate to reach out!
World Water Day 2023
World Water Day 2023 theme "Accelerating change to secure progress on water and sanitation" is particularly relevant to our organizations operating in East and West Africa. The theme highlights the need for urgent action towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to water and sanitation, calling for collaborative efforts to ensure availability and sustainable management of these resources for all. We have a critical role to play in this endeavor, through the implementation of innovative and sustainable water and sanitation solutions, promotion of behavioral change, and advocacy for policy and institutional reforms that support access to safe and affordable water and sanitation services for all. Since 2017, Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds and Strides for Africa have funded over 20 water wells in different countries of East and West Africa namely Rwanda, Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. We are accelerating progress towards securing a better and more sustainable future for all in our partnering communities.
771 million people in the world live without clean water. That is nearly 1 in 10 people worldwide or twice the population of the United States. The majority of people that live in isolated and rural areas in Africa spend hours every day walking to collect water for their family. In Sub-Saharan Africa specifically, only 39% of the population has water connected to their homes—and in the region's rural areas, this figure drops to just 19%. Not only does walking for water keep children out of school or take up time that parents could be using to earn money, but the water often carries diseases that can make everyone sick.
Access to clean water means education, income and health - especially for women and kids. World Water Day, March 22nd, is an important day for raising awareness about the value of freshwater and the need for sustainable water management practices. It is an opportunity to highlight the essential role that water plays in our lives and the planet's ecosystems. By promoting responsible water use and conservation, we can help ensure that everyone has access to safe and clean water. This day provides a platform for governments, organizations like ourselves, and individuals to collaborate and address the water-related challenges we face today.
How do we tackle this issue: Strides for Africa/FMFM works with local experts and community members to find the best sustainable solution in each place where we work, whether it is a well, a piped system, a filtration system, or a system for harvesting rainwater. With every water project we fund, our partners coordinate sanitation and hygiene training, and establish a local sustainability fund to ensure that water access is secure for years to come.
Quick facts:
Diseases from dirty water kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. 43% of those deaths are children under five years old. Access to clean water and basic sanitation can save around 16,000 lives every week.
Each day, women in Sub-Saharan Africa spend a total of 16 million hours collecting water. Access to clean water gives communities more time to grow food, earn an income, and go to school -- all of which fight poverty.
Women are responsible for 72% of the water collected in Sub-Saharan Africa.When a community gets water, women and girls get their lives back. They start businesses, improve their homes, and take charge of their own futures.
World Water Day 2023 theme "Accelerating change to secure progress on water and sanitation" is particularly relevant to our organizations operating in East and West Africa. The theme highlights the need for urgent action towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to water and sanitation, calling for collaborative efforts to ensure availability and sustainable management of these resources for all. We have a critical role to play in this endeavor, through the implementation of innovative and sustainable water and sanitation solutions, promotion of behavioral change, and advocacy for policy and institutional reforms that support access to safe and affordable water and sanitation services for all. Since 2017, Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds and Strides for Africa have funded over 20 water wells in different countries of East and West Africa namely Rwanda, Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. We are accelerating progress towards securing a better and more sustainable future for all in our partnering communities.
How you can get involved: No matter how old you are, where you live, or whether or not you can give, you can help end the water crisis—and you can start right now. Please share this post to your social media presence to let your family and friends know the importance of World Water Day and if you’re able, head over to our website to make a one time or continuing donation. 100% of all donations go directly to the partnerships and projects that we fund.
FMFM: https://fmfm.squarespace.com/take-action
If you would like to get involved in other ways, we would love to chat! Our amazing volunteers have previously helped at our events, and even launch their own funding campaigns. Please do not hesitate to reach out!