Overseas
The Overseas Development Assistance, or ODA, programme of the Foundation obtains Malta Government funds via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for anti-poverty projects of our overseas partners in developing countries. After the project starts, we liaise with our overseas partners from these countries to ensure that they have no difficulties with the required quarterly reports. These include detailed financial accounts, progress reports, and photographs of the activities. All the assistance to our overseas partners is provided by a volunteer and SJAF does not benefit from any of the Ministry funds.
So far, we have facilitated 11 Projects:
- 2010 Pakistan : Rebuilding a clinic in a poverty-stricken area after earthquake damage
- 2011 South Sudan : Initiating socioeconomic development especially among women in rural South Sudan
- Wad- Akona Upper Nile State Malakal
- 2012 Central African Republic : Skills Development Among Poor Single Teenage Mothers, Nemesia Centre, Berberati
- 2013 Malawi : Construction and operation Health Post for later development into a hospital
- 2014 Peru : A Home for Elderly Abandoned Women in the amazon Rainforest; Iquitos, a Peruvian rain-forest city
- 2015 Malawi : Nthalire Women Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods
- 2015 Peru : AA Home For Aids Patients, Parroquia San Martin De Porres, Iquitos
- 2016 Malawi : Chinunkha Women Economic Empowerment
- 2017 Central African Republic : Construction of a borehole BOUAR
- 2018 Malawi : Give Youth a Change – Empowerment Project for vulnerable youths, Karonga
- 2018 Central African Republic : Textbooks for C.A.R.
So far, we have facilitated 11 Projects:
- 2010 Pakistan : Rebuilding a clinic in a poverty-stricken area after earthquake damage
- 2011 South Sudan : Initiating socioeconomic development especially among women in rural South Sudan
- Wad- Akona Upper Nile State Malakal
- 2012 Central African Republic : Skills Development Among Poor Single Teenage Mothers, Nemesia Centre, Berberati
- 2013 Malawi : Construction and operation Health Post for later development into a hospital
- 2014 Peru : A Home for Elderly Abandoned Women in the amazon Rainforest; Iquitos, a Peruvian rain-forest city
- 2015 Malawi : Nthalire Women Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods
- 2015 Peru : AA Home For Aids Patients, Parroquia San Martin De Porres, Iquitos
- 2016 Malawi : Chinunkha Women Economic Empowerment
- 2017 Central African Republic : Construction of a borehole BOUAR
- 2018 Malawi : Give Youth a Change – Empowerment Project for vulnerable youths, Karonga
- 2018 Central African Republic : Textbooks for C.A.R.
Granted sum in €
Textbooks:
Through a donation of €1,992 provided by MISSIO Malta, SJAF was able to enable the Sisters of Charity in Bouar in Central African Republic (C.A.R.) to buy over 305 basic French textbooks for 6 primary level classes at the Ecole Saint Joseph de Bouar. Six classes with a total of 620 poor children benefitted from the textbooks. The class population at this school ranges from 130 to 110, to 100 to 80 and 70. Since the majority of students are poor and their parents cannot afford a small fee for their children's education, the poor students had no textbooks and shared one with 2 to 3 other children.
VISIT TO MALAWI – MAY 2019
By Darren Formosa, ODA Volunteer Project Officer,
16th December 2019
The St Jeanne Antide Foundation had no overseas development projects in 2019 because Malawi stopped being considered a priority region in terms of the overseas development funding of the Maltese government. Nevertheless, in May 2019, the Volunteer Project Officer – Darren Formosa – who is responsible for the Foundation’s overseas development project work had the opportunity to visit the Karonga Diocese in Malawi which has been an ODA project partner for the past eight years. Fr Joseph Sikwese kindly accompanied the SJAF ODA Project Officer to visit the projects that have been supported by the St Jeanne Antide Foundation since 2012.
Darren reports: “The visit to Malawi was a two-week cultural immersion experience with priests from the Karonga Diocese. Stationed in the south of the country, we arrived at the Diocesan residence in St Mary’s parish after practically a day’s travel, crossing from the south to the north for 550 Km along Lake Malawi. Upon arrival, I was promptly immersed into a fund-raising activity for the building of a school for the blind. In no more than two hours after my arrival, the Diocesan residence was bustling with locals who danced, sang, prayed and raised funds. This gathering pretty much set the narrative for the rest of my stay.
“The next morning, May 4, there was the inauguration of a new hospital and a maternity ward. The latter was funded through a collaborative project with the St Jeanne Antide Foundation. We headed to St Clara’s outpost at dawn. By 6 a.m., Fr Joseph, another two priests, whom I had not met until then, and myself, were travelling in a 4-by-4 on unpaved roads covered in red soil and lined by the lush foliage of the East African terrain.
“At St Clara’s we were welcomed by the beautiful singing of locals – a perfect harmony of voices. It was a choir of colourfully uniformed young men and women dancing and singing hymns accompanied with ululation – a howl-like sound made by women, long, wavering and high-pitched – as a sign of joy and celebration.
“We visited the hospital and the maternity building that had well-equipped rooms for mothers in labour and expecting mothers. I was invited to inaugurate the building together with the Bishop of Muzuzu, Fr. John Ryan. The highlight of this event was an outdoor mass, under the kind shade of tall trees, where all the villagers attended, sang, prayed, and danced their way to mass offerings with gifts varying from money and food to chickens, calves, and goats. It was an enthralling experience - little did I know it was not to not to be the only one during my stay.
“Equally riveting and also informative was the visit to Livingstonia. The town is named after the Scottish physician and Congregationalist David Livingstone. Livingstonia was founded by the Missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland in the 18th century. The town is two hours south of St Mary’s and the roadway connecting Livingstonia to the nearest village of Chitimba is a steep hillside route. The road is not only unpaved, but it riddled with hairpin bends of extremely rough terrain, full of rocks and precipices, which takes over 30 minutes of skilled driving to the top. A small gathering for tea and sweets on a mountain-perched, two-roomed quarters filled the interlude between the journey and a mass celebration that was again attended by thousands of residents from all over the village. Bishop Martin Mtumbuka presided mass. In his sermon and also during my one-to-one conversation with him, he was thankful to the Sisters of Charity in Malta for their unwavering support.
“The mass at Livingstonia welcomed two young Indian priests from the Missionaries of St. Frances de Sales who had been on missionary training in Tanzania, and were then embarking on their missionary vocation in Livingstonia. Fr Berin and Fr Satish, whom I had the honour to meet and converse with on a number of occasions, were to start a life in this remote village – a missionary post that has a minimum duration of five years, where the young priests would learn the language and culture, and would work with the inhabitants providing them with pastoral guidance and education. Again, this was a whole day event, and by the time we drove everyone to their respective residences we were back in St Mary’s parish after sunset.
“Perhaps one of the most touching experiences was our visit to Chitipa. In 2015 and 2016, St Jeanne Antide Foundation had applied for funds from the Maltese government for a socio-economic project in this town. In partnership with the Karonga Diocese, we had helped a group of 40 widowed women to learn farming, and provided them with the necessary equipment and resources, such as a maize mill, an oil expeller, seeds and fertilizers. The objective of this project was to empower and support the women to start their own agricultural business so that they would be able to earn a livelihood for themselves and their families. Welcomed with the usual singing, dancing and ululation, the women gifted us chickens and honey, and made sure that their gratitude to the Sisters of Charity in Malta was not be lost in translation.
“The last but equally fascinating experiences of my trip was meeting with the beneficiaries of the “Give Youth a Chance” project. This was another project supported by the St Jeanne Antide Founation - 26 young men and women had been provided with tuition and the necessary tools to help them start up their own woodwork and tailoring businesses. I had the honour of presenting certificates to the participants of the training of this project who proudly showed me some of their handicrafts from their client orders. I had the pleasure of talking to the young men who were appreciative of their acquired skills and explained to me how the project had changed their lives. The project was being run by Rosarian Dominican Sister Beatrice Chipeta, who walked me through the various phases of the project.
“I later found out that Sister Beatrice had travelled to Tanzania to procure the sewing machines at a good price. The Sister, whom I had the pleasure to meet at various events during my stay, was considered by the locals as the Mother Theresa of the town, mostly due to the Lusubilo, which she founded in 1997. Lusubilo is a community-based organisation that is actively involved in the care of orphans, persons with HIV/AIDS, and other vulnerable groups.
“Sadly, and what came as a shock to me, Sister Beatrice passed away a few weeks after my visit, on June 19th, 2019. I consider myself fortunate to have met this woman, who I grew to admire in our few days of acquaintance.
“I know she is survived by a community that continues to respect her and sustain her mission of humility and devoted attention to those in need. May she rest in peace.”
By Darren Formosa, ODA Volunteer Project Officer,
16th December 2019
The St Jeanne Antide Foundation had no overseas development projects in 2019 because Malawi stopped being considered a priority region in terms of the overseas development funding of the Maltese government. Nevertheless, in May 2019, the Volunteer Project Officer – Darren Formosa – who is responsible for the Foundation’s overseas development project work had the opportunity to visit the Karonga Diocese in Malawi which has been an ODA project partner for the past eight years. Fr Joseph Sikwese kindly accompanied the SJAF ODA Project Officer to visit the projects that have been supported by the St Jeanne Antide Foundation since 2012.
Darren reports: “The visit to Malawi was a two-week cultural immersion experience with priests from the Karonga Diocese. Stationed in the south of the country, we arrived at the Diocesan residence in St Mary’s parish after practically a day’s travel, crossing from the south to the north for 550 Km along Lake Malawi. Upon arrival, I was promptly immersed into a fund-raising activity for the building of a school for the blind. In no more than two hours after my arrival, the Diocesan residence was bustling with locals who danced, sang, prayed and raised funds. This gathering pretty much set the narrative for the rest of my stay.
“The next morning, May 4, there was the inauguration of a new hospital and a maternity ward. The latter was funded through a collaborative project with the St Jeanne Antide Foundation. We headed to St Clara’s outpost at dawn. By 6 a.m., Fr Joseph, another two priests, whom I had not met until then, and myself, were travelling in a 4-by-4 on unpaved roads covered in red soil and lined by the lush foliage of the East African terrain.
“At St Clara’s we were welcomed by the beautiful singing of locals – a perfect harmony of voices. It was a choir of colourfully uniformed young men and women dancing and singing hymns accompanied with ululation – a howl-like sound made by women, long, wavering and high-pitched – as a sign of joy and celebration.
“We visited the hospital and the maternity building that had well-equipped rooms for mothers in labour and expecting mothers. I was invited to inaugurate the building together with the Bishop of Muzuzu, Fr. John Ryan. The highlight of this event was an outdoor mass, under the kind shade of tall trees, where all the villagers attended, sang, prayed, and danced their way to mass offerings with gifts varying from money and food to chickens, calves, and goats. It was an enthralling experience - little did I know it was not to not to be the only one during my stay.
“Equally riveting and also informative was the visit to Livingstonia. The town is named after the Scottish physician and Congregationalist David Livingstone. Livingstonia was founded by the Missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland in the 18th century. The town is two hours south of St Mary’s and the roadway connecting Livingstonia to the nearest village of Chitimba is a steep hillside route. The road is not only unpaved, but it riddled with hairpin bends of extremely rough terrain, full of rocks and precipices, which takes over 30 minutes of skilled driving to the top. A small gathering for tea and sweets on a mountain-perched, two-roomed quarters filled the interlude between the journey and a mass celebration that was again attended by thousands of residents from all over the village. Bishop Martin Mtumbuka presided mass. In his sermon and also during my one-to-one conversation with him, he was thankful to the Sisters of Charity in Malta for their unwavering support.
“The mass at Livingstonia welcomed two young Indian priests from the Missionaries of St. Frances de Sales who had been on missionary training in Tanzania, and were then embarking on their missionary vocation in Livingstonia. Fr Berin and Fr Satish, whom I had the honour to meet and converse with on a number of occasions, were to start a life in this remote village – a missionary post that has a minimum duration of five years, where the young priests would learn the language and culture, and would work with the inhabitants providing them with pastoral guidance and education. Again, this was a whole day event, and by the time we drove everyone to their respective residences we were back in St Mary’s parish after sunset.
“Perhaps one of the most touching experiences was our visit to Chitipa. In 2015 and 2016, St Jeanne Antide Foundation had applied for funds from the Maltese government for a socio-economic project in this town. In partnership with the Karonga Diocese, we had helped a group of 40 widowed women to learn farming, and provided them with the necessary equipment and resources, such as a maize mill, an oil expeller, seeds and fertilizers. The objective of this project was to empower and support the women to start their own agricultural business so that they would be able to earn a livelihood for themselves and their families. Welcomed with the usual singing, dancing and ululation, the women gifted us chickens and honey, and made sure that their gratitude to the Sisters of Charity in Malta was not be lost in translation.
“The last but equally fascinating experiences of my trip was meeting with the beneficiaries of the “Give Youth a Chance” project. This was another project supported by the St Jeanne Antide Founation - 26 young men and women had been provided with tuition and the necessary tools to help them start up their own woodwork and tailoring businesses. I had the honour of presenting certificates to the participants of the training of this project who proudly showed me some of their handicrafts from their client orders. I had the pleasure of talking to the young men who were appreciative of their acquired skills and explained to me how the project had changed their lives. The project was being run by Rosarian Dominican Sister Beatrice Chipeta, who walked me through the various phases of the project.
“I later found out that Sister Beatrice had travelled to Tanzania to procure the sewing machines at a good price. The Sister, whom I had the pleasure to meet at various events during my stay, was considered by the locals as the Mother Theresa of the town, mostly due to the Lusubilo, which she founded in 1997. Lusubilo is a community-based organisation that is actively involved in the care of orphans, persons with HIV/AIDS, and other vulnerable groups.
“Sadly, and what came as a shock to me, Sister Beatrice passed away a few weeks after my visit, on June 19th, 2019. I consider myself fortunate to have met this woman, who I grew to admire in our few days of acquaintance.
“I know she is survived by a community that continues to respect her and sustain her mission of humility and devoted attention to those in need. May she rest in peace.”
Granted sum in €
Give Youth a Change - Empowerment Project for vulnerable youths:
The Overseas Development Assistance project for 2018 that was managed by the Foundation, has once again taken place in Malawi. The Foundation received a grant of €6,190.09 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the partner in this project, the Karonga dioceses of Chitipa, sourced the remaining fund required to fund the project.
In Karonga, youths make up the larger percentage of the population, however, many of these youths do not participate actively in the district’s and economy. Poverty is acute in Karonga and St Mary’s parish is in the midst of it. Without vocational skills and guidance, many youths end up in the streets and get involved in promiscuity, theft, and drug abuse mostly alcohol and hemp. The project’s objective is to empower youths in selected outstations of St Mary’s Parish with vocational and entrepreneurship skills which will enable them be productive in the community. The project will select youths who will be assigned on a training programme of approximately 8 months. The youths will learn labour skills such as tailoring and carpentry and also other social sciences such as management and entrepreneurship. This diverse training programme will give youths the basis by which they can build their own small businesses and thus contribute to the local economy. The primary idea of the project is to encourage youths to engaging positively in the community and make them understand that their contribution will improve their lives and the lives of the people around them.
Granted sum in €
Construction of a borehole BOUAR:
In 2017, SJAF obtained funding for a project in the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) involving the construction of a borehole for the extraction of water in the village of Bouar. The community of the Sisters of Charity of St Jeanne Antide in Bouar were the project partners.
Bouar is a sub-Saharan village situated in the west of the Central African Republic. It is considered as the capital city of Nana-Mambéré, a jurisdiction that covers 26,000Km² located approximately 200 Km east of the Cameroon border. The village has a population of around 40,000 people, is a market town with legal rights to host markets, and lies on a plateau almost 1000m above sea level. It is also known as the site of Camp Leclerc, a French military base. Like most of the regions within the Central African Republic, Bouar suffers from severe poverty. Most of the children do not go to school; the annual fee of around €4 prohibits parents from enrolling them. That, together with the ill health, malnutrition, and violence that these children are exposed to, is the stark consequence of the wave of criminality and insecurity sweeping across western C.A.R, depriving people of their savings and livelihoods. Due to lack of clean water in Bouar, diseases transmitted through unclean water are a leading cause of illness and early deaths. The most impacted are children.
The work of the Sisters of Charity involves the provision of provision of primary health care and educational services in the community and also beyond. The Sisters run a clinic that is managed by Sister Christine Richard who welcomes and treats the sick, mostly AIDS patients and others seeking to be tested for HIV. A pharmacy in the diocese is run by Sister Alosia while a remote dispensary, some 80 kilometres from Bouar, is also managed by the Sisters. From an education aspect, the Sisters of Charity are in charge of a primary school for and a college.
Sister Marceline Mavoungou had the role of project leader on behalf of the Sisters of St Jeanne Antide in Bouar. Through discussions with villagers, Sister Marceline identified the extraction of clean water as a key priority for the well-being of the Bouar community. Following the necessary research, planning and discussions with contractors, the Foundation prepared a project proposal that was submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta January 2017 and, by April, the Foundation was granted the sum of €9,265 for the execution of its proposed project. The amount granted was equal to 70% of the total project Anti-Poverty Assistance in Developing Countries. The remaining 30%, amounting to €3,921, was sourced by the Sisters of Jeanne Antide in
Bouar through benefactors from other countries.
Easy access to safe, potable water is a basic human need, important for health and quality of life. The project scope was to provide access to such safe water to the inhabitants of Bouar located close to the College of Saint Jeanne Antide. The principal source of inland groundwater in the region is rainfall, a proportion of which percolates downward into underground aquifers. The project started on the 20th of April and, by July, the necessary arrangements with the works contractor were undertaken and works completed. The work essentially entailed the transportation of equipment, the drilling of a vertical hole in the ground, and the installation of a strong lining to prevent the borehole walls from collapsing. The lining also serves as a means of allowing clean water to enter the borehole space. Finally, the completion of the borehole included a surface protection for the well, and a means of extracting water, in this case a manual water pump, a Vergent HPV 60. In August 2017, the transportation of material left Berberati, a city 254 km away from Bouar, and within a week drilling commenced onsite after a suitable location was identified. Clean water was found at 29.90 meters and lining was installed to complete the bore hole.
Needless to say, the inhabitants of the community were very thankful for the water. Some groups of children and young adults gathered for photographs holding paper notes that read “Thank you for giving us water.” The project leader, Sister Marceline Mavoungou was also happy with the outcome and considers the project a success and of valuable importance for her community.
All project funding obtained by SJAF to-date has been obtained from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Malta.
Granted sum in €
Chinunkha Women Economic Empowerment:
The Overseas Development Assistance project for 2016 that was managed by the Foundation, has once again taken place in Malawi. The Foundation received a grant of €7,726 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the partner in this project, the Karonga dioceses of Chitipa, sourced the amount of €4,700 to fund the rest of the project.
Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa formerly known as Nyasaland. The country has three large cities Lilongwe, the capital – located towards the centre of the Malawi, Blantyre the second Largest, located in the South and Muzuzu the third largest city located in the North. The project is taking place 300km North of Muzuzu, in a place known as Chinunkha, in the district of Chitipa.
The project consists of empowering of 40 vulnerable women and widows to actively and productively participate in the local community. The aim of the project is to empower these women in generating economy activity and promoting farming, business management, cooperative management and marketing. The group of women have been undergoing a training programme consisting of book-keeping concepts, village savings and loan making practices, and irrigation and farming techniques. Booking-Keeping training included: the use of cash book, profit and loss and essential business planning. The village savings and loans training, delivered across 18 weeks of 2 hour sessions per week, was delivered by a Community Development Assistant from Government, and included: training in group dynamics, formation and management and social funding and record keeping. The Farming practices training included topics pertaining to: introduction to irrigation, types of irrigation, water use management and pump operation.
In addition to the training delivery, the project has also progressed on the farming aspect. 150 kg of NPK fertilizers for basal dressing and 200 kg of Urea for top dressing were purchased, and the group applied the dressing, fertilizers and organic manure during the early stages of crop development. 40kg of maize seed have been procured for winter cropping and have been planted accordingly. Also, vegetable seeds of tomatoes, green peppers, and rapeseed, were planted in nurseries that have been setup for each type of vegetable. The planting of these vegetables was done in September 2016.
Through the project, 4 treadle pumps have also been procured assembled and tested. Treadle pumps are human-powered irrigation devices usually fixed on well tops, and are activated by stepping up and down on treadles that create cylinder suction to draw groundwater to the surface. These pumps free farmers from dependence on rain-fed irrigation and allow the possibility to raise crops in two growing seasons per year thus maximizing their return from their land. The treadle pumps are being used by the women to irrigate their crops.
In the final phase of the project, that is expected to be completed by April 2017, the farming activities will be expanded to include the plantation of sunflower and legumes. Trading of these crops will also commence in early 2017 and further training in Cooperative Management will be delivered to the group of women.
Granted sum in €
AA Home for Aids patients:
The Partner for this new project is the Parish of San Martin de Porres. The head of the Partner Organisation, Fr Raymond Portelli. After successfully completing the project entrusted to the parish in 2014, the foundation decided to support once again this parish for year 2015. Upon submitting and approval of an application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the amount of €4,377 has been granted via the Overseas Development Assistance grant.
The new project consists in the support for the running of a parish-based AIDS Clinic through the urgently-needed replacement of old rickety wooden beds with 12 modern hospital beds. The AIDS clinic Algo Bello para Dios (“Something Beautiful for God”) is financed by donations and voluntary work. It is run by the Parish of San Martin de Porres in the city of Iquitos, pop. 400,000, in the Amazon jungle area of Peru. The city has the most AIDS patients of any city in Peru. The Clinic has hospitalised 750 poverty-stricken AIDS patients since 2009. Its capacity is 12 beds, but the existing beds are wooden, deteriorated, unhygienic and unsafe.
After the purchase and delivery of the 12 new hospital beds for the clinic, the Clinic will be able to treat all its AIDS patients to the desired standards of care, including full accommodation. The number of AIDS patients at any time is on average around 10 to 14 persons.
A higher and better standard of service provision and care will result for this very vulnerable group acknowledged to be amongst the poorest of the poor. Hospital beds offer an appropriate position for the patient to be examined and treated by the doctor and nurse. Some patients need to be raised to a 45 degree position owing to pulmonary conditions.
Granted sum in €
Nthalire Women Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods:
After the successful completion of the project entrusted to the Diocese of Karonga, in 2015 the foundation is once again working on a new project with this diocese.
The project is intended to train and empower women to engage in income generation by oil extraction and sunflower farming and maize production. The project has a number of key elements that include skills training for entrepreneurial capacity building, the construction of facilities, and the eventual multiplier effect of farming and economic development of the community.
The project involves the capacity building of poor women for self-empowerment and community development. It will benefit 40 vulnerable women, some of whom are widows. These women will be helped to become actively involved in their community in agricultural production. Their output will contribute to their community’s economic development. Their training will include farming two main crops, cooperative development and management and marketing. Following a training programme, the project is set to enable the women to produce sunflower and maize and to oil extraction. The expected benefits to be realized are decision making by women at household as well as at community levels; the promotion of peace in homes through the reduction of gender based violence; the alleviation of poverty; family wellbeing; and the meaningful contribution of women to the development of their community.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is supporting this project via the Overseas Development Assistance Funds with the value of €15,168.80.
Granted sum in €
A Home for elderly abandoned women:
Providing shelter, care, nutrition, assistance and all other basic necessities to old people, especially women, who are abandoned by society and presently are living alone, in poverty or sleeping in the streets of Iquitos, in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru.
With the help of the funding obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, amounting to €8,370, the project building a home, for elderly abandoned women in the area surrounding the parish of San Martin de Porres.
The home accommodates about 15 female elderly residents at a time, provide shelter, food (breakfast, lunch and dinner), health facilities (including all pharmaceutical items) and all other basic necessities. The project budget included purchasing beds, furniture, maintenance, wages, food, pharmaceutical items and medical tests in hospitals around Iquitos, telephone, water and light bills..etc.
Although the country was passing through a fast economic growth, poverty was still widespread. Insecurity, and political corruption was still rampant. Although poverty is not seen at face value and statistics might not show it, the reality is different. Taking Lima as an example, although it’s developing rapidly with one third of the population of Peru living there and various foreigners investing, poverty and social problems are increasing constantly.
The persistent rural poverty in the High Andes (Sierra) and Amazon Rainforest (Selva) is one of Peru’s most pressing social, agricultural political and economic problems. Eighty one percent of the rural population of the Sierra is living in poverty and 57% in extreme poverty. The situation is similar in the Selva. Together, these two eco-regions account for more than 30% of Peru’s population and 68% of its people in extreme poverty.
As in the rest of the country, Iquitos, which is located in the Amazon Rainforest, is characterised by considerable unemployment leading to juvenile delinquency, HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, educational illiteracy, and other social problems. In the last 45 years, the Parish of San Martin De Porres has been working against these social problems. Since the parish manages various social and health facilities, it reaches a lot of people. In the last few years, a problem was being felt. Many old people, mainly women, having health problems, were living alone, either in a house or sometimes even in the streets, with nobody to care for them. Until the project was initiated, the Parish has been running a shelter house only for men who did not have anywhere to sleep for the night. As outlined by the United Nations in the Millennium Development Goals, eradicating poverty (MDG 1) and women’s rights (MDG 3) are of high priority to make our world a better place.
The main focus of the care centre is to make a difference to vulnerable, poor old people, especially women, living in the city of Iquitos.
Granted sum in €
Construction and operation Health Post for later development into a hospital:
With the help of the funding obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, amounting to €10,495, the Foundation was able to embark on another overseas development project, this year in partnership with the Diocese of Chisenga in Malawi. The Foundation’s 2013 ODA Project is entitled Construction and operation of a Health Post for later development into a hospital. It is being executed by the St Ignatius Catholic Parish in Chitipa.
Since March 2013, Chitipa community members worked hard to clear the thick bush that was on the site of the Health Post. People volunteered their collective efforts because of the profound need they have for a health service. The technical work of setting up of the building structure was started. Community members produced the bricks for the building themselves. In April, actual construction work commenced and the foundation completed with the supply of hand-made clay bricks made by the local community.
In May, the structure was completed and door frames, windows and air vents were fixed in the process. The building was then ready for roofing. Two pit latrines were dug for health centre staff and patients. By December, the building was in an advanced stage of completion.
This is the third overseas development project for which funding was obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta.
Granted sum in €
Skills Development among poor single mothers:
In 2012 the foundation began a new project as support to the work that was being done by the Community of Sisters of Charity of St Jeanne Antide. The project consisted of vocational, self-development, and home-management training and education for young poor vulnerable women; and facilities upgrade for their special school in the city of Berbérati, Central African Republic
The project upgraded the Nemesia Centre for vocational and home management training for very vulnerable girls, mostly poor single teenage mothers, lacking schooling and life-opportunities. Established in 2004 by the Sisters of Charity, the Nemesia Centre, a special school for vulnerable women, was provided with the equipment, resources and facilities, especially safe water, that it lacked and needed, so as to effectively implement the varied curriculum in future years.
The project financed the training of 121 vulnerable women during the one-year project period, and improved facilities for 68 other poor women using the Centre for income generation activities in after-school hours.
The Nemesia Vocational Education Centre for the Advancement of Women received a grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the amount of €14,000.
Notable among the effects of the new equipment and facilities, according to the Vocational Centre’s principal, has been the recognition of the Nemesia Vocational Education Centre by the government of the Central African Republic as a polytechnic, thus increasing its educational status and presumably enrollment, the value of its exit qualifications.
Granted sum in €
Initiating socioeconomic development especially among women in rural South Sudan:
This project consisted in boosting recently-created early processes of socioeconomic development, especially among women, including widows of massacred husbands, in the absence of almost all social and economic infrastructure in the rural area Wad-Akona, Upper Nile State, in the new country of South Sudan.
The new post-conflict country of South Sudan is the poorest, and lacks social and economic infrastructure. The project succeeded to engage the energies and motivation of initially untrained, uneducated women in local development processes which they initiate and own. In 2010, a core-group of around 15 development promoters, all women, were identified and given preliminary training, through them local people were stimulated towards the suggestion, planning, and creation of personal, social, economic and cultural development initiatives.
Parts of the Project stimulated critical local awareness, and motivated constructive responses by ordinary women and by innovators to the severe local ills particularly in areas of medicine, nutrition, literacy, entrepreneurship, micro-credit. Besides unknown initiatives created by local people, the Project boosted the core programmes undertaken in the previous year: a Literacy + Numeracy + Developmental Awareness course and a Micro-enterprise development programme; and some micro-enterprises set up during 2010.
Two small revolving funds were started in a small way to set off a process of economic development; they were augmented and sustained. One is a revolving fund for loans and emergency grants to borrowers’ micro-credit peer-groups. The other is a revolving fund for small loans to micro-entrepreneurs, with priority to those trying to meet expressed people's needs for goods and services, and to co-operatives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted the amount of €14,738 for this project.
Unfortunately during the project, this area of South Sudan, very close to the new border with Sudan, became a war-zone, and the project-related buildings were invaded and sacked by armed militias, driving everyone away. This unexpected disaster highlights illustrates the difficulties not only in doing development work in such areas, but also in merely living there.
Granted sum in €
Rebuilding a clinic in a poverty-stricken area after earthquake damage:
The project consisted of building a 2-storey structure, to serve as clinic after a smaller clinic building was badly damaged by the 2005 earthquake. Poor families will benefit from the primary health care services of this clinic. The project has benefited from a grant of €15,964 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta with additional funding raised by the Sisters of Charity in Malta and the Sisters of Charity in Pakistan.
