Category: Our Stories

At Lahotan Epicentre in central Benin, The Hunger Project-Benin is working with the local community to staff and expand a small health clinic and to promote its services among community members.  

Fathimath is an epicentre midwife who has worked at the clinic for a year, alongside two assistants and a guard. At regular intervals, a doctor is present at the clinic as well. Before she arrived in Benin, Fathimath had a job in a private clinic in Togo, a neighbouring country. Her previous clinic was equipped for surgery and she is accustomed to providing complex care. When people are in the epicentre clinic for more than two days, Fathimath knows when to refer them to a larger hospital.

At first, patients were slow to come to the clinic. “Not many people believe they will find quality care so close to home. Most people wait, hoping their medical complaints will disappear, or until they are very ill. When that happens, they are often beyond our help. This is really sad,” said Fathimath.

To change the community’s perception of the Epicentre Clinic, Fathimath partnered up with Justin Dividé, the Chairperson of the Health Committee at the Epicentre. All six committee members are volunteers at the clinic and are educating their own villages on the importance of prenatal care.

“Justin truly is my right hand. Or, no, really, he is my right arm! He often accompanies me on house calls, for instance, because the people around here tend to take him more seriously than an outsider, like myself. Last year we visited every surrounding village to explain what we offer in the clinic,” said Fathimath.

“It’s for the well-being of my village, so Fathimath can always call on me when she needs my help. I am glad I have been able to convince people of her qualities,” Justin adds.

Today, more and more people are beginning to use the clinic, which is making a significant impact on the surrounding villages. Community members can deliver their children and be treated much closer to home. By using the health clinic instead of driving to a larger hospital, community members are also able to save money. In addition to requiring less gasoline to get to the clinic, community members don’t need to purchase food during their hospital stay, being close enough to cook at home and bring food to the clinic. Newly pregnant couples are now asking the clinic to acquire an ultrasound machine, so they can find out if they are carrying a boy or a girl.

As her second half-year contract draws to an end, Fathimath is uncertain if she’ll be offered a permanent contract to remain with the clinic. However, when asked if she would like to stay at such a small clinic, Fathimath said, “Yes, I really hope I will be able to stay. I have a nice house here, where I live with my son. But more importantly, when people start visiting the clinic, I feel I can really make a difference here, for instance, by advising mothers on food for their children.”

Report by Evelijne Bruning

Photo credit Johannes Odé

At just 10 years old, Namukasa is investing in her own education and future after participating in The Hunger Project Uganda’s training on microfinance at her primary school. These workshops, led by volunteer animators, encourage youth to start saving and are often the first steps towards economic empowerment.

In Uganda, microfinance supports the reduction of poverty by improving people’s standards of living and economic self-sufficiency. It also offers a pathway to education, health care and gender equality. While it is often adults who make these types of investments, Namukasa– who lives in the Iganga district of Uganda–was ready to start planning for her future after participating in a workshop!

“I remember the teacher who came from The Hunger Project saying that most girls these days drop out of school to get married at a young age because their parents can no longer support them,” says Namukasa. “But if they set aside some of their money in a savings account at the bank, they can support themselves by later being able to buy what they need to stay in school.”

The teacher inspired Namukasa to immediately open a savings account with her community’s cooperative. She then started putting part of her lunch money into an account on a weekly basis.

Namukasa’s father, Kasolo Isma, was happy to learn of his daughter’s initiative in planning for her own future. “This is something new that I have not heard of happening in Iganga,” he says. “When Namukasa told me she had registered with the bank to start saving, I was very happy and I am currently thinking of ways to ensure her savings grow.” Kasolo Isma says he is very proud of his daughter and is now sharing the news with other parents in the community.

So far, Namukasa has managed to save 75,210 shillings ($27AUD) in her account and tries to deposit between 500 to 3000 ($0.20 to $1.11 USD) shillings a week. Even when Namukasa is not able to make it to the bank, she uses a savings box from The Hunger Project-Uganda to deposit money into.

This is just the beginning for Namukasa– one day she hopes to become a nurse while continuing to save for her future!

Post courtesy of The Hunger Project Global Office.

Geeta was born in a middle-income family in India and was educated only to the 10th grade. When Geeta was 20, she married into a new Panchayat (village) and when she arrived she was surprised that so many girls were not in school and that they were working instead. She also saw that child marriage was common practice and that girls were giving birth at a very young age.

She passionately wanted to change this, so in 2015 she ran for a position on the Panchayat Council for a seat reserved for women.

Running for the election was a significant challenge for Geeta because she comes from a community where women stayed at home and were only seen as a mother, a wife, a daughter or a sister.  To run for the election she had to go door to door and campaign – including talking to men who were not in her family. She won the election against 2 opponents by an incredible 1,500 seats.  She was voted as the President of her village – an amazing feat as a woman given that the previous President had held that role for 20 years.

In her time in office, Geeta has had many incredible successes thanks to the training, education, and support of The Hunger Project. The Council has recorded all of the work and its value on the outside of the Council building for everyone to see and for transparency.

The highlights of Geeta’s achievements include:

• A bridge was constructed to connect 20 other villages and panchayats. Many had tried before her and failed.  She attended a meeting with The Hunger Project Panchayat Presidents and knew the Minister would be there. Geeta prepared a petition and delivered it to the Minister. As a result of her petition, the Minister allocated funding for the bridge to be built.
• A birthing room was built and staffed with a nurse. The nearest centre used to be 35km away.
• A tree is now planted for every girl born, a powerful symbolic message that girls should be valued and not aborted.
• Child marriages have been stopped in Geeta’s community. She passed a resolution that the Panchayat would be free of child marriage and, as a result, there haven’t been any for 2 years.

Looking at the positive impact of just one Elected Woman gives you an idea of the enormous collective impact of the cohort of 511 new Elected Women who were trained and supported by The Hunger Project in 2016!

This is Rukmani, oppressed and discriminated against for most of her life through no other reason than being born a woman into a system she now works to overcome.

She holds a position of power, being elected as a Sarpunch (head) of her Panchayat (village). This quiet thinker and the elected leader turned up to her first village council meetings and was made to sit on the dirt floor even though the others sat on chairs.

This humiliating act would stop many of us but through her training with The Hunger Project, she developed confidence that had her take on the system and break down the beliefs and barriers of discrimination. She is now focused on supporting the most vulnerable women in her community – pensioners and single mothers.”

Your investment in The Hunger Project goes to empowering people like Rukmani to break the cycle of poverty and be leaders for the end of hunger in their communities.

After being forced to marry at 14, Razia from Bangladesh was denied an education and was forced to stay at home and provide for her husband and children. After being trained by The Hunger Project, Razia was empowered with the knowledge of how to change her situation.

She started a women’s self-help group in her community, set up her own compost plant to produce organic fertilizer for her home garden and encouraged 20 other women in her village to set up their own organic compost plants too. She also learnt how to raise poultry and livestock and now has enough savings to easily support the health and education of her children.

Razia is now an advocate for the education of all children in her community! What an inspiration!

Christina from Malawi couldn’t afford to feed her family or send her children to school before The Hunger Project came to her village. Since then, Christina has received several microfinance loans from The Hunger Project and now she has a thriving shop in her community.

She says, “I used my first loans to create a stall where I sold pots and zitenjes(shawls). With the last loan I took out, I bought this shop. It’s really successful. I now earn enough money to send my six children to school.”

Christina took small steps over time to get to her vision of having her children educated. She is an inspiration to her community and a symbol of hope to other women that they too can transform their lives.

Meet Kenchamma, a non-literate Dalit (the lowest caste) woman from Southern India. Kenchamma was selected to join her local council after her family members registered her name because they assumed she’d step aside and let them make all of the decisions. No one thought Kenchamma would actually attend the meetings and they didn’t even tell her where they were held.

After attending The Hunger Project’s training, Kenchamma learnt about her rights as an elected woman leader and became excited about what she could achieve.

At her first council meeting, Kenchamma was immediately surrounded by the other council members, picked up and physically thrown out of the building onto the street outside. She was told that if she wanted to attend meetings, she would need to sit on the step outside so that she didn’t pollute them.

She did not let this deter her and so she turned up to every single meeting for two years and sat outside. Eventually, the other council members allowed her to sit inside, and now Kenchamma has brought electricity and fresh water to her village.

Kenchamma’s perseverance and persistence in the face of discrimination led to her ultimate success, and demonstrates to us why it’s important to stay the course when you have a vision to do something big!

Rejeya is from Naopara, a village in the Meherpur district of Bangladesh and was born and grew up in a lower middle-class family. Her father was the only family member earning an income, through farming. Her parents had wanted to educate their daughter, but were unable to, due to their financial situation. They, therefore, arranged for her a marriage to a young man in their village. Rejeya’s new husband was not yet employed and struggled to put food on the table. When thinking about how to improve her situation, Rejeya shared her story with a friend, asking for her suggestion.

Morjina is a Hunger Project Animator (trained volunteer leader) and after hearing her friend Rejeya’s story, she advised Rejeya to get involved with The Hunger Project as a member of the PAR (Participatory Action Research) group, or in a skills training course, such as sewing and tailoring. After hearing about the opportunities on offer, Rejeya built a vision in her mind and shared her ideas with her husband. She then went to a training centre to participate in a six-month sewing and tailoring training course. During the training period, with the support of her husband, she started to take work orders for small jobs. After the end of her training, she started working full-time with the support of her husband.

Within a few days, she become very popular in the village and increased her customer base. Soon after, other unemployed women who were struggling to feed their families came to her to develop their skills in sewing and tailoring in order to increase their household incomes as well. After hearing their stories, Rejeya agreed to train them for free. At least eight women have received training from Rejeya and are now able to earn a living using the skills that she taught them. Rejeya has not limited her work to tailoring; she also raises animals for meat and dairy and grows vegetables in her garden.

Since becoming involved with The Hunger Project in her village, Rejeya has a regular income and her family no longer struggles to find food. Her husband has also since been employed. Their daughter is growing up with adequate food, health care and in a good environment. Rejeya is an active member of the Ward Action Team in her community, and also a member of the Gono Gobeshana Samity.

Donate now to empower women like Rejeya!

Nurunnahar is a woman leader from Kewra, a village in the Jhalakathi district of the Barisal region of Bangladesh. She was born and grew up in an extremely poor family. Her father, a farmer, was the sole earner in their family. Her family faced such serious financial constraints that they were not able to send her to school.

They arranged for Nurunnahar to marry a young man in their village. Her husband struggled to find employment and could not put food on the table for their family. Nurunnahar’s husband then divorced her in a demand for dowry.

Facing this challenging situation, MDG Union Coordinator Zakir Hossain advised Nurunnahar to get involved with The Hunger Project as a women leader of the Bikoshito Nari Network (BNN, Unleashed Women’s Network).

After attending the women’s leadership foundation training session with The Hunger Project Bangladesh, Nurunnahar learned skills about homestead gardening and started her own ‎family garden. The garden now not only feeds Nurunnahar’s family and saves her money, but she has even been able to begin selling her excess produce to make a profit. Nurunnahar has also created a women’s savings organization to ‎empower the ‎women of her community. Since becoming involved with The Hunger Project Bangladesh in her village, Nurunnahar has a regular income and her family no longer struggles to find food. Her only daughter is growing up with adequate food, health care and a good environment with access to education, and a mother who supports her attendance at school.

Nurunnahar is an active member of the Ward Action Team in her community and a member of additional decision-making committees within her Union. She has shared  her various income-generating initiatives with neighbours within her community, and has spoken about how the income-generating activities launched have given her a sense of “economic empowerment” and overall “progress.” Nowadays, Nurunnahar works throughout her union to raise awareness of the detrimental impacts of early marriage and hygiene education.

Donate now to women leaders like Nurunnahar.