2019 Grant Recipients
1. Development Expertise Centre (DEC), Uganda $3100
DEC‘s mission is to empower victims of sexual abuse and the sex trade with the skills that will go a long way in providing economic security for them. The overall goal of the project is to equip them with enough economic empowerment to support themselves and reduce their vulnerability.
The participants will be chosen by the District leaders, following the vulnerability mapping created by the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development. The Buikwe District is greatly affected by the negative impact of sexual abuse and the sex trade, exacerbated by the many long distance truck drivers passing through. The project will work with 12 victims of sex abuse affected by child/ early/ forced marriages who will be equipped with tailoring skills so that they stop engaging in the petty sex trade. These will be young women ages 15-24.
They will be provided with nine sewing machines, twelve months of training plus on-going mentorship. Their first product will be reusable sanitary pads. They will visit schools where DEC is currently working to educate the parents and the girls about menstrual hygiene management and the advantages of reusable pads. This should generate a continuing flow of orders as they begin to explore creating other products, too.
The JHH grant will cover all of the expenses to give these young women a decent future.
2. International Transformation Foundation $5000
Venusti, a remarkable young man of 33 has created this project with two friends. He had a very difficult early life. His father was killed in the genocide when was 8 and his mother died (probably of PTSD) four years later. He and his 6 siblings took care of each other. A Catholic priest encouraged and supported him so he was able to complete High School with special emphasis in Civil Engineering. He could not afford to go to college and after various jobs, discovered the non-profit NGO world. His desire has been to improve the school system and to incorporate into it practical lessons and experience in the world of business.
His specific project is connecting small villages that have no source of clean water to the main water pipe, providing very low cost water to the students and the surrounding families. In this case, 580 students and 2500 others living in the community.
This is a (primary) school-based and students managed business selling clean tap water to community residents at an affordable price. It is both an educational and profitable business teaching students business and entrepreneurial skills, and generating much needed income for schools. The water kiosk at school project has a sustainable business model. Within two years, half the money paid for water will be used to repay the cost of the pipe connection and the water distribution kiosk. It will provide everybody in the community with clean, drinking, tap water.
The repaid loan will be used to create another water connection for a nearby village. Venuste is negotiating now to do this in Rwanda.
3. Guatemala: Rainwater Harvesting Tanks $5000
Compartiendo Nuestras Benediciones https://www.cnbong.org/ funds many small projects in this region including educational scholarships for poor children, animal welfare projects, and environmental projects.
One of their current projects (K’aslem Ya’=Water of Life) seeks to address the problem of water scarcity in some neighborhoods in San Andres Itzapa. Water scarcity is such an extreme problem that during the dry season, families only have access to water in their homes for 1 hour once a month. This creates many problems for food preparation, hygiene, healthcare, and safety concerns for family members who have to travel long distances carrying heavy water jugs back and forth to their homes.
What is the project we are funding? The project we are funding through Jewish Helping Hands would pay for 3 rainwater harvesting systems to allow 3 families (approximately 30 people total) to collect and store 2,000 liters of water per week in large tanks that they can use during the dry season. As an environmental bonus, the families who are helping to construct the tanks will recycle more than 65,000 pounds of inorganic trash by utilizing eco-bricks in the construction materials (see photos below). As an additional bonus, they will also be planting 10 trees per family in an effort to increase the underground water supply.
4. Imagine Her Uganda $3200
The mission of the project is to leverage the power and potential of women for their personal, family and community’s growth and development.
Twenty women are being trained to open their own businesses. One step in their preparation is to design a product and make a prototype that would solve the problem of back, shoulder and heart problems caused in school children by their excessively heavy book bags. A panel of experts evaluates and judges the presentations. The best design is from Mary’s group. She has it on in the attached picture. The product with the greatest positive effect on society and the environment is from Group C.
Why? Because the book bag is made from recycled sacks and is waterproof.
Then the individual business ideas are presented by the women to the panel. Nathan has gone through this process before with 10 women, all of whom have opened profitable businesses, using the micro-loans that Imagine Her has provided. Soon there will be 20 more. Nathan’s goal is to increase the number to 50 every 4 months.
Who are these women? They are urban refugees, young, marginalized and at-risk women and girls, 15 to 25. They were once shy and nearly lost. Now they are finding needs and generating profitable solutions. They are poised and able to think on their feet. They are eager to start their businesses. Their mentors are ready to stand beside them all along the way.
JHH will be providing this cohort with their $158 micro-loans which will be paid back within 6 months. Then the money will be used to support the next cohort.
5. Christophe’s Project Kigali
Christophe, former City Director for the Itafari Foundation, and his friends are personally helping to finance this project whose mission it is to give young people ages 15 to 25 a second chance for a decent future. The District identifies those who have dropped out and are vulnerable on the streets. JHH will help to finance their training as tailors or seamstresses, providing “tool kits,” consisting of sewing machines and material supplies. Some of the 10 students have had horrific experiences in their young lives, all of them have lost one or both parents during the genocide. They are eager to enter a good field and to support themselves.
The training goes from January through June, followed by months of mentored work and skill improvement. Aline’s 4-year-old daughter Arianne models a newly made shirt in the current Rwandan uniform style.
Continuing Partnership
6. Honduras: Light of Esperanza $2000
Jewish Helping Hands (JHH) has worked with Light of Esperanza (LOE) for many years in their efforts to improve the lives of women and children living in Honduras. Past efforts we have partnered on include pig, chicken, fish and corn cooperatives in the village of Vega Redonda, which have been successful in providing numerous women and children with the means to start their own businesses. These businesses have generated income that has been used to improve the participants lives and the lives of their families. One individual to have benefited from such a program is Emerita, who used JHH funds to build a sustainable business raising and selling pigs. In addition to being an entrepreneur, Emerita is a great student and attends school in Dulce de Nombre, a town 30 minutes from Vega Redonda. In order to help Emerita with her studies moving forward, JHH is proud to provide her, and another student, Jacoba, with the $750 needed to cover the tuition for their 2nd year of high school. Both girls have reached out to JHH to let us know that they may not have been able to continue their studies if not for the gift and that they are extremely grateful. It is our expectation that these young women will continue their hard work and achieve amazing things for themselves and their community.
In addition to the school scholarships above, JHH is providing $1,500 to support a new “Food for the Children” project in the village of Los Naranjos. The idea of this project is to duplicate a similar initiative lead by LOE in the village of Delicias (up the hill from the Vega Redonda), where the proceeds from a pig project are used to buy food for the school children to eat breakfast and lunch throughout the year. This is a big demand, since the kids don’t usually have food to eat in the morning or afternoon. Given the success of this project in a Delicias, LOE is looking to expand their efforts and JHH is eager to help.
7. Philippines Humanitarian $1000
This is year 4 of 5 of sponsoring 5 students at Payatas Elementary School (through Philippines Humanitarian), which services the Payatas Community. Extreme poverty, crime, drugs, poor sanitation, and precarious employment are the primary community concerns. A distinguishing feature of the area is the Payatas Dumpsite, the largest open dumpsite in the Philippines. Most of the Payatas residents earn a living either as garbage scavengers, construction workers, or drivers. The students who go to Payatas Elementary School live in the area immediately surrounding the dumpsite and come from very poor families. While education is free in the Philippines, many students lack the money for school-related expenses. Jewish Helping Hands is awarding a grant of $5,000 to sponsor 5 children over the course of 5 years ($200 per child per year). The money these children receive will enable them to purchase uniforms, books, school supplies, and shoes.
Since we started sponsoring them, the students have been thriving in school. We get copies of their report cards along with pictures and letters each year. One student, Orlean Casta, an 8th Grade student, wrote “Dear Jewish Helping Hands, I would like to thank you for your kindness and generosity you show us. I am very thankful to have you in my life. Because of your help, my family is not worried about my school needs. I promise I will study hard to aim my dreams. Thank you for your love and inspiration, always take care of yourself in everywhere you go. Love, Orlean.” Another student, Gehtel Grace Inda, wrote “Dear Jewish Helping Hands, Thank you for everything. You give us a hope and inspiration in life. I’m hoping your good health. Always take care. Gehtel Grace E. Inda”
8. Vietnam toilets/outhouses $1000
About 2.4 billion people — or roughly one-third of the world’s population — still lack access to proper toilets. Jewish Helping Hands through it’s support of the Catalyst Foundation is working to combat this problem. $1000 has been pledged by Jewish Helping Hands to build high-quality toilet/bathroom/outhouses in this rural Vietnam community.
An additional benefit will be a community driven, sustainable business enterprise program where community members will be trained to start a plumbing business. This team would be able to install and maintain the toilets throughout the community, as well as provide a livelihood for their families. Jewish Helping Hands looks forward to hearing and seeing the benefits of our project with Catalyst.