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Empowerment for Women
Women face the greatest level of
obstacles in social, economic and political structures in Mara. Many
women are subject to the cultural activity of Female Genital Mutilation
(FGM), domestic violence,
and sexual abuse in the work place.
Women also face the
greatest level of obstacles in accessing institutional support services,
in particular legal aid. Due to obstacles faced culturally, and through
domestic demands, women have been found to be the least likely to
participate in political activities, and are thus least aware of their
civic rights.
Foundation HELP is collaborating with local
community, non-government, and government organizations to develop a center providing legal aid
and institutional support for women.
Also, in collaboration with
women based community organizations, we are setting up discussion groups for women to raise the
awareness of the social practice of FGM and its potential detrimental
impacts. The radio will also be used to spread awareness on the affects
of FGM through voting polls and on air debates.
Promoting Gender Balance
This intervention is aimed at
balance among genders in development activities.
This is done through:
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child
sponsorship
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income generation activities
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deliberate effort to improve
women's condition by ensuring gender balance during recruitment
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advocacy for women and children 's rights
-
gender awareness
workshops
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children's conferences and youth programs
Fighting Malaria, HIV and Drug Abuse
Mara is currently facing an increase in the amount of
youths abusing drugs/alcohol as well as a huge quantity of HIV and
Malaria cases. The prevalence of HIV and Malaria as the highest causes of death
remains significantly detrimental to the Mara society and economy.
Foundation HELP is working to implement a combined
support center and dispensary in Mara. It will offer:
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natural drugs to cater for general health needs
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advice and support for
people who misuse drugs
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counseling for those living with the effects of
AIDS
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family planning advice for young women
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advice on
precautions to take against the spread of STDs/STIs.
The center will be
for the use primarily of young people and women aged between the ages of
18-25.
Promoting Education
Only 11% of Mara's population attend secondary
school. This leads to a high level of unemployment. Women suffer from a
higher level of illiteracy than men. Many schools lack the equipment
needed , for example desks and text books.
Foundation HELP is collaborating
with the community and government representatives in these activities:
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a nursery for pre-primary school age children
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vocational training
education centers for children who are unable to continue onto secondary
schools
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provision of desks
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school health education
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training and seminars for teachers,
with the aim to increase school attendance
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improve exam performances
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ensure that
the education of girls is regarded as equal to that of boys
Water Provision
Many communities in Mara do not have access
to water within close proximity of their homes. Where water is within
close proximity, most households buy water from neighbors with taps.
Many households do not have the access or cannot afford the fuel wood
required to boil and purify water. In many cases contaminated water from
Lake Victoria is consumed, leading to a number of water borne diseases.
Foundation HELP is collaborating with partners in the
investigation on the potential for utilizing primary sources of
underground water. We are also working to improve the purification and filtering of
water through awareness raising workshops at the village level.
Within
these workshops, awareness is being raised on the potential for the use
of Moringa seeds as a water purifier, and the cheapest natural methods
for filtering water.
In collaboration with the local government,
we wish to increase the availability of water through reducing the distance of
communities to water sources from 30km to an average of under 4km in all
areas of Mara. This will be achieved through activities such as:
Food Security
Smallholders with land of 5 ha or less, within
immediate proximity (within 20 km) to Lake Victoria are currently
experiencing the greatest levels of food insecurity in Mara. This is
mainly related to the high levels of the soil erosion in association to
deforestation, infertility and cassava mosaic pests.
The communities
over 2km from the lake are reliant upon sporadic water supplies, and
thus lack of access to water is also a major contributor to crop
failure.
Foundation HELP is working on a study in this
area of Mara to assess the greatest areas of need, and implementing
regular training workshops to educate farmers on
modern sustainable and efficient methods of agricultural production and
reforestation. Of particular interest are the use of natural pesticides, manure,
organic farming methods, livestock development and drought/pest
resistant seeds.
Reforestation in the areas facing the
highest levels of soil erosion will be undertaken in partnership between
local community and non government organizations. Potential for implementing water irrigation systems
is being assessed in collaboration between the government and other
organizations working in the community.
Peace
Education
There is high structural violence prevalent in Tanzania
which in turn undermines peace and stability. This exists in terms of:
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poverty
-
hunger
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environmental degradation
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unequal distribution of resources which is
widening the gap between the rich and the poor
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corruption
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unemployment
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ignorance
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lack of equality between men and women
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early
marriage to girls,
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education inequalities
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child labor, street children and so
on...
Foundation HELP provides education at
community level to create awareness, sensitization, and the need for
action by the community to address these issues.
Foundation HELP also helps address the problem of small arms and light
weapons proliferation in the Lake Victoria area and is developing
strategies for local action that are in line with the Tanzanian National
Action Plan. Specific activities include:
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collaboration with the government to develop
strategies to control and monitor the ownership purpose and use of arms
in the community.
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field based research on the use of
arms, community perception of threats posed by small arms, and
security in the local area
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participatory discussion groups and workshops in
local communities to raise awareness on the threats posed from the use
of small arms.
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Developing a community forum for the control of small arms
strategy
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development and advocacy
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use of radio and public
events, theatrical performances for advocacy and awareness raising.
Ecological Governance and Natural Resources Management
The aim of this intervention is to
assist communities to prevent land degradation as well as obtain
optimum returns from their land.
It is done through training in land
husbandry, preservation of natural forests, and provision of tree
seedlings, prevention of pollution, solid and liquid waste management,
River basin management, wildlife and biodiversity conservation., etc.
All these programs are implemented with in the context of
United Nations local
agenda 21.
If you would like to support any of the above programs
please contact us! |
