Summer 2012 Projects
Organization: GHNU
Location: Oyam District, Uganda
Budget: $4,700
Chapters Involved: Ohio State University
Team Size: 7 students
Project Leader: Melissa Yetmar (yetmar.1@osu.edu)
Project Blog: OSU-Uganda
Project Overview:
The Ohio State University Chapter partnered with the Global Health Network, a non-profit primary health organization focusing on child and maternal health, for their Project in Oyam, Uganda. The goal of the Project was to build the capacity of health workers and the village health team to effectively provide health services to the community. After 6 weeks, the students successfully taught sexual and reproduction health education to young community members, constructed pit latrines and visited the homes of new and expecting mothers. The team was also involved in an outreach program for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT), which involved counseling and testing of over 700 women and their spouses.
Student Role:
- Teaching sexual and reproduction health education
- Constructing latrines2012
- Home visits to new and expecting mothers
- Counseling and testing community members for HIV
Organization: Runa
Location: Archidona, Ecuador
Budget: $3,000
Chapters Involved: Duke University
Team Size: 4
Project Leader: Kaley Deal (Kaley@longmountain.org)
Project Blog: Duke Ecuador
Project Overview:
The Duke University spent eight weeks in Archidona, Ecuador partnering with the non-profit Fundación Runa to help build gardens and guayusa (a tea-like plant) nurseries as well as teach classes in first aid and hygiene, nutrition, computer literacy, and English. Fundación Runa is a new organization, but they have made leaps and bounds in helping secure more stable incomes for farmers in the Napo valley. The students successfully reached the goals of their project by holding English and computer classes and seminars on trash disposal. To further eliminate waste the students began a composting project that will incorporate kitchen waste from the school’s breakfast program. The students also successfully built a garden at a local elementary school, growing not only guayusa but other fruits and vegetables.
Student Role:
- Built garden at local elementary school
- Started cultivation of guayusa nurseries
- Taught classes in first aid and hygiene, nutrition, computers, and English
- Held a clean-up day
- Hosted a presentation on trash disposal
- Starting a composting project to eliminate waste
Organization: RASD
Location: Nkokonjera, Uganda
Budget: $1,800
Chapters Involved: Miami University
Project Overview:
The Miami University chapter helped fund The Rural Agency for Sustainable Development (RASD), a Ugandan NGO that serves communities in the Mukono district. RASD strives to facilitate people to live in healthy conditions, promote sustainable environmental management, agriculture, provide safe water, hygiene education and sanitation provision, and facilitate education training for skill acquisition. The students specifically funded RASD’s project to provide books, computers and computer training for the Nkokonjera community.
Student Role:
- Funding RASD
Organization: PIER
Location: Roatan, Honduras
Budget: $1,050
Chapters Involved: Rice University
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Victoria Delgado (Victoria.e.delgado@rice.com)
Project Blog: Rice Honduras 2012
Project Overview:
The Rice chapter partnered with PIER, an organization that strives to improve the economic development of the Roatan, Honduras community and the quality of life of its people by ensuring excellence of education. Students traveled to Roatan, a small island off the north coast of Honduras where only 25% of the children enroll in school and only 50% of these graduate from 6th grade. The goal of the project was to create a set of reusable, self-directed learning kits for elementary students to teach themselves math, science and English. The students successfully fulfilled this goal by creating a total of 13 learning kits, which included 4 lessons in English, 4 in mathematics and 5 in sciences. All the lesson plans are designed so a student can come in and teach himself in a fun and very hands-on way. There are numerous activities to practice and reinforce the skills learned in each box so a student can check his answers and continue improving. The boxes were designed to be very low cost so they can be easily and cheaply duplicated. These learning kits will not only be a useful tool for students but also a way to help teachers to be more effective in the classroom. The students also worked with a group of young kids in the mornings reading stories, playing games, and practicing their English.
Student Role:
- Creating learning boxes
- Playing education games with students
- Teaching English to students
Organization: Triple Salto
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Budget: $4,000
Chapters Involved: University of California- Los Angeles
Team Size: 6
Project Leader: Diva Macseng (kay.macseng@gmail.com)
Project Blog: UCLA Ecuador
Project Overview:
The University of California-Los Angeles partnered with ConQuito, a government municipality, and Triple Salto, an organization dedicated to creating sustainable opportunities for vulnerable communities in developing economies. The goal of the project was to build two family-run greenhouses in Quito, Ecuador. In an area plagued with malnourishment, food security is of the utmost importance, particularly amongst young children and pregnant mothers. The students successfully built two greenhouses and helped the future farmers till, plant, and organize the land and resources inside their new greenhouse. The families will use the greenhouse’s organic products to nourish the urban community and sell the excess for income.
Student Role:
- Building two greenhouses
- Helping cultivate land and resources
Organization: Sarswati
Location: Gorkha, Nepal
Budget: $2,500
Chapters Involved: University of California-Santa Barbara, University of California-Davis
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Miya Sommers (miyasommers@gmail.com)
Project Blog: UCSB UCDAVIS 2012
Project Overview:
The University of California-Santa Barbara and University of California-Davis Chapters partnered with the Sarwasti Foundation; a Mumbai-based non-profit foundation that strives to create a college project to provide depth of studies rather than concentration on quantities of students. The students traveled to Gorkha, Nepal with the goal of expanding the Sarswati Peace School’s capacity to education more children as well as planning programs that will inspire and encourage more children to seek an education. The students successfully upturned the ground for the soccer field and painted all the classrooms.
Student Role:
- Beginning construction on soccer field
- Painting classrooms
Organization: Casa Del Alfarero
Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: University of Florida, North Carolina State University
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Katie Faughnan, katiefaughnan@ufl.edu
Project Blog: UF-NCState 2012
Project Overview:
The University of Florida and North Carolina State Chapters traveled to Guatemala City to help start and fund simple but effective businesses that the local women were interested in. The hope of the Project was to inspire a group of 45 mothers to believe in their potential to lift themselves from poverty. During the first week, the students made house visits to the mothers to understand their daily lives, the community, and their struggles in order to create lesson plans and business handbooks that were as relevant as possible. With the help of their partner organization, Casa Del Alfarero, these women have been given the opportunity to hone their skills in cooking, jewelry making, and hair styling that will help them launch their initiatives to become independent. By the end of the project the students helped the women with the financial aspects of the businesses as well as the management skills needed to turn them into profit- making ventures.
Student Role:
- Making house visits to learn about the local women
- Creating Business Handbooks
- Teaching management skills
- Funding start-up businesses
Organization: Unite4Africa
Location: Kisumu, Kenya
Budget: $2,789
Chapters Involved: Vanderbilt University, University of Georgia
Team Size: 9
Project Leader:
Project Blog: UGA-Vandy-Kenya
Project Overview:
Nourish students partnered with Unite4Africa, an organization dedicated to transform their communities spiritually, socially, physically, and economically. The students constructed a greenhouse next to Unite4Africas orphanage and hospital that will now provide a sustainable food source to children living with HIV/AIDs.
Student Role:
- Constructed a greenhouse
Organization: FIPAH
Location: Yorito, Honduras
Budget: $3,992
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Project Overview:
The University of North Carolina Chapter partnered with FIPAH, an established institution that strives to improve living standards, household income and availability of food for families and in Honduras. The students successfully provided computer literacy education and minor infrastructure to Honduran communities.
Student Role:
- Teaching computer literacy classes
- Minor infrastructure to communities
Organization: Kampung Halaman
Location: Purwokerto, Indonesia
Budget: $2,462
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Project Overview:
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapter partnered with Kampung Halaman, an Indonesian non-profit organization that fosters the use of audiovisual media in community. The students successfully supported a local youth radio station.
Organization: Family Development Association
Location: Amman, Jordan
Budget: $8,894
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Project Overview:
The University of North Carolina Chapter partnered with the Family Development Association, an organization that strives to help displaced Jordan Children by increasing their education opportunities. The students successfully provided educational support, conducted research through home visits and coordinated women’s empowerment initiatives.
Organization: Project Amazonas
Location: Iquitos, Peru
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: University of New Mexico
Team Size: 5 students
Project Leader:
Project Blog: UNM Peru
Project Overview:
The University of New Mexico partnered with Project Amazonas, a non-governmental organization that strives to help the people of the Amazon to conserve the rainforest. The goal of the project was to construct a health clinic and provide basic health education to the communities in the Rio Orosa region along the Amazon River. After six weeks, Nourish students successfully constructed a clinic for communities along the Amazon River and its tributaries in the Peruvian jungle. The clinic is located in the Yagua Indian community of Comandancia on the Rio Orosa. Although Comandancia is only home to about 250 people, approximately 4000 people from other communities along the river will now have access to the new clinic. This clinic is an essential addition to the community as the nearest government health clinic lacks basic supplies and is often inaccessible for long periods of time. Students also led a health education program and conducted a rural health survey in the local communities. They were directly involved with preventative healthcare and health education at community schools.
Organization: ABAN
Location: Ghana
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: University of New Mexico, University of Kansas
Team Size: 2
Project Leader: Matt Fleischer (matt17@unm.com)
Project Blog: UNM UK Ghana
Project Overview: The University of New Mexico and University of Kansas Chapters partnered with ABAN in Accra, Ghana to build a bead center for women to craft hand-made products in order to grow their business. ABAN is an organization in Accra, Ghana that provides aid to street girls in Accra, as well as help to improve the environmental conditions of the city. Every day, the same streets that these women are forced to sleep on are littered with over 40 tons of plastic waste. The students helped teach the women to recycle these waste products into materials that they can then transform into profitable items, such as bracelets, aprons, and cosmetic bags. The students also cultivated a garden and purchased livestock to improve the women’s food supply.
Student Role:
- Teaching women of Ghana business skills
- Building an outdoor bead making center
- Cultivating a garden and purchasing livestock
Organization: ATRAVES
Location: Managua, Nicaragua
Budget: $3,000
Chapters Involved: University of Pennsylvania, Wake Forest University
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Randall Tassone (randalltassone@live.com)
Project Blog: UPENN WF Nicaragua
Project Overview:
The University of Pennsylvania and Wake Forest University Chapters partnered with ATRAVES, in hopes to address some of the major health problems in William Galeano, a small residential community lying in the outskirts of Managua, Peru. ATRAVES is an international non-profit that works with and supports education, health, and development programs in Nicaragua. The goal of the project was to build a health education lab, offering computer access for health clinical staff and to provide lessons on healthy living practices to the William Galeano community. With the help of ATRAVES, the team successfully designed and constructed a computer lab, led creative activities and lessons to teach local young students the basics of health, nutrition, and hygiene, and built a greenhouse to teach the importance of the environment and sustainability.
Student Role:
- Building a health education lab
- Leading lessons on healthy living
- Building a greenhouse
Organization: Moche
Location: Haunchaco, Peru
Budget: $5,375
Chapters Involved: University of Southern Florida, Cornell University
Team Size: 7 students
Project Leader: Hollyn Hartlep (hghartlep@ymail.com)
Project Blog: USF-CORNELL-PERU
Project Overview:
The University of Southern Florida and Cornell University Chapters partnered with Moche to add several new rooms to the Bello Horizonte Health Clinic in Haunchaco, Peru. Aside from constructing the rooms, the final goal of the Project was to increase access to medications and increase education about health topics. By the end of their work in Peru, the students successfully completed the foundation and brick walls of the new rooms. The students’ great progress on the construction holds a great potential to have impact on the community through offering reduced price health care right in the community of those who will need it. It will help to improve their health, increase their productivity and ability to be more successful.
Student Role:
- Building rooms for local health clinic
- Introducing project to community members
- Teaching and playing with children at local schools
Organization: DJMV
Location: Odisha, India
Budget: $2,500
Chapters Involved: University of Texas- Austin
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Lauren Matranga (lauren.matranga@utnourish.org)
Project Blog: UT Austin- India
Project Overview:
The UT-Austin Chapter spent six weeks in Odisha, India teaching English classes and computer literacy at the village learning center, as well as conducting workshops on the social and economic values of education, English coaching classes, and workshops to improve career development skills. The Chapter partnered with DJMV, a non-profit organization based in Odisha, India that strives to provide women the opportunities of development that enables them to exercise their right to education and health. With the help of DJMV the students also held community assessments by using various PRA tools, repainted the local school, held village cleanups and training sessions on innovative teaching methods to improve the quality education in the village.
Student Role:
- Teaching English classes
- Repainting a local school
- Conducting development workshops
- Holding computer literacy programs
- Repainting the local schools
- Assisting in city clean up
Organization: Moche
Location: Haunchaco, Peru
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: University of Tennessee- Knoxville
Project Leader: Hayden Hall (hhall7@mail.tennessee.edu)
Project Overview:
The University of Tennessee Chapter funded a Project for Moche, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the standard of living in impoverished communities, preserving archaeological sites, and promoting research and education on the rich cultural heritage of Peru. Their funds went towards Moche’s projects to build a potable water system in the formation of the town water committee in Cerro Blanco
Organization: Moche
Location: Haunchaco, Peru
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: Yale University
Team Size: 5 students
Project Leader: Natalie Drucker (natalie.drucker508@gmail.com)
Project Blog: Yale Peru
Project Overview:
The Yale University Partnered with Moche, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the standard of living in impoverished communities, preserving archaeological sites, and promoting research and education on the rich cultural heritage of Peru. The goal of the project was to continue construction on a health clinic in Bello Horizonte that Nourish Students began during summer 2011. The also painted a large mural in the community park area.
Student Role:
- Continuing construction of medical health clinic
- Community beautification project
Summer 2011 Projects
Organization: CO2 Bambu
Location: Rosita, Nicaragua
Budget: $4,718
Chapters Involved: Arizona State University, Cornell University
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: James Ingram, jsingram@asu.edu and Chris Dennis, lemonanlime9@gmail.com
Project Blog: ASU-Cornell Nicaragua
Project Overview:
The Arizona State University and Cornell University Chapters partnered with CO2 Bambu to build eco-stoves and bamboo houses in Rosita, Nicaragua. Students began by constructing eco-stoves for eighteen households in an indigenous community in Rosita. These eco-stoves require only half the wood of a normal open-hearth stove and drastically reduce carbon emissions, which is better for the environment. Furthermore these eco-stoves are better for the health of the women and children who use the stoves daily. Upon finishing the eco-stoves, students worked with CO2 Bambu to build bamboo houses for the community. These houses are not only environmentally friendly, but additionally serve as a powerful windbreak to reduce the effects of storms and hurricanes in the area. Students also built a composting toilet for the factory workers of CO2 Bambu, so they will no longer be forced to use neighboring latrines. This toilet will mix human waste with sawdust waste from the factory to create compost, which CO2 Bambu will use to fertilize the growth of thousands of bamboo seeds for reforestation.
Student Role:
- Building 18 eco-stoves
- Helping to build bamboo houses
- Building a composting toilet
Organization: Triple Salto
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Budget: $4,624
Chapters Involved: NC State University, Vanderbilt University, Wake Forest University and UC-Davis
Project Leader: Kunal Gohel kgohel@ncsu.edu
Project Blog: Ecuador 2011
Project Overview:
Nourish students partnered with Triple Salto, an organization dedicated to creating sustainable opportunities for vulnerable communities in developing economies. The goal of this project was to construct a greenhouse for a school in a community of Quito, Ecuador. In an area plagued with malnourishment, food security is of the utmost importance, particularly for growing and developing children. Nourish students successfully built a greenhouse complete with a roof and doors. Students also planted organic seeds that will grow to be 140 tomato plants for the school to use to feed the children and to generate revenue to pay for school operating expenses. The incoming revenue will allow the school to purchase necessary materials and resources to better educate the children. In addition, the greenhouse will allow the school to provide its students with a more diverse and nutritious diet. Nourish students also painted a large mural on one of the school walls to inspire students to eat healthy and stay active.
Student Role:
- Constructed a greenhouse
- Planted tomato plants
- Painted a mural
Organization: Fundación “Hermano Mercedes Ruiz” (FUNDAHMER)
Location: Guacamaya, El Salvador
Budget: $5,907
Chapters Involved: Brown University and Miami University
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Arnie Ramirez, arnie_ramirez@brown.edu and Sally Alkalaf, sally.alkalaf@gmail.com
Project Blog: Brown-Miami 2011
Project Overview:
Brown University and Miami University partnered with FUNDAHMER, a non-profit organization based in El Salvador dedicated to improving education and community development. The project constructed pilas for twenty-four families in the communities of San Pedro and San Miquelito, El Salvador. Pilas are large outdoor water basins that El Salvadoran families use to store water for drinking and washing food and clothing. With the construction of each pila, the students also built irrigation tubes connected to the pilas, so that instead of being wasted, the used water could be directed to water the families’ gardens. These communities use their gardens to provide food for their families and they sell any surplus produce for a small profit. The new pilas and irrigation tubes will allow families to upkeep their gardens at a much cheaper cost and in a more convenient fashion.
When students were not constructing the pilas, they participated in community building activities including tutoring teenagers in English at the local school, participating in arts and crafts with families, and playing sports with the community children.
Student Role:
- Built twenty-four pilas for families in the San Pedro and San Miquelito communities.
- Tutored local teenagers in English.
- Participated in community activities such as arts, crafts, and sports.
Organization: MOCHE, Inc
Location: Huanchaco, Peru
Budget: $4,000
Chapters Involved: Ohio State University
Team Size: 9 students
Project Leader: Kyle Forrester, forrester.30@buckeyemail.osu.edu
Project Blog: OSU Peru 2011
Project Overview:
The goals of this project were to construct a health clinic in the Moche Valley of Peru, as well as promote good health practices and spread health education and awareness. The OSU Chapter partnered with MOCHE, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving archaeological sites and improving the standard of living for Peruvians living in impoverished communities. The students worked with local community members to build the first phase of a two-exam room health clinic in northern Peru to offer access to primary health care for the surrounding villages. The clinic will specialize in pre-natal and post-natal care in pursuance of reducing the child mortality rate in the Moche Valley.
In addition to building the clinic, the project team hosted three health fairs at the new clinic. The health fairs were designed to provide information to local populations on improving health and hygiene habits and inform them of the new services available to them through the clinic. The health fairs focused on nutrition, child health, communicable diseases, sanitation, and maternal health. The new health clinic will serve over 10,000 people in the Moche Valley, promoting health education and working to reduce disease and illness in the area.
Student Role:
- Constructing the first phase of the primary health clinic
- Organizing three successful health fairs, informing over 500 members of the local community on good health habits and services provided by the clinic.
Organization: SIFE
Location: Guatemala City and El Jícaro, Guatemala
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: UCLA and Stanford University
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Ryan Tong, ryans.tong@gmail.com
Project Blog: UCLA-Stanford 2011
Project Overview:
In partnership with SIFE, the Stanford University and UCLA chapters worked to improve a small business for women and to improve farming conditions for rural farmers in Guatemala. With funds raised throughout the school year, these chapters paid for macrotunnels to be installed in rural farms along the Guatemalan coast. These macrotunnels are cylindrical tubes that cover crops to protect them against adverse weather conditions and therefore give the farmers a longer growing season.
Students also worked with the local community on IMAGINA, a project that employs women to make and sell sanitation products such as house cleaners, soap, shampoo, and hand creams. Students helped IMAGINA reform it’s accounting books so the women may keep better track of their inventory and expenses to make the business more profitable. Students also worked with the women to increase their sales through more effective sales techniques.
Student Role:
- Reformed the accounting books of IMAGINA and taught the women more effective sales techniques.
Organization: House of Hope
Location: Masaka, Uganda
Budget: $1,500
Chapters Involved: University of Tennessee and University of Georgia
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Mary Carnes, mcarnes@utk.edu
Project Blog: UTK-UGA 2011
Project Overview:
House of Hope is a non-profit organization in Uganda that seeks to nourish and educate children in the villages of Kyazanga and Nakateete. University of Tennessee Students partnered with the organization to create a sustainable agriculture project to help feed the school children, whom rely on the school for two meals per day. After clearing a two-acre plot of land near the school, Nourish students worked on planting fifteen types of fruit trees, tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, cabbage, green pepper, carrot, and watermelon. This produce will be used to diversify the diets of the children and surplus produce will be sold to bring in revenue for the school. To ensure the protection of the farm, students built a fence around the farm when it was completed. In addition, students taught the children of the school about the vegetables and how to work on the farm. Students also helped teachers in Math, Science, and English classes and organized crafts and sports with the children daily.
Student Role:
- Planted fruit trees and other vegetables
- Built a fence around the farm
- Taught classes and organized games and sports for the children
Organization: JUVILUS
Location: San Pablo, Ecuador
Budget: $10,205
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Kelly Pequet, kapk18@comcast.net and Faima Ramirez, fmramire@email.unc.edu
Project Blog: UNC Ecuador
Project Overview:
UNC students traveled to San Pablo, Ecuador to partner with JUVILUS, a non-profit led by Ecuador’s Franciscan Order. JUVILUS maintains a village for orphaned and abandoned children living with HIV/AIDS. Students first worked to expand JUVILUS’ cuy-raising business venture to ensure self-sustainability of the village. Cuy are guinea pigs that are traditionally raised for their meat, which is a traditional dish in Ecuadorian culture. Using money they raised during the year, students purchased new cuy, and essential materials for expansion such as medicine, feed, and supplies to build more cages. The goals of the business are to provide more jobs for villagers and reduce the dependence of the orphanage on outside funding. This sustainable business venture allows JUVILUS to focus more on caring for the village children and running HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns.
In this time of expansion, students aided the domestic staff in the orphanage by helping with housekeeping, cooking, and caring for the younger children who do not attend school during the day. Students also traveled to a nearby daycare center to hold discussions with their staff about sex education with emphasis on sexually transmitted infections, hygienic principles, and how to prepare more balanced meals for the children.
Student Role:
- Assisting with day-to-day tasks in orphanage
- Caring for children in the orphanage
- Leading discussions on nutrition and health practices
Organization: Foundation for Participatory Research with Honduran Farmers (FIPAH)
Location: Yorito and Jesus de Otoro, Honduras
Budget: $3,864
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 8 students
Project Leader: Sara Cox-Shrader, sarah.coxshrader@gmail.com and Margo Balboni, margo.balboni@gmail.com
Project Blog: Honduras 2011
Project Overview:
The UNC Chapter partnered with FIPAH for the 4th consecutive year to engage the youth of rural communities and to provide them with new educational opportunities and resources. The Chapter invested in diversified land plots for the rural communities of Yorito and Jesus de Otoro. By planting various fruit trees, the students helped the farmers increase soil fertility and gave communities a more nutritious variety of crops.
In the youth computer lab funded by last year’s Nourish project with FIPAH, students also held computer literacy workshops to teach typing, accessing the Internet, and how to use the keyboard and mouse. The students also held English language workshops in six different communities. Upon leaving the communities, students recorded pronunciation exercises and wrote helpful guides to accompany the youth’s English textbooks and promote continued English learning.
Student Role:
- Planting fruit trees
- Conducting computer literacy workshops
- Teaching English workshops to local youth
Organization: Pattanarak
Location: Sangkhla Buri District. Thailand
Budget: $7,830
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 8 students
Project Leader: Laura McCready, laurakmccready@gmail.com and Ann Suk, annsuk@email.unc.edu
Project Blog: Thailand 2011
Project Overview:
The primary objective of this project was to construct fifty backyard gardens and build an animal feed co-op in order to promote nutrition and sustainable agriculture for the displaced peoples of the Sangkhla Buri district of Thailand. Working along the Thailand-Burma border, the students partnered with Pattanarak, a local NGO that works with disadvantaged and stateless peoples, to construct an animal feed co-op. The co-op allows villagers to buy feed for their livestock at an affordable price. Students, Pattanarak, and local community members then helped fifty families in neighboring villages construct backyard gardens. In an area with lack of food security, these gardens offer villagers a source of long-term, nutritional food and give Pattanarak an opportunity to train villagers in sustainable food production. Villagers are also able to sell surplus produce from their gardens and thus increase the economic stability of their villages.
Student Role:
- Constructed an animal feed co-op
- Constructed fifty backyard gardens and worked with families on how to optimize space and plant a diverse crop.
Organization: Viva Nicaragua
Location: Granada, Nicaragua
Budget: $7,000
Chapters Involved: University of New Mexico
Team Size: 5 students
Project Leader: Sam Hopwood, shopwood@unm.edu
Project Blog: UNM 2011
Project Overview:
The University of New Mexico Nourish Chapter partnered with Viva Nicaragua to improve the quality of life for the impoverished communities of Granada by successfully executing four development projects. First, students repaired and replaced roofs of houses that were prone to leaks. Students then repaired, fenced in, and raised the level of a well in the community of Santa Ana to increase the quality and quantity of well water available. In the small farming community of Los Cocos, a three-classroom school building could not utilize all classrooms due to roof leaks. Therefore, students worked with local contractors to replace the roof so that all classrooms may now be used. Students also built a small structure around the outside latrine of the school, creating privacy for the students who previously refused to use it. Lastly, students funded a project that would fill a large pool of water in the center of a local community to prevent flooding in nearby homes. These physical changes in infrastructure increased the morale of the community members and empowered the community as they make steps towards change and progress.
Student Role:
- Repair and replace roofs of homes
- Replace the roof of a school building
- Fence in and raise the level of a well
- Fund the filling of a large pool of water
Organization: Young Africa
Location: Beira, Mozambique
Budget: $1,000
Chapters Involved: University of Pennsylvania
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Rebecca Platoff, rplatoff@sas.upenn.edu and Carolina Castro, ccastro@sas.upenn.edu
Project Blog: UPenn 2011
Project Overview:
The University of Pennsylvania Nourish Chapter partnered with Young Africa, an organization that seeks to address the lack of access to education for the youth of Mozambique. Young Africa builds schools in Beira, Mozambique to teach students technical agricultural skills so that they can operate their own farms. The Nourish students first painted the walls of the primary school and built desks and benches for the children, so that they will no longer have to sit on the floor. The Nourish students then traveled to the site of Young Africa’s new agricultural school, AgriTech, to help workers mix concrete and lay the bricks for the foundation. In addition, students filmed short videos about community, cultural identity, and the impact of service projects to inspire future volunteers to partake in sustainable service projects with Young Africa.
Student Role:
- Building classroom furniture
- Laying foundation for a new school
- Filming promotional videos for Young Africa
Organization: Nexos Voluntarios
Location: Urubamba, Peru
Budget: $2,500
Chapters Involved: University of Texas-Austin and Duke University
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: John McCreary, jp.mccreary7@gmail.com
Project Blog: UT Austin-Duke 2011
Project Overview:
Students partnered with Nexos Voluntarios to repair infrastructures of Villa Marcelo Elementary School and Wiñayninchis Elementary School in Peru. Nourish students first repaired and painted the outer wall of the school grounds of Wiñayinchis, (which is located at the base of a mountain) to protect it from deterioration and mudslides. Students also painted the inside of the lunchroom to make lunchtime more enjoyable for the school children. Lastly, the Nourish team constructed a vegetable garden on the school grounds to provide more diverse and nutritious food for the children.
Students then traveled to Villa Marcelo Elementary School to repair their greenhouse and to construct a vegetable garden within it. Students sifted soil and removed rocks to repair the previously neglected space for a vegetable garden so that this school may also grow nutritious food for its children. Many of the children attending both schools have significant nutritional deficiencies and the gardens give the schools the opportunity to change these circumstances. These projects also allow these schools to provide a higher quality education to their students while making school more enjoyable
Student Role:
- Repaired and painted outer wall of Wiñayninchis
- Painted lunchroom and constructed a vegetable garden at Wiñayninchis
- Repaired the greenhouse and primed the soil for a vegetable garden at Villa Marcelo.
Organization: African Roots
Location: Boyo, Cameroon
Budget: $2,500
Chapters Involved: University of Texas-Austin and University of Florida
Team Size: 3 students
Project Leader: Christina Trevino,christina.trevino@utnourish.org
Project Blog: Cameroon 2011
Project Overview:
The goal of this project was to work with a local community of widowed women in the neighboring regions of Boyo, Cameroon to help them develop the skills to operate and maintain a farm. The women use the farm to add diversity to their diet and sell the surplus produce for a profit. Nourish students partnered with African Roots to establish a farm for the women to plant fruit trees. Students then built the women a propagation box – a chamber that contains enough moisture in a small area to grow seedlings- and planted plantain seedlings to be distributed to the widows of the community for further cultivation. This farm will benefit ten different groups of widows in the region. Students also planned workshops to train the women’s group in business, marketing, and administrative skills needed to sell their surplus produce and generate revenue for themselves and their families.
Student Role:
- Prepared a large plot of land to become a fruit tree farm
- Built a propagation box
- Planned workshops to teach women essential business skills
Organization: MOCHE, Inc
Location: Huanchaco, Peru
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: Yale University
Team Size: 10 students
Project Leader: Sammy Greissman, samantha.greissman@yale.edu
Project Blog: Yale Peru
Project Overview:
The goals of this project were to construct a health clinic in the Moche Valley of Peru, as well as promote good health practices and spread health education and awareness. The Yale Chapter partnered with MOCHE, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving archaeological sites and improving the standard of living for Peruvians living in impoverished communities. The students worked with local community members to build the first phase of a two-exam room health clinic in northern Peru to offer access to primary health care for the surrounding villages.
In addition to building the clinic, the project team hosted a health fair at the new clinic. The health fair was designed to provide information to local populations on improving health and hygiene habits and inform them of the new services available to them through the clinic. The new health clinic will serve over 10,000 people in the Moche Valley, promoting health education and working to reduce disease and illness in the area.
Student Role:
- Constructing the first phase of the primary health clinic
- Organizing a successful health fair, informing members of the local community on good health habits and services provided by the clinic.
Summer 2010 Projects
Organization: Save the Children
Location: Aranpampa, Bolivia
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: UCLA, Duke University
Team Size: 2 students
Project Leader: Allie Gates, allie.gates@ucla.edu
Project Blog: UCLA-Duke Bolivia
Project Overview:
This project’s objective was to build an animal farm at the Santiago community high school in Arampampa, Bolivia. The project taught farming skills to students and community members, enabling them to produce their own meat, eggs milk, and cheese. These products are needed to address malnourishment in the region, where about 50% of school children are severely malnourished. The technical training will contribute to local economic development by increasing output and employability while ensuring increased food security at the family level. About two hundred students and four hundred community members received agricultural training. The high school students will continue to maintain the farm and increase the investment in animal stock.
Students also implemented a “Train the Trainers“ approach to this multi-faceted development project, wherein teachers, trainers, and other important people in the area were equipped with the knowledge, ability, and resources necessary to become points of reference for community, providers of accurate information regarding the farm and correlated health concerns as well as educators of the next generation of teachers. In this way, the project provided the physical capital and resources necessary to get the project off the ground as well as the systematic enhancement of education and healthcare human resources necessary to ensure long-term viability.
Student Role:
- Built an animal farm for agricultural certification to help students get better jobs, improve nutrition and increase family economic output.
- Designed and implemented a health curriculum to ensure students’ safety while working in close proximity to animals.
Organization: FUNCEDESCRI
Location: Cunen, Campur and Nebaj, Guatemala
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: Texas A&M University
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Melissa Saucedo, msaucedo5@neo.tamu.edu
Project Blog: Guatemala 2010
Project Overview:
The main objective of this project was assisting farmers and their community with construction and educational workshops. Students worked with families on the farm, helping build housing for cattle, sheep and chickens. Students hosted workshops, including one for women to learn about different crops and every possible way these crops could be used medicinally and nutritionally. Another workshop focused on how to build composting latrines, how to create organic fertilizer, and the value of establishing bathrooms in the community. Additionally the students presented on the topic of water safety, with the long-term aim of getting water from the spring to the town, ensuring safe and drinkable water for the town and school.
Student Role:
- Worked on the farms alongside farmers
- Taught workshops on crops and latrines
- Investigated long term potable water project
Organization: SIFE UVG
Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: University of Miami
Project Overview:
Organization: Fundación “Hermano Mercedes Ruiz” (FUNDAHMER)
Location: Morazan, El Salvador
Budget: $1,500
Chapters Involved: Cornell University, Brown University
Team Size: 5 students
Project Leader: Madeline Dunfee, mnd27@cornell.edu
Project Blog: El Salvador 2010
Project Overview:
The main objective of this project was to construct community‐shared organic gardens in three rural El Salvadorian communities, with the goal that these gardens will improve food access, diet, and knowledge about sustainable agriculture within each community. By providing the funds and assisting with the physical labor necessary to begin each garden, the students worked to help augment food security for each community. The communities chose which crops to plant in their garden to increase their responsibility and ownership. The plants produced in the garden will be used first and foremost as sustenance for families within each community; any extra production will be sold for profit. In addition to the construction of each garden, volunteers also discussed the importance of the garden’s crops in a healthy diet and taught local youth how to properly read packaged food labels.
Student Role:
- Constructed 3 vegetable gardens, building the gardens and planting the seeds
- Taught the community to make and use organic pesticides
- Visited a local elementary school to discuss the components of a balanced diet as well as its importance and how to read a packaged food label
- Taught English and health lessons to the community youth group
Organization: Triple Salto
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: University of Virginia, University of Georgia, University of Michigan and UC-Davis
Team Size: 9 students
Project Leader: Lauren Browne, mb7j@virginia.edu
Project Blog: Ecuador 2010 and UCDavis Blog
Project Overview:
The objectives of this project were to build greenhouses for organic urban agriculture and participate in other community development initiatives. Engineers provided by ConQuito led the group in constructing two greenhouses, one at Quitumbe primary school and the second at Luciano Coral. The greenhouses will help supply the school kitchens with fresh organic vegetables that they can include in the meals for the children. The creation of a more sustainable food supply and connecting the children to the source of their food will not only improve the nutritional value of school meals, but also will increase the children’s interest in their own health. Levels of malnourishment will likely diminish in the long run. The school will also be able to sell any surplus they have to generate additional income.
Student Role:
- Constructed 2 greenhouses, built, and planted seeds
- Planted fruit trees in the community
- Introduced irrigation system
- Taught English lessons
- Painted educational mural
Organization: Foundation for Participatory Research with Honduran Farmers (FIPAH)
Location: Yorito and Jesus de Otoro, Honduras
Budget: $3,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 7 students
Project Leader: Anna McCreight, anna.mccreight@gmail.com
Project Blog: Nourishenhonduras.wordpress.com
Project Overview:
The project funded a computer lab for the youth in the FIPAH regional office in Yorito and students worked to provide computer literacy and journalism workshops for youth.
In the workshops, Nourish students taught basic computer skills, Internet literacy, and photography skills to FIPAH youth. The goal was to connect these skills with FIPAH’s mission, so that these skills might be continually applied to enhance the work of FIPAH and the FIPAH youth. Additionally, students worked with FIPAH youths in non-computer workshops, such as assistance with English classes. The focus of the project was communication: empowering the youth to share what is important to them with their own community and with a wider audience.
Student Role:
- Leading computer and communication workshops
- Assisting with English classes
- Supporting FIPAH’s youth programs
Organization: MOCHE, Inc.
Location: Cerro Blanco, Peru
Budget: $4,000
Chapters Involved: Ohio State University
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Mackenzie Rapp, mackenzierapp@gmail.com
Project Blog: OSU Peru
Project Overview:
The project constructed a potable water pipeline connecting the inhabitants of Cerro Blanco, Peru, who had only access to contaminated water, to clean water. Students worked with local community members to construct a clean-water system, which will improve access to potable water for drinking, cooking and washing. The pipeline connected a clean water source to the site of a future concrete reservoir, which will be funded and constructed, as pledged, by the local government after the pipeline is complete. A democratically elected local water committee will maintain it. They will be responsible for maintaining, preserving, and monitoring distribution of the water system. Upon arrival the students found that the community had completed much of the clean-water pipeline. They proceeded to add a few dozen feet of remaining pipeline and test the water pressure at numerous locations. Along with members of the community, the students leveled a large area of ground for the reservoir, then dug holes to anchor the rebar structure, made concrete by hand, laid the foundation, and then constructed the rebar frame. The volunteers were not able to see the completion of the reservoir during their stay; however, they have received word from MOCHE that the reservoir has been completed.
Other projects implemented by the students during their time in Peru included planning and hosting a community health fair for the surrounding pueblos, teaching English at the local school, collecting garbage, painting a gazebo in the Plaza de Armas of Bello Horizonte, painting boundaries of archaeological sites and assisting UNC Chapel Hill’s Nourish chapter construct latrines in Ciudad de Dios.
Student Role:
- Completed the clean-water pipeline
- Helped build the reservoir for potable water
- Planned and hosted a community health fair
- Taught English at a local school
- Worked on several other smaller community development projects
Organization: Rainforest Partnership
Location: Chipaota, Peru
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: UT-Austin
Team Size: 5 students
Project Leader: John McCreary, john.mccreary@nourishinternationalaustin.org
Project Blog: UT Austin Peru
Project Overview:
The goals for this project were multifaceted: empowering the community to facilitate small business development, particularly by integrating women into the workplace and utilizing their own skills in making arts and crafts; facilitating workshops to educate the community on sensitive environmental needs, finance management, marketing and production skills; and building a studio workplace for the women to produce piassaba fiber handicrafts, such as brooms, hats, and baskets. Students helped build a workshop and taught the Quechwa participants basic marketing, accounting, and management skills to continue the business of selling their brooms in the nearby Tarapoto market. The impact goal is for the women to have a higher steady income and be less dependent overall on the Piassaba fiber harvest. The steady income will allow the tribe to address education and nutrition, both of which are needed within the Kichwa community. Funds were used to build a broom workshop which offers a sustainable and economical alternative to deforestation and also towards assisting the basket-making process for a group of indigenous artisans.
Student Role:
- Conducted market research in the shops in Lima
- Worked with the broom-makers to help build a workshop and develop a sustainable way of harvesting piassaba fibers for use in the brooms.
- Worked with the artisan group to acquire land and streamline their process of basket production.
- Taught English language classes at local schools and in Chazuta.
- Worked on resolving a wastewater leak while in Chazuta. In their spare time, students dug trenches to divert the flow away from the community. Participated in a community workday. Volunteers built stairs to provide better transportation methods for the community.
Organization: MOCHE, Inc.
Location: Ciudad de Dios, Peru
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 7 students
Project Leader: Rachel Baum, rbaum@email.unc.edu
Project Blog: UNC Peru 2010
Project Overview:
Nourish International’s partnership with MOCHE, Inc. in Ciudad de Dios, Peru focused on sanitation and health issues throughout the Moche Valley. Working with the community of Ciudad de Dios, Nourish volunteers helped to conduct a community-wide survey of latrine use, construct eleven ventilated latrines, organize a regional health fair, and carry out a survey of health services in the area in preparation for a clinic to be built in 2011.
Student Role:
- Constructed 11 latrines
- Educated the community on sanitation practices
- Implemented a local health fair
- Researched current services and needs of local health clinics
Organization: College Doctrina Vitae (CDV)
Location: N’dera, Kigali, Rwanda
Budget: $1,350
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Julia Rose Karpicz and Matthew Karkutt, jkarpicz@gmail.com and matthew.karkutt@gmail.com
Project Blog: Uncmeetscdv.wordpress.com
Project Overview:
This project focused two different initiatives. One assisted teachers with the governmentally-mandated language transition from French to English. The second funded and implemented a small-scale agricultural project at College Doctrina Vitae (CDV), a secondary school outside of the capital city of Kigali. Students provided English as a Foreign Language (EFL) materials and training to CDV instructors enabling instructors to prepare their students for national exams and gain access to the quickly changing Anglophone Rwanda. Additionally, students built and planted three gardens designed aimed at both increasing trade skills within the CDV community and increasing food stores at the school, which decreases food costs. They planted Dodo, an extremely hardy vegetable that is capable of growing even in the dry season. The project aimed to bridge the gap between enthusiasm and resources in the areas of English and agricultural development at CDV. Through training the teachers in conversational, complex, and subject-specific English, they better equipped their transition into the English-only curriculum as a way of both ensuring their confidence and, in effect, their students’ performance in the classroom. Additionally, in providing gardening materials and a hands-on gardening experience, our team helped CDV’s students turn their club’s efforts and visions into practice.
Student Role:
- Assisted with daily lesson plan development, team teaching, effective teaching methods training, and grammatical intensive initiatives
- Obtained and transported of gardening materials to CDV
- Built and planted three Dodo gardens
- Taught sustainable agricultural practices and encouraged students’ independent investment with the garden
Organization: Nilufer Water Lily Women’s Cooperative
Location: Duzce, Turkey
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 5 students
Project Leader: Burcu Bozkurt, burcu.bozkurt023@gmail.com
Project Blog: UNCnourishinturkey.wordpress.com
Project Overview:
The main purpose of this project was to develop a marketing strategy for Nilüfer Women’s Cooperative. This included providing computational workshops and creating advertisement materials, including a Web site. Lacking a social network, job skills and affordable childcare, most women do not have the chance to work outside the home. Additionally, the children do not have a chance to attend kindergarten due to the lack of affordable early childhood education. An increase in finances from the Nourish marketing strategy could allow the cooperative to expand, increasing the number of children that benefit from early education at the childcare center and number of employed women.
Students used funds to purchase computers, Wi-Fi internet, and educational and marketing materials for the cooperative. The students worked with women on promotional materials such as a big banner for the daycare, brochures, a logo for the co-op, a 2-3 minute introductory video. The students held weekly computer trainings and English lessons so that the co-operative can continue their marketing techniques. Due to unforeseen staffing shortages, the students also worked in the day care and helped the teachers create more efficient lesson plans.
Student Role:
- Provided marketing class sessions, training women of the co-op in business management, product development, and general marketing.
- Provided technology training for teachers, students, and women’s co-op members.
- Trained women in computer use, including Microsoft and Internet uses.
- Assisted in supplemental education activities at the cooperative, day care, and English conversation lessons.
Organization: Blue Mountain Project
Location: Hagley Gap, Jamaica
Budget: $2,972
Chapters Involved: Stanford University
Project Overview:
Stanford University partnered with Blue Mountain Project, a non-profit organization that seeks to improve health, education, and the economy for local populations in Hagley Gap, Jamaica. The goal of the project was to rebuild and improve a closed Women’s Community Center. Stanford funded the building of shelves, tables, benches, and the painting and refurbishment of the walls. With new materials, the Women’s Community Center was able to reopen and support over 500 women in the surrounding community.
Organization: NACWOLA through Africa Rising
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Budget: $2,500
Chapters Involved: University of Pennsylvania
Team Size: 5 students
Project Leader: Sara Heinze, sheinze@sas.upenn.edu
Project Blog: UPenn 2010
Project Overview:
This project trained ten women with HIV/AIDS how to make paper and set up a sustainable papermaking business. The project goals were to not only help these women increase their family income but also spread this economic impact by training hundreds of local women in papermaking techniques. The initial 10 trained NACWOLA members will be further empowered by their involvement in small business management and serve as positive role models for the community. The papermaking business itself will produce affordable paper to be used in Memory Books, one aspect of NACWOLA’s core program of Memory Work, an internationally recognized response to HIV/AIDS. The Memory Book documents important family history and includes photos, stories, souvenirs and a family tree. It is used to give children of HIV positive parents a sense of who they are, and includes details of the support they can receive when they lose a parent.
Student Role:
- Harvested and prepared water hyacinth and papyrus for the paper materials
- Made homemade paper with Ugandan women
- Worked with the community to determine fixed prices for the paper and the products
- Worked to establish a market for the final products in both Uganda and America
- Discussed marketing strategies and how to make the products more desirable to clients
Summer 2009 Projects
Organization: Global Gallery
Location: Cochabamba, Bolivia
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: Ohio State University, UC-Berkeley
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Bishara Korkor bishara.korkor@gmail.com
Project Blog: Bolivia 2009
Project Overview:
Cochabamba’s orphanage is currently being built to house the towns’ orphans. The goal of the project was to help develop the building. To help with this, students worked on developing a community room in the orphanage for the community and prospective adoptive parents to interact with the orphans. Students constructed a water system connected to the local pump, installed toilets, painted walls and doors, installed appliances and built a compost pit. In addition, students introduced a pilot program to teach about hygiene and help with school work at the orphanage.
Student Role:
- Installed a water system
- Painted community room
- Installed appliances
- Instituted hygiene and tutoring programs at the orphanage
Organization: ConQuito
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: UC-Davis, Stanford Universtiy
Team Size: 7 students
Project Leader: Marie Casabonne Mccasabonn@ucdavis.edu
Project Blog: Ecuador 2009
Project Overview:
The purpose of the project was to build greenhouses and set up garden projects used to engage children and inspire them to eat right, take care of their bodies and take care of their land. In addition, students educated the local community about sustainable agriculture techniques such as drip systems, composting, planting native plants, and worm farming. With these techniques, gardens will be a productive source of organic produce for the community. In addition, after the students built the greenhouses, ConQuito agro-engineers continue to visit twice weekly to check on progress and solve any problems that may have arisen, offer marketing and expansion assistance to help people build more greenhouses with their profits and hold free courses on business management to help people turn their greenhouse into a business.
Student Role:
- Bought lumber for greenhouses
- Built greenhouses, plant and begin cultivating gardens
- Taught locals sustainable agriculture techniques
- Educated local children about healthy food choices
Organization: FIPAH
Location: Yorito, Jesus de Otoro and San Isidro Honduras
Budget: $1,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Michigan
Project Leaders: Diana Iglesias diana.iglesias@gmail.com
Project Blog: Honduras 2009
Project Overview:
Student Role:
- Engaged in education initiatives with FIPAH
- Shadowed FIPAH staff (interning in the field and offices)
- Worked with youth cooperatives in three areas, learning about seed banking and other programs
- Made a documentary about FIPAH’s mission to alleviate devastation from crop diseases and climate change
Organization: Seva Mandir
Location: Malaaria, India
Budget: $1,300
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Cayley Peter, cayley.pater@gmail.com
Project Blog: India 2009
Project Overview:
The current Jati Panchayat system of all-male government in Malaaria prevents women from being empowered members of society. Their rulings are not legal, but societal, and they dictate how people are treated in the village. Seva Mandir works to step in and fight for equality for women in the “JPs”. The purpose of the documentary is to inspire women in other villages to come together and work to create space and a political voice for women in village leadership and allow Seva Mandir to promote its work to a larger audience in order to increase support for their efforts.
Student Role:
- Conduct interviews and edit film-making a documentary film explaining the Jati Panchayat government system in Malaaria
Organization: MOCHE, Inc
Location: Ciudad de Dios and Valle del Rio Moche, Peru
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 13 students
Project Leader: Vera Perra vparra@email.unc.edu
Project Blog: UNC Peru 2009
Project Overview:
The Moche River Valley cradles about twelve small communities in Northern Peru. In one community, Ciudad de Dios, UNC Nourish students built a clean water system in summer 2008. In order to ensure the maintenance of the water project, the summer 2009 team designed a pilot latrine project to protect the pipes from contamination. Over the course of the summer, students worked with local engineers to design and build three latrines, with plans to expand the project in 2010. In anticipation of MOCHE’s plan to build a health clinic, Nourish teamed up with local nursing students and conducted household health assessments throughout the valley. The team also planned and carried out a community health fair for over 120 people, providing free medical consultations and health education workshops. Finally, students worked with a local OBGYN to design and teach a five-class series of prenatal workshops for pregnant women throughout the valley.
Student Role:
- Designed and built three latrines as a pilot project
- Conducted 280 household health assessments
- Carried out community health fair
- Planned and taught prenatal workshops
Organization: Bajio Community Foundation
Location: Mineral de Pozos, Mexico
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Rice University
Team Size: 3 students
Project Leader: teresa.ai@gmail.com
Project Blog: Mexico 2009
Project Overview:
Many residents have been migrating out of Mineral de Pozos in hopes of escaping poverty and lack of opportunity. However, with the recent boom in tourism, the local residents of Mineral de Pozos have opportunities to develop their community, but lack the knowledge and skills to take advantage of them. Students traveled to Mineral de Pozos to aid with vocational education at a new and upcoming culture and arts center with the long-term goal of helping local residents acquire lifelong skills and long-term employment. Students also helped to promote events at the arts center in hopes of gaining more tourist revenue. The goal of FCB is to help future generations establish livings in their local communities and to diminish the perception of migration as the primary solution to economic problems.
Student Role:
- Aid the children of Pozos in creating a photography exhibit documenting their lives
- Publicize the “Pozos Art Walk”
- Teach elementary English to children and young adults
- Teach local children basic computer skills (Microsoft Excel for business management and poster design)
Organization: African Sky
Location: Bamako, Mali
Budget: $4,000
Chapters Involved: Emory University
Project Leader: Dr. Scott Lacy slacy@emory.edu
Project Blog: Mali 2009
Project Overview:
Western Mali faces extreme obstacles such as lack of education, disease, and poverty, preventing many local business owners from developing and expanding. Students partnered with African Sky and provided resources and supplies for the expansion of a tailor workshop in rural Mali. The head tailor previously produced organic cotton scrubs, and through this partnership, received four more pedal sewing machines and supplies to expand the workshop. The sale of refined products (scrubs) rather than raw materials provides farmers and tailors with a direct revenue stream and fair wages. All fabrics are purchased Fair Trade in Mali. The first shipment of scrubs was for January 2009 and an online buying site is being created so that tailors can expand their consumer base.
Student Role:
- Brought sewing machines to Mali workshop and assisted in setting them up
- Developed marketing strategies and taught them to local tailors.
- Created lasting friendships, bridging Mali and US culture
Organization: SIFE at University of Guatemala Valley
Location: El Jicaro, Guatemala
Chapters Involved: UCLA and UT-Austin
Project Leader: Suchi Pahi, madhuradara@gmail.com
Project Blog: Guatemala 2009
Project Overview:
The purpose of this project was to help women in El Jicaro become financially independent by developing their skills in creating soaps and shampoos for sale at the market. To accomplish this, students worked with women from two villages for two weeks in order to develop their shampoo and disinfectant micro-businesses. Funds for the project were used in part to purchase new blenders, display cases for the shampoos, water filters, tubs and safety equipment. Students created a manual to teach new workers how to create the soaps and shampoos and streamline the process. Students also spent time teaching the women how to advertise and market the products effectively. By teaching these basic business skills to local women, they were able to accomplish their goals of updating their facilities, initiating sales strategies, increasing sales, developing a brand and thus expanding their small existing business. The women that this Nourish group worked with have since entered a contract with a large hotel in Guatemala City for 300 bottles of shampoo each month.
Summer 2008 Projects
Organization: Banco Palmas
Location: Fortaleza, Brazil
Budget: $3,500
Chapters Involved: University of Michigan
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Luis Capelo luiscape@gmail.com, Jerry Zhao jerbear@umich.edu, Sara Olds osara@umich.edu, Caroline Whistler carolinelwhistler@gmail.com
Project Blog: Brazil 2008
Project Overview
This project seeks to create a center and factory, called the Bate Palmas Company, for the construction of musical instruments. This business will build upon community programs which provide young individuals with training to build and play instruments and to perform throughout the state. During several performances, community leaders were approached with requests for musical instruments, but there was no means to meet that need. The prospect of Bate Palmas excites Banco Palmas and the community because it is a way to institutionalize and generate a source of sustainable income for youth who have graduated from the established training program. Additionally, the project will create new space as an educational center inside the community that can be used for teaching and training in order to facilitate entry into the local music industry.
Historical Context:
Fortaleza, the largest city in the state of Ceará, was for a long time one of the least developed cities in the country. During the 1980′s, the phenomenon of ‘rural exodus’ (‘êxodo rural’) transpired, as thousands of rural individuals migrated to Fortaleza to escape the harsh conditions on farms plagued by drought and to look for new economic opportunities. The city quickly grew to become the 4th largest in the nation. Within Fortaleza lies Conjunto Palmeiras, a “favela” slum community of 50,000 inhabitants, and Banco Palmas specifically works in this community.
The initial inhabitants of Conjunto Palmeiras were comprised of people who were forcibly removed from coastal lands with high property values. There were not given adequate compensation and were told to move out to the wetlands next to the city’s landfill. Some 1,500 families were “relocated” in this process, and the population has increased drastically in recent years. In Conjunto Palmeiras, a recent study showed that “only 13% of interviewed people had completed basic schooling; 83% lived solely on government aid and had no prospects for employment. Only 14% exercised any business activity and of these only 16% had received any kind of professional training. This underscores the importance of community-driven efforts to launch sustainable enterprises.
Organization: FIPAH
Location: Yorito, Honduras
Budget: $7,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Michigan
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Claire Kane Boychuk, clairekb@unc.edu, Logan Couce coucel@gmail.com
Project Blog: Honduras 2008
Project Overview:
Nourish will work with FIPAH, a system of farmer cooperatives operating on the local, regional, and national levels committed to strengthening food security amongst the marginalized communities of Honduras. FIPAH seeks to do this while also preserving the environment. The key components to achieving these goals include:
- farmer research for the breeding of hardy crop varieties
- enhanced seed supply through on farm conservation and seed banking
- building grain storage systems
By preserving biodiversity and simultaneously improving food security, FIPAH ensures food productivity for decades to come.
Student Role:
- Students will spend 5 weeks in Yorito, Honduras, to build greenhouses for research and seed banking purposes. Assisting in crop research and seed banking efforts will also be part of the students’ roles. Students will also work closely with the youth cooperatives, learning along with their counterparts while also teaching basic computer skills. Throughout, students can look forward to learning about effective strategies for preserving biodiversity, community decision making processes, and the unique culture of Honduras.
Organization: Bajio Community Foundation
Location: El Gusano, Mexico
Budget: $42,500
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Project Leaders: Tati Brezina and Sandra Hinderliter, nimexico08@gmail.com
Project Blog: Mexico 2008
Project Overview:
The state of Guanajuato has some of the highest migration rates to theUnited States and these can be traced directly to lack of jobs availableto the population, especially in rural areas. In many communities, over80% of the men spend some part of the year working in the United Statesin order to support their families in Mexico. The Fundacion Comunitariadel Bajio believes that the root of migration must be addressed throughsustainable, community-led development. To do this, 4 unique, rural communitiesin the state of Guanajuato have been selected for a pilot sustainabledevelopment process. Each community has a different methodology and eachwill be tracked by Mexican university students in order to replicate theprocess effectively and scale it to communities all over Mexico.
The community of El Gusano, near Dolores Hidalgo, is 1 of the 4 communities.Many local women (and a few brave men) have organized themselves intoa business co-operative that makes and sells embroideries to touristsin Dolores and also provides financial services to members. Their businessis currently run from their backyards but they have bought land wherethey hope to build a “Centro Comunitario de Aprendizaje (CCA)” (CommunityLearning Center) to expand their business. The “Community LearningCenter” is what Nourish International will provide the investmentfor and aims to provide the following:
- Incubator space to grow their business
- Computers with internet access to tap into world markets
- A library to foster reading habits in the youth
- Dormitories for visitors and eventually a hostel
- Telecommunication services for migrants
Perhaps the most exciting dimension to the project is the opportunityto work with the migrant community investment program “3 por 1” (or3 for 1) that the Mexican government has started to increase communityinvestment from migrants living abroad. The Federal, State and Municipalgovernments match every $1 in investment with $1 from their budgets, therebyincreasing the investment by 3 ($10 + $10*3 = $40). The partnershipbetween the community of El Gusano and Nourish International will be thefirst of its kind in the “3 for 1” program, setting a newprecedent for economic development in Mexico.
Student Role:
In the community of El Gusano, students will be involved in the followingactivities:
- Teaching basic computer skills to children and adults
- Developing education programs for children that takeadvantage of the new resources available
- Business consulting
- Website development
- Economic impact assessments through surveys
Additionally students will be able to work at any of theother 3 migrant communities to provide needed serviceslike:
- English translation and education
- Business consulting and development
- Teaching basic computer skills
Students will also need to collaborate with migrant communitiesin the United States as well as university students acrossstates and both countries.
Organization: MOCHE, Inc.
Location: Ciudad de Dios, Peru
Budget: $3,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 7 students
Project Leader: Melissa Henderson, henderml@email.unc.edu
Project Blog: Peru 2008
Project Overview:
Nourish students will be partnering with M.O.C.H.E- Mobilizing Opportunities through Community Heritage Empowerment in Ciudad de Dios, Peru. Ciudad de Dios is a squatter settlement with very little infrastructure. Currently, half of the community’s 300 families lack access to tap water. The community has asked MOCHE to help them create a system in which every household will have access to clean water. Nourish will be working with MOCHE and Carolina’s Engineers without Borders to implement a water treatment center and a system of pipes. Nourish students will work with the community’s water implementation committee to educate people on the importance of clean water and how to maintain a sustainable water system. In addition, Nourish students will also assist the community with sustainable waste management and recycling.
Summer 2007 Projects
Organization: Community Enterprise Solutions
Location: La Pistsa, Guatemala
Budget: $10,700, $10,000 from Nourish
Chapters Involved: University of Minnesota, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State
Team Size: 9 students
Project Leader: Carlos Toriello, carlost@email.unc.edu
Project Blog: Guatemala 2007
Project Overview
In 2007 Nourish International, Chapel Hill invested just over $10,000 in the construction of CES’s “Exploration Center” in the village of La Pista, Quiche, Guatemala. The village is a former refugee camp that is 20km away from Nebaj, the nearest moderately-sized town. La Pista’s 2,000 residents (includes other nearby smaller villages) are incredibly dependent on Nebaj for day to day life. The Exploration Center will house the first library in the area and it will be the first building with internet access. Additionally, the center has a greenhouse that will be used to generate revenue as well as a teaching tool for diversifying local agriculture. Both of these resources will serve in nourishing the community’s intellectua land economic long-term development. For more background, please visit http://www.cesolutions.org/centro.htm .
Student Role:
There were several moving parts to the project and in the role that students played. There was always a team that would assist the local construction team with any needs at the projects site in order to speed up the buildin gprocess. The team also developed the design and built the greenhouse with the help of CES staff and local Peace Corps volunteers. Three members of the team volunteered as teachers at the Exploration Center in Nebaj to develop a volunteer handbook for future volunteers as well as more education materials for both centers. In partnership with CES, one team member interviewed 51 families to obtain information regarding education, agriculture, technology and other areas of interest to asses the potential impact as well as guide the focus of the services offered at the center. Another member documented the entire experience through film with the objective of creating media materials that will benefit both CES and Nourish goals. One team member facilitated weekly discussions twice a week on the current academic view of development. Additionally, all members experienced Guatemala through travel to several key places in the country as well as readings on history and culture.
Organization: Local Government of Tanga
Location: Tanga, Tanzania
Budget: $1,800
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Ohio State University
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Rachel Northeim, Rachel. northeim@duke. edu
Project Blog: Tanzania 2007
Project Overview:
Six students from Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Ohio State University traveled to Tanga, Tanzania for four weeks to partner with local governments on a modern chicken project.
In one village, we surveyed and selected five families to help start innovative chicken busineses based on need and willingness to take on a potentially profitable risk. We built each family a hut in the traditional Tanzanian style with the help of a local building expert. We then provided a European rooster and several traditional hens. These hens will produce chicks that are a hybrid between traditional and exotic, and the chicks will be capable of producing over three times the number of eggs that a traditional hen can produce. The eggs can then be boiled and sold at market. Informational materials were designed in Swahili to teach families how to care for and upkeep the chickens and huts. In addition, food, vaccines, and kerosene were provided to cover initial investment costs. The families will be expected to cover all upkeep costs in the future, but the costs were calculated to be far less than the profit made from the upstart of a business.
A similar project was completed in another village outside of Pangani, Tanzania. The only difference was that one hutch was built for communal use by 20 families. Because of the tight-knit nature of the community and the heavy involvement of the town council in everyday life, it seemed like a communal hutch would be cost effective and and potentially more successful.
In addition, we traveled to the Usambara mountain region and established contacts with a school for the mentally retarded, school for the blind, and an orphanage. We learned about a fish pond project in the area started by Heifer International and kept up by the Lutheran Church. We are hoping to help found a Nourish Chapter at one of the local universities that can continue working on the fish pond project.
Student Role:
- Planning
- Community needs
- Assessments/Surveys
- Research
- Collaboration with locals
- Building
- Organizing transport of chickens
- Volunteering
Organization: The Full Belly Project
Location: Iganga, Uganda
Budget: $26,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, NC State University
Project Leaders: Maggie Salinger salinger@email.unc.edu and Joel Thomas joelwesleythomas@gmail.com
Project Blog: Uganda 2007
Project Overview:
Worldwide, half a billion people rely on peanuts as their primary source of protein. These peanuts are used for food by the farmers, sold in a marketplace, and sold to wholesalers who produce peanut oil, peanut butter, and other peanut-based products. In order to be processed, peanuts must first be shelled. Currently, these shells are being thrown away. Most peanuts that are grown in developing communities are shelled by hand: in Africa alone, women and children spend 4 billion hours each year manually shelling peanuts. This time-consuming task is often time spent away from attending school, caring for their families, and participating in other income-generating activities.
The Full Belly Project (FBP), a Wilmington-based non-profit, has developed the Universal Nut Sheller (UNS), which can shell peanuts, as well as various other nuts, 98% more efficient than by hand. Made with universally found materials such as concrete and steel, the machine is easily replicable, and costs 75% less than its closest machine competitor. Though the UNS has existed since 2002, it has only been distributed to a handful of communities. Initial field testing has proven that there is great demand for the UNS everywhere from the Philippines to Senegal; however, distribution of the machine remains a challenge. To date, the machines have been constructed in Wilmington, NC and subsequently shipped overseas.
In fall of 2006, UNC students decided to take on the challenge of manufacturing and distributing the UNS in a more sustainable and appropriate manner. This will be accomplished by establishing a pilot production facility in Iganga, Uganda. The UNC chapter of Nourish International raised the initial start-up funds for the facility and traveled to Iganga in the summer of 2007 to kick-start operations. The facility would be owed and managed by Henry Masagazi, a Ugandan native and co-founder of Concave International Ltd. , an agricultural co-op consulting company, started by his mother, the former Vice President of Uganda, Dr. Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe.
Student Role:
Students at UNC began by garnering an initial $10,000 in startup capital through Hunger Lunches and Hold’em for Hunger. Then, two students, Maggie Salinger and Danika Barry, began working with Roey Rosenblith of the Full Belly Project, and Joel Thomas of Nourish International’s national office to write a business plan for the facility. The plan won two awards:1st place in the social track of the Duke Startup Challenge and 1st place in the social track of the Carolina Challenge. This raised an additional $21,000. $16,000 was designated for the project and $5,000 went to the Full Belly Project.
While on the ground, students worked with Henry and hired shop workers to get the facility off the ground. The operations were established in open space granted to Henry by his uncle. Students worked alongside the shop workers to install the equipment for the shop and build machines. Once the facility was functioning, our role became marketing the nut sheller. Students went with Thomas, our guide and driver, to surrounding farmers’ coops to demonstrate the device. Students also met with local microfinance initiatives, NGO’s and agricultural extension services to promote the machine.
Summer 2006 Projects
Location: Georgetown, Guyana
Budget: $500
Chapters Involved: UNC-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 4 students
Project Leader: Naman Shah, topnaman@gmail. com
Project Overview
Anemia is a major problem in developing communities worldwide. Primarily impacting vulnerable populations including the poor, women (especially during pregnancy), and children, anemia diminishes physical ability and mental development creating a vicious cycle. Proper hemoglobin screening and health education activities are key public health measures for tackling anemia. Recognizing this, in December of 2005 Nourish International provided $500 to a team of fellow University of North Carolina students to support anemia prevention and control activities in Guyana.
Student Role:
Working with the Ministry of Health, they completed thefollowing:
- Provision of 12,500 World Health Organization developed hemoglobin testing kits (HbCS) [1] to the Department of Regional Health Services for use in antenatal clinics and to the Department of Disease Control for HIV voluntary testing and counseling centers. These tests were provided as a pilot project to provide the Guyanese health system with an introduction to their capabilities and allow them to decide if HbCS was ideal for certain situations (in lieu of clinical pallor as no other means of testing were available for routine use). The costs of the tests ($0. 02 each) were such that the Ministry of Health could afford to purchase more if they found them to be useful and satisfactory and thus sustain these efforts.
- Training workshops at the request of the director of Regional Health Services in the HbCS for 30 medic students, 32 senior public health nursing staff, and18 VCT counselors
- Development of anemia prevention brochure and children’s coloring book working with the Guyana Red Cross and Department of Health Education. The brochure is under review by consultants of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Basic Nutrition Project for inclusion into their program.
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Budget: $5,000
Chapters Involved: UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke
Team Size: 8 students
Project Leader: Joel Thomas, joelwesleythomas@gmail.com
Project Overview
School children in the Buenos Aires area receive school lunches. However, oftentimes they are lacking in certain nutritional needs. Fundacion Los Robles works with schools to build gardens at the school to supplement school lunches. In addition, their programs including educational outreach on how to build and sustain a garden, as well as how to bring these school garden skills back to their own homes.
Student Role:
Nourish students worked with Fundacion Los Robles to build gardens at four elementary schools in the rural areas around Buenos Aires. They also lead sessions on how to build and sustain gardens both at school and at home.
Organization: Bridge Trust
Location: Mumbai, India
Budget: $2,000
Chapters Involved: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 6 students
Project Leader: Naman Shah topnaman@gmail. com and Komal Desai kjdesai@email. unc. edu Northeim, Rachel. northeim@duke. edu
Project Overview:
For the summer of 2006 the International Relations Committee of the Nourish UNC Chapter had designated two projects: one with Help Argentina in Buenos Aires, and another in collaboration with the BridgeTrust in Mumbai. However, due to the unfortunate relocation of a former Nourish member who was to assist Nourish students in the later project, the project was cancelled for logistical concerns. Still, $2,000 was provided to the Bridge as a gesture of our commitment and friendship. The outcome of our investment and an assessment of our partners are provided.
The funds provided were used to benefit approximately 200 women with children in urban Mumbai and neighboring Thane area of Maharashtra, India. The Bridge Trust targeted newly immigrated women in Mumbai slums who left their villages in search of economic opportunities as well as rural at-risk women. Participants were provided with relocation assistance, seeds, fruit trees, fertilizers etc. and an agricultural engineer has been permanently hired to assist the women with cultivating, harvesting, and marketing crops and fruits. The project addresses several major issues: it helps combat urban migration and population displacement, provides a stable nutritional source and income generation, and empowers women by providing them with entrepreneurial skills.
Student Role: Students were unable to work directly on this project. However, two students, Naman Shah and Komal Desai were able to visit BridgeTrust while they were in India. Naman vsited the project site and Komal interned with BridgeTrust for the summer of 2007.
Summer 2005 Projects
Organization: Foundation for Development of Needy Communities (FDNC)
Location: Mbale, Uganda
Budget: $9,500
Chapters Involved: UNC-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 10 students
Project Overview
FDNC’s Natondome Village Project, started in 2001 by Samuel Watulatsu, currently consists of a Vocational Training Center (VTC), Special Needs Educational Center, and a Health and Nutrition Center which was constructed in part by a team from Nourish International several years ago. FDNC would like to improve the educational environment at the Natondome Village Project through the construction of a new classroom wing that would includeone classroom for the VTC, as well as a Library/Resource Center.
The VTC currently serves over 200 impoverished students from the surrounding area. The school offers a quality educational experience at a subsidized cost. 20% of the current student body does not pay tuition fees at all. To date, the VTC has enough space to accommodate Carpentry, Masonry, Computer, Agriculture, Tailoring and Art departments. FDNC would like to expand its class offering to include hairdressing and catering over the next several years. This project would create the space for one of these classes to begin, and would increase opportunities for underserved youth in the local area, while bringing sustainable revenue to FDNC and its programs.
FDNC would also like to create a Library and Resource Centerthat would be utilized by students at the VTC and the Special Needs Center, band members who practice at the Project, Community Health Workers who have regular monthly meetings at the Health Center, FDNC staff, and members of the local community. FDNC has received many contributions of books over the years, but does not have a proper library to house them. This space would also provide an area where people could come and use several computers with proper assistance and supervision. FDNC envisions that this Library/Resource Center would be a tremendous boost for the local community by promoting literacy, and by providing access to knowledge and information that is otherwise very difficult to obtain in an impoverished rural setting.
Student Role:
Students would be working hand-in-hand with local masons to construct the facility. Students would be mixing concrete, laying bricks,and assisting the masons with many different tasks. Students would actually be living at the Natondome Village Project, where they would reside in a beautiful rural setting, interact with other volunteers from all over the world, enjoy performances by the FDNC Youth Band in the evenings,and have access to beautiful hikes in the local area, including Mt. Wanale and Sipi Falls.
Summer 2004 Projects
Organization: Save the Children
Location: Jucumarini, Bolivia
Budget: $8,000
Chapters Involved: UNC-Chapel Hill
Team Size: 8 students
Project Leader: Naman Shah, topnaman@gmail.com
Project Overview
Access to a safe and reliable water supply is important for community development impacting both its health and economy. The Bolivian highlands are a dry environment with scarce water sources. Thus, access to water is a key issue for rural communities in this region. Working with Save the Children, and local government of the Quito district, Nourish International funded a micro-irrigation project for the isolated village of Jucumarini. The irrigation system provides water for 0. 65 hectares, which will enable the village to increase the diversity of their agricultural products. Primarily, the production of alfalfa, to support dairy cows, will be increased. Milk from the cattle will provide a much needed source of protein and increase the nutritional status of children in Jucumarini. Additionally, extra milk can be sold to provide supplemental income.
Student Role:
Working alongside the residents of Jucumarini, eight Nourish students helped construct the micro-irrigation system, primarily the source shunt and holding tank. In addition, students carried out other projects relevant to their academic training such as anthropomorphic measurements of children to assess nutritional status, observing the implementation of directly observed therapy for tuberculosis treatment, and investigating medicinal plants.