As 2015 closes and we welcome in 2016, it is important to reflect on our achievements not just independantly, but as part of the bigger development picture. It has been a pivotal year in the world of international development. The Millenium Development Goals reached their 15 year deadline, and the way forward has now been paved by the UN’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development (http://www.globalgoals.org/).
Here is a snippet of our commitment for the next year, to the Global Goals and the future of development!
Global Goal #2
The second Global Goal is a commitment to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. The Happy Africa Foundation recognises that this goal is key in so many other areas- being well fed is a basic need, which if not met can negatively impact many other areas including education and ability to thrive economically. Our Red Hill Health and Nutrition program works closely with two preschools in the Red Hill community, Cape Town, to supplement their food budget and ensure the children attending these schools are eating balanced and nutritious meals whilst they are in school. Whilst this in itself has seen improvements in the children’s BMI, we recognise that the end goal is sustainability in these schools, so gardens for growing vegetables and workshops on healthy eating are also part of the program we fund.
The Nursery, Nutrition and Health project in Zanzibar also focuses on ending hunger and improving nutrition. By providing nutritious porridge daily, improvements in educational achievement has been measured. A garden has also been cultivated in the grounds of the school to promote sustainable agriculture, providing fresh produce for the students and sustainable income for the staff, who sell the excess produce in the local community.
Global Goal #3
Global Goal 3, Good health and wellbeing, specifies its reach should be for all at all ages. It is often the youngest and oldest in society who are the most vulnerable. The nutrition support we provide, which we talked about in Global Goal #2, also impacts on Goal #3 by providing infants with a healthy diet to aid in their development and assist in fighting off infection and malnutrition.
In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, our St Lucia Medical and Home Based Care project brings medical treatment and pain relief to the most vulnerable in the community. With clinics being spread out, and public transport scarce, many people living in the rural villages are unable to access the basic healthcare they need. It is estimated that 70-80% of the population of the villages we work in have HIV or AIDS. Not only do we provide basic care to those in need, but we also run Adult HIV education courses, in a bid to end the epidemic of AIDS, in alignment with this Global Goal.
Our Linda Clinic Expansion will build a 3 ward hospital in the Linda area, Livingstone, Zambia. This will allow more people to access treatment and decrease the distance those who are sick need to travel to access treatment. As a growing community, the Linda compound has an extremely high birth rate, and the addition of this hospital will allow better care to be provided to both mother and child, and therefore help in reducing the global maternal mortality ratio.
Global Goal #4
Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning for all is one of the Global Goals which we align with most often. All of our locations have projects with an education focus, as we believe the key to sustainability in the communities is through education from as young an age as possible.
In Cape Town and St Lucia, South Africa, our Education Support programs assist preschools and educare centres in some of the poorest areas to get their students school ready, enabling children to enter primary school on an equal footing as those from areas with more resources.
In Livingstone, Zambia, we provide more individualised and far reaching support through our Sponsor a Child program. Working with the schools, students who are most vulnerable to being taken out of education or children who are currently not in education, are signposted to the Sponsor a Child Program and offered assistance. The financial assistance provides not only the school fees, but also uniform, books and backpacks and stationary, to allow the students to truly feel part of the school and only have to focus on learning whilst there, and not worry about not having the right resources. There are currently more than 70 students supported by the program, including two students with disabilities, allowing education to be inclusive!
Global Goal #5
Our new The Girl Impact initiative will robustly aid in promoting gender equality and empowering all women and girls. The Girl Impact aims to work in partnership with African Impact and The Happy Africa Foundation to run projects in communities in Cape Town, Livingstone and Kilimanjaro to empower, coach and uplift adolescent girls.
A specific focus on adolescent girls is vital, and having not been included in the Millennium Development Goals, there is a lot of catching up to be done!
Across all three locations where The Girl Impact is launching, the focus is on empowering girls, but equally empowering whole communities to support their girls and women as we recognise change happens when girls, boys and the community as a whole are involved. Girls are a powerful force for change in Africa, and the evidence is clear; investing in them will not only help them realize their human rights but is essential to reducing poverty, improving health issues and furthering future economic growth!
Watch this space as the program evolves and grows and find out how you can get involved!
Global Goal #6 and #7
Ensure availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation and Global Goal #7, ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Already this year our projects in Livingstone have made great progress towards these goals. At Zambezi Sawmills School a borehole has been completed, providing the community and schools wish for access to safe water!
At Linda Clinic, plans are underway to introduce and provide Biogas, produced by a new ablution block and then processed and used to provide energy to the clinic and those around it. This is really exciting as it will provide the community with a sustainable energy source with minimal environmental impact!
Global Goal #14
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. In Zanzibar our Education and Empowerment fund is based in the fishing village of Kizimkazi and focuses on education and capacity building in the local community to inform people on conservation and how they can take responsibility for their own sustainable development whilst ensuring conservation of the local waters.
The program here focuses not only on fishing activity and how the local tourism trade can be harmful to wildlife in the oceans, but also on how activity on the land, such as waste making its way to the water can harm the animals. Creative ways to reuse and recycle, such as learning how to plant with reusable materials such as toilet rolls and newspapers.
Over the next year we will keep you up to date on how our projects are aligning and achieving each of the Global Goals, so make sure you keep looking out!