In Afghanistan, Goats Provide Livelihood for Landmine Survivors and More
JALALABAD, Afghanistan – What they say about sheep in New Zealand may not quite be true for goats in Afghanistan. They don’t outnumber people here.
But the importance of the animal to individual families’ survival in this arid mountainous country can not be underestimated and the gift of a goat can provide for many in a village.
In Clear Path’s first survivor assistance project outside Kabul, 18 beneficiaries in the eastern city of Jalalabad received goats and animal husbandry training from CPI’s local Afghan partner, Afghan Disabled & Vulnerable Society (ADVS).
Thirteen of the recipients were landmine accident survivors, two were female heads of disadvantaged households and three were Afghans with other disabilities. The $6,000 project was funded by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal & Abatement through a contract with DynCorp to whom Clear Path was a subcontractor until early August. Now, CPI receives direct funding from State for its work in Afghanistan.
The beneficiaries, which included the head of ADVS, Said Husin Sadaqat, himself disabled, all reside in villages of the Qarghaye District, Laghman Province. ADVS employed a local veterinarian to provide technical support to the group in the form of milk production methods. Every six months, a female kid will be received from the existing owners and given to new beneficiaries.
More than 60 families (at least 125 people) will benefit from access to tea, yoghurt and cheese from the animals’ milk. The beneficiaries will be able to sell these products in their local markets, strengthening their income from a meaningful economic pursuit.
ADVS was established in 1994 to assist Afghans in need. The director, bound to a wheelchair, has provided vocational skills training and income-generating projects for more than a decade.
www.cpi.org
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Uploaded on Oct 28, 2009
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In Afghanistan, Goats Provide Livelihood for Landmine Survivors and More
JALALABAD, Afghanistan – What they say about sheep in New Zealand may not quite be true for goats in Afghanistan. They don’t outnumber people here.
But the importance of the animal to individual families’ survival in this arid mountainous country can not be underestimated and the gift of a goat can provide for many in a village.
In Clear Path’s first survivor assistance project outside Kabul, 18 beneficiaries in the eastern city of Jalalabad received goats and animal husbandry training from CPI’s local Afghan partner, Afghan Disabled & Vulnerable Society (ADVS).
Thirteen of the recipients were landmine accident survivors, two were female heads of disadvantaged households and three were Afghans with other disabilities. The $6,000 project was funded by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal & Abatement through a contract with DynCorp to whom Clear Path was a subcontractor until early August. Now, CPI receives direct funding from State for its work in Afghanistan.
The beneficiaries, which included the head of ADVS, Said Husin Sadaqat, himself disabled, all reside in villages of the Qarghaye District, Laghman Province. ADVS employed a local veterinarian to provide technical support to the group in the form of milk production methods. Every six months, a female kid will be received from the existing owners and given to new beneficiaries.
More than 60 families (at least 125 people) will benefit from access to tea, yoghurt and cheese from the animals’ milk. The beneficiaries will be able to sell these products in their local markets, strengthening their income from a meaningful economic pursuit.
ADVS was established in 1994 to assist Afghans in need. The director, bound to a wheelchair, has provided vocational skills training and income-generating projects for more than a decade.
www.cpi.org
All rights reserved
Uploaded on Oct 28, 2009
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Ream Loun
SEAM VILLAGE, Battambang Province – Life was a struggle for
Ream Luong before he joined the farmer’s cooperative set up by CPI and its
partner in one of Cambodia’s most heavily mined regions. This spring, the
partners doubled the co-op to 150 households from 75, expanding an
enterprise that’s helping many landmine accident survivors succeed as rice
farmers. Disabled by a landmine accident when he was 23 and now going on 50,
the father of three whose wife died of a sudden illness was deep in debt to
loan sharks. Every year, he had to borrow to invest in his crop and, because
he couldn’t store his rice, he had to sell it at harvest time when prices
are rock bottom. The co-op, aimed at providing a socio-economic support
structure for landmine-disabled farmers and disadvantaged members of their
communities, has turned that around for the below-the-knee amputee from Paum
Takeav Village not far from the Thai border. Thanks to low-interest
spring-time micro loans, agricultural training, better crop seed and a
chance to store his rice at the partners’ rice mill, Ream is now virtually
debt-free except for what he owes the project. He and his three children are
now among the 750 direct and indirect beneficiaries of the farmers’ co-op,
which issued $30,000 in $200 loans to the members at an interest rate of 2
percent per month and provides many other services to the households. Many
members of the farmers’ cooperative have independently organized their own
rice banks. The members each contribute a portion of paddy rice to the bank
at the harvest time. One member is elected to chair the rice bank and is
responsible for tracking contributions, withdrawals and loan repayments. As
the year progresses, if a member needs rice due to an emergency or
unforeseen situation, they may borrow from the bank. The loan recipient will
then repay the loan in rice with interest, thereby increasing the total
amount in reserve. While CPI does not officially organize or manage these
rice banking systems, this sort of community self-reliance is encouraged and
discussed in community workshops. Additionally, CPI offers free storage in
the warehouse for members who wish to join such a program. Currently, there
are 38 members who have established a rice bank, and there is 3,050
kilograms of rice in the bank.
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Uploaded on Sep 7, 2009
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Ream Loun
SEAM VILLAGE, Battambang Province – Life was a struggle for
Ream Luong before he joined the farmer’s cooperative set up by CPI and its
partner in one of Cambodia’s most heavily mined regions. This spring, the
partners doubled the co-op to 150 households from 75, expanding an
enterprise that’s helping many landmine accident survivors succeed as rice
farmers. Disabled by a landmine accident when he was 23 and now going on 50,
the father of three whose wife died of a sudden illness was deep in debt to
loan sharks. Every year, he had to borrow to invest in his crop and, because
he couldn’t store his rice, he had to sell it at harvest time when prices
are rock bottom. The co-op, aimed at providing a socio-economic support
structure for landmine-disabled farmers and disadvantaged members of their
communities, has turned that around for the below-the-knee amputee from Paum
Takeav Village not far from the Thai border. Thanks to low-interest
spring-time micro loans, agricultural training, better crop seed and a
chance to store his rice at the partners’ rice mill, Ream is now virtually
debt-free except for what he owes the project. He and his three children are
now among the 750 direct and indirect beneficiaries of the farmers’ co-op,
which issued $30,000 in $200 loans to the members at an interest rate of 2
percent per month and provides many other services to the households. Many
members of the farmers’ cooperative have independently organized their own
rice banks. The members each contribute a portion of paddy rice to the bank
at the harvest time. One member is elected to chair the rice bank and is
responsible for tracking contributions, withdrawals and loan repayments. As
the year progresses, if a member needs rice due to an emergency or
unforeseen situation, they may borrow from the bank. The loan recipient will
then repay the loan in rice with interest, thereby increasing the total
amount in reserve. While CPI does not officially organize or manage these
rice banking systems, this sort of community self-reliance is encouraged and
discussed in community workshops. Additionally, CPI offers free storage in
the warehouse for members who wish to join such a program. Currently, there
are 38 members who have established a rice bank, and there is 3,050
kilograms of rice in the bank.
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Uploaded on Sep 7, 2009
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Back to School
*Back To School*
Nearly 500 Vietnamese Landmine Families Receive
CPI Support to Send Their Children Back to School
*By Tran Hong Chi*
DONG HA, Central Vietnam – Mothers get teary-eyed when their kids return to
school after the summer.
But the tears Tran Phuong Nhu’s mother shed outside her
daughter’s classroom were not from a typical sense of pride and separation.
As she watched the eight-year-old girl go inside wearing her best uniform,
she could not help think of her husband who is still in critical condition
at the Quang Tri General Hospital from a landmine accident that happened in
late July.
The third grader was among 52 children from landmine-affected families in
Dong Ha town who received special scholarships from CPI at the school on
Aug. 21 as the organization conducted the last round of assistance
ceremonies at the start of the new school year. Sadly, Tran Phuong Nhu was
a last-minute addition.
In all, 482 students in nine districts from four provinces north and south
of the former Demilitarized Zone at the 17th parallel received CPI
scholarships this year. The scholarship grants are for elementary to high
school students who were injured by accidents with unexploded ordnance
(UXO) or, as in Tran Phuong Nhu’s case, whose family members sustained
injuries from such accidents. UXO accidents still happen almost every week
in central Vietnam.
Each scholarship grant worth about $35 covers most of the minimum tuition
even the poorest families have to pay the public schools. CPI also awards
special uniform and materials packages to mine-affected students with the
best grades. One hundred and twenty nine, or more than a quarter, of the 482
students this year received such gifts in recognition to their tireless
efforts to overcome their challenges at home and at school.
Nguyen Hong Hoa from Hiep Duc district, Quang Nam province, was one of the
“honor” students. The 15-year-old boy lost two legs and an arm in 2007 when
he was in 6th grade. His education was interrupted and everyone was afraid
that he wouldn’t recover from the psychological wound. But when Hoa went
back to school a year later he did very well and gained an “excellent
student”
title.
CPI’s educational scholarship program began in 2001 to a few newly
mine-affected
students in Quang Tri province. Since then, the activity has become an
annual event. To date, 3,130 scholarships have helped families reduce their
burden and nourish their hope of a better future thanks to their children’s
ability to keep returning to school.
--
James Hathaway
Co-Founder
Clear Path International
www.cpi.org
2844 Rt 30
Dorset, VT 05251
802-867-5338
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Uploaded on Sep 1, 2009
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