UEnd Blog

We hear it all the time: “How do I know my money is going to good use?” Well, we’ve mandated that we share with you every project that has succeeded or hit a milestone or needs more help. Here we’d like to share with you 12 projects that have seen a major change in their outcome since they started:

1) While only 23 families were targeted to benefit from the original project proposal, 37 families have accessed the micro-credit revolving fund (loans totaling over $6000). Visit this project to learn more: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/140

2) Tony Zelaya, a Miskito youth from the community of Tuburus in the BOSAWAS rainforest is a perfect example of someone who could have benefited from having a high school in his community. Here’s why: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/137/

3) Change for Children’ Manager of Int’l Projects, Lorraine Swift, travelled to Nicaragua in July 2011, where she met with project partners to launch “Food in the Forest” initiative, and Miskito youth video conferenced with North American kids about the farming challenges they face. Read more: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/136

4) Since May 2011, KIHEFO, Change for Children’s partner organization in Kabale, Uganda, has held 2 workshops focusing on improving nutrition in the context of food security and has seen many take part in micro-credit programs. Learn how it’s helped: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/139

5) Although these micro-loans for AIDS orphan caregivers have seen huge success, learn why some haven’t been able to repay their loans: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/142

6) So many great things happening with the Holistic Home Improvements project in Sierra Leone : http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/64

7) How amazing. High attendance rates and good participation in the literacy classes are yielding very positive learning results including a 92% pass rate: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/60

8) Fantastic rates of borrowing and repayment in the Peace Through Business Development project in Sierra Leone: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/67

9) Great things are happening for these women in Gautemala as they learn about leadership and businesses: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/61

10) Five more classes in five more communities were started in 2011, helping women learn to read: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/62

11) 316 participants learned basic business skills and received their first $65 loan to grown their business: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/65

12) Great news coming from CAUSE Canada’s Holistic Improvements project in Honduras that will make you smile: http://www.uend.org/dt/projects/63

This Project of the Week post was written by the lovely Leonie-Arianne Becker.

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From the Ewe to the Butterfly

It’s something you’re not unfamiliar with. Even if you don’t think you’re a part of it, you’ve heard the muted voices beyond the fence; murmurings of it on the bus; notices on the bulletin board at the grocery store.

Community.

What is community? Some people will go on tirades about how we’re losing touch with this; that it’s becoming a relic of the past. Others fervently believe that all it takes is for one person to “pay it forward”.

It would appear that a community near Ruhengeri is proving the latter right.

It starts with an ewe, in a community that, but for geography and economics, isn’t so very different from the one you find yourself in. Here, too, mothers have chatted amongst themselves, watching their children play nearby, fighting back thoughts of family finances as they wonder if there’s anything more they can do.

Now, there is.

With the help of the Guardian Project, 450 subsistence farmers will each be given an ewe, and the community, as a whole, 45 rams. Sheep manure will be mixed with the soil, affording an inexpensive alternative to the commercial fertilizer that these farmers cannot afford. With fertile ground, this region of Rwanda, previously subject to over-farming and deforestation, will finally see crop yields improve for the first time in years – sustainably – and in as little as 4 months.

Then, there’s the part where they pay it forward.

Once a family’s ewe has borne a few lambs, they can gift the ewe to another family that is not as fortunate. Additionally, these 450 farmers are former poachers and, by working in teams with the Park rangers of Volcanoes National Park (home of the very Mountain Gorilla’s that Dian Fossey studied) they are ensuring that the cycle of poaching is stopped. This means that one of their country’s most vibrant natural reserves is around for future generations to enjoy and study – Speaking of which! The funds saved by more sustainable farming can be reinvested in their community, in better healthcare, and, most importantly, in the education of their children – The real sustainable resource for any community. With better education, these children carry the future, not only of their families and their communities, but of their country as well.

Together, all these initiatives act as the wings of the Butterfly Effect: The work of a few dedicated individuals showing themselves to be the force that fans positive change, paying forward the successes to build something truly grand. After all, community is the group of people who reach out to you because they see your reality, and, even if yours isn’t exactly the same as theirs, you return the gesture-  because it makes you stronger – together.

Reach out, build your community, and be part of the magic that makes an ewe a butterfly. Also check out a video about this project and the project’s blog.

With only 4 days left in 2010 it is time to think of your New Year’s Resolutions. Now…one can joke that a resolution is a bit like a Miss America pageant question. You know that one where they ask what the contestant wants more than any else in the world… with world peace being the pat answer.

Now you might think that an end to extreme poverty is along these same lines- a dream for those that have not thought the answer all the way through. However if you are reading this then you might be thinking otherwise.

If we know that North Americans spend 1 trillion dollars on Christmas each year (using 2008 numbers). And we know that the World Bank says we need 50 billion over 15 years. WB says that if these funds are spent wisely the extreme poverty rates would be cut by half. Now do a bit o’ math dividing the Christmas spending by the World Bank number and it works out to about 5% of the annual gift spending of North Americans. Knowing this detail, it can now be argued that we have the means by which we can end extreme poverty.

It is no longer just a dream, it is possible. But to make it happen, we need your help. UEnd: Poverty asks you to consider making one of your 2011 resolutions a commitment to help end poverty? It doesn’t require you to go to any gyms or campaign on behalf of a cause, in fact it requires very little change in behaviour beyond a commitment to gifting different. If you would buy at least one gift of a $20 value in 2011 that goes towards ending poverty and you ask your friends to consider it for themselves (or you buy them a small gift to show them how) we can in fact start changing the world.

That’s not so hard is it?

Help us, help you change the world by resolving to gift different!

1. $5.00 is still $5.00- even small amounts of money make a difference even more so when converted to local currency.
2. low not for profit overhead = more duct tape and wishes rather than focusing on the work that needs to be done- like helping to end extreme poverty
3. If one uses the definition of philanthropy as a “love of humanity” then by giving small gifts of time or money… it is tangible way to interact with those you love.
4. Grameen Bank was one of the 1st to give microcredit loans to the poor to help them get out of poverty by their own efforts thus ensuring sustainability

We have two examples on our website our new u:powered program where microdonations from you our supporters give us funds $5.00/ month for operations-kind of like buying us a coffee once a month. We also have a bunch of new microcredit projects on the website under economy on the project page. Give to one of these areas and you are helping to change the world.