If we were all to redirect a mere 5% of the billions of dollars that we already spend each year on gifts, there would be enough to eliminate extreme poverty in about 15 years.
UEnd:Poverty. Gift different.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Project Of The Week: Seed Paddy Comes Out Trumps!
Project Snapshot
Total Cost: $4,650
Lives Affected: 80
Dollars Raised: $1,989
Dollars Needed: $2,661
Living conditions are very difficult in the Kiribamunagama village, part of the Karunegala District in Sri Lanka. This very poor area has just about 65 acres of Seed Paddy acres combined in storage, with most families having no land at all. Most of these families with almost nothing receive income support under the official ‘Poverty Alleviation Programme’, Samurdhi.
This village and region still remains poor due to high production costs and unstable prices given for the harvested crops. All farming must be done under supervision of local instructors and officials, and must meet quality standard minimums to be eligible for paid harvest. Most often this results in the farmers being in debt due to poor quality crops as a result of many hardships.
That is why this project, headed by ‘The Sri Lanka Centre for Development Facilitation’, is designed on using the funding received for this project to create a Revolving Loan Fund for the farmers to be able to afford the farming process. This should enable most of the farming families to farm efficiently, and as a result, produce quality crops for harvest to ensure that their fair return in pay is received.
To learn more about this project, click here.
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POTW: Wage Labour To Dignified Self Employment
Snapshot:
- Lives affected: 156
- Project cost: $4,100
- Dollars raised: $441
- Dollars needed: $3,659
Boraluwewa village in the Kobeigane Divisional Secretary’s Division in the Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka, has 30 families who work for a producer supplying coconut husk chips to an exporting firm in the district. There are several such producers but there is a large unsatisfied demand for these chips at present. There have been several groups of women who have been working on a piece rate basis for these large producers who have started producing chips on their own for these agents of the exporters with support from banks.
Today, a small team of entrepreneurs have gone out on their own. BUT, they need machinery and monetary support.
Check out our update from the field posted November 2011.
So what can you do?
Learn more about the project. Learn a bit about the South Asia partnership with Canada. Give as a gift card or share with a friend.
Want to do more?
We’re looking for cross-Canada representation. Interested in becoming a City Director for UEnd:Poverty? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us to learn more about making a difference in your city and the world.
Also, if all you can spare is $5 per month to help make the world a better place; that’s awesome. We’re looking for 5,000 people to help support UEnd operations by joining U:Powered for just $5 per month. Oh and you can win a trip to Africa. Learn more here.
