An affair of the heart…
Here, you can read about projects, initialized and organized by Dr. Gitta Zimmermann, which are emphasizing mainly on children.
NVC is not the key aspect — but it always happens.
Regarding to our concept, we will mark these projects as examples for one or more of the three columns “Immediate aid”, “Education”, and “Autonomy”.
- Immediate aid, Education
Philippines, Cebu City: Rice and school material for children from Cebu City streets
About once a month, five kilos of rice plus other foodstuff are given to each of the 500 educational supported children including some school needs. Paul Bongcaras is responsible for this project.
- Education
Samburuland, Northern Kenia: CHAT Family planning information and services in remote rural areas
On one hand populations in many African countries are exploding. On the other hand nature with its plants and animals need more space. So conflicts arise from both populations growth. A lack of family planning information and services contributes to poverty, suffering, environmental degradation, negatively impacting communities and their surrounding ecosystems. Some women have 16 children and are helpless how to continue.
Thus, CHAT’s mission is to support impoverished individuals and communities in fragile ecosystems across Kenya with family planning. The main goal of this organisation is to increase knowledge, access and use of family planning, and in the long run therefore help environmental sustainability.
CHAT’s primary outreach strategy is the backpack strategy which engages Corps to go door-to-door in their own and surrounding communities, and provide information and counselling on family planning, using a population, health and environment (PHE) approach.
Have a look at Chat’s bi-annual report 2022!
As I like networking, I invited two of the CHAT stuff members to our IIT in Tanzania. They will transfer their experience to the 83 participants of the IIT, mostly from within Africa, and they will learn about how to communicate with the families they are working with in the field.
- Education
Philippines, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City and Talisay City: Internet cafés for children of families from dump sites
We believe that education is the key to a society with higher per capita income, higher BIP, equality between women and men, and less violence.
In order to support this approach, we built three internet cafés in the Philippines (Lapu-Lapu City and Talisay City) for children of families with often illiterate parents. Most of them were or are living on dump sites. At home, and specially at times of Corona, they seldomly have somebody to ask when they are working for their weekly school modules. In the internet café, they can talk to and find help for their homework by para-teachers — students, employed by a computer learning center. Also, the internet café offers a safe space for doing online research.
- Education
School in Zimbabwe, African wildlife conservation, 2020
African Wildlife Conservation Fund in Zimbabwe takes children from rural primary school into competition for learning about wildlife and conservation in a fun and engaged setting.
- Education
Girlscamp in Zimbabwe, Painted Wolf Foundation, 2019
Painted Wolf Foundation in Zimbabwe offers for children from schools around the Nation Park camps to teach them about the environment, conservation and the value of wildlife.
- Education, Autonomy
Philippines, Lapu-Lapu City: Prevention and combating sexual abuse of children
Based on the successful former project between 2016 and 2019 we continue with this integrating project on a further area on the Philippines, Danao City and Lapu-Lapu between 2020 and 2023.
The project’s aim is to combat the sexual abuse of children by building structures to announce the topic in many fields like tourism, mining, police, justice, airports, harbours, immigration authorities and to reintegrate affected children and their families: children rights, anti-trafficking laws, life skills to self-awareness, empathy and critical thinking, building of guards, peer support groups. NVC is part of the project for affected children, their parents, communities, local administration and child protection structures. This project is a cooperation with Karl Kübel Foundation, and BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development).
- Education, Autonomy
Philippines, Caraga Regions: Building of structures and capacities to combat human trafficking
Again, based on the success of the former project Cinemobil between 2014 to 2017, we continue to enlarge our project area in Mindanao.
The project’s aim is the protection of children and women against commercial sexual abuse by cooperation of all relevant governmental and civil actors, tourism, hotels, resorts, procedures to register and monitor, networking.
NVC is part of this project for 225 govermental and civil society multipliers.
- Autonomy
Philippines:
Sewing workshop with Tony Salas, for garbadge collecting families, 2019
The women learn how to sew, and eventually, they can sell pupils‘ uniforms to schools.
- Autonomy
Malilangwe Trust in Zimbabwe: Solar water pump, 2019
21 women have access to land, water and infrastructure in order to grow crops for their families and for sale. Instead of a cost intense and economy depending diesel pump, we rebuilt the bore hole and set up a solar powered pump. The solar pump irrigation system has made huge difference in their food harvest, and this project also provides water to a pilot fish farming project in the vicinity. In cooperation with Mark Saunders and Malilangwe trust.
- Autonomy
Kalepo, Samburuland Northern Kenia: Kalepo Conservancy Water Relief, 2022
Building of a community well to ensure quality of drinking water for hundreds of people. The hand pump well is building in a way that young elephants cannot fall into it.
- Autonomy
Guassa Nature Protection Project, Ethiopia 2020 – 2022: Project to improve the living conditions of the rural population in the border zone of the Guassa Community Conserved Area, Ethiopia.
This afro alpine area with high biodiversity in former times was protected by the long term developed GERO management system. After the revolution in 1974, this system collapsed, and the area became “overused”. Now the rural population will be educated in sustainable management, introduced to alternative sources of income like honey production, fruit growing and poultry framing and enabling young people to be educated in commercial nurseries, cooker production and marketing, bakery and small scale irrigation. Teaching in family planing, advancement of women is another included aim. This project is conducted with Karl Kübel Foundation, BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), and the local NGO “Population, Health and Environment – Ethiopia Consortium” (PHE EC).