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Thank You!!! | |
Thank you to everyone who attended our Spring Celebraton Event on April 10th, 2010!
The event was a great success, thanks to the incredible spirit and generosity of all who attended and who volunteered. The funds we raised during this event will be used to:
· Provide nutritional support to HIV-exposed infants and their families
· Establish a health post in the rural community of Huro, Rwanda |
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learn how you can
lend a hand! | |
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Greetings!
Summer is here, and this means our Ihangane team is gearing up for another trip to Rwanda! We are packing our bags, setting our Goals & Objectives, and gathering supplies to get ready for another incredible experience. We are excited to put the internet away and work side by side with our Rwandan colleagues. Scroll down to read more about our team's ambitious plans for the month.
The Ihangane Project has submitted an entry in the Ashoka Changemaker's "Leveraging Business for Social Change". Learn more by reading this section in our Newsletter and following the link to our entry.
Looking for simple ways to get more involved? Learn more about how even small things you do every day can have huge impact in the lives and health of so many in Rwanda. Check out the links below!
Murakoze Cyane!
The Ihangane Project Team
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Site Visit Goals | |
The Ihangane Project will join our Rwandan colleagues in July to work on a very long list of goals. We will be joined by public health nurse, Michella Otmar, and program Monitoring & Evaluation specialist, Blakeley Lowry. We will join a WDI Global Impact MBA Intern who has already begun work in Ruli. We are also excited to welcome back Heather Fleming and her colleague from Catapult Design.
Here's a quick summary of our current projects, as well as a snapshot of our ambitious goals for this summer. Click on each photo to learn more!
Nutritional Support for HIV-exposed Infants:
TIP is working with Ruli's HIV team to provide nutritional support as HIV-exposed infants are weaned from breast milk. We will review the experiences and outcomes of our pilot project. This will include focus groups and home visits with the women who are participating in the pilot. Together, our team will assess Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the project, and consider issues of finanacial sustainability. We will investigate the use of income-generating projects to strengthen the viability of the program over time, and gain insight from the WDI Global Impact MBA Intern who is currently in Ruli. We hope to establish a monitoring and evaluation component to the project that is realistic and links to other ongoing programs.
One of our goals is to integrate recent research findings and World Health Organization guideline updates related to Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV into this program. This is to increase access to appropriate HIV medications for HIV positive women, and to minimize the risk of HIV transmission to their infants while breastfeeding as long as possible.
During our trip, we also hope to visit two innovative programs that work to improve nutrition for HIV affected people through the use of household gardens. Gardens for Health, based in Kigali, provides a multi-dimensional approach to food insecurity through a series of programs, one of which includes technical support for household gardens. Bamporeze, based in Rulindo, is a grassroots Rwandan organization that supports orphans and child-headed households. As part of this support, they provide guidance on household gardens. We are excited to learn about how these amazing organizations are supporting sustainable food security!
Solar Power at Rural Health Centers:
TIP, in collaboration with UCLA Care Clinic and Dr. Emery Chang, has received grant funding to provide solar power at 5 sites. While in Rwanda this summer, we plan to visit Nyange Health Center to assess their new solar installation. We will also visit the site of the soon-to-be-established Huro Health Post to assess renovation and energy needs. We will also meet with 3 rural health facilities to review their energy needs~ our goal is to complete solar installations at these sites by the end of 2010!
Women's Handicraft Associations: We are very excited to spend time with our friends at the Ihangane and Covaru Handicraft Associations. We plan to review 'lessons learned' over the past year, and listen to the groups' observations of what works, what doesn't, and consider next steps. We will work together to establish pricing for crafts that reflects all costs of production, provides a true living wage for the craftswomen, and allows for growth of their businesses. We hope to gain insight into the groups' views of the best ways to utilize the Reinvestment Fund, and to receive guidance regarding how we can best support the long term growth of the women's businesses. As part of this, we will also investigate resources for continuing business education. This will include a site visit to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Small Business Opportunities office to learn more about their training opportunities.
Looks like we'll be busy! |
Improved nutrition:
solutions through innovation | |
Ashoka Changemakers and Artimisia are co-sponsoring a competition entitled "Leveraging Business for Social Change". The Ihangane Project has entered a business proposal for the establishment of a sosoma production enterprise to support our Nutritional project. Please click on the link below to learn more and share your comments. If we are chosen as one of the top 10 finalists, we will need your vote!
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Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the next few months!
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