Empower 103 Households for their Livelihoods

The close of the year 2019: The launch of the project to ‘empower 103 households for their livelihoods’ in Yambio has produced agricultural outputs for food-insure families-majorly single mothers and their children! We recall with gratitude the years and months of this project which has left great impact on the poor people and the communities here in South Sudan. The project was designed to offer opportunity of empowering beneficiaries to fulfill their essential needs, saving their lives and improving their nutrition status. The community pattern of feeding continues to remain poor amongst the ordinary people and thanks to this program that has contributed to the production of crops by the poor for the poorest. Food can be seen on the plates of orphans and widows at least once a day. If this program continues to gain support of the donors, great impact on the beneficiaries will expand doubling the number of households. Community Skills Development supports 103 households of single mothers by the provision of extension services, helping to diversify cropping and vegetables growing of tomatoes, egg plants, Okra, and educating on harsh climate mitigation measures. Irrigation method has been taken up and practiced. Single mothers are very much willing to learn and adopt new ways towards sustainable livelihood activities. Although physically weak due to poor feeding practices, they devote the needed efforts to the production of their own food. There is need to back them up with the needful tools, seeds and skills to encourage them with the credible work executed. Part of the story Community Skills Development majorly supports impoverished women-the single mothers in Yambio, Gbudue State-South Sudan. The total number of our target population is 17,000 Households in Gbudue state and for various services. Community Skill Development was established in the year 2008 and since then it has provided farmers with agricultural tools and seeds, fed malnourished children, sponsored orphans to schools and trained women in tailoring skills. When needy women hear about community skills development, they come to express their interest to join the groups and unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to absorb additional numbers and neither can we expand for limited resources. In 2019 another 30 households of single mothers have been added to the farming group making a total of 60 households beneficiaries and they receive trainings (extension services), seeds and tools provided to uplift them (beneficiaries) to a level of self-resilience. The women do express testimonies of acquired skills, empowered and livelihood improved a little. CSD has placed the entire funding received through GlobalGiving towards an increased food production for food security. Great impact has been created and the women and children are happy. The Merry-go-round saving system introduced four months ago among the women farmers has help to provide financial capital for them to initiate additional Micro businesses; the sale of bread, ground nuts paste, pan cakes, boiled cassava, sale of packed sugar, soap and salt. In a Country like South Sudan, where the largest majority subsists on less than a dollar per day, every penny donated is received as a great treasure and a lot of value driven from it. Our set target to help 103 households for their livelihood is not yet realized, it is now half way. The large majority of the population is still threatened by starvation imposed on them by the disruption of the growing cycles of instability. We plead with you to support us to help transform the 103 households from surviving to living. We remain grateful and thanking you very much.

Project ID: 32851

Project Title: Empower 103 households for their livelihoods

Almost the end of first plantation; CSD women Farmers cleared their field for plantation in May and had their vegetables planted in June 2019. CSD women Farmers are situated at Zambago area in Yambio County, Gbudue State South. This planting season, CSD women farmers have planted 1 Hectare full of Egg Plants, Tomatoes and Carrots. We are highly optimistic to received good yield this time as observation testifies to that reality. CSD women farmers had wished to grow ground nuts and maize as the major crops but after some discussions and due deliberations, the idea for crops such as Egg Plant, tomatoes and Carrots became ideal.

The beneficiaries of the project have been vulnerable women; single mothers, widows, school drops outs and sick women. Feeding in the homes of the female headed families have been of huge challenge and some simply go hungry on empty stomach or just a meager meal for a day. CSD women’s farming is a solution to place some food on the plates of some families. The vegetables grown are sold out on the market and some are taken home to the families. Money earned is divided amongst the members (30 members) for their own needs. We have initiated village saving mode for this group of women. It is a merit-go-round method, where the 30 members have agreed to contribute weekly into a box and members receive that amount in turn monthly. Some of the women have started small business from the capital raised. The group is really mutual and enriching.

The community pattern of feeding is very poor; those who can afford a meal per a day, do not have balance diet and therefore, so many associated malnutrition consequences in children and adults; sores on legs, stunted growth and poor human development. Actually, the consequences stem from etiologies such as low birth weight, premature delivery, persistent diarrhea and recurring sepsis or chronic underlying diseases or disability and the development of severe acute malnutrition in tender age is commonly reflected in suboptimal feeding practices. More than 50% of households in Yambio generally experience severe acute malnutrition which is often associated with high mortality in young infants and it has effects on children as a whole; mental retardation, stunted growth, poor immune system, micronutrient deficiency, anaemia and death.

Community Skills Development supports the 103 households of single mothers by the provision of extension services, help to diversify cropping and vegetables species with tomatoes, egg plants and educate on harsh climate mitigation measures. Irrigation method has been taken up and practiced.

Single mothers still keep the desire to seek remedies to their own poverty challenges and Community Skills Development has kept the teams/groups; a) Women Farmers b) Tailoring group and c) Hair dressing group.

Each group is steadily engaged in the above self-empowerment strategies but inadequacy of resources is the main challenge.

On the sad note, only one person has kept sending in financial support to help this project. This would be a true indication to say it is enough for this project, yet the goal and target of the project are only ¼ met.

Part of the story

Community Skills Development majorly supports impoverished women in Yambio County, Gbudwe State South Sudan. The total number of our target population is 17,000 Households in Gbudwe state for various services. Community Skill Development was established in the year 2008 and since then we have provided farmers with agricultural tools and seeds, fed malnourished children, sponsored orphans and trained to do farming. When needy women hear about community skills development, they come to express their interest to join the groups but unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to absorb additional numbers and neither can we expand for limited resources.

In 2018, only 30 single mothers were admitted to the farming group and to be supported for 3 years (2020); hoping that the trainings and orientations received will have endowed them for self-resilience. Since CSD has not received enough funding to support both the tailoring and hair dressing groups, the funding through Globalgiving is placed on the agriculture groups while hoping that our supporters will commit some resources to the empowerment of vulnerable women for tailoring and hair dressing. We are likely to close down this project before the project duration due to lack of funding.

I must indicate that our writing to our supporters/ the donors has not met the quality and flavor to clearly illustrate the need- I guess, as it would seem the program is just freezing due to lack of funding. We are very ready to have some direct conversions if need be, to make clarifications and the provision of more details.

While the empowerment project is targeting three different groups constituting the 103 households, our dream is to empower vulnerable women groups to farm, to create small business via hair dressing and tailoring. We are well at 1/4 on the success and only in the part of farming but how we wish to achieve at least 3/4 of the target.

May 7, 2019 Third report Project ID: 32851 Project Title: Empower 103 households for their livelihoods Rain season is here; plantation season in Yambio, Gbudue State of South is divided into two. The first season begins in April with fair quantity of rainfall till July, the second season commences in August to late November but characterized by heavy storm and far less rainwater. The communities in Yambio are heavily engaged in plantation of ground nuts and maize as the major crops; ground nuts provides paste for preparing soup and maize grains ground to provide food to accompany the soup. Cassava is also grown to supply leaves as vegetables and tubers boiled to supply food. The community pattern of feeding is very poor, not diversified and therefore, so many associated malnutrition consequences in children and adults; sores on legs, stunted growth and poor human development. Actually, the consequences stem from etiologies such as low birth weight, premature delivery, persistent diarrhea and recurring sepsis or chronic underlying diseases or disability and the development of severe acute malnutrition in tender age is commonly reflected in suboptimal feeding practices. More than 50% of households in Yambio generally experience severe acute malnutrition which is often associated with high mortality in young infants and it has effects on children as a whole; Mental retardation, stunted growth, poor immune system, micronutrient deficiency, GI tract infections, anaemia and inevitably - death. Any support to help the poor community in Yambio to grow food for themselves will surely help the human race on this planet to survive. Community Skills Development supports the 103 households of single mothers by the provision of extension services, help to diversify cropping and vegetables species with tomatoes, egg plants, Okra, and educate on harsh climate mitigation measures. Irrigation method has been taken up and practiced. Single mothers still keep the desire to seek remedies to their own poverty challenges and Community Skills Development has kept the teams/groups; a) Women Farmers b) Tailoring group and c) Hair dressing group. Each group is steadily engaged in the above self-empowerment strategies but inadequacy of resources is the main challenge. Part of the story Community Skills Development majorly supports impoverished women in Gbudwe State where Yambio is the headquarters of that State. The total number of our target population is 17,000 Households in Gbudwe state for various services. Community Skill Development was established in the year 2008 and since then we have provided some farmers with agricultural tools and seeds, fed malnourished children, sponsored orphans and trained women in tailoring skills. When needy women hear about community skills development, they come to express their interest to join the groups but unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to absorb additional numbers and neither can we expand for limited resources. In 2018, only 30 single mothers were admitted to the farming group and to be supported for 3 years (2020); hoping that the trainings and orientations received will have endowed them for self-resilience. Since CSD has not received enough funding to support both the tailoring and hair dressing groups, the funding through Globalgiving is placed on the agriculture groups while hoping that our supporters will commit some resources to the empowerment of vulnerable women for tailoring and hair dressing. We have now introduced Merry-go-round saving system; this is where the women are encouraged to sale their produce and raise funds. When they raise some money, they promote monthly contributions and this collection is given to a member per a month and the other month, it is given to another person; this process goes round and round. I must indicate that our writing to our supporters/ the donors has not met the quality and flavor to clearly illustrate the need- I guess, as it would seem the program is just freezing due to lack of funding. We are very ready to have some direct conversions if need be, to make clarifications and the provision of more details. The Government is highly incapacitated to support service delivery programs to the communities; health, livelihoods, or transport network etc. The hope remains with NGOs and CBOs for humanitarian support. While the empowerment project is targeting three different groups constituting the 103 households, our dream is to empower vulnerable women groups to farm, to create small business via hair dressing and tailoring. We are well above 1/3 on the success but how we wish to achieve at least 2/3 of the target. We remain grateful and thanking you very much. Ignatius Mborihenga Director Community Skills Development Yambio, Gbudwe State South Sudan

December 8, 2018

Second report

Project ID: 32851

Project Title:  Empower 103 households for their livelihoods

The chain of poverty;  the community of Yambio County of Gbudwe State, South Sudan continue to depend heavily on agriculture, yet they practice shifting cultivation using rudimentary tools for subsistent purposes. Millions of South Sudanese have lost their lives to the civil war since 2013 and orphans and widows make up for the majority of the population. Most homes are headed by females and there is acute hunger and children are malnourished.  CSD intends to educate the civic population on sustainable agriculture practices. Very sadly again, Yambio community cannot mitigate the effects of our drastic climate change and it depends entirely on an insufficient seasonal rainfall and cannot grow crops for most part of the year.

Single mothers have the desire to seek remedies to their own poverty challenges and Community Skills Development has organized and teamed them up into groups; a) Women Farmers b) Tailoring group and c) Hair dressing group.

Each group is already engaged in some sort of initiative for orientation towards self-empowerment.

Every single mother has her own special story to tell

Community Skills Development majorly supports impoverished women in Gbudwe State where Yambio is the headquarters of that State. The total number of our target population is 17,000 Households in Gbudwe state for various services. Community Skill Development was established in the year 2008 and since then we have provided some farmers with agricultural tools and seeds, fed malnourished children, sponsored orphans and trained two bunches of women in tailoring skills. When needy women hear about community skills development, they come to express their interest to join the groups but for limitation of resources, we admit the neediest and the poorest of the poor.

In 2018, only 30 single mothers were admitted to the farming group and to be supported for 3 years; hoping that the trainings and orientations received will have endowed them for self-resilience. Since CSD didn’t receive enough funding to support both the tailoring and hair dressing groups, the funding through Globalgiving has been placed on the agriculture groups while hoping that our supporters will commit some resources to the empowerment of vulnerable women for tailoring and hair dressing.

When the women get into their groups, they begin to build and enjoy strong bond of social cohesion and mutual support. Mariatha is a member of the women farmers group, had this to say that she is more motivated to wok when in a group, that she cannot do much when alone. Therefore she appreciates team work. The women team representative spoke on behalf of others and said; ‘we are now more committed to our team work and will always support each other but our field is small’ -calling for support for the purchase of more land for cultivation

The step taken to empower 103 households of single mothers for their livelihoods is only possible because of the support of distinct persons who provided the funds and we have been able to purchase vegetable seeds, ground nuts and maize seeds and also purchased irrigation machines; pressure pump, sprinkler and accessories, fuel to operate the machines and agricultural tools. The cost of empowering women farmers alone is US$ 14,705 however we have received US$ 10,700 as a total from June to December 2018.  The financial support you offered us has been devoted towards the empowerment of first group –the women farmers. In the second round of three months (September, October and November 2018) we only received a very small contribution US$ 200. Our set goal is very difficult to realize as a reality.  

 While the empowerment project is targeting three different groups constituting the 103 households, our dream is to empower vulnerable women groups to farm, to create small business via hair dressing and tailoring. We will keep you updated as this project progresses. Have a time to look at the women farmers learning on the job to irrigate their farm with your great financial support.

We remain grateful and thanking you very much.

Ignatius Mborihenga

Director

Community Skills Development

Yambio, Gbudwe State South Sudan

The chain of poverty;  the community of Yambio County of Gbudwe State, South Sudan depends heavily on agriculture, yet they practice shifting cultivation using rudimentary tools for subsistent purposes. There is acute hunger and children are malnourished.  It is not easy for Yambio people to come out of this bad situation. Very sadly again, community depends entirely on an insufficient seasonal rainfall and cannot grow crops for most part of the year.

Single mothers have the desire to seek remedies to their own poverty challenges and Community Skills Development has organized and teamed them up into groups; a) Women Farmers b) Tailoring group and c) Hair dressing group.

Each group is already engaged in some sort of initiative for orientation towards self-empowerment.

Every single mother has her own special story to tell

Community Skills Development majorly supports impoverished women in Gbudwe State where Yambio is the headquarters of that State. The total number of our target population is 17,000 Households in Gbudwe state for various services. Community Skill Development was established in the year 2008 and since then we have provided farmers with agricultural tools and seeds, fed malnourished children, sponsored orphans and trained two bunches of women in tailoring skills. When needy women hear about community skills development, they come to express their interest to join the groups but for limitation of resources, we admit the neediest and the poorest of the poor.

Now in 2018, only 30 single mothers are admitted to the farming group and will be supported for 3 years then allowed to operate on their own; hoping that the trainings and orientations received will have endowed them for self-resilience. 20 women in the group of tailoring and another 20 in hair dressing will be trained for a year then allowed out to set their own businesses. Community skills development will divide them into threes by the end of the year and provide each 3 member group with a sewing machine for tailors and provide hair dressers with a kit of equipment.

When the women get into their groups, they begin to build and enjoy strong bond of social cohesion and mutual support. Angelina is a member of the women farmers group, showed happiness, enthusiasm and exclaimed that she is hopeful to earn some income as to afford treatment and school fees for her children this coming planting season. On her part, Martha is grateful to Community Skills Development for having enlisted her to the group of women farmers and to enable her to have food for her children.

The steps taken to empower 103 households of single mothers for their livelihoods is only possible because of the support of distinct persons who provided the funds and we have been able to purchase vegetable seeds, ground nuts and maize seeds and also purchased irrigation machines; pressure pump, sprinkler and accessories, fuel to operate the machines and agricultural tools. The cost of empowering women farmers alone is US$ 14,705.  The financial support you offered us has been devoted towards the empowerment of first group –the women farmers.

 While the empowerment project is targeting three different groups constituting the 103 households, our dream is to move on to empower the two other groups of hair dressing and tailoring. We will keep you updated as this project progresses.

We remain grateful and thanks very much.

Links:

• Find a copy of our report here