Nascent Solutions Annual Report

Transcription

1 Nascent Solutions Annual Report REPORTING DATES Period: January 2009 December

2 NASCENT SOLUTIONS 2009 ANNUAL REPORT (JANUARY 2009 DECEMBER 2009) 1. Theme Nascent Solutions 2009 activities were centered on its core mission of enabling less privileged people, especially women and vulnerable children in rural Africa, to achieve self sufficiency. 2. Summary of Nascent Achievements The year 2009 at Nascent Solutions was characterized by determination and hard work from the staff and enormous support from the partners. Our drive in 2009 was to continue to strengthen our target communities and foster their continuous participation in identifying needs and designing locally appropriate interventions that address those needs. The year s major activities included: Indicators and Targets Results New grant awards 3 Expansion to new countries 1 Children provided with Vitamin A supplement& worm Medication 5000 Children served with food rations 25,230 Support to IDP and widows 1500 Community Health Workers trained on basic health care 275 Women trained to promote HIV prevention and care 350 Youth reached with abstinence messages 3012 Teachers and parents trained in nutrition and sanitation 200 Women trained in the prevention of GBV 80 Baseline surveys conducted 2 40 containers of humanitarian goods shipped 9 1

3 3. Management and Organizational Development Strategies and programs were steered by Management and the Board of Directors at Nascent Solutions Headquarters that met in May and September The focus of the year was on humanitarian assistance, the care of people affected by HIV/AIDS, especially orphans and widows; and building capacity for rural women to acquire entrepreneurial skills and to achieve food security. Through consultations, research and partnership, Nascent expanded its operations to Uganda and Zambia and its workforce increased from 48 to 60 personnel, including the dynamic staff of the Women s Empowerment project Women Empowered to Fight AIDS and Violence Everywhere (WEAVE) in Zambia. Nascent also initiated consultations with traditional authorities in target communities in the Northern region and several local and international organizations working with women and children in Ghana. 4. Partnerships The organization continued to strengthen its relationship with government and traditional authorities as well as community and faith based organizations in its home and target countries. 2

4 5. Operations Our drive in 2009 was to strengthen the target communities and foster their continuous participation in identifying needs and designing locally appropriate interventions that address those needs. The year s major activities included: Immersion America Program Nascent provided orientation to new African immigrants in Fairfax and Prince William counties; provided counseling to and assisted women suffering from spousal abuse to find shelter. Care of Orphans and Vulnerable Children With the assistance of the U.S. Department of Defense s Funded Transportation program, Nascent secured and shipped humanitarian goods including clothing apparel, educational materials and toys to support 1400 orphans and vulnerable children in Bui and Donga Mantung divisions of the North West region of Cameroon. 3

5 6. Food Aid With the Support of the Minister of Disaster Preparedness at the Prime Minister s Office in Uganda Nascent secured and shipped a 40 ft container of fortified rice that benefited 3900 chronically food insecure people, especially orphans, widows and single mothers in the Teso region of Northern Uganda. The 2009 USAID International Food Relief Partnership Grant enabled Nascent to scale up its Food Aid program in Cameroon to include some 1500 children in the Donga Mantung Division of the North West Region. 7. Community Involvement and Capacity Building To ensure the sustainability of our initiatives, Nascent involved the beneficiary communities in the decision making process of each project and provided training that would enable the target communities to participate actively in the implementation of the projects. 4

6 8. Sanitation, Nutrition and Basic Health Care To optimize the effects of the school feeding program in Cameroon, Nascent developed a health and nutrition curriculum for primary schools which is currently being piloted in the 50 beneficiary schools in the North West Region. Consultations are underway with the Ministries of Health and Education to encourage the institutionalization of the curriculum for all primary and community schools in the country. Improved sanitation infrastructure in the 50 target schools Before After Besides providing the school meals the Food for Education program also provided de-worming medication and vitamins to the children and training to 275 community health workers and teachers. 5

7 9. Agricultural Development and Food Security Ensuring that 22,000 children at risk of malnutrition can have a hot meal at school every day is one way of combating malnutrition and ensuring that children stay in class; but bringing parents, teachers and the children together to learn improved ways of growing their own food and ensuring that the food is used in nutritionally beneficial ways is where Nascent focused greater attention within the McGovern program in Over 60,000 beneficiaries in the 50 target villages in Bui division experimented with improved potato, corn and bean seeds, as well as learned new ways of tending their crops. 6

8 10. Literacy and Skills Development Nascent Solutions Literacy and Skills Development Program: The Book donation from the World Bank Book club enhanced the impact of the McGovern Food for Education program as each of the 50 participating schools received over 10 boxes of books that enable each of them to begin a school library. To receive the book donation, participating schools demonstrated their support for the project by making available a safe and secure reading room or library where the books will be made available for the students. 7

9 11. Gender Equity Nascent continued to partner with the Women s Empowerment Institute of Cameroon (WEICAM) to provide training to women in Bui and Donga Mantung Division in the prevention of gender-based violence and to provide adult literacy training. Nascent signed a cooperative agreement with the United States Agency for International Development to implement a three year program designed to enable 12,000 women in the Mpika District of Zambia to acquire entrepreneurial skills and fight AIDS and gender-based violence. 8