the basis is education and creating employment

During my last visit in September to the Holland Hawassa Dairy Farm I noticed that the bottom of the tree on the terrain looked strange. "That is cow dung which is left there to dry,"  I was told "it makes good fuel and we therefore sell it." Always a creative solution.

With an Intervolve scholarship Birtkuan (Orange) Kuma went to school and was educated in nursing. In a hospital near Hawassa she did her internship and now she runs the health center in the Kebele 106 area. People from that area can come to her with their health issues. She also leads the health campaigns, takes care of bedridden patients and provides homebased care for two people who have aids. She is responsible for the professional administration of the Tenachin (meaning 'our health') community based insurance association, the only insurance scheme for poor communities in town.

 

Birtkuan's mother works for the dairy farm. Her father and brother were trained in construction skills. And another brother is a member of the saving and credit cooperative. Late 2004 when Intervolve's project was initiated, the minimum income for this household was 70 Birr per month. This has now risen to 500 Birr per month.

At the northern edge of East London Own Having Housing Association is developing an area in which both houses to be rented out and houses to be sold are being build. Appartment buildings and regular houses are arising. The first appartment buildings have been delivered in June. Below a picture. And more pictures in our image database.

To be able to involve the inhabitants of Sopom (Douala, Cameroon) in the project as much as possible, the Association pour le Developpment Economique et Social du quartier Sopom was established. This resident's organisation has an important part in the implementation of our project in Cameroon. That is why the board is now working on restructuring and attention will be paid to strengths, weaknesses and challenges ahead. Together with a local advisor a new workplan will be made the coming two weeks.