‘Community Development’ Articles at AMURT Disaster Relief

Women’s recovery after Nepal earthquake

Following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal AMURT has been providing skills and small enterprise training to 20 women’s groups in three communities in Sindupalchowk District. Most of the women participants are from low-income backgrounds. With AMURT’s support, the women have started enterprises ranging from liquid soap making, to tailoring, to vegetable gardening.

Americas Haiti

Haiti – Earthquake Response 2010-2011

AMURT in partnership with Kinder Not Hilfe and Catholic Relief Services run ten Child-Friendly Spaces in Port-au-Prince for 4,000 children. The purpose of the centers is to help children affected by the earthquake restore normalcy and improve overall well-being in their lives with psychosocial and educational support. Besides psychosocial, educational, and creative activities children in the Child-Friendly Spaces program receive nutritional biscuits in addition to a hot meal of rice, beans and vegetables.

Africa Nigeria

Safeguarding lives of women & children

AMURT’s model of community-based collaborative healthcare in Nigeria has proven effective, with over 1965 successful births taking place in 2016 in the seven AMURT-supported health centers in three local government areas in Ebonyi state. In Offia Oji alone, 85% of the women are coming to the health center for delivery. This is remarkable given that previsouly the vast majority of women were giving birth at home or with a traditional birth attendant, a risky endeavor if faced with any birth-related complications.

Africa Ghana

Ghana – Water and Health Projects

AMURT's involvement in the North Tongu District of Ghana's Volta Region started in 1990 in Mafi-Dekpoe with an educational campaign to combat the Guinea Worm menace. After employing meetings, house visits and theatre, the AMURT team soon realized that the best way to help the people would be to provide safe drinking water. A dam built by the Russians in the 1960's for agricultural purposes held enough water for a project to serve the ten villages. AMURT was able to build a water treatment plant using the slow sand filter technology to purify the dam water.

Kenya

Kenya: Sustainable Peer Educators

Recognizing that peer educator groups have a tendency to disband once a project ends or funding dries up, AMURT integrated income-generation activities into the mission of the Komango peer educator group as a pilot program to bolster their longevity. The group started small by selling sausages and porridge at youth-organized soccer tournaments, in addition to their normal responsibility of discussing HIV prevention with people attending the events.