Our Projects and Other Links - Caterham Overseas Aid Trust

: Harvest Help is a charity helping families in rural Africa out of poverty. We:- help people grow enough food to feed their families; - help them find ways of earning a living; - help communities manage their own development. Give to Grow Project in Teso, north east Uganda, where many households survive through subsistence farming. More than 50% of the population are living on less than 15p a day. Self Help Africa is supporting 1,000 small holder farmers to grow more and earn more from their land with improved quality seeds and cuttings and small livestock, training in farming technologies and basic business skills so that they can become more independent and resilient, so working their way out of poverty. This is a new project for us and work has already started although the official launch is in January.

: WaterAid is an international charity. Our mission is to overcome poverty by enabling the world’s poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Foundations for the Future Water Aid has approached us to support an ambitious three year project (already started) in the Dolakha district of Nepal. Located about 135km north east of Kathmandu, this is home to one of the most marginalised ethnic groups, the Thami community - a hill tribe of 30,000 people often missed out of development projects. Long lasting clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene will be provided for the community including twenty schools. This is an area used by climbers to 'warm up' before tackling Mount Everest: the biggest mountains, the widest valleys and the heaviest monsoon rains making it much harder to reach people in remote areas. Water and sanitation-related diseases are among the biggest public health problems, which is why children often don't make it to their fifth birthdays. Gravity flow systems will be used at higher altitudes and pumped systems when delivering water from below.

: Is small still beautiful? We think it is. In an increasingly divided and fragile world, Practical Action aims to demonstrate and advocate the sustainable use of technology to reduce poverty in developing countries. Practical Action was founded in 1966, as ITDG (the Intermediate Technology Development Group), by the radical economist Dr EF Schumacher to prove that his philosophy of ‘Small is Beautiful’ could bring real and sustainable improvements to people’s lives. With our commitment to poverty reduction, environmental conservation and technology choice we think Practical Action is uniquely placed to contribute to a world free of poverty. Practical Action has a unique approach to development – we don't start with technology, but with people. The tools may be simple or sophisticated – but to provide long-term, appropriate and practical answers, they must be firmly in the hands of local people: people who shape technology and control it for themselves.

: News of three volunteers : Sarika Prathapan from Cambridge, is a neonatal nurse sharing her skills and knowledge with medical students in Mulu Asefa Primary Hospital in Tigray, Ethiopia - caring for premature and sick babies, mothers in labour (often severely malnourished), with little equipment, frequent and long lasting power cuts and terrible roads. http://www.volunteerview.org/sarika Wilma de Jong from the Netherlands, a financial controller in Mtwara, a city on the south east coast of Tanzania where she helps to set up and grow businesses, providing training in basic accounting, loans etc. Sadly Wilma tripped and broke her ankle, needing two lots of surgery and so has not been able to work. The good news is that she is doing well and will be back in Tanzania very soon. http://www.volunteerview.org/wilma And then we have Anne Law, a retired head teacher from Kingaussie, Scotland, whose passion is education who is working as a teacher trainer in Dhading, Nepal, on the Sisters for Sisters project, pairing older girls (Big Sisters) who have finished school with younger girls (Little Sisters) who are at risk of leaving school through early marriage, domestic duties, menstrual taboos. http://www.volunteerview.org/anne Geraint Jenkins has been invited to be a judge on the VSO Volunteer Impact Awards panel. These people truly are volunteers, giving up their jobs and salaries here and living just the same as the people they are helping.

: Tools for Self Reliance is a small UK based charity working to help relieve poverty in Africa. Our approach to development is to focus on the artisan sector in rural communities. We have a small number of staff and hundreds of volunteers who help to collect and refurbish tools, and who actively campaign against the causes of poverty. We have been a registered charity since 1980.

: C.H.E.C.K. Community Health and Education for Children of Kimilili (Kenya)promotes and support education and health of young people in Kimilili by providing funding for facilities, scholarships and grants. Our aim is to improve the capacity & skills of the disadvantaged people of Kimilili so that they can develop a more fulfilling and happy life. We need your help either with a donation or pupil sponsorship. We are seeking corporate sponsorship from local businesses. Volunteers are always welcome to help with fundraising events.