Better Lives 2016 Impact Report

.

Highlights


Programs and projects helped:
200 Families
11 Schools
5,000 Children
79 Visiting Students

Better Lives was incorporated as a non-profit in 2011, and our major donor the WFCF private foundation had been supporting many of our partners since 2009.  It is wonderful to think about the  families and children our partners have helped in the last six years.  Helping them move towards food and income self-reliance.

It is also wonderful to think of our partners and their staff moving along their own path to self-reliance.  Acting as good examples to families who share the vision of self-reliance.

Please enjoy reading our impact measures and stories in this report, and our partners’ highlights of the year at the end of this report.

Read more …

Most Impactful Implementation


Our Partners implemented:
8 programs
126 projects

.

Siem Reap, KH – Poun Ping family improves life by participating in Rent-to-own program – 28 Oct 2016

Poun, his wife and four children are the second family to move into a Rent-to-own home on Peaksneng Thormacheat shop’s development lot.  They love their new home and are able to maintain two productive organic vegetable gardens and raise two cows on their property.

Read more …

Hosting Student Groups


Our partners hosted students groups from the UK and Canada:

5 groups
79 students
.

Battambang, KH – Beechwood students travel from UK to help garden shop and families – 22 Jul 2016

Thirteen students and two teachers worked closely with the garden shop team to implement community projects including; compost & natural spray making, organic vegetable garden and family toilet building. The group also collaborated with a local teacher training college for interactive English teaching lessons and a football (soccer) game with local university students.

Read more …

Path Stage: Access Resources


# Families
22 graduated from the stage
0 working to graduate

22 families received a consistent water supply and graduated to the next stage of Apply Knowledge to learn how to build and maintain an organic vegetable garden.

.
Mt Kilimanjaro, TZ – Long-time gardener continues improving life for his family – 19 Aug 2016

After 3 years of maintaining a productive vegetable garden, the father of the Msaranga family is finally seeing his biggest dream come true. His family now has affordable water piped directly to their home. This improvement will reduce their water bill by as much as 10,000 TZS (USD $5.00) per week, will provide a new source of income from selling water to neighbors, and enable the family to increase the size of their vegetable garden.

Read more…

Path Stage: Apply Knowledge


# Families
66 graduated from the stage
21 working to graduate

66 families received organic vegetable garden training and graduated to the Strengthen Health stage because they are successfully maintaining their gardens and feeding their families consistently.

Kikondo, UG – Soil nourishing training gets families excited for vegetable gardens – 28 May 2016

Wamukisa held their first organic agriculture training today. Over 20 families came out to attend the training, which focused on the benefits and basic concepts of soil nourishment.

Read more…

Path Stage: Strengthen Health


# Families
73 graduated from the stage
108 working to graduate

73 families consistently earned income from selling surplus vegetables and graduated to the Earn Income stage.

.

Siem Reap, KH – Chea plans to further expand productive garden – 4 Mar 2016

Chea and his family work very hard to improve their lives. They have consistently maintained a productive garden, fattened pigs, raised cows, and are now farming fish.

They earn US$30 per month by selling vegetables from their garden and are eager to expand it further.

Read more…

Path Stage: Earn Income


# Families
7 graduated from stage
65 working to graduate stage
40 Saving

11 Received Loan

3 of the 7 graduating families have moved into rent-to-own homes.

40 families are saving money in order to qualify for an income generating loan.

11 families received income generating loans.
.

Battambang, KH – Nhoung Veoun sells pigs for large profit – 14 Oct 2016

The Nhoung Veoun family earned US$400 net income from selling four pigs at their local market.  They were able to gain this good price because of it being Cambodia’s second biggest religious holiday called Pchun Ben.  A time to roast pigs!

Read more …

Path Stage: Improve Home


# Families
4 graduated from stage
12 working to graduate
4 received loans
.

4 graduating families have improved their homes so that they are now weather tight, have a constructed floor and electric light so that their children can do their homework and read at night.

.

.

Siem Reap, KH – Improving home is first priority for Weun Ti Family – 25 Nov 2016

Weun grew up in very poor living conditions which he believes attributed to the health and learning issues he experienced early in his life. He is determined to build a better living environment for his three young children by providing a home that is safe, secure and healthy.

Read more …

Path Stage: Enhance Education


11 Schools helped
4,800 Children helped

.
.
.

11 schools are working with our partners to provide almost 5,000 children with a safe and encouraging learning environment.

This includes infrastructure projects like  water supply, toilets, wash basins and kitchens.  These facilities and school breakfast improve the students’ health,  attendance and attention in class.

Moshi, TZ – New kitchen improves hygiene  and efficiency of school breakfast – 13 June 2016

Students and teachers at Mwangaria Primary School are happy to have a new kitchen that will improve the hygiene and efficiency of cooking school breakfast.

Read more …

Africa Highlights


Programs and projects helped:
64 Families
200 Children
14 Visiting Students

Lishe Bora implemented:
6 Programs
20 Projects

Lishe Bora shop’s relationship with the Mkyashi community grew by leaps and bounds this year.  The shop-sponsored water project supplied nine families with home water connections and dozens more purchased water from the connected families, which reduced their walking time to collect water and water bill.

The shop helped organize over forty families into two community banking groups in Kirua and Mkyashi, so that they could save and borrow more easily.  The shop’s new agricultural supply store has been well received by the community because it benefits local farmers because they now avoid trips to the local town and pay less for tools and agricultural inputs.

Read more…

Africa Highlights


Programs and projects helped:
3 Families
1,912 Children
.

SODAT implemented:
2 Programs
6 Projects

SODAT continued to focus on providing school breakfast in 2016. Kabalenzi, Mukibogoye, and Mukirehe Primary Schools all continued to receive nutritional breakfast flour throughout the year.

SODAT also collaborated with all three of those schools to build new fuel efficient stoves. The stoves reduce the economic and environmental costs of burning wood, and also reduce smoke in the cooking area which is important for the health of the cooks.

Mukibogoye Primary School is piloting SODAT’s “Grow Your Own Breakfast” program. SODAT helped the school plant 600 banana trees and expand their vegetable gardening area to 84 beds. They hope they have staged the people, processes, and parts for a successful 2017.

Read more…

Africa Highlights


Programs and projects helped:
7 Schools
2,854 Children
14 Visiting Students

Tupendane implemented:
5 Programs
25 Projects

Tupendane turned its focus in 2016 to helping schools grow their own breakfast ingredients as part of a sustainable “Grow Your Own Breakfast” program.

6 schools continued to receive nutritional flour for school breakfast and 3 of those began a pilot program to grow their own breakfast through a mix of farming commodity crops like corn and beans, growing organic vegetables, and starting school banana plantations. Progress in 2016 including clearing land, digging wells, and expanding existing vegetable gardens.

Kahe Primary School school also received a new toilet, which Tupendane built with funds won at the Dar es Salaam Charity Goat Races, and Mwangaria Primary School received a new kitchen.

Read more…

Africa Highlights


Programs and projects helped:
23 Families
119 Children
.

Wamukisa implemented:
2 Programs
9 Projects

In 2016 Wamukisa completed Phase 1 of their community water project. They also offered training sessions about water harvesting and filtering water from cooking and cleaning for use irrigating gardens.

Improved water access enable Wamukisa to expand their demonstration organic vegetable gardens and begin training families about soil nourishment and vegetable growing.

In total, 8 families started vegetable gardens with Wamukisa in 2016. Those families are working to achieve consistent harvests.

Wamukisa also started a commercial garden which is intended to contribute towards the team’s sustainability and also improve income earning opportunities for local families.

Read more…

Asia Highlights


Programs and projects helped:
50 Families
144 Children
28 Visiting Students

Healthy Life implemented:
3 Programs
25 Projects

This year Healthy life trained and assisted 17 families in building organic vegetable gardens.  These families received regular mentoring which helped them maintain  productive and healthy gardens.

The micro-loan program helped 6 families earn a profit from fattening and selling pigs and is receiving attention from the communities around Battambang.

The shop sold 12 tons of compost to local farms, helping to promote organic farming in the area.

Salee has renovated a guesthouse to accommodate groups of students and travelers where they will learn about the shop’s solutions to poverty and healthy living promotion.

Read more…

Asia Highlights


Programs and projects helped:
64 Families
214 Children
37 Visiting Students

Peaksneng implemented:
3 Programs
39 Projects

This year Peaksneng Thormacheat Shop trained and assisted 28 families in building organic vegetable gardens.  These families received regular mentoring which helped them maintain  productive and healthy gardens.

The Rent-to-own program has received a lot of interest from the community, with 3 new homes built in 2016 and a number of applicants.

The shop plans to grow its own vegetable growing and to start an Eco-lodge for visitors to come and learn about sustainable solutions to poverty.

Read more…