NEWSLETTER: Results, Benefits, Call for Proposals and Doing More

Wishing You and All of Our Readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund (HMODF) was launched and the first grants were provided to two agriculture development projects in 2011. Any student or graduate of Hope Africa University can choose to submit a project proposal. We have impressive results and impressive benefits. We have posted and distributed a Call for Proposals 2024 (see below). We want to do more but to do so we need more.

Impressive Results 

  • We have a total of 39 active development projects; 4 replication projects (started by 2 of our original projects) and 6 projects that have been started without a grant
  • We have 38 project associations; 4 replication project associations and 6 project associations for projects that started without a grant
  • We have development projects in 9 provinces, 18 communes and 28 collines
  • We have a total of 39 active projects and 38 are active agriculture development projects
Beneficiaries, Members of Four Project Associations at Our Kabez Project Location

Impressive Benefits 

  • Our development projects currently have 467 beneficiaries, mostly poor, vulnerable women 
  • Our agriculture projects have cultivated and harvested a wide variety and a huge number of crops (vegetables and grains)
  • Our agriculture projects have shared a portion of the harvests with their beneficiaries and families
  • Our agriculture projects have sold a portion of the harvests to generate income for the association to continue with self-supporting crop cultivation 
  • Our agriculture development projects currently have a total of 856 animals (mostly goats and pigs)
  • Our agriculture projects have sold 500 animals to generate income for the associations and beneficiaries 
  • Our projects have developed microfinancing so our beneficiaries are benefitting from income-generating activities 

US-Based HALEY McCREADY OUTREACH AND DEVELOPMENT FUND

Call for Proposals

Submission Deadline: January 31, 2024

Overseen by the Burundi Advisory Committee, the Student Grants Program of the US-Based Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund provides one-time, start-up grants to students and graduates of Hope Africa University who submit a project proposal for an agriculture development project in Burundi. Any student or graduate who is willing to be a long term volunteer Project Manager is eligible to apply. Interested students and graduates are encouraged to submit a proposal, using the Application Package 2024 and its proposal outline, format and instructions.

The projects must address obvious agriculture needs and have the potential to produce significant, lasting change. Applicants must clearly explain how their proposed project will alleviate poverty, develop beneficiaries’ capacity and become self-supporting, self-managing, self-governing and self-sustaining. We expect projects that (1) organize 8 to 12 poor women; (2) develop self-help associations; (3) cultivate crops; (4) distribute goats or pigs; and, (5) develop microfinancing (see examples: www.HaleyMcCreadyFund.com).

The proposals must be well-written and clearly describe how the objectives will be met, how the beneficiaries will be meaningfully involved, and how the benefits will be shared with the beneficiaries and their families.

The grants are for the BIF equivalent of $1,500.00 USD. The start-up, implementation period will normally be about12 months but the projects are expected to become self-sustaining and continue long into the future, see examples on our website: www.HaleyMcCreadyFund.com.

  • All applications or proposals must be submitted in English or French as e-mail Word file attachments to John McCready, using the 2024 proposal outline, format and instructions.
  • All applications must be submitted by January 31, 2024.

For an Application Package that contains the 2024 proposal outline, format and instructions and questions about the use of the proposal outline and format, you must e-mail John McCready in English.

John.McCready@HealthyHorizonsConsulting.com

Needing More to Do More

Our one-time, start-up grants produce agriculture development projects that become self-supporting, self-managing, self-governing and self-sustaining. Our development projects clearly alleviate poverty and improve the lives of poor, vulnerable women and their families. Although our projects are hugely successful, we have the opportunity to do more and to do better but we need to be able to afford to do more.  To do more and do better, we need more donations, larger donations and more donors.

The Free Methodist Church of Burundi (FMCoB), Hope Africa University (HAU) and Friends of Hope Africa University (FHAU) are now involved in agriculture development. We want to collaborate with the FMCoB, HAU, FHAU and our United States Advisory Committee to develop the critical Agriculture Extension Program. The development of the critical Agriculture Extension Program refers to developing and providing collaborative outreach agriculture services for community farmers in their own fields and communities throughout Burundi: (1) accessible practical training on modern more productive methods; (2) accessible practical demonstration on modern more productive methods; and, (3) accessible ongoing, follow-up support on using modern more productive methods.

Collaborating with the University, the HMODF has been trying to connect with the HAU Agriculture Program Graduates to our agriculture development projects because Burundian community farmers use traditional less productive agriculture methods and they need and want easy access to practical training, practical demonstration and practical ongoing support on using modern more productive agriculture methods. Our volunteer Project Managers are not trained in modern agriculture methods, they live in the City of Bujumbura and their agriculture development projects are outside the City. The HAU Agriculture Program Graduates know the modern more productive agriculture methods and they have “physical presence” because they live in their home communes, they can visit community agriculture development projects more easily and frequently and they can provide training, demonstration and support for using modern more productive methods.

We want to be able to continue our agriculture development work but we want to do more and we want: (1) to seize the opportunity to start more new projects each year; and, (2) to make more connections with the HAU Agriculture Program Graduates who can visit our agriculture development projects frequently and help our beneficiaries; community farmers, learn to use modern more productive agriculture methods.  

Please remember that Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world. We know that your donations are great, sound investments in alleviating poverty, improving lives and making a difference through agriculture development in Burundi. If you are able, please continue to donate to the HMODF, please donate generously and please encourage your family members, friends and contacts to consider donating/investing in agriculture development that really works.

Please consider investing in agriculture development and, if possible, please donate before the end of this year; please visit: Donations – Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund (haleymccreadyfund.com).