Wishing You a Great Giving Tuesday and a Merry Christmas!
Throughout the year, the Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund Newsletters focus on our progress, activities and accomplishments. Around Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday, Christmas and before the end of year, we ask for donations. We are trying to increase awareness of our impressive development work in Burundi because we believe that we have a great story and successful, long-lasting results and benefits. Moreover, we believe time has come that we need to do more and do better.
The Free Methodist Church of Burundi (the Church), Hope Africa University (the University) and Friends of Hope Africa University (Friends) are now involved in agriculture development. Our collaboration with the University, the Church and Friends has never been better or stronger. We have attracted more than 20 of the University’s Agriculture Program Graduates as Project Managers and Project Advisors to work with our agriculture development projects. Recently, we helped develop and implement a collaborative Agriculture Internship Enhancements Program for Agriculture Program Students and Graduates.
During the collaborative Enhancements Program, the Church presented descriptions of their agriculture development programs and provided a field visit to their agriculture development projects in Mwaro Province.
Our Program Coordinator, Rev. Dieudonne IRAMBONA provided a presentation and led a discussion on the Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund (HMODF) agriculture development program and our agriculture development projects.
Our successful agriculture project model involves a self-help project association of 10 to 12 poor women and involvement in crop cultivation, animal husbandry and microfinancing.
Impressive Results
- We have a total of 49 active development projects; 4 replication projects (started by 2 of our original projects) and 8 projects that have been started without a grant
- We have 48 self-help project associations; 4 replication project associations and 8 project associations for projects that started without a grant
- We have agriculture development projects in 11 provinces, 25 communes and 40 collines
- We have a total of 49 active projects and 48 are active agriculture development projects
Impressive Benefits (see Table below)
- Our agriculture development projects currently have 574 beneficiaries, mostly poor, vulnerable women
- Our project beneficiaries have about 3,444 family members who benefit from our projects
- 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 the beneficiaries and their family members
- 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 1,023 animals (mostly goats and pigs)
- Our agriculture projects have sold 661 animals to generate income for the associations and the beneficiaries
- Our projects have developed microfinancing so our beneficiaries and their family members are benefitting from income-generating activities
Needing to Do More and Do Better
Our one-time, start-up grants produce agriculture development projects 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 family members. 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 donors, more donations and larger donations.
The Free Methodist Church of Burundi, Hope Africa University (HAU) and Friends of Hope Africa University (FHAU) are now involved in agriculture development. Our collaboration with the University, the Church and Friends has never been stronger. Collaborating with the University, the HMODF is connecting some of the University’s 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 much more productive agriculture methods. The University’s Agriculture Program Graduates are more likely to have “physical presence” in community farming communities because they are much more likely to live in their home communes. With physical presence, the Agriculture Program Graduates can visit their community agriculture development projects more easily and frequently and they can provide training, demonstration and support for using more productive agriculture methods.
Collaborating with the University and the Church, we want to be able to continue with our agriculture development work but we want to do more. We want: (1) to seize the opportunity to start more new projects each year; and, (2) to make more connections with the University’s Agriculture Program Graduates. The Agriculture Program Graduates can be Project Managers and Connected Project Advisors and visit our agriculture development projects frequently and help our project beneficiaries; community farmers, learn to use much more productive agriculture methods.
Needing Your Help to Do More and Do Better
We know that your donations are great, sound investments in alleviating poverty, improving lives and making a difference through agriculture development in Burundi. Please continue to donate to the HMODF, please donate generously and please encourage your family members, friends, contacts, workmates and fellow group members to consider donating and investing in agriculture development that really works. Please help us do more and do better for poor families in Burundi.
Please consider giving and investing before the end of this year. To donate, please visit: Donations – Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund (haleymccreadyfund.com).
|
HMODF |
As of November 2024 |
||||
|
Projects |
Beneficiaries | Family Members | Goats & Pigs |
Animals Sold |
|
| US-based |
35 |
433 | 2,598 | 981 |
658 |
| CA-based |
14 |
141 | 846 | 42 |
3 |
| Total |
49 |
574 | 3,444 | 1,023 |
661 |