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The feature below is brought to you by Development in Gardening, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about DIG, please visit their website page: here.  Planting seeds of beauty.In a time when the news and the world challenge us to find hope, a garden reminds us to believe in the beauty and abundance that is promised to come. Audrey Hepburn once said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” When committed to some of the world’s most broken stories in some of the world’s darkest places, this belief in the abundance of tomorrow is life giving. Like the magic intrinsic in a seed, DIG remains rooted in hope. We believe that food and how it’s cultivated is a place where we can all come together to have a collective impact. And, while we all have a role to play in ensuring a more just food system, DIG has prioritized vulnerable communities who are often left behind by a development model they can’t access on their own. Addressing the nutritional needs of the ultra-poor, the physically disabled, the elderly, people living with HIV, chronically malnourished children and refugees, we are committed to serving the margins. Communities often found on the bottom of the bottom of the pyramid, the ones overlooked because affecting change here is hard. Alongside these unique communities, DIG grows beautiful by designing gardens that improve livelihoods, nutrition and deepens their sense of community belonging. There is, perhaps, no community where our intimate approach is more necessary than in our work with the Batwa of Southwest Uganda. For generations the Batwa, derogatorily referred to as the pygmies, lived as hunters and gatherers in the equatorial rainforests of central Africa. They took only what they needed to survive and, in many ways, protected the ecosystem of the forest. But in the early 1990’s the international community put pressure on the Ugandan government to protect the dwindling mountain gorilla population and preserve the remaining forests which were rapidly being cut down for farmland. These beautiful forests are one of the most biodiverse places on the planet and are crucial to regulating the earth’s ecosystem. The forests absolutely needed protection, however, their protection came at a cost to human lives. At a time when conservation and humanity were seen to be adversarial, the Batwa were evicted from their ancestral land, given no compensation to ease their loss, and were forced to assimilate to an agrarian society. With no representation in the government, no formal education, and seen to be different from their neighboring tribes, their assimilation outside the forest was traumatizing. They were stigmatized and marginalized, have been victims of repeated sexual and physical violence and maintain few viable livelihoods to provide for their families. The latest study gave them a life expectancy as low as 28 years old. Slowly through advocacy and support from local organizations, many Batwa have secured small plots of land peppered along steep mountain sides along the forest’s edge. Here they have been trying to make their way in a new world, but agriculture is a new practice for the Batwa and they have continued to struggle.   It’s here where DIG is best positioned to help, filling the gaps and designing solutions in partnership with the communities we serve. Since 2016, we have been adapting our cost effective and culturally appropriate model to support the Batwa’s new journey with agriculture. Today our Batwa farmers are feeding their families diverse nutrient-dense diets. They are earning an income from the sale of their excess produce and restoring degraded agricultural land they are now living on. What is perhaps most exciting is that DIG’s Batwa farmers are becoming known amongst their peers for having agricultural skills and knowledge that other Ugandans value. It’s easy to have a mindset that innovations for today’s challenges have to be high tech, sweeping and expensive solutions. Bigger and better than what we’ve done before because challenges today feel bigger than they’ve ever been. And in some ways they are, but sometimes the most transformative innovations are generated when we slow down, and think small. When we take the time to listen and work alongside the communities we aim to serve. Sometimes the most appropriate and beautiful response is a small shift that can be implemented at the grassroots level with respect and dignity and a focus on feasibility for the people we are aiming to serve. When we take the time to properly nourish ourselves and cultivate the earth in a restorative way, we see a world that is more secure and more beautiful. We will improve our economic productivity, transform our health and make huge strides to ensure that the earth can provide for generations to come. There is exponential beauty found in the smallest of seeds.  Submitted by Sarah Koch Executive Director and Founder, DIG
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The feature below is brought to you by Community Mobilization Against Poverty, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about CMAP, please visit their website page: here.  Collaborating with FarmersCMAP strongly believes that poor soil health, inadequate crop diversity, lack of crop rotation and poor farm planning are among the primary factors contributing to rural poverty, poor family health and environmental degradation in Kenya. These negative trends can only be reversed if farmers can obtain access to relevant technical information about low cost biologically based alternatives. Moreover, the rate of use and sustainability can be increased if farmers learn how to test and refine these alternatives. CMAP’s overall strategy, therefore bears three primary components; adaptive research [for technology generation, verification and transfer] extension [for technology transfer, scaling up and exit strategies] and publication [for documentation, collaboration and dissemination]. The adaptive research and extension programs are independent and closely linked by design. The adaptive research program carries extension methods [on-farm trials, farmer group training and discussions, farmer-to- farmer visits, individual farmer follow-ups, farmer tours, field days, and farmer group evaluations] in order to influence the transfer and adoption of beneficial results. The extension program bears elements of research [on-farm trials] in order to elicit farmer evaluation and subsequent adoption of desirable practices. The publication component is a function of program activities, farmer interactions and networking. The project mostly covers remote parts of Trans-Nzoia County. The dominant soils are low in natural soil health. Baseline data collected in the target communities indicates that almost three-quarters of the economically active population is composed of subsistence farmers –with an average land holding of 1-10acres. Because of population pressure the size of family land holdings has continued to decrease. The average family size is 6; polygamy is also common. The level of family income, which is mostly derived from farm produce, is very low. 60% of farmers get approximately US$100 from the sale of farm produce. Most of these farmers are are living in poverty. Crop production is dominated by maize [90% of cultivated land], intercropped with common beans. Crop yields are extremely low due to poor soil health and increasing pest and disease problems. Crop diversity is inadequate with farmers in these communities facing an average of 3.3 hunger months annually. Due to a myriad of economic factors, farmers are no longer able to purchase agricultural inputs. In the hope of raising cash, farmers often delay planting. Most of them end up applying no fertilizers. Others end up replanting hybrid maize seeds from the previous season’s harvest. This situation exacerbates their farm productivity problems. They are frantically looking for more sustainable alternatives. Our major emphasis is on transforming food and agricultural systems, through addressing the root causes of challenges facing the small-scale farmers in an integrated way and providing holistic and long-term solutions without these solutions becoming new challenges. This focus is primarily vested in the adaptive research program to conduct both on-station and on-farm experimentation. The program has succeeded in developing a variety of promising component technologies with the help of farmer input and collaboration. CMAP has made progress in helping farmers to attempt to integrate the technologies into their production systems. Early work on organic /inorganic fertilizer combinations has resulted in dramatic yield increase by farmers. This particular fertilization alternative is being widely adopted by the majority of farmer participants. CMAP has identified two drought tolerant legumes, lablab and mucuna , as the most promising species for producing a substantial amount of dry matter during the four-month dry season when the land is otherwise fallow. Together with farmers, the organization has explored the species green manure potential and the possibilities for incorporating them into the existing cropping system. The target farmers are adopting the lablab based system because [I] incorporating the residues dramatically increases maize yield. [ii] they feel that the labour demands associated with an in-situ legume based system are substantially lower than using composts as maize fertilizer. The organization has verified and evaluated-together with the farmer collaborators- improved bean varieties]. Desirable varieties of soya beans, cowpeas, Irish potatoes and on open pollinated maize variety have also been tested and evaluated with farmers. Participating farmers are now multiplying and maintaining their own seed stock of these crop varieties. A model farm been has been initiated to stimulate the farmers’ situations. The two-acre farm acts as a farmer-training tool in farm planning. Many farmers have appreciated that it is possible to plan and satisfy the family’s basic needs from a small land holding. Farmer training aids have been developed with regards to organic manure preparation and management, organic matter concepts and general soil and crop management practices. All training aids are used during farmer training workshops and have proved to be effective tools for training farmers. During 2019 period CMAP directly helped 312 small-scale farmers in five communities in their great effort for better lives. A further 108 people benefited indirectly from our activities. This group of farmers generally is realizing improved food security. There is now need to scale-up the transfer for adoption of beneficial technologies beyond the farmer collaborators, across to new communities. There is equal need to consolidate exit strategies in order to sustain technology transfer, information sharing and adoption beyond the project period. This proposal is seeking support from See Beautiful towards the scaling up of Agroecology farming methods and practices. More farmers and new communities shall be targeted. Participant farmers shall be viewed as proponents of dissemination; they will be challenged and encouraged to reach other farmers. Training workshops shall be organized for both new and old farmer collaborators. Documentation of impact and limitations shall be prioritized; the monitoring and evaluation progress shall be explicit.  Submitted by Moses MukongoDevelopment Coordinator, CMAP The feature below is brought to you by Helping Mamas, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Helping Mamas, please visit their website page: here.  Filling the Gap for MamasHelping Mamas began as a labor of love by two social workers and moms. After 15 years in the social service field, we noticed a huge gap in services. This gap was preventing families from being able to move out of poverty, feel confident in their parenting skills and provide the most basic needs for their children. Prior to Helping Mamas there was no coordinated effort to collect and distribute essential infant and children items. Diapers, wipes, car seats, and cribs are critical to health and safety of children and often the most expensive items to purchase. These items cannot be purchased through Public Assistance Programs like WIC and SNAP (formally Food Stamps). 3 in 5 moms in the United States has to choose between diapers and food for their children. Without an adequate supply of diapers, children can’t attend early childhood education programs. Without childcare, parents can’t work. This gap in services was keeping families stuck in the diaper gap and unable to see the beauty of being a parent. If you are constantly worried about providing for your child’s most basic needs, you can’t stop and feel the joy of parenting. Helping Mamas was formed to provide these essential basic needs to families who need them the most. The mission of Helping Mamas is to connect helping mamas to mamas needing help and we serve as the baby supply bank of Metro Atlanta. Our goal is to make sure all mothers and children with limited financial means have the basic needs they need thrive and grow. We collect and distribute essential infant and child items to organizations that serve women and children in need. We were able to reach over 30,000 women and children in 2019. We work with over 100 social service agencies and hospitals that serve women and children in need. These organizations list basic baby supplies, like diapers and wipes, as their main need. We are also on a mission to provide period products to women and girls who are missing up to a week of work and school because of a lack of these basic hygiene items. A new study on access to period products has found that this lack of access can also put women and girls at greater risk of depression, anxiety, and further financial barriers. Of those who have experienced period poverty, nearly two-thirds said they lack confidence because of harassment at school and experience high anxiety and depression. We already know that lack of access to menstrual products can keep people from going to school or work, prevent them from accessing opportunities, and perpetuate homelessness, but these new findings show how far-reaching the impacts of period poverty really may be. We have an immense goal of serving 50,000 low-income women and children in Metro Atlanta in 2020. We are the only nonprofit in Georgia addressing the association between lack of diapers and period supplies and how that affects our community’s economic growth, our status in education and the overall health of our population. It is not okay that girls and women in this state, let alone this country, lack the adequate supplies necessary to live and thrive. Mothers are not able to provide clean diapers for their children. Without diapers, they cannot go to daycare. Without diapers, they cannot go to work. Without period products, girls are missing up to a week of school. This is unacceptable. Our goal is to connect the dots between the people that have access and resources to the people with access to those in need. We can keep girls and women in school and employed. We can do something about this. Our team was thrilled to learn of the See Beautiful grant and to be invited to apply! The funds from a See Beautiful grant will help us create more ways to collect and distribute period products to the women we serve. Our agency partners, donors and volunteers help us see beauty through their service every day. Without them, our work wouldn’t be possible. We want to create an efficient and meaningful way for our agency partners to acquire the products to enable women and girls in our community to receive period products and remove any barriers that they face. With the support and products they need, we hope they are able to see the beautiful in themselves as well!  Submitted by Jan MayheuDirector of Community Support, Helping Mamas |
See beautiful in yourself.
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