Partnership Stories

• A Health Care Success Story
• Farming Technologies Bring Hope
• Combating HIV/AIDS with Creativity
• Helping Gardens and Farmers Flourish
• Breaking the Poverty Cycle through Education
• Library Renews Excitement in Reading

• Costa Rica

  A group living in the mountains of Costa Rica has improved its health care by forming an action committee with the help of a Peace Corps Volunteer.

  The highest mountain peaks in Costa Rica are home to the nation’s indigenous people. This strikingly beautiful area is plagued by numerous health problems and is in need of financial resources for several local health clinics. The region also suffers from a severe lack of qualified and trained medical professionals, contributing to the area’s high infant mortality rate. The area’s population exceeds 2,000, but there is only one doctor to provide care. Due to a lack of funds for repairs and construction, the local health clinics served by this doctor were unsanitary and posed a severe health risk to those who visited.

  Following the creation of the action committee, three community health groups were formed to identify the major problems at each medical facility serving the region’s eight villages. The Volunteer helped these groups write a Peace Corps Partnership Program proposal, requesting $2,300 to help rebuild three dilapidated health clinics in the region. Overcoming major obstacles, such as transporting materials over rugged terrain and poor weather conditions, the community was able to reconstruct the local health clinics. The surrounding communities were able to contribute 41 percent of the project’s total cost by providing labor and covering transportation costs.

  The clinics now provide medical services in proper, sanitary conditions. The improved cleanliness dramatically heightened the local population’s awareness of the importance of maintaining high sanitary conditions in every aspect of their lives. The committee leading this project also realized what tremendous change can be brought about as a result of determination and community support.

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• Madagascar

  Nearly 800 families in several villages in Madagascar grow and harvest approximately 383 tons of rice each year. Rice is a staple of each meal. Unfortunately, preparing rice for consumption is a tedious, time-consuming process, as each grain must be removed from its hull via hand-pounding. Women and girls spend time each morning and evening pounding the rice that will be consumed daily. Machines to mechanically hull the harvested rice would not only reduce the time and labor necessary to hull rice, but would provide women with an opportunity to empower themselves by participating in income generation activities such as basket and mat weaving. Hundreds of households would benefit from the introduction of these simple hulling machines.

  Realizing that the community did not possess the financial resources to purchase a rice-hulling machine, a Peace Corps Volunteer, in collaboration with a local community association composed of members from three villages, wrote a proposal to request funds for constructing such a machine. As part of its contribution to the project, the community would contribute labor and transportation costs.

  Once the machine is operating at full capacity (approximately 20 days a month), the three-village community association will be able to generate a profit to sustain the association and make improvements in the adjoining villages. The remaining profit will be kept and managed by the community association treasurer to cover emergency machine repairs, maintenance costs, and fuel.

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• Ukraine

  Ukraine has the fastest growing rate of HIV/AIDS in Europe due to unsafe sex practices and intravenous drug use among youth. This trend is a major concern for a country undergoing economic transformation following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The lives of Ukraine’s youth will be forever impacted by this looming crisis unless the trend can be reversed.

  In response, several Peace Corps Volunteers, in conjunction with their host communities, implemented camp H.E.A.L. (Human Trafficking, Education, HIV/AIDS, and Leadership). Thirty youth, ages 16-21, from throughout the country attended the camp in eastern Ukraine for 10 days. Camp H.E.A.L. provided a unique environment for youth to come together to learn about HIV/AIDS and participate in leadership and team building activities.

  The camp provided information about HIV/AIDS through the development of a nationwide peer education program. Participants attended various classes on topics such as biology of HIV/AIDS, stigma and discrimination, peer listening/education, peer pressure, self-esteem, and counter-human trafficking techniques.

  Working with a team of Volunteers, students brainstormed strategies for teaching in their hometowns what they learned at camp. Four students from one small town in western Ukraine decided to teach pupils at their former high school about the biology and transmission of HIV/AIDS and included a lesson on stigma and discrimination. At the end of the lesson, the pupils participated in an art contest, where the winning drawings were printed on greeting cards. There was so much enthusiasm for the project that two other groups of students decided to implement a similar technique in their communities.

  The front of each card features the youth artists and the back features the slogan, “Youth Helping Youth Fight HIV/AIDS,” statistical information about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Ukraine, the camp’s logo, and information about the artists in both English and Ukrainian. These cards were printed and sold in the hometowns of participating Volunteers to generate funds for a future camp. Over 50 sets of cards were sold and mailed throughout the United States and Ukraine, educating both those who send and receive them.

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• Gambia

  The life of a farmer is inevitably tedious, but several villages in the Gambia have struggled even more due to wild animals who consume their crops. These villages lack the financial resources to construct fences to keep the wildlife out of their gardens, further jeopardizing their ability to feed their families.

  Several women’s groups in neighboring villages discussed this situation with a Peace Corps Volunteer living in the area. Together, these groups wrote an application for a Peace Corps Partnership Program project grant that would provide them with the financial resources to clear additional land and construct proper fences with posts and barbed wire to protect their crops. The groups agreed to provide the labor, agricultural skill, and know-how necessary to implement the project.

  The constructed fences ensured that the gardens in these villages would be protected from wildlife, allowing families to meet their food needs. As a result of clearing more land for crop production, more women were enabled to become involved in the gardens’ maintenance. Previously, the garden was not large enough to support the number of women interested in growing produce. Additional positive outcomes included an increased food supply and better nutrition for families.

  As more women participate, the gardens’ yields increase, which means some of the produce can be sold for profit. These profits are used to help finance small community needs and save money for larger projects. As the gardens continue to flourish, the community hopes the profit will help pay for the construction of wells to ensure that potable water is more readily available.

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• Costa Rica

  As Costa Rica continues to develop, more jobs require well-educated employees with strong skill sets, thereby making access to education a national priority. A mountain community nestled on the country’s western coast has struggled for decades to escape the harsh subsistence farming cycle. While the community understands the importance of providing children with an education, only five of the 20 kindergarten-aged children attended because the closest kindergarten was a three-hour walk away.

  Once these children started their elementary education, they were at a disadvantage compared to those who were able to attend kindergarten. Recognizing the role education plays in breaking the poverty cycle, the local school committee recognized the importance of providing a classroom for kindergarten classes in their own town.

  Working with a local Peace Corps Volunteer in their community, the school committee wrote a Peace Corps Partnership Program proposal to help cover the costs of constructing and equipping a kindergarten classroom where local children could learn. The total project cost was approximately $3,900 and the community’s contribution was an impressive 40 percent of this amount.

  During the fall and winter months, community members volunteered their time to construct the schoolhouse. Once the beautiful blue paint went up, the town was pleased with what they could accomplish by working together and, more importantly, the kids were excited to finally be able to attend kindergarten. This project has been a tremendous success for this community, with all 20 kindergarten-aged children now attending school. The community continues to look for ways to produce well-educated students who are demanded by the country’s evolving economy.

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• Philippines

  The Delegate Angel Salazar Jr. Memorial School Special Education Center was built to help 350 students with learning disabilities, physical handicaps, and other special needs meet their full educational potential. While the center’s teachers and other support staff are very committed to each of the students, parents, local community members, and the parent-teacher organization were concerned that the school’s outdated, drab-looking condition was not inviting or motivating for the students.

  By working with a Peace Corps Volunteer, school staff members wrote a Peace Corps Partnership Program proposal that would combine a renovation of the library with a “Drop Everything and Read” (DEAR) enrichment program in order to motivate and encourage these special education students to become lifelong readers and learners.

  Parents, teachers, and students were all very active in developing plans to lay new, easier to maintain flooring, modifying bookshelves to provide improved access to even the youngest readers, installing more functional lighting, and purchasing stimulating storybooks, reference books, maps, encyclopedias, and other learning materials. The community’s contribution, including a large percentage of the construction materials and labor, totaled more than 30 percent of the project’s total budget of just over $2,000.

  Construction was completed in the final weeks of the school year, giving project coordinators and organizers enough time to fill the library with the newly purchased resources materials. The entire community is excited and looking forward to initiating the DEAR program, as well as a student-volunteer program in which older students will orient new students to the library at the beginning of the school year.

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Last updated Mar 13 2009