Haller works with rural farming communities in Kenya, improving their self-sufficiency through sustainable food production, safe water, accessible healthcare and education. Prospero helped them to benefit 84,000 people by securing funding from 6 separate supporters.
The Beneficiaries' story: the Village of Mitedi
Mitedi has approximately 600 people; almost half are children. It is one of the most remote communities that Haller currently supports. What is most striking about Mitedi is how few men there are and how barren the land is. There are few trees and the soil is rock hard with little vegetation due to the poor quality of the soil. The closest source of water is approximately four hours walk, making it difficult to have sufficient water for their household use, let alone irrigate any plants. Mitedi approached Haller in 2007 to assist them to become self-sufficient.
In less than 12 months, Mitedi's population has nearly doubled in size as other families have joined the community as a result of its success. Mitedi now has four rain-fed dams, enough food to eat and a surplus to sell, a community nursery school for the children, an outreach medical centre to help prevent and treat illnesses and biogas for cooking and light in the community centre.
Haller is now working with Mitedi to develop micro-businesses, teaching the skills required and providing seed capital to help develop the community's micro-economy. Surplus energy from the biogas plant is already being sold to other communities and we plan to establish solar energy kiosks to provide power to recharge batteries such as mobile phones.
Haller's integrated model helps communities to become self-sufficient in a sustainable manner, thereby breaking the poverty cycle they faced prior to the charity's involvement. The multiplier effect of bringing together access to water, farmer training, community health and education has been transformational for those living in Mitedi.
Haller's story
Prospero
have been involved with Haller since 2006. In that time,
they have really helped us to release our potential. Prospero's confidence
in Haller and the new partnerships we have made as a result have enabled
us to get three new environmental and health projects off the drawing board
and into delivery in under twelve months.
We have been able to roll out our pilot projects from a small 1000 sq/ft demonstration farm to over 4 communities in rural Mombassa.
Nine dams have been built with additional farmer training provided. Each dam supports around 1,000 people per day plus livestock. Another major investment purchased a 4 wheel drive mobile medical unit and built 3 medical outreach treatment rooms in outlying communities. Overall, we estimate that 84,000 people have benefited from the projects funded through Prospero.
We found that Prospero are also proactive in connecting like-minded charities with each other to share best practice and ideas, ensuring that the wheel is not constantly being reinvented.
Haller is now developing an organisational strategy to take our work beyond Mombasa. We are very excited at what we have already accomplished and our future plans for transition from a project in Coastal Kenya to a truly ecological model for community development in East Africa.
Niduk Wijayasingha, Director Haller 2009
Prospero's story
Haller was referred to Prospero in 2006 by a contact who had been very impressed with the charity's transformational work in Mombasa, Kenya. We were attracted by their holistic approach which combines solutions for water, agricultural training, health, education and nano-financing with their aim to redress the balance between human development and its impact on the environment
Initially Prospero watched a film about the Foundation. In it, Swiss scientist Dr Rene Haller after whom the foundation is named, explained how positioning a chicken coop above a fish pond enables chicken droppings to fall into the water, stimulating algae growth. This feeds the fish and enriches the water, which is then used to irrigate nearby crops. Fish and chicken droppings are then scraped out from the bottom of the pond and used as compost. Nothing is wasted. Biogas is generated from this sludge. The fish and chickens themselves provide protein and can be sold to generate income. It was clear how well thought through the work was and how much sense it made.
Prospero met the Foundation's Director and arranged to visit their work in Kenya during an African fieldtrip. Seeing Rene Haller and his team in action was inspiring and convincing. He had single-handedly rehabilitated the Larforgue cement quarries in four years, creating an oasis out of barren limestone quarries. Now he was continuing to seek long-term solutions for the communities around these quarries in rural Kenya. We filmed him in action.
Prospero began recommending the Foundation to donors and money started to come in.
Back in London, Prospero arranged a short screening of our film about Haller, inviting a handful of potential donors. The work inspired everyone who heard about it. More funding came in. Prospero also sponsored Haller to present a pilot biogas project at a Funding Network event, which generated over £7,000 from new individual donors.
Our involvement with Haller is a really successful illustration of what Prospero seeks to achieve by finding philanthropic investment for inspiring small projects. Prospero's recommendations have now generated over £100,000 for Haller since 2007. This includes many repeat donations.
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