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.