by bhikkhu bodhi
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Our Projects
Helping Hands Newsletter
by Andrew Harvey,
BGR adviser
Our Projects
BGR projects are designed both to provide emergency food aid and to promote greater food productivity at the grassroots level. We partner with organizations that are already operating on the ground in areas of interest. MORE
Project: India |
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Task: Enable child migrant laborers to enroll in and attend school Partner: Lotus Outreach International MORE |
Project: Niger |
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Task: Micronutrient distribution to children and women in Zinder, Niger Partner: Helen Keller International MORE |
Project: Cambodia |
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Task: Provide food support to at-risk and exploited girl students Partner: Lotus Outreach International MORE |
Project: Sri Lanka |
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Task: Microfinance women’s livelihood program Partner: Sarvodaya Women’s Movement MORE |
Project: Vietnam |
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Task: Provide meals for hospital patients Partner: Local Red Cross of District Tam Binh MORE |
project: sri lanka
Task: Microfinance women’s livelihood development program
Partner: Sarvodaya Women’s Movement
BGR members: Hiranthi Jayasuriya (leader), David Braughton
Advisers: Rev. Joan Hoeberichts, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Project schedule: December 2008
Project description:
BGR awarded a grant to Sarvodaya Women’s Movement (SWM), a branch of Sarvodaya Sramadana, founded by Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, “the Gandhi of Sri Lanka.” The project helps to ease hunger and empower women in the areas of Malabe and Borella in Colombo District. The project originally aimed to support women in developing organic home gardens and creating home-based businesses using agricultural products. It naturally expanded to include sewing, wick production, and a variety of other home-based livelihoods that allow poor women without space for gardens to be productive and earn more for their families. Seela Ebert, Director of SWM, reports that the recipients of our aid were “the poorest of the poor.” SWM identified the projects according to the availability of resources within the women’s household as well as the home location, diversifying the products to avoid competition among women in the same district. BGR intends to continue partnering with SWM in the near future.
Projects such as this give hope and tangible help to those with a bleak future. By providing training and the means to develop income-producing home gardens, SWM offers sustainable economic self-sufficiency and improved nutrition to women, their families, and their communities.
