 BACKGROUND: This strategy document was developed in 2019, and carried on through the Covid-19 Crisis in 2020, and is continuing to touch close to 30,000 individuals in more than 12 villages of Hope. Dufatanye Organization (DO)(which means “joining together”) is a local Non-Governmental Organization(LNGO) based in the Nyanza District, Southern Province of Rwanda. It began in 2004 as an association helping people living with HIVAids and became a registered NGO in 2015. Nyanza district has 77,522 households (323,719 individuals, 157,650 men, 166,069 women) in which 50% of the population is children. Within Nyanza the poverty rate is reported as 17.6%, but reality shows that the poverty is much higher in the villages. Along with the high poverty rate there is much hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy affecting 98% of the village households. The people living in the villages are unable to provide for their daily basic needs which then creates an ongoing predicament. Many make less than $0-$15 a month to live on. For 4 years Dufatanye has managed the project “Village of Hope” and has proven high success with the 100 marginalized, impoverished households within the village. The village is comprised of people who survived the 1994 Tutsi genocide, widows, orphans and those living with HIVAids. The organization worked to implement and improve agricultural practices (kitchen gardens, seeds, land use), decrease illiteracy by teaching adults how to read and write, repaired and built new homes, pit latrines and ended child labor by educating the parents and implementation of the Saturday Children’s Program. Dufatanye desires to implement this sustainable program, along with their proven knowledge and skills to other impoverished villages in the district suffering from a lack of resources and education. Through the “Village of Hope” program DO has positively impacted the lives of more than 4,000 individuals since its beginning in 2015. PROGRAM SUMMARY: In 2020, Dufatanye asked for $66,800 to begin a new 2 year “Village of Hope” program using their expertise gained from the ongoing program for 1,000 vulnerable families living in 10 villages of the Nyanza district. The project was designed to first create 10 community groups, one from each village, and provide them with multiple trainings by the experts from Dufatanye Organization. The weekly classes include, but not exclusively: improved agricultural practices, animal husbandry, balanced diet to fight malnutrition, savings group, cooperative formation, trauma education Once the trainings are completed in a village, the organization will provide each family with: 10 banana trees, 2 fruit trees, 2 laying hens, 1 kitchen garden, vegetable seeds, and fertilizer/manure The educational classes, provided supplies, monitoring and evaluation will assist the 1,000 families in beginning their journey out of poverty. Monitoring and evaluation will be done weekly and monthly by 3 managers from Dufatanye. The classes will be held weekly at a central point in the village, where the head of household can come and participate. The classes will be administered with both lecture, and practical application. At the end of each class there will be time for question and answers. The classes will be ongoing for 3 months and at the end of each months lectures the family will be supplied with the indicated products from the training and begin their improved farming. Two outstanding individuals from each village will train and provide continual support/coaching, so that hunger and malnutrition are decreased and resolved. As well, a Saturday children’s program will be established in each village to provide a child friendly and safe space for children of the villages to come and receive nutritious, enriched food, fun and educational lessons (nutrition, health, trauma, Bible, culture, song, etc.). The program is designed for children ages 5 – 12 years of age. Dufatanye has been managing a children’s program in the current “Village of Hope” for 8 years with improvements in children’s health, behaviour and social skills. The current program has approximately 500 children attending on Saturdays and recently more were registered. Still, there are more parents asking for their children to be allowed into the program. The program was also created for children to come and not be forced to do hard labor all day on the farm. Many to most of the children living in the area did not even have opportunity to attend school. The children’s program created a constructive environment for them to be children and learn new social skills they previously did not have. The parents eventually were making a small income and enabled their children an opportunity to attend school. The children’s program teaches children about: health and hygiene with handwashing food nutrition culture through song, dance, drama and drums character building through Bible stories BUDGET: $150 to support Saturday Children’s Program monthly $10 for 2 fruit trees, vegetable seeds and fertilizer $35 per kitchen garden $20 for 2 laying hens and 10 banana trees The cost for full support is $65 per family. 1000 families equals $65,000 12 months of Saturday Children’s Program equals $1,800 Total Budget for 1,000 families and 3,000 children is $66,800* *funds will be raised separately for the $16,800 above the $50,000 global giving campaign OUTCOMES: Dufatanye will “join together” with 10 villages in Nyanza district and provide the “Village of Hope” program to positively transform 10 villages, 1,000 families, 3,000 children and 5,000 individuals because they will have a constant food supply, so that they never have a single day of hunger again. Malnutrition and diseases associated with poverty and hunger will be eradicated. Families will learn how to save even from the little they will have and families will have an income for the first time by selling the surplus produce from their fruit trees and kitchen gardens. 3,000 children will no longer be subjected to hard labor because their parents will have the money required for them to go to school. The Saturday children’s program will allow 3,000 children the opportunity to participate in a fun, structured, educational environment that also provides them with a nutritious meal. Illiteracy will continually decrease because children are learning and teaching what they learn to their parents and relatives. The practice of agroecology will help to build on ancestral knowledge and nurture a healthy land. 
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Today is the first week that we have reduced our feeding program to half of what we have been doing through April and May. We are still giving the same amount of food for each family (22 pounds corn flour, 11 pounds of dry beans, and one 12 inch long bar of soap) to last for one week.
We are thankful that the country is slowly having the restrictions lifted, but it looks like through June 1st lockdown remains in place for non-essential workers. In addition to this, about fifty people/families have approached us who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 crisis, and some of those are due to businesses having closed with no immediate expectation that they will be able to re-open. Our current plans are to provide food assistance next week similar to this week (which is for about half as many families as the first eight weeks of the crisis), and then after the week ending June 8, see how many families still need assistance due to job losses. We definitely do not want to create dependency, and this is something we think about in all of the relief work we do. We are always seeking to help people be self-sufficient, through providing skills and opportunities for work and dignity. At the same time, we do not want to abandon people that we can help who are truly facing destitution, and do not have anywhere to turn for help. We thank the Lord for this privilege of helping those in need, and we are grateful for the many who have helped us to respond, and continue to respond as this crisis begins to lessen, and as more people can get back to work. We are grateful for the prayers and help of everyone who has joined us in this service to Christ and those He loves. As Jesus said, "Whatever you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me." UN World Food Program Warns of COVID19 Hunger Pandemic: "130 million on the edge of starvation"5/18/2020  21 April 2020
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/04/1062272 Humanitarian Aid The world is not only facing “a global health pandemic but also a global humanitarian catastrophe”, the UN food relief agency chief told the Security Council on Tuesday via video link. World Food Programme✔@WFPWFP Chief warns of hunger pandemic as #COVID19 spreads. Noting that the global spread of COVID-19 this year has sparked “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two”, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley pointed to deepening crises, more frequent natural disasters and changing weather patterns, saying “we’re already facing a perfect storm”. As millions of civilians in conflict-scarred nations teeter on the brink of starvation, he said, “famine is a very real and dangerous possibility”. Mr. Beasley painted a grim picture of 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse, coupled with an additional 130 million on the edge of starvation prompted by Coronavirus, noting that WFP currently offers a lifeline to nearly 100 million people – up from about 80 million just a few years ago. “If we can’t reach these people with the life-saving assistance they need, our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period”, he upheld. “This does not include the increase of starvation due to COVID-19”. Requesting assistanceNoting that WFP is the “logistics backbone” for humanitarians and “even more so now for the global effort to beat the COVID-19 pandemic”, the WFP chief urged the Council to “lead the way”. “First and foremost, we need peace”, he said. He asked that all involved in the fighting provide “swift and unimpeded” humanitarian access to vulnerable communities and for coordinated action to support life-saving assistance, along with $350 million in new funding, to set up a network of logistics hubs to keep worldwide humanitarian supply chains moving. Mr. Beasley also raised the need for early warning systems: “If we don’t prepare and act now – to secure access, avoid funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade – we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months.” In closing, he underlined that “we do not have time on our side, so let’s act wisely – and let’s act fast”. As we continue to feed those struggling to survive under the ongoing lockdown and latent effects it has created, we are rejoicing in a large gift of stock we have received that will help us to feed 3,000 people in Rwanda for two weeks. The gift is also allowing us to provide clean water through the addition of a 5,000 gallon holding tank for a well that is used to provide clean drinking water to the community. We are grateful for the gifts we have received, of all sizes, that have allowed us to provide food for approximately 3,000 people per week since the week of March 21 when the lockdown went into effect. By Ralph Kurtenbach, [email protected], +1 (605) 728-3079 (WhatsApp), May 14, 2020, Nyanza, Rwanda
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