Welcome to our newsletter with updates the past month from projects covering education, health, agriculture & environment, and integrated community development. April was a month of celebration and commemoration: 25 years of teacher training, World Earth Day and World Malaria Day.

ADPP Angola is celebrating a 25-year partnership with the Ministry of Education to provide teacher training. We celebrated the occasion with the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Luísa Grilo, and directors of ADPP teacher training schools. 25 years of placing young people at the centre of learning and of promoting development has resulted in 13,696 graduate teachers, ready to make a difference in the lives of rural children, with their knowledge, skills and experiences.

Midway meetings at ADPP teacher training schools are about exchanging information, reporting on progress, receiving advice and encouragement, and preparing for the next term of teaching practice at rural primary schools. Team 2019 at TTS ADPP Benguela, Cunene and Cuando Cubango are supporting a project to empower women and girls, and will give lessons about sexual and reproductive health and rights. They received project signs and manuals during their 2nd midway meeting, to take back to the 60 participating primary schools that are benefiting.

School pupils showed how much they know about the prevention of malaria, HIV and TB by making sketches to illustrate the many different methods they have learned thanks to TCE in Uíge, Zaire and Malanje. The final stage of the drawing competition coincided with World Malaria Day 25 April.

The Community Control of Malaria project visited Luxilu de Cima to do a study on the behaviour of families regarding health and what measures they take for disease prevention. The provincial health director Dr. Hélder Avantino and other municipal figures accompanied the group. The project interviewed the soba, Francisco Vunge, to find out about the impact that the TCE project had on households, to make a “before and after” comparison. The soba (traditional leader) affirmed that many significant changes were already visible.

Staff and participants from the Support for Women Farmers project in Luanda celebrated World Earth Day. The Community Land Delimitation Working Group, pictured, under the leadership of the district coordinator, took part along with Groups of Women’s Advocates and literacy tutors from the same project. As befits a project aimed at supporting female farmers, 29 of the 43 participants were women.

Women Farmers’ Club Ndumbi in Cuanza Sul demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit that is making a big difference in their lives. After harvesting cassava, they organised transport in the form of a hired tractor to carry the tubers for processing. Six trips were needed. Once the cassava had been processed, the club committee again organised transport, this time a pick-up truck borrowed from the agrarian school, to bring the cassava “bombo” back for drying. Cassava is not only time-consuming to process, it is also perishable, so speed and organisation are of the essence. The next step is to make “fuba”- meal- for sale.

Members of the Water and Sanitation Group, traditional authorities and members of the wider community in Oupale, Ombadja municipality, came together to collaborate on digging a 1-kilometre trench for the water pipe that will bring water from a source to the newly established distribution system in the village.  Drinking troughs and a fountain will be supplied thanks to the pipeline. The task had the added goal of engaging women and men on the tasks in a “cash for work” system, to promote good practices and behavioural changes.

Work on the digging and construction of improved wells in new areas of drought-stricken Cunene began on 8 April. Young people from the community are trained and earn money carrying out tasks under the supervision of Community Water Leaders. Omundjavala and Okaku in Ombala-yo-Mungo are currently benefiting from this project, which provides employment for young people and a safe water source in an area lacking both.

During the month of April, baseline studies and community engagement activities have been carried out in the project “Communities in Action for Peace and Inclusion” in Benguela province. The project takes place in the municipalities of Cubal, Ganda and Balombo and there is great interest in taking part, as can be seen in the image from the community of Chimdumbo in Balombo.

VISION
ADPP seeks to support people in developing the vision and capacity to contribute to development, for themselves, their communities, and the nation.

MISSION

• To promote solidarity between people
• To promote the economic and social development of Angola
• To promote a better life for the underprivileged and those most in need

ADPP (Ajuda de Desenvolivmento de Povo para Povo) stands for Development Aid from People to People. ADPP Angola works in the fields of education, health, agriculture and environment, and integrated community development.