Welcome to our newsletter with updates the past month from projects covering education, health, agriculture & environment, and integrated community development. 

What teacher do we have and what teacher would we like to have so that students learn? This was the question addressed by the Secretary of State for Preschool and Primary Education, Dr. Pacheco at a meeting with the directors of the ADPP Teaching Schools at our Courses and Conference Center in Ramiro on April 5. One of the main themes of the discussion was that teachers should provide transformative education, in which their students are active, they learn how to learn. Schools should also be efficient institutions with a vast set of educational purposes. For their part, the directors told about how they train the teachers of the future, about graduates networks, pedagogical sessions for in-service teachers and much more.

The “Strengthening Municipal Systems” project works to make sure all children receive a quality education. As the title suggest, it takes place in close collaboration with the municipal education authorities. When the project visited primary schools in Baía Farta, and found one of the major problems was a lack of desks, the Municipal Education Department found a rapid solution. Now, Primary School 16 June has received more than 100 desks, and desks are being distributed to other schools too. 

Meanwhile, the Provincial Director of Education of Bié showed great personal as well as professional interest in the project, during a visit to see for himself how it was working. After hearing about progress, problems identified by the project and possible solutions, and a presentation of the data collected, he asked for the experience to be passed on to other municipalities in Bié. 

As part of the theme "Focus on Angola: Past, Present and Future” 57 students and 5 teachers from the Polytechnic School EPP Huambo traveled to the municipality of Luena in Moxico Province. They learned about the history, geography, culture, agriculture and the peoples that inhabit this territory. They traveled by train and got to know the wonders of the Kwanza River, the Coemba Waterfall and the dense forests of the province. Nothing compares with research in the field and personal exploration to bring learning to life and cement knowledge forever.

The 25 of April is World Malaria Day and at many of our projects and schools around the country, focus was put on preventing the spread of this disease. Malaria testing, distribution of mosquito nets, demonstration of the correct use of mosquito nets, awareness-raising campaigns and cleaning campaigns was part of the World Malaria Day.  Malaria kills more children in Angola than any other disease, and ADPP is working to change this with the help from partners, health departments, Community Health Agents, Malaria Patrols and many others.

The Community Control of Malaria project is empowering thousands of children and young people to become agents of change in the fight against malaria in the provinces of Cuanza Norte, Zaire, Uíge and Malanje. School children are eager learners and disseminators of information. They themselves will soon be adults, and responsible for the health of their own families and communities.

In Tombó-Tombó in Cuanza Norte, the project distributed mosquito nets to pregnant women to protect themselves against mosquito bites. Simple measures save lives.

On 27 April, Maria Lourenço Barbosa, the Head of Public Health in the Municipality of Cacuaco, Luanda, visited the Global Vax project which supports the national Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Accompanied by the Supervisor of the Extended Vaccine Programme and the Head of Child Health, she visited all five teams in the municipality, and acknowledged the important job the Health Agents do in raising awareness, mobilising members of the community, and convincing even the most reluctant of people that Covid-19 vaccination saves lives or serious illness. 

A healthy diet is essential for patients with tuberculosis. Already weak from the illness, a lack of appetite, and often without sufficient resources to eat well, patients need a helping hand beyond the medicine they receive. In collaboration with health authorities and clinics, we implement community-based initiatives for TB prevention, and ensure TB patients complete their treatment and get healthy food. In April, we distributed food packages to TB patients in Benguela, Lobito and Baía Farta. House-to-house visits are an effective way of reaching communities and individuals with health messages, raising awareness of TB, passing on knowledge on how to reduce the spread of TB, what the symptoms are, and when to seek treatment.

It is always a pleasure to show partners the progress being made and the results achieved at any project. In Lucala, Cuanza Norte and Calandula, Malanje, there was plenty to demonstrate when USAID paid a visit on 25 April.  The women farmers who are benefiting from this wide ranging project explained how their lives are being turned around, thanks to a combination of increased and more varied agricultural production, tools and equipment to ease the workload, practical assistance with applying for birth certificates and ID cards, knowledge for improving health, and literacy lessons put them on an equal footing. The partner was in no doubt about the solid progress being made, and the project welcomed ideas and recommendations to make continuous improvements.

A simple measure to ensure future planting seasons is to create seed banks. They are an important resource for agricultural communities, allowing the preservation of crop varieties that are adapted to local conditions and can provide resilience against environmental and economic shocks, as here in Gambos in the province of Huíla.  The proud farmers show their maize harvest from the Famer Field School where they learn sustainable agricultural techniques, try out new crop and seed varieties and make seed banks for their club and for themselves.

Sewing skills bring many benefits, as the 50 women who completed the six-month dressmaking and business course in Benguela can attest. As part of the Integrated Project for the Strengthening of Women's Social and Economic Inclusion, these women learned everything from the basics of a sewing machine to how to produce all manner of clothes as well as household items. Instruction in business skills completed their preparation to become financially independent women, capable of supporting their families and brimful of pride and self-esteem.

All children have a right to be registered straight after birth. A birth certificate means access to services including education, and makes applying for an ID card, among other things, much easier. One thing is a UN treaty or an international law, another is the reality of living in a rural community with no information on the matter, no access to registry offices, nor assistance with the paperwork involved. Citizens who cannot travel to the registry offices to process or pick up their birth certificate or ID card are obviously at a disadvantage.

That is where the CAPI project stepped in, explaining about the possibility of processing Identity Cards locally through mobile registry brigades, thanks to a strong partnership between the Provincial Directorate of Justice and Human Rights of Benguela and the CAPI Project.

For the people of Sakacumbi, above, some 17 km north of Ganda in Benguela Province, the CAPI Project and the Program for Massification of Free Civil Registration have made the right to a birth certificate a reality after all. Meanwhile, the Municipal Registry Office in Cubal, in partnership with the CAPI Project, recently delivered 149 Birth Certificates to the people of Tumbulo.

The Municipal Administration of Curoca in Cunene Province has officially received a total of 6 water holes, 1 improved well, as well as 3 newly constructed and 3 rehabilitated dams, as part of the “Strengthening Resilience, Nutrition and Food Security”. To ensure the sustainability of the water infrastructure, members of the Youth Brigades, created by the project, attended training in construction, management and repair of water systems, digging ditches and basic repairs and maintenance. Trained Community Water and Sanitation groups also increase local ownership of these invaluable sources of life, which will be key to long term success.

Thank you to all the partners who support our activities.

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.