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

As teachers and pupils enjoy a well deserved break, we look back at some of the highlights from the past year in education.

Farmers in Canuno, Curoca municipality in Cunene cultivated and harvested tomatoes for the first time ever, thanks to the renovated water supply, concrete tank, piping, solar power and drip-irrigation as part of the "FRESAN" project to combat hunger and poverty in the region. Horticulture is helping improve the local supply of fresh, nutritious ingredients in the daily diet as well as providing a potential source of income. Cookery demonstrations inspire members of the community to make the best use of new, healthy and delicious ingredients.

Sewing, tailoring and dressmaking are helping change lives, too. A number of participants at the sewing course in Bibala are already making money from the sales of the clothes and other items they have been making at the Sewing Centre. This new source of income contributes to daily living costs, studies and unexpected expenses. Dresses, skirts, blouses, shirts, trousers, pillow cases and bread bags are just some of the items being made. Colourful prints make the clothes highly fashionable, and the patterned material used for domestic wares brighten up any home.

Villages in Naulila and Ombala-yo-Mungo in Ombajda municipality, Cunene, received concrete rings for the construction of improved wells, which will be built by local people under the Cash for Work scheme. Members of the work brigades in a number of areas attended training this month in preparation for the the task. In Odishana, training included safety and zero tolerance of alcohol in the workplace, plus practical instruction in excavation and working with concrete rings. In Olovalinde, the work brigades learned about building and renovating dams.

Acute malnutrition affects all members of the community in times of drought and food shortage. Young children are especially vulnerable, as it affects their physical and mental development, as are the sick and the elderly. A Community Kitchen project was launched this month in Gambos, Huíla Province and in Curoca, Cunene, as an emergency response to contribute to the reduction of severe malnutrition, along with existing components of projects tackling food and water shortage. The launch of the project was in Dongue, 62km from the municipal capital, and reached the villages of Dongue itself, Pokolo, Katoho, Tapo, Luvota, and Tchico. Each of the six villages will receive 70 meals, totalling 420 meals in the course of the day. At the launch, Gordeana Tuendei, in charge of Social Affairs in Gambos Municipality, gave a speech of thanks for ADPP’s support for the communtiy. Garcia João, representing the Municipal Health Director, added comments of gratitude in his speech. The nurse at Dongue Health Post, Antônio Tomás, expressed great joy for the reception of help of this nature. Everybody present at the launch of the project, celebrated over a period of four hours, enjoyed a plate of rice and beans as an example of the meals that the Community Kitchen would be preparing. A second Community Kitchen opened in Luvota, also in Gambos, a few days later and began distributing meals, including to patients at the clinic.

Students at EPP Zango and local artisans are producing charcoal efficient stoves. This month, the project handed out 30 of these improved stoves to women in Zango who are head of the household, as part of a campaign to create demand for the product. They will soon spread the word that the stoves burn cleanly and use little fuel, stimulating local demand for the product. At the same time, sales have started, and not only in Zango. In Cacuaco Municipality, Luanda, where buyers have been expressing their appreciation of the technological improvements made by transforming a traditional stove into a modern one. More good news about the sale of stoves is that the administration at Market 30 in Viana, Luanda, gave the project a prime location. Soon after setting up the stall, it attracted a lot of interest from many local vendors. The project is also selling stoves in Caxito, Bengo, where word of mouth will help further promotion.

A representative of the Embassy of Japan in Angola paid a visit to EPP Zango this month. The school provided a guided tour, explaining about the system of education, and included a visit to the workshop where students and staff learn about and produce charcoal efficient stoves. The students showed how the stoves function and explained in detail the technical qualities that make them more efficient than traditional stoves.

Community-led Monitoring of health services gives users a voice to raise concerns and to provide valuable input from patients’ and their families with regard to treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS. The project organised a week of meetings this month at centres in Huambo and Cunene: at the Municipal Hospital in Cambióte, at Benfica Health Centre, and Caála Municipal Hospital, all in Huambo, and at hospitals in Namacunde, Cuanhama, Xangongo and Chiúlo in Cunene. The meetings identified weak points at the health centres while indicating directions to follow and supplying new ideas to improve services.

Protecting the population against Covid-19 remains high on the list of priorities. Fixed and mobile teams from ADPP work closely with the health authorities to intensify vaccination campaigns against the virus to reach more communities in Cuando Cubango, specifically in the municipalities of Menongue and Cuito Cuanavale. Our teams, consisting of mobilizers, registrars and vaccinators, are also actively supporting the campaign in Bié, Bengo and Luanda provinces.

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.