In 2010, former FSD intern and Tola IPC, Steve Merritt, catalyzed change in the small rural community of Limon 2, Nicaragua. Steve identified the nearby luxury resort, Rancho Santana, as an untapped asset to the local community, and sought to make connections between the luxury homeowners and local village leadership. Through a series of community meetings, representatives from Limon 2, FSD, and Rancho Santana decided that a great way to move the relationship forward was through the creation of a library that would expose children and adults of the community to literature, as well as host free activities such as art projects, tutoring, and sports.

Today, two years later, the library—now named Doors of Knowledge (Puertas del Saber) after a community vote—caters to over 20 children per day and has hosted a number of community events, such as the Day of the Book, where over 80 people gathered to honor books and reading. The Puertas del Saber library is now an official FSD Tola community partner that has hosted interns and serves as a hub for community organizing in the town of Limon 2. Ruth Obando is the town’s ‘reading promoter,’ who rides her bicycle from household to household engaging families in the art and entertainment of reading and focusing on inspiring young children and adolescents to read stories. Ruth says, "I get a very positive reaction from the children who show much interest and satisfaction when I share stories with them. The children do not want me to leave and beg me to read just one more book." She has said to the parents, "take advantage of this opportunity that is being offered to you", that parents can be "a great help in the education of their children and they should help them in any way they can."

The library president, Sonia Noguera, has been invited to attend the second largest book fair in the world, the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of scholars, teachers, professionals, adolescents, and children come to this iconic event to share stories, debut publications, and network. Through support of donors, FSD is sending Sonia to help her further develop the Puertas del Saber library in Limon 2. From a part of a brainstorming session in a community meeting to a full-fledged community center, the Puertas del Saber library has come a long way, and FSD is proud to have been there for every step!

In a highly positive development, a new UNICEF report advises that worldwide child mortality rates have dropped by over 40% in the past two decades. Despite this significant decrease, however, preventable and treatable diseases continue to claim the lives of roughly 19,000 young children around the world everyday. One of the areas most affected is Sub-Saharan Africa, where in countries like Uganda, preventable diseases such as diarrhea and malaria account for 34% of the deaths of children under five. The United Nations cited the reduction of child mortality rates as one of its “Millennium Development Goals” to be reached in 2015; FSD intern Elizabeth Gilbert has been part of this initiative at our site in Jinja, Uganda.

Elizabeth spent the summer working with the Phoebe Education Fund for HIV/AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children (PEFO) at FSD’s site. After winning a grant of $335 from FSD, she helped design and implement educational workshops with a focus on disease prevention—specifically, the knowledge, skills, and health practices of the 63 grandmother caretakers in the community. By addressing the root causes of child mortality in the region, distributing first aid kits, and initiating leadership training, Elizabeth’s project has reached over 270 community members and continues to thrive even after her return to the United States. According to Jinja Program Director Margaret Amanyire, "The momentum of the project has been steadily maintained. Grannies are able to meet and discuss issues of health, encourage each other to promote public health and confidently walk into community health centers as well as invite health workers to their weekly meetings to answer their questions on health issues. They have managed to make a monthly contribution towards re-equipping their first aid kits. The most inspiring observation is that these women have developed so much interest in talking about their health plight and doing something about it, however small.”

As for Elizabeth, she is “certain that working with FSD was the most beneficial learning experience she could have received in her undergraduate education.” Lizzy, now a senior at Northeastern, plans to pursue graduate school in the global development field related to international health rights.

In February of 2010, FSD Board Member Michelle Chackerian hosted FSD’s first-ever Giving Circle. Seven programs were funded for a total of $15,500 raised by over 18 donors, who were educated in FSD’s sustainable community development approach and then reviewed proposals from several of our community partners. Our International Program Coordinator for our Kakamega site, Julia Pinces, recently visited one of these programs where she was able to view their progress first-hand. The Giving Circle funded a program by local partner African Canadian Continuing Education Society (ACCES) to support a greenhouse project at Elufafwa Non Formal School and Ematsayi Non Formal School.

These greenhouses were established to enhance income-generating activities for the community, provide alternative agricultural approaches to local youth, and support agri-business approaches toward community sustainability. With a comprehensive and detailed grant proposal, this project was fully funded for $2,050 by the members of our Giving Circle that was hosted in Oakland, California but comprised of members from across the U.S.

In August of this year, Julia visited the Elufafwa site where she spoke with Mr. Lincoln Andati, who was maintaining the greenhouse while the students were on break. Tomatoes were planted in June, and are doing so well that the school is reaching out to local hotels with the hopes of becoming a supplier. When school is in session, the students learn about greenhouse maintenance and gardening by helping with daily tasks such as weeding, harvesting and pumping water. Mr. Andati has high hopes for the future of the Elufafwa greenhouse; given the community buy-in, he sees it lasting well into the future.

Another project, at Ematsayi, reattempted a vegetable growing project. Their very first crop was tomato, but it did not meet expectations, so the school decided to switch to kale and capsicum. After they had a successful harvest of those vegetables, they decided to try tomatoes again, as it is a much more profitable crop in this region. The school is glad to report that they are doing much better this time around, as they will increase the income-generating power of the greenhouse.

Setbacks and sustainability sometimes go hand in hand. In addition to a failed tomato harvest at Ematsayi, drip systems for irrigation became clogged, water pumps broke down, and pests have infiltrated some harvests. These incidents have had a small effect on the overall potential of the greenhouses, but they have not diminished the resolve of the students and teachers that maintain them who are now finding solutions to setbacks. Indeed, this can be seen as the most important lesson of the project. The road to success also reminds us that our collaborative work in the communities we serve is not always a straight one—but the problem-solving and community-building skills found along the way make the journey worthwhile.

Two new members have enthusiastically been asked to join the Board, president Marc Shapiro announced. He and Executive Director Mireille Cronin Mather have announced the appointment of Katherine Rogers and Michael A. Krafft to FSD’s Board of Directors. “We are heartened to welcome these new board members,” Mireille said. “The range of experience and talents that Michael and Katherine bring to the Board will do much to advance progress towards our strategic goals in community development globally.”

Michael A. Krafft is the CEO of M&A Media Group, a financial services firm. For more than 20 years, Krafft has built deep funding relationships with leading strategic and institutional investors, private equity funds, and venture capital firms as well as the World Bank, IMF, EBRD, OECD, and OPIC. “I am extremely honored to be a part of FSD, whose pre-eminence in the field of international development is widely acknowledged, and embrace my new role as FSD’s Board Member. I am grateful to be in a position to tap into a network of private and public sector global relationships and research skills to help propel FSD to the next level” Krafft said.

Katharine Rogers is an entrepreneur, consultant and investor with expertise in the application of market-based business principles to address social challenges, such as poverty, healthcare, and environmental conservation. As a former Investment Officer and Global Fellow at LeapFrog Investments, a $135 million impact investing fund, Rogers sourced and executed private equity transactions in Southeast Asia and Africa to expand the market for insurance and financial inclusion to individuals living on less than $2/day. She said, “I am thrilled to join the FSD Board to contribute to and support its incredible team of dedicated staff, volunteers and partners around the globe. FSD has built a virtuous model to facilitate its mission of international development--by working with and committing resources to grassroots organizations which enhance capacity for sustainable economic growth within their local communities and by engaging and inspiring future generations to become development leaders through its consummate training programs and in-country internships. Having had the opportunity to travel throughout many parts of the world in my own studies and career, I believe there is no greater privilege than experiencing first-hand how other people live and working side-by-side with them to make a better world for all of us.”

Please join us in welcoming these highly talented and committed new members to FSD’s Board.