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SUCCESS STORIES
Making a difference—the evidence of success
Throughout the world, DAI is assisting people to find a sustainable path to meaningful economic, political, and social development. Although international development successes are often measured over time using aggregate statistics, it is also important to recognize how these programs are changing lives today, on the ground—of communities, families, and individuals. DAI Success Stories chronicle the many ways that we are doing exactly that.
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Serbia Passes Emergency Preparedness Law to Empower Local Responders Helping a country find ways to mitigate crises and natural disasters In April 2006 in Serbia, poorly built dikes and levees were no match for the swollen Danube and its tributaries, and flood waters spilled over into ill-prepared cities and villages. But Serbia resolved to be better prepared the next time disaster struck. read full story |
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Loan Helps Small Businessman in Bulgaria Ride Out Financial Crisis Nurturing small enterprises by training the banks that serve them After being in business for nearly 20 years, Bogomil Koritarov faced losing his life’s work. The financial crisis of 2009 was squeezing budgets all the way down to Rakovkska Street in Sofia, where sales had stalled at Mr. Koritarov’s furniture store. read full story |
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Tribal Ceremonies Lead to Governance Gains in Congo’s Remote Forests Bringing together stakeholders to establish a regional consensus for protecting biodiversity The forest within the Democratic Republic of the Congo stretches hundreds of miles, but it is being poached and plundered. An initiative planned with local tribes—and blessed by an age-old tribal ceremony—is succeeding in taking back this natural wonder. read full story |
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DAI Recruits Manpower Inc. to Help Serbian Youth, Employers Creating public-private partnerships to address crucial social needs The Serbian government made historic efforts this year to boost opportunities for youth employment and vocational training by joining forces with Manpower Inc., the U.S.-based human resource development company. read full story |
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Khost Students’ Renewable Energy Projects Win Government Praise Building leadership and fostering cooperation in Afghanistan’s most challenged areas As the fourth-year engineering students gathered for photos with officials from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the crowd sensed a gap had been bridged between the current leadership of Khost Province and its future leaders. read full story |
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Afghan Midwives Defy Threats to Help At-Risk Mothers Give Birth Training local women to deliver healthcare and save lives under harsh conditions When Shah Bibi goes to work in eastern Afghanistan, she goes by car or on foot into mountainous villages under the threat of violence. The young woman serves as a midwife in Nuristan Province, helping expectant mothers in a war zone. read full story |
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Local Leaders Influence Key Legislation in Bangladesh Mitigating partisanship, corruption, and gender disparity through grassroots activism for good local governance “All politics is local”—the idea that issues affecting local constituencies guide the politicians who wield power in capitals—is a commonplace in U.S. politics. But in Bangladesh, political power has more often been of the trickle-down variety. read full story |
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Call-In Radio Show Gives Rural Cambodians Access to Information, Expertise Enabling farmers, entrepreneurs, and government officials to share business knowledge The honey collectors in Koh Kong, Cambodia, were in a sticky situation. Stuck with a large surplus after their main buyer backed out of a deal, they turned to a new radio program for help in liquidating their excess product. read full story |
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Grants Program in FATA Supports Local Development Practitioners Building the capacity of Pakistan’s development workers and the NGOs they work for Pervasively high youth unemployment, masses of people uprooted by war, and ineffective public institutions make the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of western Pakistan an enormous development challenge. read full story |
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Gaza Company Turns Lemons into Emerging Business Opportunity Providing matching grants and technical support to aspiring entrepreneurs Since Gaza’s borders were blocked in 2007, most of its 1.5 million residents have been forced to live without simple food items such as ketchup, canned tuna, or chocolate snacks. read full story |
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Uzbek Fruit Crops Flourish after Simple Technical Changes Championing solutions that lead to resilient and sustainable livelihoods For many people in developing countries, farming is the foundation on which their lives depend. For two young men from eastern Uzbekistan, learning better ways to grow fruit invigorated their farms and, in one case, settled a friendly sibling rivalry. read full story |
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Serbian Teens Learn the Ways of Businesses, Emergency Preparedness Improving the human resource capacities and leadership skills of vulnerable youth Serbia’s youth have in many ways gotten a raw deal, inheriting a country with limited employment opportunities and still recovering from the conflicts and sanctions of the 1990s. read full story |
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Urban Gardens Rekindle Hope for Thousands in Ethiopia Improving food security, health, and self-esteem among people affected by HIV/AIDS The impact of HIV/AIDS can ripple through entire communities, but so can the positive effects of a successful development program, as a down-on-his-luck father, a bedridden mother, and a young orphan can attest. read full story |
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Farm Price Index Expands to Cover Northern, Western Afghanistan Using mobile networks to empower struggling farmers Farming in Afghanistan means doing business in a climate that can range from dysfunctional to deadly. Years of war and disorder have wrought havoc on the nation’s agricultural markets. read full story |
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Women's Farms Flourish in North Sumatra after Training Takes Root Boosting incomes and enhancing food security for Indonesia's smallholders Going into debt can be risky business, especially if it is to support a business as challenging as running a small farm. read full story |
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Cisco Internships Take Hold in Indonesia, Program to Expand Bringing together universities and businesses to improve competitiveness While interning for an environmentally friendly furniture company, Irma Susanti designed better ways to track inventory and calculate costs. read full story |
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Case Study in Containment Speaks to Effective Training, Communication Controlling the spread of avian influenza in Indonesia When Mr. Sunar awoke the morning of June 16, 2008, he discovered that all his backyard chickens had died overnight. He quickly surmised what had happened and his conclusion was grim, but he did not panic. He knew what was at stake. read full story |
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New Protected Area Marks Shift in El Salvador’s Attitude to Conservation Improving environmental management while strengthening the rural economy El Salvador is generously endowed with mangrove forests, coral-laden coastline, rich watersheds, and other natural resources. But some of its choicest land and sea has been blighted. read full story |
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Afghan Women Lead Expansion of Vegetable Processing Facility Supporting enterprises that help Afghan women escape poverty For many women in Afghanistan, the barriers to putting food on the table are daunting: inadequate water and electricity services, poorly maintained roads, and minimal government assistance trap many Afghan women in poverty. read full story |
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Ho Chi Minh Academy Gets to Grips with the Global Economy Building the capacity of Vietnamese academics and regional leaders to navigate global markets Only a generation ago, Vietnam was an impoverished, politically and economically isolated country ravaged by war, with its central government struggling to provide basic services or ways for its economy to grow. read full story |
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Young Albanians Stay Home to Take Family Farming to the Next Level Rejuvenating the countryside through a new generation of agribusiness entrepreneurs Like many young people in Albania, Urim Leka decided to leave the poor, rural place where he was born. Leka’s village of Hysgjokaj, located deep in the south-central part of the country, held no promise for the energetic young man... read full story |
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Microfinancing Helps Haitian Families Send Kids to School Education loan program expanded after successful pilot Going to school isn’t a birthright in Haiti. Parents must pay up-front for their children to attend school, and if they cannot pay all the fees, their children instead stay home or roam the streets. read full story |
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Punjab Legislators Hold First-Ever Pre-Budget Planning Meetings Establishing the processes of effective, responsive governance Until recently, the vast majority of legislators in Pakistan’s Punjab province received the proposed budget only a day or two before voting on it. read full story |
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Afghan Villages Bolstered by Micro-Hydro Power Plant Empowering communities to improve living conditions and create jobs Livelihoods do not come easily for those living in the foothills of the Hindu Kush. The few roads are rough and hard to travel, and homes and shops in many villages go dark after sundown for lack of electricity. read full story |
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Burundian Farmers Earn Quality Premiums for Specialty Coffee Reaping the rewards of connecting to international markets Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world, was plagued from 1994 until 2005 by a brutal civil war that devastated the country’s one major export—coffee. read full story |
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DAI-Trained Mediator Arbitrates Moroccan Land Dispute Recent law offers more efficient way for businesses, property owners to resolve differences In any country, access to a transparent, straightforward, and relatively expeditious system for resolving commercial disputes is a prerequisite for a business environment that will encourage the creation and development of small businesses. read full story |
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New Schools, Hospital Lay Foundation for Community Recovery in Sri Lanka Working with USAID and U.S. Pacific Command to build peace in Eastern Province In July 2008, the government of Sri Lanka regained control of Eastern Province and began stabilizing the region. Since January 2009, DAI has contributed to that stabilizing mission by rebuilding social infrastructure. read full story |
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Social Fence Makes for Good Neighbors, Good Policy in Nyika National Park Protecting biodiversity, bolstering economic security, and restoring cultural heritage in Malawi Ranging over some 3,200 square kilometers at an elevation 2,500 meters above sea level, Malawi’s Nyika National Park protects an afromontane ecosystem that harbors an amazing array of flora and fauna. But Nyika’s biodiversity is under threat. read full story |
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DAI-Designed Learning Institute Launched by Pakistan Parliament Delivering the intellectual and physical resources needed for better government Pakistan in recent years has endured political and security turmoil and been hit by devastating floods, all of which has challenged the country’s physical and governance infrastructure. But initiatives toward better governance are moving forward. read full story |
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DAI Program Spurs Renaissance of Tourism in Rural Serbia Supporting viable new livelihoods options in the Balkans Serbia was once visited by thousands of eastern and western Europeans every year. But the wars of the 1990s tore the former Yugoslavia apart and all but erased Serbia as a tourist destination. read full story |
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Sogesol Begins Micro Lending in Port-au-Prince’s Toughest Neighborhood Microfinance program aims to jumpstart business in Cité Soleil At a meeting in Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince’s most dangerous slum, an angry resident stood up, grabbed the microphone, and demanded: “When are you donors and others going to do something in Cité Soleil? read full story |
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Seaweed Farmer Uses Loaned Seed, Technical Knowhow to Expand Business Providing expertise to boost the returns of rural livelihoods Seaweed, like other plants, has to be planted. But sometimes it’s not that simple. Offshore conditions fluctuate with the rain, water temperature, and season, and conditions for planting and growing seaweed vary accordingly. read full story |
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Training Videos Reach 10,000 Cocoa Smallholders in Indonesia Sharing best practices to nurture prosperity at the grassroots Making best practices come alive and stay alive is one of the enduring challenges for any development project. read full story |
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Festivals Get Children in the Habit of Healthy Hand Washing Grassroots communications campaign supports comprehensive clean water and sanitation program in Indonesia A communications campaign to publicize the potentially lifesaving act of hand-washing has taken on a life of its own in Indonesia, thanks to collaboration between the Indonesian government, DAI’s Environmental Services Program, and other stakeholders. read full story |
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Thursday Market Reinvigorates the Center of Bethlehem Galvanizing enterprise to promote prosperity and defuse social tension Despite its West Bank location, the holy city of Bethlehem had experienced years of harmony and tourist-friendly prosperity. read full story |
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DAI Energizes the Dairy Sector in Eastern Sri Lanka Restoring livelihood options for small farmers Every day, 51 year-old Premadasa carries a plastic bottle filled with seven liters of milk to the Kaluthavalai collection point... read full story |
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In Trincomalee, a New Terminus Offers a New Beginning Rebuilding social infrastructure in Sri Lanka Home to more than 100,000 people, Trincomalee is of historic, cultural, religious, and economic significance to the Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim communities at the heart of Sri Lanka’s civil conflict. read full story |
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Green Certification Produces Dramatic Results in Indonesia Environmental credentials open new markets for furniture producer When DAI’s SENADA program began assisting Indonesian wood furniture companies to achieve green certification, many participating firms were focused on a simple outcome: more sales at higher prices. read full story |
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Pakistan’s Parliamentarians Get Ready to Serve Their Country Member orientation facilitates new dynamic in Pakistan’s Parliaments Changes are afoot in Pakistan. The dramatic changes ushered in by the historic 2008 legislative elections resulted in a new governing coalition... read full story |
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Getting Down to Business With HIV/AIDS Linking HIV/AIDS prevention to export promotion in Zambia In Zambia, more than a million people are living with HIV. The effects of the disease are devastating not only to families and society but also to businesses and the economy... read full story |
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Teaching Basic Health Care Skills to Those Who Need Them Most Medical Training Reaches Women in Afghanistan Excluded from active civic participation for so long, Afghanistan’s women are beginning to take advantage of programs that help them gain more control over their lives... read full story |
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Building Up Businesses in Timor-Leste DAI projects combine to expand economic opportunity and reduce poverty DAI’s long-standing presence in Timor-Leste began only a month after the nation declared its intention to break away from Indonesia in 1999. Managing a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), DAI provided grants that... read full story |
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A Green Revolution in Nigeria? Mobilizing the forces of reform to improve agricultural inputs Adopted with assistance from DAI’s Restructured Economic Framework for Openness, Reform and Macroeconomic Stability (REFORMS) project, Nigeria’s National Fertilizer Policy enables substantial reforms in many areas... read full story |
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Afghans Rebuild Their Country and Their Lives AINP provides fast results for the people of Afghanistan At the end of 2004, Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan was in crisis. After 25 years of war and drought, the countryside and its inhabitants were devastated... read full story |
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U.S. Assistance Supports Fast Reaction to Flash Floods in Serbia Contingency planning pays off for stricken towns Heavy rains in November 2007 caused flash flooding in southern Serbia, affecting numerous municipalities. The waters washed out bridges and roads, flooded homes and cellars, and posed a serious threat to public health. read full story |
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Albanian Essential Oils Find New Markets in the United States Organic certification, buyer linkages open doors for Albanian producers An Albanian producer, a Belgian buyer, a Vietnamese laboratory, and an American market—it’s a story fit for the era of the global economy... read full story |
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Pakistani Provincial Assembly Launches Media Center Ensuring the Press Has the Tools to Monitor Government When the Provincial Assembly of Sindh reconvenes in Karachi after elections slated for February 18, 2008, correspondents covering the provincial legislature will have access to the best press facilities read full story |
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Palestinian Apprenticeship Program Celebrates 61 More Graduates Workforce Development in the West Bank In the fall of 2007, 61 apprentices graduated from the Palestinian Enterprise Development project’s Employment Generation Program (EGP). read full story |
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A Star in the Making in Pakistan's Civil Service Intern Posts Best Entrance Exam Score in 20 Years Fida Hussein grew up in modest circumstances near Larkarna, Pakistan, in one of the poorer rural areas of Sindh province. read full story |
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Candlenuts Fuel Economic Growth in Timor-Leste Local Factory Capitalizes on Grants for Training, Equipment Hundreds of candlenuts lay drying in the sun at Maria Anglica Freitas’ feet. Long popular in Timor-Leste for cooking... read full story |
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Debate Camp Builds Students’ Power to Persuade Fostering respect for dialogue among Liberia’s future leaders “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers! Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers! Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers!” This familiar tongue twister sounds like an odd way to build the foundations of civil discourse... read full story |
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Artisans and Apprentices Learn Basic Business Skills in Liberia Donors combine funds to develop workforce On a sunny Saturday morning in Zwedru, a town of 15,000 in eastern Liberia, 20 small business owners and employees gather for the third day of a business training program. read full story |
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Connecting Farmers to Markets in Tanzania Training helps local farmers secure lucrative contract Nestled among mountain peaks at 5,000 feet, the isolated village of Mgeta produces some of Tanzania’s finest fruits and vegetables. Mgeta’s farmers labor year-round on steep terraces, harvesting top-quality onions, beets, leeks ... read full story |
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Mayor's Initiative Doubles Tax Base in Macedonian City Residents to benefit from increased revenue Just one year out of university in Vrapchiste, Macedonia, Mustaf Mustafa hardly expected to be tasked with solving one of the most critical problems facing his local government. But when the mayor called on him ... read full story |
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The Drvar Birthing Center’s First Baby Boy DAI helps breathe new life into a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina In the war-devastated community of Drvar, a new sense of optimism arrived in February, along with the birth of Bozana Damjanovic’s healthy baby boy. read full story |
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Agricultural Trade Fair Brings Opportunity to Afghanistan DAI organizes first annual event that draws 11,000 visitors To the casual observer, a donkey dress-up contest may not appear to be an effective economic indicator. read full story |
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Using Micro-Credit to Preserve Local Identity DAI brings business opportunity to artisan community in Ecuador Every June, Corpus Christi festivities take over the small Ecuadorian town of Pujili and residents pour into the streets, parading in a blur of colorful revelry. If local artisan German Olmos has his way, that festive spirit will be exported year-round read full story |
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From Fighting To Fish Farming Fish farming initiative generates income and opportunity in war-torn Butembo There is a mantra that is recited constantly in the development community: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he feeds himself for a lifetime... read full story |
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Baking Their Way Into Business Vocational training program offers possibilities to ex-combatants After years of fighting in Liberia’s civil war, Massi Gissi now has “something to hold on to.” Recently trained as a baker, she now dreams of opening her own bakery shop... read full story |
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Date Palm Nurseries Bring Hope to Iraq's Marshdwellers Profitable crop grown in the marshlands of Iraq offers promise of future income Dates have played an important cultural and economic role in Iraq from Sumerian times, more than 5,000 years ago. Yet during the turmoil following the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the failed Shi’a insurrection, the Iraq marshlands fell victim to… read full story |
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After the Tsunami, Sri Lankans Band Together to Clean Up Their City Grants funded by USAID and administered by DAI support rehabilitation in the southern city of Matara Southern Province, Sri Lanka – The 40,000 residents of the city of Matara were among the tens of millions directly affected by the tsunami that hit South and Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004… read full story |
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New Management System Boosts Small Governments’ Efficiency and Accountability Success may lead to replication throughout Serbia Baltimore, Maryland, is 4,700 miles from the Serbian cities of Indjija and Paraæin, yet all three cities share the distinction of having implemented CitiStat, an innovative and promising new municipal management system… read full story |
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Vietnamese Handicrafts Enter the Global Marketplace Local firms link with international buyers to access new markets For more than 1,000 years, residents of the Bat Trang village in northwestern Vietnam have made a living by producing a unique form of ceramics. Today, as Vietnam integrates into the global economy, new opportunities… read full story |
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Planting Trees Protects Vital Water Resource in Armenian River Basin DAI administers small grant to fund project with diverse benefits for community and environment After years of deforestation around the Tandzut River in the Debed River Basin of northwestern Armenia, mudflows, erosion, and landslides were becoming increasingly destructive to the region’s economy and environment… read full story |
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Simple Irrigation Kits Yield Life-Changing Results Throughout Zimbabwe, health and economic benefits reach those most in need As 500 orphaned children gather for another meal at the Holy Cross Parish in Tshabalala, a densely populated suburb of Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, Father Eugene is relieved the parish has recently increased its capacity to… read full story |
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Cutting Red Tape Boosts Small Business in Uganda DAI Europe assists local government to reform trade licensing For residents of this city of 90,000 on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, the process of transforming an innovative business idea into reality had always been tedious and expensive. To obtain the necessary trade license, an entrepreneur… read full story |
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Building a Market Economy from the Ground Up Tanzanians take ownership of their economic future Strength in numbers. That is the lesson the rice farmers of Tanzania’s southwestern Mbarali district have learned. Long at the mercy of local moneylenders… read full story |
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“You Brought us Back to Life” Serbian municipality benefits from reform program’s practical solutions In the southwestern Serbian municipality of Nova Varoš, Public Communal Enterprise “3. septembar” is operating with new energy… read full story |
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After 45 Years, Romanian Students Finally Get Running Water Small village works with local government to resolve long-standing health concern For the 100 children who live in and around the small, southern Romanian village of Comanca, going to school recently became safer—and more pleasant. Since the village’s five-classroom school was constructed in the early 1960s… read full story |
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Micro-loans Fight Poverty in Rural Haiti Small loan guarantees bring economic opportunity to hillside farmers Until recently, Haiti's hillside farmers faced immense obstacles to selling their coffee beans. Regional coffee cooperatives were unable to buy member-produced coffee because they lacked access to credit, forcing farmers to seek buyers� read full story |
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