Climate change in action

by Judy Gray ~ WNC director

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Fada, Eastern Burkina Faso to visit the World Neighbours Canada project site there. As part of the tour, I visited a number of villages that are participating in projects to generate revenue, increase food security and improve the state of the environment. Though many of the villagers have not attended school and indeed many are illiterate, the Sahel in the dry seasonthey need no formal education or scientist to inform them of the effects of climate change … they live the effects of desertification on a daily basis! Over the past 5 – 10 years, they have noticed the irregularity of the once predictable rain patterns, with the rainy season arriving later and ending earlier than it did 10 years ago. Furthermore, their efforts to improve food security by planting a market garden, during the dry season when food becomes scare are met with frustration and even failure as the hand dug 6 to 7 meter wells are drying up as the water level drops … an effect of climate change and desertification. Continue reading “Climate change in action”

Burkina Faso: After October 30, 2014

By Judy Gray ~ with excerpts from an article by Joe Penney, published in the New African magazine, January 2015

I returned a week ago from an eight day visit to Fada, Eastern Burkina Faso to monitor the World Neighbours Canada (WNC) project there. It was a unique and heart-warming experience and one that I will post more about over the coming months. However, the visit also inspired an interest to learn more about the recent political upheaval that the people in this country faced. Brad Fee, the colleague who travelled with me to Fada, sent me this article which elaborates on the struggle which recently occurred in this country. Continue reading “Burkina Faso: After October 30, 2014”

The rocky road of political change: Nepal’s challenges

Creating a new constitution

posted by Dale Dodge, with information from Suresh Shrestha

After 6 years of democratic government, the government of Nepal has been unable to get the job done of writing a constitution.  There are too many parties, too many vested interests, and too little power.  The following is the final question and answer from an interview with Lok Raj Baral, author and political science professor in Nepal.

Question: You touched on many aspects of governance. It will soon be a year since the formation of the government under Sushil Koirala. How would you assess its performance?

Mr. Baral’s response: This government has not done anything; it has been a non-functioning government. It was barely able to even appoint ambassadors. It failed to expedite the constitution and it has not been actively inclusive. It has been a failure. But I would not just blame Sushil Koirala. It was the same during the tenure of Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai.

This is a fault of the system. There is no single-party majority so any government needs to take other parties along with it. So either you need to satisfy your coalition partner or you need a prime minister with the personality to do what needs to be done. But I also don’t know what the alternative is. Furthermore, we are forced to deal with multiple crises at the same time—governance crisis, leadership crisis, constitutional crisis, corruption crisis, etc. And none of the parties abide by their ideologies. The NC is not socialist, the UML is not Leninist-Marxist, and the Maoists are not Maoist. That is why we need a minimum understanding between the major parties.

Harsh words, but echoed in the report sent to us recently by Suresh Shrestha, our TSS partner in Manthali.

Continue reading “The rocky road of political change: Nepal’s challenges”

Beating back the desert in Burkina Faso

Interesting article published two days ago in Science Daily about one of the ways Burkina Faso is attempting to deal with its very difficult climate and soil conditions.

“In Burkina Faso, what was once stony semi-wasteland is now covered in verdant crop fields, rescued from relentless desertification. Using simple agricultural techniques largely spread by word-of-mouth, this tiny West African state has rejuvenated vast stretches of scrubby soil over the past 30 years, proving they are not doomed and giving hope to other vulnerable areas in the region.”

Though the article in the newspaper is about a village in northern Burkina Faso (Rim), the technique is being used more and more in our project area, Fada. The results are not yet as remarkable as those in Rim, but farmers, both women and men, are using the technique more and more.

Click here to watch a short video and a more thorough explanation

How to build a sealed, hygienic toilet

Since 2000, World Neighbours Canada has been using WNC and matching CIDA funds to put in sealed, hygienic toilets in many villages of Nepal. What at first was a hard sell to villagers who have practiced ‘open defecation’ all their lives, has now become a highly requested item. Our partner, Tamakoshi Sewa Samiti (TSS), has been fielding increasing numbers of requests from villages who already have a water system in place, to help with the installation of the new toilet. Outhouses and pit toilets have been tried in the past, but there has always been problems with smell and with the attraction of unwanted pests, vermin and insects. The design of the sealed, hygienic toilet overcomes these issues.

Continue reading “How to build a sealed, hygienic toilet”

Nepal Report  

Photo 09_Users in Tap no. 4

The loss of CIDA matching funding has resulted in a drop in activity in Nepal over the past year, but TSS has still managed to install 3 water systems in the villages of Saduagaun, Jagirgaun and Kyama.  Funding was partially from WNC, but also from Rotary International via Rotary Aldergrove, and from a student based NGO called CACTES (Caring About Communities Together to Eliminate Struggle) from Surrey, BC.  The three systems combined have brought water to a total of over 500 people.  Unfortunately, the toilet program has been suspended because of lack of funding.

In the coming year, we plan to concentrate on toilets again, especially in the villages that now have water.  We have seen the combination of accessible water and sealed, hygienic toilets reduce gastrointestinal diseases by 80%, and the requests from villages for toilets is as high as ever.

Nepal Political Update

Nine months after the Constituent Assembly elections and six months after Cabinet formation, the government has nominated 17 lawmakers in 26 vacant CA seats only on 30 August, 2014.

The 26 seats were allotted to different political parties as per their seats in CA. Eight of the nominees are from the Nepali Congress, eight from CPN-UML and one from the RPP-Nepal while the four seats allocated to the opposition UCPN (Maoist) and four others to fringe parties are yet to be filled. As per the mandate of CA, the new full-fledged constitution has to be promulgated by 22nd January 2015.

Most of the lawmakers have stressed on the need to deliver the new constitution within the stipulated time-frame either through consensus, if not through voting process. However, the major issues are yet to finalize no. of federal states, its naming and bordering as well as the executive power (Presidential or Pri-ministerial). At present, the executive power is vested to the Pri-minister.

There are still 33 political parties (including faction of Maoist and others) who lost and/or did not take part in the last CA election. Last week, the ruling government had called all-party national political conference to reach consensus on major issues including federalism, governance system and electoral system. However, the 33-party alliance boycotted the meeting in the last minute where participants from other parties waiting in conference room. The consensus has not yet reached on these thorny issues among the ruling parties as well. It is still suspicious that the new constitution be delivered by 22nd January, 2015.

From desert dates to soap

The challenges of development in the Sahel

soapImagine what a difference it would make to a woman’s life if she were able to earn a little money of her own through the creation of a saleable product and then sell that product at a local market. That’s just what some Burkinabe villagers have been able to do: they have learned how to extract oil from desert dates and then use that oil to make soap.

Recent reports from APDC, World Neighbours Canada’s partner organization in Burkina Faso, have provided details about the project. In addition to the forest products initiatives such as the soap making, the villagers are pleased with the achievement of a local radio broadcast about forestry clearing laws and protection measures, improvement in agricultural yields through the use of green manure, and animal health improvements.

Continue reading “From desert dates to soap”

Nepal Political Update

Nepali Congress President was elected as the 37th Prime Minister yesterday. He has secured 405 lawmakers votes while 148 voted against him including the Maoist lawmakers.

He has been administered the oath of office and secrecy by the President today. The newly elected Prime Minister has expressed to give a full-fledged constitution in the next one year.

Likewise, the Chairman of the interim election government has been automatically released and he has been also resigned from the post of Chief Justice. When he was elected he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and he was holding the both posts until today.