http://viewchange.org Videos from ViewChange.org (Filtered by topics: Millennium Villages Project) en-us Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:33:00 +0000 Copyright 2011 Link Media, Inc. http://www.viewchange.org/videos/water-pressures Average rainfall in the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, India, can be as little as two inches a year. Having access to water in the area determines the difference between getting an education and living a life that revolves around spending the majority of the day walking to get water. A local NGO has teamed up with villagers to build wells and provide the local population with clean, safe drinking water. This has given many young people the freedom to learn and grow. Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:33:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/water-pressures India, Rajasthan, Water & Sanitation, Women's rights, Water security, Millennium Development Goals, Drinking water, Environment, Millennium Villages Project, Freshwater >> TITLE: Water Pressures >> TITLE: Deja Bi: 98 years. Water is her story. Saltwater. Since 12 years old, Deja Bi has walked nearly 6 hrs a day to fetch water. Neither Deja Bi, her children, nor grandchildren attended school. Water and work have always been priorities. Water they DO have access to is salty and causes illness. >> TITLE: Manju: 18 years. Manju also fetches water. Sweet - fresh water. Manju's well is 50 feet from her home. It is covered and clean. Water is just the beginning of her story. >> KANUPRIYA HARISH [Executive Director, Jal Bhagirathi Foundation]: Manju is one of our community producers. From about fifteen, twenty girls she was interviewed, she was selected. >> TITLE: The Jal Bhagirathi Foundation provided the wells for Manju's village and school >> TITLE: They also provide media training for Manju and other students interested in telling community stories >> KANUPRIYA HARISH: She was a very, very shy girl. I mean the Manju that you see now is someone who's developed over six months. >> TITLE: Only 20 minutes separate these two women >> TITLE: But 80 years and a world of opportunity stand between them >> TITLE: Saltwater >> DEJA BI: My stomach hurts from the saltwater. I get diarrhea. I can't drink it. I don't have time here. This is the time of dying. So, I shift to the graveyard - to the grave. >> TITLE: Sweetwater >> KANUPRIYA HARISH: She's a different girl. She was a different girl when she had come her, but now she's very different, very confident. >> MANJU: I especially enjoy roaming the villages, talking to villagers. Whatever main issue the villagers speak of, that is what we make our film about. Mostly they speak about water problems. But things ARE improving greatly. >> TITLE: The difference is water. http://www.viewchange.org/videos/ticad-towards-a-vibrant-africa <p>The Tokyo International Conference on African Development is more than just a conference. It has become a major global framework for Asia, Africa, and the UNDP to collaborate in promoting Africa's development. Here are five projects working to improve people's everyday lives throughout the continent. Produced by <a title="UNDP" href="http://www.undp.org/" target="_blank">UNDP</a>.</p> Fri, 17 Sep 2010 23:50:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/ticad-towards-a-vibrant-africa Africa, United Nations Development Programme, Tokyo International Conference on African Development, United Nations, Development aid, Social equality, Education, Empowerment, Community development, Gender equality >> TITLE: Towards a Vibrant Africa: A Continent of Hope & Opportunity >> TITLE: Tanzania Bed Net Factory (Japanese/Tanzanian joint venture) >> TITLE: More than 1 million people die of malaria each year >> TITLE: Mosquito nets are an effective and economical method of preventing the disease >> ELIREHEMA MANGA [resident of Manyata village]: I often suffered from malaria before we got the nets. I couldn't cultivate my land because I was often sick. The difference is huge because now I feel healthy and strong. I'm feeling so much better that I'm able to work, make a little money, and go to the market. Everyone's earnings have improved because we can all work hard to cultivate crops. >> TITLE: Mosquito Net Factory [Arusha, Tanzania] >> BINESH HARIA [Chief Operating Officer, A to Z Textile Mills]: What we want to do here is save lives, by manufacturing these products in Africa, and also reduce poverty. We've already created 3,200 direct employment. >> LUCY THOMAS [Employee, A to Z Textile Mills]: Before, I was living with my parents. But now I can afford to live alone and pay for my brother's school fees. I'm truly proud of the work I do, because it's helping prevent malaria. >> BINESH HARIA: What we are producing is a product which is going to be sold in Africa, and that is why I say Africa for Africa. What we want is: Africa should be able to sustain itself. >> ELIREHEMA MANGA: Since receiving the nets, all our lives have improved. My fellow villagers and I are very grateful. >> TITLE: Sierra Leone Schools & Community Centres ("Arms for Development" project Japan/UNDP) >> TITLE: After 11 years of devastating civil war, Sierra Leone is now recovering from conflict >> TITLE: Now former combatants are encouraged to surrender their arms in exchange for community development projects >> SOLDIER: The entire region is now arms free. >> TITLE: Community centres and schools are at the heart of the recovery effort >> MARYLEEN BANGURA [Resident of Binkolo Village]: I was seven years old when the rebels came in Binkolo. They attacked us here, and my mother was carrying me on her back, holding my sister on her hand. We had to run to the bushes where she damaged ... her lip had a cut. >> ANGELA BANGURA [resident of Binkolo Village]: I was bleeding profusely and I was feeling dizzy. I fell for the first time, second time, and then the third time she suggested that I should put her down. She always watched my movements. When I crawled, she also crawled. When I got up and tried to run, she followed my footsteps. That's the way we traveled the worst of the night, until we arrived in the next village the next morning. It's a night I pray that I will never repeat in my lifetime. >> MARYLEEN BANGURA: I don't like to hear about this past war, because it caused many damages in our country. Arms and feet of people were cut off. Houses were burnt. Some were killed. Some, when they killed, gave it to another human being to eat raw flesh. So I don't want to hear about it. I always like to think about my future than listen to the past. >> TITLE: School supported by Arms for Development Programme >> MARYLEEN BANGURA: The best part of my life now is that I'm going to school. All of the school lessons are free for everybody, so they have the opportunity to attend. I'm really concentrating on my education because I want to be somebody in the future, like I want to be a lawyer. That's my dream, and I know my dream is going to come true. >> TITLE: Community centre supported by Arms for Development Programme >> ABBAS A. BANGURA [Chairman, Masamanke Development Association]: Life is changing rapidly here. When this community center wasn't around life was really difficult here. But now we can see so many kids every day are meeting here. >> MARYLEEN BANGURA: For my future, I'm seeing that it's going to be successful for me. Because I'm now attending school. I'm with my parents, they encourage me to learn. And for the country, I know my country is going to develop. >> TITLE: Burkina Faso Multifunctional Platform (The UN Trust Fund for Human Security) >> TITLE: Over 95 percent of rural households in Africa lack electrical power >> TITLE: A unique electric generator helps villagers with their daily lives >> IDANI ABIBA (resident of Komboari Village): Before the multifunctional electric generator, my life was very difficult. I had to wake early to pound millet, fetch water, and cook. Now I have more time to spend on other activities. >> OUOBA B. BENOIT [Tin Tua Association]: In our country, the difficulty of getting drinkable water and pounding the millet take up the women's entire day. With the introduction of the multiplatform generator, this changed. >> TITLE: Multifunctional platform (electric generator) >> OUOBA B. BENOIT: Now woman have more time. >> IDANI ABIBA: We now have time to learn to read and write. This opens our minds and makes us happy. With the generator, we also have many services. We used to have to go far to repair broken equipment. But now we can do welding in town. Because of the electric generator, everyone has free time to spend on other activities. Thanks to the generator our lives have changed for the better. >> TITLE: Uganda Millennium Village (The UN Trust Fund for Human Security) >> TITLE: More than 40 percent of the population of Africa lives on less than USD$1 a day >> TITLE: The Millennium Villages project empowers communities to break the cycle of poverty >> FRIDAH TUMUHIMBISE [resident of Ruhiira Millennium Village]: My family never used to have enough food to eat. But ever since the Millennium Village project, my family is able to cultivate enough food. We used to spend a lot of time preparing food for the children. But since they now eat at school, we have time to do other things. There's also a clinic where people are treated, and in case of complications an ambulance takes us to another hospital. It [the project] has helped by starting a village bank where women can borrow for our businesses. I bought sheep and goats, sold two of their offspring, and bought iron sheets to build a kitchen. >> DAVID SIRIRI [Millennium Village Coordinator]: The thing about this project is empowerment of communities. It's about involving communities in taking leadership, in ensuring that they have a say in their destiny. It's not just coming and dropping something on the ground; you have to get the villagers involved. This project has given a sense of ownership, a sense of belonging, a sense of leadership. The communities can stand up and say, "Yes, this is our project." They are seeing the impact of the interventions. People are now flocking [to] the health centers. Before you only used to have one or two people, now you have 150 people coming to the health units. Water was a major problem. Now the water is clean. Now we have students attending school right from P1 up to P7 without dropping out. All these things have brought new hope and it's a new way of rural devolvement that had never happened here. >> FRIDAH TUMUHIMBISE: If the project continues another 10 years, we can better our situation, we can educate our children and really improve our lives. >>TITLE: Nigeria Woman Empowerment Project (UNDP/Japan WID Fund) >> TITLE: In Nigeria, woman are traditionally disadvantaged, lacking access to resources and skills >> TITLE: Encouraging female enterprises is key to development and social equality >> NFON (GRACE) ETETE ITUEN [resident of Onna Village]: When my husband died, my children were very young, so I had to struggle a long way for them to go to school. And to eat was very difficult. But I thank God now that it's getting improved. Now under community partnership I can do these buns, chin chin [cookies], egg rolls, which people come in and buy. I have a little money every day. >> SIGN: Onna Woman Development Centre >> MRS. NSE UDOH [Director, Community Partners for Development]: The project has really affected the lives of the women in Onna local government area. They've been empowered to the extent that they can actually assist the family in basic feeding and clothing. After the training they've been able to replicate what was taught. They now make the products by themselves. They go and sell them in the town, and are able to market their product. We are hoping that, eventually, when the mill starts in full swing, they will be able to do large quantities, and send it out to many other local government states. The women now meet on their own, monthly, so the excitement they have, coming out to share issues with each other ... Women, as you know, especially in our own society, have been relegated to the background for years. And it's only now that they are now given the opportunity to comment, to air their views. >> NFON (GRACE) ETETE ITUEN: Everyone around me is improving because all of us are now busy in doing what we're supposed to do. As the community progresses, I'm sure it will be better. >> TITLE: [end credits] >> TITLE: UNDP Produced by the Office of Communications for TICAD http://www.viewchange.org/videos/childcount-cell-phones-and-health-in-sauri-kenya <p>Mobile phone technology is being used by local health workers in developing countries to speed up diagnoses and help combat preventable diseases such as malaria, TB, and polio.</p> Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:06:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/childcount-cell-phones-and-health-in-sauri-kenya Millennium Villages Project, Kenya, Text messaging, Mobile phone, Malaria, Millennium Promise, Sub-Saharan Africa, Malnutrition, Extreme poverty, Diagnostic test >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme poverty ends here. >> TITLE: ChildCount+ Cell phones and health in Sauri, Kenya. February 2010 >> VOICEOVER: Community health worker Steven Omollo has been called out on a house visit from his home in Lahanda in Sauri Millennium Village. A baby boy has been running a fever all night, and his parents are worried that it could be malaria. Steven prepares to do a rapid diagnostic test on the child, which will return a result almost immediately. And now, with innovative mobile phone technology called rapid SMS, Steven can send the results of the test in to an automated system. If the result is positive, he'll receive a text message telling him to give the child the anti-malarial drug Coartem. >> STANLEY SHIHUNDU [Health Facilitator, Sauri Millennium Village Project]: The speed at which the information is relayed between the time the child is seen and the response from the system, it makes it much easier for someone to know there is a problem somewhere. >> VOICEOVER: The boy tests negative for malaria, but Steven is worried that he may be malnourished. >> STEVEN OMOLLO: The red section suggests severe malnutrition. >> VOICEOVER: He texts in the measurement along with the child's rapid SMS ID number. Using the data and the baby's age, the system confirms that he is indeed malnourished, and recommends supplementary feeding. >> STEVEN OMOLLO: It has made our work a bit easy and somewhat enjoyable and fast. >> VOICEOVER: And in helping people like Steven do their jobs better, the futures of children like these are more secure than ever before. >> TITLE: ChildCount+ is a text messaging system used throughout the Millennium Villages to deal with preventable diseases, such as malaria, TB, and polio. >> TITLE: Simple, affordable tools like cell phones and rapid malaria test kits empower community health workers throughout sub-Saharan Africa ... >> TITLE: ... who are guaranteeing the futures of children while protecting the health of mothers. >> TITLE: Help us to protect more mothers and children with just a simple cell phone. >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme poverty ends here. Join us today at www.millenniumpromise.org http://www.viewchange.org/videos/in-nature-s-way-protecting-and-irrigating-koraro-s-land <p>Simple, innovative structures in Koraro, Ethiopia divert floods that had previously devastated farmers. Now the water is channeled to irrigate farmland. These structures were built with support from the Ethiopian government's safety net program, which supplied villagers with grain in exchange for their labor.</p> Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:06:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/in-nature-s-way-protecting-and-irrigating-koraro-s-land Irrigation, Ethiopia, Millennium Villages Project, Agriculture, Millennium Promise, Water & Sanitation, Water, Agriculture & Food, Africa, ViewChange Online Film Contest >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme poverty ends here >> TITLE: In Nature's Way: Protecting and irrigating Koraro's land. Ethiopia, March 2010 >> VOICEOVER: Farmer Arrea Atzbiha feeds his family from a quarter of a hectare of land in the remote Millennium Village of Koraro in Ethiopia. >> ARREA ATZBIHA [Farmer]: I mostly grow tef [grain] here. My parents gave me this land. It does not belong to me. >> VOICEOVER: But every year nature unleashes its power on Arrea. During the heavy rains, water gushes down the nearby Gera'alta Mountains, wreaking havoc. >> GIGAR KEBEDE [Infrastructure Coordinator, Koraro Millennium Village Project]: It carries all the eroded soil materials and deposits in farmland. By doing this it was devastating and damaging the farmers and leaving them without any crop yield. >> VOICEOVER: But over the last year, gabion structures made of stones and wire mesh have been built all around the village, diverting destructive floodwaters and channeling them to irrigate farmland. >> GIGAR KEBEDE: We assemble the stones using gabion boxes so that they can act strongly and resist the impact of high floods. >> VOICEOVER: By teaching the local community how to manage the heavy rains using simple engineering techniques, staff of the Millennium Village Project are helping to make sure that the farmers' fields get all the water they need. >> GIGAR KEBEDE: If we are able to control and manage it, and use it through the dry season, we can have sufficient crop production and it will be sufficient to feed the people. >> VOICEOVER: Built by local villagers with support from the Ethiopian government safety net program, which gives grain in return for labor, the gabions are reclaiming land such as this gully bed while sending the water to the farmers’ fields. >> GIGAR KEBEDE: The run-off that is diverted into the trench infiltrates into the ground, so ultimately that develops the groundwater level, and by constructing hand-dug wells, it can be used for irrigation. >> VOICEOVER: By channeling the precious water, wells can be dug and fields irrigated, putting food on the table for farmers like Arrea who are filled with hope fur the future. >> ARREA ATZBIHA: If the water continues to flow, we know that production will increase. >> GIGAR KEBEDE: Farmers have already started irrigating small plots. By doing this we are improving the nutritional security of the local people. >> VOICEOVER: Local people who this year are hopeful of a plentiful harvest. >> TITLE: Widespread reliance on rain-fed agriculture has led to deep food insecurity that threatens much of Africa. >> TITLE: The Millennium Villages project has empowered entire communities by teaching modern irrigation techniques. >> TITLE: These successfully control water flows for plentiful harvests, ensuring increased crop yields, better nutrition, and improved livelihoods. >> TITLE: Help us ensure that entire communities can introduce these simple and affordable engineering techniques -- and so can begin to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme poverty ends here. Join us today at www.millenniumpromise.org http://www.viewchange.org/videos/forging-the-future-girls-education-in-koraro-ethiopia <p>In Koraro, Ethiopia, many factors prevent girls from obtaining an education. However, girls like Regbe are now able to attend secondary school because of scholarships provided by the Millennium Villages Project. The girls previously would have married at a young age into a poor family. Now, they have a brighter future.</p> Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:06:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/forging-the-future-girls-education-in-koraro-ethiopia Education, Ethiopia, Millennium Promise, Millennium Villages Project, Millennium Development Goals, Africa, Extreme poverty, LinkTV Picks, Primary school, High school >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme poverty ends here >> TITLE: Forging the Future: Girls' education in Koraro, Ethiopia. March, 2010 >> REGBE GEBREMISKEL: My name is Regbe Gebremiskel. I am in grade six. My father is a farmer. I like to go to school. >> VOICEOVER: In the remote Ethiopian village of Koraro, life is difficult, especially for the women. But the futures of girls like Regbe are looking brighter. Most now get a primary education, bringing much-needed skills to the community, and the Millennium Village Project in Koraro is also working to make sure that girls carry on learning despite high fees and a 30-kilometer walk to the nearest secondary school. >> TEKLAY BERHE [Director, Koraro Primary School]: There are many obstacles facing the girls to go on to secondary school. One, economic problems; second, parents' influences and early marriage. >> VOICEOVER: Supported by a scholarship, Smret Gabrickados is one of over 50 girls from Koraro primary who have cleared these hurdles and gone on to secondary school. >> SMRET GABRICKADOS [Student]: I was born in Koraro, and now I live in Hawzien. From grade nine up to grade twelve, I have been assisted by the project. If I am not supported by the project, I would already be married because my family are not educated people, meaning that they haven't any knowledge about education. >> TITLE: Soon to finish grade twelve, Smret will be the first girl from Koraro to finish secondary school and apply to university. >> SMRET GABRICKADOS: I study all the time in order to be a doctor. >> TADELE ATAKELTI [Education Coordinator, Koraro Millennium Village Project]: If a girl from Koraro doesn't go to secondary school, her fate will be to marry young and have a low standard of living as a farmer. Entering into high school will make the girls' future bright. It will create an opportunity to look for jobs, which will help the girls to help themselves as well as to serve their community. Out of the existing 52 girls in the program, if the scholarships were not there, not one of them would have come to high school to continue her education. So this is changing their lives. These students have a goal, a certain hope. >> VOICEOVER: The successes of the girls at secondary school at Hawzien are inspiring their sisters and friends at Koraro primary school. >> REGBE GEBREMISKEL: I want to be a doctor. I would like to study hard. > VOICEOVER: With continued support, Regbe's dreams and those of thousands of girls in Koraro can turn into reality, which, in turn, will ensure that the entire community can benefit. >> TITLE: More than 70 million children are not enrolled at primary school. >> TITLE: Hundreds of millions cannot afford to attend secondary school, even when they pass qualifying exams. >> TITLE: It costs as little as USD$40 a month for a girl or boy to attend secondary school. >> TITLE: Let's ensure that every girl and boy has the same opportunity as Smret to attend secondary school and achieve their dreams. >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme poverty ends here. Join us today at www.millenniumpromise.org http://www.viewchange.org/videos/a-promise-to-sow-seeds-for-the-future <p>Farmers in Kenya are reaping better harvests with the help of fertilizer, made available through a loan system. The farmers now believe they will become economically independent and able to properly care for their children.</p> Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:06:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/a-promise-to-sow-seeds-for-the-future Millennium Villages Project, Kenya, Millennium Promise, Agriculture, ViewChange Online Film Contest, Aid, Foreign Assistance, Extreme poverty, Microcredit, Microfinance >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme Poverty Ends Here >> TITLE: A Promise to Sow Seeds for the Future. Sauri, Kenya. April, 2010 >> HANNINGTON OWITI NYANDO [Millennium Villages Agricultural Facilitator]: A hungry country cannot be a peaceful country, cannot be a healthy country. Without food, even our lives cannot be in order. Currently, the soil is quite bare. It does not have plant food. So, automatically, after having planted with fertilizer, a farmer will have to get a bumper harvest. >> EVELYN AKINYI OMONDI [Farmer, Gongo Sub-Location]: I started using fertilizer in 2007, when Millennium Villages Project brought it. Millennium Villages taught us how to plant, how to space our seeds, how to apply fertilizer, and to cover the soil. This method gives me much higher yields than I used to get before. Without fertilizer, you get nothing. If I plant here without fertilizer, my yield is only one sack. With fertilizer, I get over 15 sacks. People really want to use fertilizer now. Millennium Villages Project introduced a loan system for fertilizer. I have benefited from this loan system. I will pay back the loan. By next year, I hope to be self-sufficient. I hope to build on what I've borrowed so that next year I don't need any assistance. If I work hard, I can sell my maize to enable me to buy my own fertilizer. Millennium Villages Project has helped us. When Millennium Villages Project first came, I had no plans at all. But recently I built a house. If I work hard on the farm and in business, the way the Millennium Villages taught me, I can plan a better education for my children. >> TITLE: Each Millennium Village was a hunger hotspot, and the introduction of subsidized fertilizer was a crucial priority. >> TITLE: As a result, crop yields have dramatically increased, helping to reduce hunger and enabling farmers to sell surplus crops for profit. >> TITLE: Many farmers have transitioned entirely from being dependent on food aid to being entirely self-sufficient. >> TITLE: It costs as little as: USD$15 to provide a 25 kilogram bag of fertilizer; USD$20 to provide high-yield and disease-resistant seeds to farmers. >> TITLE: Help us ensure that mothers like Evelyn have the opportunity to feed their families, educate their children, and ensure healthy and independent livelihoods. >> TITLE: Millennium Promise: Extreme poverty ends here. Join us today at www.millenniumpromise.org