Helping where governmental support is hardly available

At the Atitlán lake in Guatemala, a project of the Global Nature Fund (GNF) focuses on forest protection and the improvement of the living conditions of indigenous communities. The project builds upon three pillars of sustainability. Firstly, the measures include the education and training of stakeholders with respect to climate change and biodiversity issues. Secondly, the locals obtain important ecosystem services through forest protection measures and the focus on reforestation. Finally, the project aims at improving the economic situation of the indigenous communities by supporting and improving traditional cultivation systems and by creating alternative sources of income.

The HAND IN HAND fund supports the project with 5,000 Euro that are spend for training and education, for energy-efficient ovens and for tree seedlings.
 

Initially supported by the Life Giving Forest e.V. in 2017, disabled people from the Hindang village founded a cooperative (HIPEDAC) in organic agriculture. This was their way to escape poverty that is especially challenging for disabled people in the Philippines. The project also focuses on the development of self confidence and a sustainable, future-proof interaction between man and environment. Due to the clearing of the Philippine rain forests in the past, soils have hardly any nutrients and natural catastrophes have devastating effects. The HIPEDAC cooperative counteracts this with reforestation and organic farming. 

The HAND IN HAND fund gave 5,000 Euro to the cooperative for training in organic agriculture and the construction of handicapped-accessible paths. 
 

Wunschträume Netzwerk für Mädchen- und Frauenprojekte e.V. supports a women's group in Burkina Faso. Nearly 60 women grow vegetables on one hectare of land. The women sell the harvested products. This improves the economic and the social position of the women. In 2018, a well with hand-operated pump was installed for irrigation of the garden. In order to improve their yields, the women's group and Wunschträume e.V. built a water reservoir with a solar pump in addition to the existing well. The NGO plans to support several other projects in the region. Planned are trainings in vegetable farming, but also trainings in soap making and weaving, commercial education as well as literacy projects.

The HAND IN HAND fund supported the construction of the water reservoir and the solar pump with 5,000 Euro.