This week, we want to share with you an inspiring story from our Bolivia office. So often we think of children as the innocent victims of the terrible environment around them, but as this story shows, children can be active participants in creating positive change for the communities where they live.

Morochata THV, Bolivia:

This year the community hero from Bolivia is the Children’s Team Advocators for healthy and productive Municipality.

3 years ago Bolivia got a new Constitution that gives the opportunity to Municipalities to develop “Cartas Organicas” a type of Municipality Constitution that sets the strategy directions in which the Municipality is moving. This Cartas Organicas” are the driving force that clearly establishes the direction in which the Municipality will move from the coming 20-30 years.  Most of the municipalities in the country already initiated the process of developing these documents or bylaws and the first step was to elect the representatives of the Municipality Assembly conformed by elected best prepared citizens to elaborate the document.. As result of MAP’s work in the previous years in the Municipality of Morochata, children, since 2 years ago,  got organized in a team to discuss the meaning and implication of this document and began to develop dreams and hope that they will be able to have political incidence for the future of their municipality. While they began to discuss what a healthy and productive municipality should be they also initiated and advocacy work demanding their citizen rights of participating in the process. Finally, this team of children and adolescents were invited to present their proposal to the Municipality Assembly on November 19, 2011. A team of 40 children got very well organized to intensively work in their proposal. Then, they democratically elected 12 representatives to go to the assembly and government authorities to present their proposal of “Carta Organica” from Children’s perspective. They attended the session of the assembly and local authorities having an incredible impact since the initiation of the program with the song that children have elaborated “we are from around this municipality” and other powerful drawings, diagrams, and documents presenting highly innovative type of policies and strategies to develop a healthy and productive Municipality based of five foundations:

Guarantee comprehensive education for children, protecting and promoting the stability and cohesion of the families, prioritizing health in the community, protecting the environment and guarantying food security – food sovereignty in the Municipality.

After the presentation the government authorities and the assembly members were deeply impressed by the clarity and by the power of the arguments children used. All tried to speak out the profound impression that this team of children and adolescents had on them. They strongly got committed to use the data and information the children presented in the document the assembly is working with.

Besides the profound impact in the future of the Municipality these children have had they clearly part the history of these communities in which children were object and passive recipients of parents and adults decisions to a new way of understanding children as citizens capable to think, capable to do analyses of the reality, capable o bring innovative and powerful dreams for the future of their families and communities, and as political subjects capable of richly contribute to the political processes of the communities. Children are clearly showing that the fully embody and can express God’s image and likeness becoming living good news to their families and communities bringing transformation, health and hope for all.

Note: this guest post comes from Scott Walters, MAP’s Chief Development Officer.

To all MAP friends and supporters:

Dr. Julien Ake, Regional Representative of MAP West Africa, Cynthia Blandford Nash Honorary Counselor General; Liberia and I are currently in Liberia where we have been tracking a special commemorative shipment of medicines.  The shipment represents MAP International reaching the milestone of distributing $4 billion in medicines since our founding.  At 10:30 am today, we documented the administration of that medicine to a “little patient” who represents the 2 billionth person who has benefitted from our aid through the years.

To the left, you will find a picture of 3-month old Wesley Jabbah of New Dolos Town, Margibi County, Liberia who was brought into the New Dolos Town Clinic  by his 16-year-old mother, Elena Jabbah. We are delighted to report that Wesley received some antibiotics, acetaminophen and vitamins to help with his respiratory infection.  You might say Wesley is our 2 billionth customer.  The Clinic’s Officer in Charge, Physician’s Assistant A. McFarland administered the medications.  Both he and his mother left the clinic in much higher spirits.

As you always do, please pray for Wesley and Elena and all the other people we have helped through the years. And thank you to all MAP’s supporters over the years who have made this milestone possible!

This story is from the Sokrogbo Total Health Village in Cote d’Ivoire, a community about 130 kilometers north of Abidjan. After many years of failed projects with NGOs, Sokrogbo resident Paul Kanga successfully led an effort to construct a water tower, freeing the community from the threat of waterborne diseases. This is his story on how the community came together to solve a common problem, and why this project succeeded where many others had failed.

Sokrogbo THV, Cote d’Ivoire

MAP’s first Total Health Village is the Sokrogbo community in Cote d’Ivoire, located about 130 kilometers north of Abidjan in the sub-district of Taabo.  The people in this community have had an unfortunate history with past NGOs and poverty reduction programs.  The mismanagement of funds in past community development projects has affected their social cohesion and confidence and has made them skeptical of projects that require a community contribution.  They refused to put money together, whatever the reason, although they could see the importance of the project.

According his own words, Paul Kanga knew perfectly well what was awaiting him when he was appointed as the treasurer of the management committee set up for the construction of the water tower in Sokrogbo. The mission assigned to Paul Kanga in his new function, was to ask for a 10% contribution from the villagers for the construction of a much-needed community water tower.

Paul Kanga had a plan to overcome the feeling of suspicion which was undermining relationships in Sokrogbo. Formerly working as a rural development manager for a national agricultural company, his plan was based on the restoration of confidence among Sokrogbo people, counting on a transparent financial management.

After many meetings and discussions, Paul obtained an agreement from the villagers for a financial contribution of 10% each to build the water tower. The first signs of the work achieved by Paul Kanga could be seen by the unprecedented mobilization of villagers when the construction site opened. Whenever the water tower construction technicians needed six manual workers, three times more volunteered.

Paul Kanga was able to reach these results by making daily reports of the evolution of the construction of the water tower. At each stage, he held meetings with the people in the community to communicate the details of the construction, local manpower involved, purchases made, balance of funds, and even he showed the cash standing for the balance fund.

Today, one year after the completion of the water tower construction, Paul Kanga is still at work. It had been decided that each person in the village aged more than 5 years old would pay 5 cents per month to have the right to collect water from the water tower. According to the reports released by the water management committee, about 95% of families pay without any constraint this amount of money to sustain the water provision system. The electricity bills are regularly paid, the water tower has never broken down and the villagers are normally provided with potable water. The good results produced by the water tower management committee led by Paul Kanga also impacted the health of the villagers. Mister Gnakoua Lucien, the nurse working at the rural clinic, confessed during one visit we paid him that the diseases linked to the consumption of unsafe water have decreased in Sokrogbo.

“Transparency in fund management leads to increased community participation and successful community development project” is the lesson we learnt from this experience with Paul Kanga.

He states, “Transparency in management of community business is the only one way to face adversity and bad suspicion”.