Ann Varghese informed Bread for the World members about the Peace Corps projects she recently conducted in Cameroon. Varghese served in Cameroon for about two years.
Bread for the World works to get more money to poor nations
By Dennis Hines
The MidWeek
Members of a local organization want to make residents aware about the importance of helping people who are less fortunate.
Bread for the World organizations throughout the country are participating in the ONE Campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to educate residents about world poverty. Bread for the World is currently working with 12 other organizations to help promote the ONE Campaign.
Ann Varghese of the Bread for the World organization recently meet with local members of the group to inform them about the ONE Campaign. Varghese said, as part of the campaign, they are encouraging members to sign a declaration stating they want U.S. leaders to donate more money to poorer countries.
“By signing the ONE declaration, you’re basically saying you’re a person who lives in this country (the United States) and cares about these issues and wants our government to do more,” Varghese said.
Varghese said the U.S. needs to do more to help people in other countries who live in poor conditions.
“Currently, the United States is giving less than half of 1 percent of our budget to poverty assistance programs around the world...,” Varghese said. “For the wealthiest nation, it’s really shocking and not enough.”
Varghese said after members sign the declaration, they will receive e-mail messages with updated information about the ONE Campaign.
As part of the campaign, the Bread for the World is also asking members to educate themselves about issues related to world hunger and to inform their friends and relatives about the issues.
“So if you hear a broadcast about somebody talking about global AIDS, please share that with one other person, or if you read an article in the paper about debt cancellation, share that with one other person, because we really feel that once people in the United States start talking about these issues, that’s when we will be able to hold our leaders accountable.”
During her presentation, Varghese informed Bread for the World members about the Peace Corps projects she recently conducted in Cameroon. Varghese served in Cameroon for about two years.
Varghese said, during her mission, she worked with a women’s farming group to have a water pump installed in their village. She said the project costed about $3,000.
“On the day of the inauguration, it was such a proud moment for these women,” Varghese said. “So many people in the village had been discouraging them and said, ‘It’s a group of women farmers. They won’t be able to realize this project...’ For these women, it was the proudest moment for them, because it showed them they really could accomplish something and realize the project with a little bit of help.”
Varghese said the water pump currently serves 500 residents in the village and an elementary school.
“For the cost of a couple of thousand dollars, supplying water for years to come to 500 people in the community, it’s just a wonderful thing, and for these women, it’s allowing them to do their work more efficiently,” Varghese said.
She said, before the pump was installed, the women had to walk several miles to obtain water for their farm.
“It was an inconvenience and a waste of time for these women,” Varghese said. “At the farmsite, they actually had no access to clean water while they were working.”
Varghese said she also worked with a hospital to offer prenatal exams to women in the village. She said she developed a promotion with the hospital in which the women would receive a mosquito net if they came in for three prenatal exams.
“This was to encourage them to see a medical professional during the course of their pregnancy to check out any problems that might be arising. Then on the third visit, they received this free mosquito net,” Varghese said. “For us, maybe a mosquito net is $5 or $6, but for someone living there, that choice of spending that money on a mosquito net, that may or may not work, or feeding their family, they’re going to choose to fed their family... This was a great program, because once the women saw the difference of sleeping under a mosquito net or their child sleeping under a mosquito net, they saw there was a decrease in themselves or their child becoming affected with malaria.”
Varghese said, while in Cameroon, she also offered an AIDS/HIV education program to children in the village. She said many residents in the village have misconceptions about AIDS and HIV.
“I felt if I could get to them at a younger age, it might help them to change behavior early, because when you’re talking to adult males and telling them, all of a sudden, to use condoms, it’s very hard for them to get that behavior changed,” Varghese said.
According to Varghese, many teachers in the village do not have the time to educate their students about AIDS and HIV, because they are currently overworked. She said the high school in the village had about 1,200 students and 12 instructors.
Varghese said many of the students did not believe that AIDS and HIV existed.
“I think, in their hearts, they were beginning to realize that it’s real, because they’re seeing their family members, their neighbors and people in their community get sick and die of this disease,” Varghese said.
Varghese said she and the students developed the Youth Committee for the Fight Against AIDS to educate the residents about AIDS and HIV.
“Basically, every neighborhood has a chief, and we would go to the chief and ask him if we could go in his neighborhood and do an AIDS presentation, and, more often than not, he would give us permission, and he would contact all the people in the neighborhood beforehand and tell them we were coming,” Varghese said. “Then, we would set up shop from his house and do an informal AIDS talk.”
For more information about the Bread for the World organization call 758-5804.
