Smart, simple solutions to devastating problems Welcome to this presentation about Practical Action’s work. I hope you find it informative, and that you enjoy hearing about the projects that are helping to transform lives across the world.
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What do we do at Practical Action? Practical Action is an international development charity working to implement change in developing countries. We believe that we can utilise technology to help challenge the problems facing those living in extreme poverty.
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At Practical Action, we believe that people are the most important part of the process – and as such, all of our work puts real focus on communities. By seeking to affect change within institutions, policy processes and legal standards that affect communities, we seek to empower women and men to change their own lives for the better… Building up from the local to national and international levels.
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Currently, Practical Action has multiple country offices around the world. Including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Peru, Bolivia, Sudan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. We currently have around 90 active projects around the world, and strive to do so much more for other countries in Latin America, Africa and South Asia. All of our country offices are staffed by people from the local communities, ensuring that at all levels of decision-making, the people who are most affected, are heard and involved.
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We have big ideas… ideas that mean that little by little, we can help to achieve a fairer world for all.
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We believe that by enabling people to have some degree of control over their own lives they are able to improve their relationship with their own community, and to have their most basic needs met. By ensuring that community members are involved at all levels of the decision making process, we ensure that the most affected people are the most prominent voices in motivating change.
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We work toward our ideal future – a future where Practical Action is no longer needed – we want all of the people we work with, to be free from poverty, so that they can live a self-sufficient life.
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Do you want to know more about the reality of Practical Action? Let’s look at an example/some examples of our work, and at the people we’ve worked with. These are very practical examples of how our ideas work in reality; and how the people at the heart of our work are affected.
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Without clean water, innocent children’s lives are at serious risk in Kisumu. Kisumu, the third largest city, is dominated by slums. With no sewage system, or waste collection the streets’ are filled with human waste. The pipes that bring water to the community are in a state of disrepair and often burst, contaminating the water supply – with disastrous consequences. Every day in Kisumu, Kenya, children grow up surrounded by raw sewage and filth due to inadequate sanitation. They learn to walk whilst wading through other people’s mess. They have no choice but to live, eat and play in an environment rife with water-borne diseases. And because clean, safe water is inaccessible, the children cannot wash their hands. So they are constantly picking up diarrhoeal diseases.
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With limited access to clean water, children in Kisumu are taking their lives in their hands every single day. Ongoing diarrhoea and sickness in early childhood limits the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. As a result, in the Kisumu slums, one in four children is affected by stunted growth linked to malnutrition. Children like 12 month old Phelisa – pictured above with her mother Risper. At just three months old, Phelisa had continuous diarrhoea that left her dehydrated and dangerously underweight. Her frightened mother was, thankfully, able to take Phelisa to hospital, where she received treatment. Sadly diarrhoea for these children is not an inconvenience; it can be a death sentence. Thankfully Phelisa recovered. But like so many other children growing up in Kisumu, she still faces the threat of contracting diarrhoea again, and again along with other water-borne diseases.
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The infrastructure in these slums simply cannot cope. The high water table and constant flooding increases the threat of water-borne diseases spreading throughout the slums. Existing water points are too far away, making handwashing – a vital agent in combatting the spread of disease – impossible. The saddest part of this whole situation is that it’s the children who suffer most. Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of child mortality in Kenya. At such a young age a child’s body just can’t cope. He or she quickly becomes dehydrated – deprived of the water and salts needed to stay alive. I know children who have survived but, heartbreakingly, are never quite the same again. Repeated bouts attack the gut walls, preventing the body from absorbing essential nutrients, stunting growth, affecting a child’s physical and cognitive development – ultimately depriving them of their potential. Diarrhoeal disease can be reduced by 47%* with good hand-washing practices. This won’t change until the solution is put in place.
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The Safe Pair of Hands project has huge potential to change lives. Rehabilitating water pipes and extending supply across the slums to increase accessibility to clean, safe water, for communities to wash, drink, and cook with. By improving access to clean, safe water the whole community will be able to wash their hands – and the water used for drinking and cooking will be uncontaminated. Together, I know that we can begin to reduce the effects of ongoing diarrhoea in early childhood.
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With the help of our supporters, this project help build or rehabilitate 3km of water pipeline extensions that will bring families clean, safe water to drink and wash with. It will help make food preparation safer too. We will also install 2,500 water points across the slums, so that people can practice regular hand-washing – further reducing the spread of disease.
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By supporting Practical Action, you can be sure that you are transforming lives all over the world, and we’d love to help get you started! We now have some great fundraising ideas, activities and projects that work alongside our STEM challenges. Visit www.practicalaction.org/ideas to download our assembly presentations and fundraising activity materials. To go alongside our range of fantastic curriculum-linked teaching resources, we can get your fundraising off to a flying start by providing: • Promotional materials for fundraising events (posters, display packs, information leaflets) • T-shirts, badges, wristbands and other merchandise • Help with promoting your events through Practical Action’s website and social media • Fundraising tips and ideas • Assembly presentations about our work
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Thank you for listening.
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