Blog #51: Althaus, Ciavattone

We awarded 15 Volunteer Service Awards this spring; we are introducing 2 or 3 of them each week.  Catharine Althaus is already 9 months into her a 13 month commitment as a Program Director for Manna Project International (MPI), working in the Chillos Valley of Ecuador.  Through focusing on education, health, and livelihoods, Catharine and MPI aim to address the challenges facing the communities they serve.  Domenique Ciavattone began volunteering with 2Seeds Network in Bombo Majimoto, Tanzania in September, 2014, and plans to stay through July, 2016.  Bombo Majimoto is in a very remote region of the country and the single road in and out is unreliable and essentially impassible during the rainy season.  Domenique and her team have been working with the community to find solutions to getting their produce to markets in the city.  They have been experimenting with growing smaller/higher priced herbs as heavy crops are difficult to get to market.  Working with partners in the community, they have decided to build greenhouses to better protect against unreliable weather, bugs, and other potential threats.