Blog #85: New Grant to Village Health Works

At the very end of 2008, Village Health Works received its 1^st AllPeopleBeHappy foundation grant to help initiate its food security program.  The funds were used for the basics; to buy supplies, including simple tools like hammers to help them build demonstration gardens, and uniforms for the agricultural extension agents who were being trained to run the program.  Now, after several years of funding a program to help improve the local schools, we have once again been asked to support the food security program.  In the years since our 1^st grant the program has thrived.  The Agriculture Program now supports 30 farming cooperatives, and 50 household gardens in the catchment area.  The program also supports on-site demonstration gardens, livestock distributions, nutrition education, food for the pre-school children, and the training of agricultural extension agents.  It has also become a proofing point for the holistic model of Village Health Works, whereby the food produced onsite feeds all of the inpatients in its clinic, which in turn enables them to be better nourished and allow for quicker rates of recovery.