Village Health Works

Village Health Works (VHW) operates a large health and education complex in  Kiguta, Burundi.  Since its opening in December of 2007, the initial clinic has grown to include a hospital, a women health center, education facilities, and substantial farming infrastructure.  The $30,000 in grants from the AllPeopleBeHappy foundation in 2009-2011 was used to procure supplies and to pay 14 agricultural workers to teach villagers on how to grow more nutritious food, to promote cooperative farming, and to establish and maintain 60 home gardens.  In addition, an impressive amount of infrastructure was built: a raised-bed demonstration garden, a nursery for food-bearing plants, a large agro forest, shelters for chickens, goats, and cows, and a large-scale composting system.  In 2016 and 2017, after supporting VHW’s Education Initiative for 4 years, the AllPeopleBeHappy foundation returns to supporting the Agricultural Program with two more $10,000 grants.  In 2020, the tenth Project Grant is supporting The Integrated Community, Agriculture and Nutrition (ICAN) initiative to further develop the on-site demonstration and production gardens, implement a local food procurement system for the hospital, and increase training, support, and education for the local farmers.  (www.villagehealthworks.org)