The Dalton School – New York City, NY
The Dalton School in New York City became involved with Amani Global Works through student and faculty interest in creating a high school club as a way to support the Idjwi project. The club is a key to success of the educational initiative of the project. The club has started work on a project to employ tailors on the island to make uniforms for school-age children.
Sebisaho explains: “Parents spend all their savings just to buy uniforms. Many students drown while traveling to nearest cities to purchase school uniforms and school supplies. The uniform initiative will make a difference to thousands families in Idjwi, helping them save not only the lives of many of their children who drown while going to buy a uniform, but also will help them save the little money they earn from their harvest. Another important aspect to mention is that at the beginning of the project ten people will get a stable job [working as tailors] that will have an impact on at least 100 people (the average family size in Idjwi is 10).”
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Harvard University – Cambridge, MA
Many Harvard students travel the globe to pursue their own projects each summer, but in this project, a team of seven students from the Graduate School of Design, the School of Public Health, and the Kennedy School joined forces and traveled to Idjwi to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the island and to design a preliminary framework for a healthcare facility. They hoped their efforts would also raise awareness of the island’s needs and gain international support. In the fall of 2009, Dr. Jacques Sebisaho, a native of Idjwi and now the Executive Director of Amani Global Works, approached the Student Alliance for Global Health at Harvard (SAGHAH) about doing research on the island. Together they began planning the trip to Idjwi to gather data that would be helpful in the overall AGW initiative. By the time the team was done with its initial assessment, they had over 44,000 pages of data. These findings have proven helpful in many areas. Amani Global Works and the Student Alliance for Global Health at Harvard continue to partner in the goal to provide effective healthcare to the most impoverished regions of Africa.
"He who has health has hope. And he who has hope, has everything."
-Congolese Proverb