The Minga Foundation

Minga is supporting the Lubengoa Women Development Association (LUWODEA), founded in 2003 by a group of women seeking to improve economic opportunities for HIV positive women in rural Kamuli District of Uganda. LUWODEA’s initial project was a village savings and loan system which has been quite successful in expanding opportunities for women. Now, with support from Minga, LUWODEA hopes to help women expand their economic potential and improve the nutrition of their families by offering training in sustainable, organic vegetable gardening.

Implementing a “train the trainer” model, LUWODEA plans to train 25 women in different villages of the region as agricultural extension workers who will teach sustainable agriculture practices and help community members establish home vegetable gardens. In addition to training extension workers, LUWODEA will further develop their demonstration farm which can help support the sustainability of the project through sales of vegetables, seedlings and manure. They also plan to raise awareness in communities across their district about the importance of vegetable gardening.

In July 2016, we began supporting the Nancholi Youth Organisation (NAYO), aiming to improve access to Youth Friendly Health Services for the young people of Nancholi, Malawi. NAYO is an organization that has been working to combat HIV/AIDS and empower youth in their community since 2004. We will work with them to train youth leaders in sexual and reproductive health, increase access to condoms and other contraceptives, conduct leadership and life skills training for youth leaders, and expand access to HIV testing and treatment.

This project is essential for community development. Currently there are only 3 HIV clinics in the region. They are all far away from Nancholi and are difficult for most young people to access. Additionally, youth face great stigma in seeking out HIV testing at these sites and thus many avoid being tested. NAYO plans to establish regular youth activities at their new Youth Friendly Health Center including after school sports, youth groups, and evening activities, in order to draw in more young people. The goal is to make it less stigmatizing to access condoms, other contraceptives, and HIV counseling and testing. In addition to increasing services for youth, they have planned multiple educational and outreach meetings with traditional leaders and parents’ organizations and will develop a cohort of supportive adults through a club matron/patron group. Though they are working in partnership with the Malawian Department of Education and Ministry of Health, both of these governmental organizations are underfunded and have not been able to adequately provide similar services to the community of Nancholi. For this reason NAYO sought out partnership with Minga.