TACOMA, Washington — In 2015, Gallup Polls conducted a survey in 160 countries, asking five billion people what their greatest dream was. The study found that three billion people desired a full-time job, but only 1.3 billion individuals were maintaining a steady job, leaving the rest unemployed. In many impoverished countries, families are unable to afford their children’s education, and basic necessities such as food, water and shelter are scarce.
The Adventure Project
The Adventure Project is alleviating poverty one job at a time. The nonprofit organization works with communities in impoverished countries to create jobs, reducing poverty in that area. Besides providing essential funding to families in need, The Adventure Project works on building a system of “checks and balances” and “financial mechanisms” that help families maintain an income.
The nonprofit is devoted to creating jobs for people living in extreme poverty. It equips people with the training and tools they need to have a job and remain an active participant in their communities. Through entrepreneurship and funding, the nonprofit is opening new opportunities for families to help reduce child mortality and lift communities out of poverty.
Since 2010, The Adventure Project has reached six low-to-middle-income countries. These countries include Haiti, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and India. It has supplied 1,940 jobs that have impacted close to 1.4 million people. The organization’s goal is to move one million people out of extreme poverty by 2030.
Aiding Children and Families
Unfortunately, in our world, children are most affected by poverty. They are more vulnerable to poverty’s severe effects. In fact, children are two times more likely than adults to live in poverty. For families that live on $1.90 or less per day, it’s hard to support and raise a healthy child.
Currently, around 356 million children are living in extreme poverty. According to UNICEF, one billion children are multidimensionally poor. “Multidimensionally poor” means there is no access to food, clean water, healthcare, housing or education. The Adventure Plan has discovered that what people want most is not a “handout,” it’s a good job so they can start to think long term for their families.
The Adventure Project focuses on giving families the equipment they need to escape poverty and contribute to local economics. “Environment, Health, Hunger and Water” are four areas that the nonprofit focuses on to alleviate disease, malnutrition and child mortality in its focus countries.
Environment and Health: From Open Fires to StoveTops
Many families around the world cook on open fires. While preparing for family meals and gatherings, smoke fills up the house from open fires, which is usually ignored. But, in just one hour a cooking fire can produce 400 cigarettes worth of smoke, according to the Pulitzer Center. According to the World Health Organization, three billion people worldwide still cook on open fires. Consequently, 3.8 million people die each year due to household pollution.
Women and children are most affected as they are usually in charge of household chores. As for the environment, 25% of carbon emissions released into the air are from open cooking fires along with household lighting and heating. African and Asian countries are responsible for “60-80% of black carbon emissions” from cooking fires, according to the Clean Cooking Alliance. To lower these statistics, The Adventure Project came up with a plan.
The Adventure Project implemented a solution to open fires by providing men and women in Kenya and Tanzania jobs building and selling stovetops. “Each stove saves a family 20% of their daily expenses because they use 50% less charcoal per day,” states The Adventure Project in its program. The charcoal-efficient stove industry has given families steady incomes and a safer environment by creating 449 jobs, impacting 426,240 lives.
The stovetop solution helps reduce health and environmental risks. It saves six trees from being turned into fuel for each stove sold. Another focus of The Adventure Project is training mechanics to fix water wells.
Access to Clean Water
In Africa, it’s challenging to get access to water, let alone clean drinking water. According to The Adventure Project, one-third or 36% of all wells in Africa are broken. That’s close to 50,000 wells. These wells will remain broken because of the lack of tools and knowledge to fix them properly. This leaves many communities with dirty water, which ultimately has detrimental effects on health.
According to Water Wells for Africa (WWFA), one in eight people drinks water that could potentially kill them. The Adventure Project’s solution is to train mechanics and well caretakers. This will help provide clean and readily available water to communities in need. Over the years, the nonprofit has created 316 mechanic and caretaker jobs, impacting 794,313 lives.
There is also a system of checks and balances in place to ensure wells can continue regular operations. Members of the community pay $0.04 per jerry can of water, creating a budget for future repairs. With available safe water, families can improve their health.
The cooking stove solution program and well-maintenance movement are just two ways in which The Adventure Project has made an impact on underdeveloped countries. In addition to the stovetop program and water well-maintenance movement, The Adventure Project works to aid farmers and mothers, train health workers and fight hunger. For more information, visit The Adventure Project platform and learn how to help lift families out of poverty.
– Jessica LaVopa
Photo: Flickr