Waterloo Community Needs Assessment
Global Communities was asked by John Deere to design and conduct a participatory community needs assessment in Waterloo, Iowa in partnership with local community members and local partners. The assessment used an participatory-based approach to develop an in-depth understanding of the assets, opportunities, and gaps existing in the Waterloo community in order to inform and…
Read More‘Our Harvest’ Project Delivers Food, Hope to Guatemalan Families
Since the Government of Guatemala announced a “state of calamity” following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala, PCI, a Global Communities Partner, has continued to coordinate the procurement and delivery of fresh food to local schoolchildren through Nuestra Cosecha. PCI implements Nuestra Cosecha (“Our Harvest” in Spanish) in partnership with Save the Children…
Read MoreUSAID HEWS Program to Provide Post-Hurricane Shelter and WASH Support in Honduras
To respond to the substantial emergency needs brought on by recent hurricanes in Honduras, Global Communities has launched Honduras Emergency WASH and Shelter (HEWS), a six-month program in the country’s Cortés, Copán, Ocotepeque and Santa Bárbara departments. The program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), aims to address…
Read MoreLearning to Collaborate Through Sowing Futures in Argentina
“While Manuel has always been the type of student to speak up in front of his peers, his class is not very diverse in terms of ideas and those who speak up in public generally expose themselves to negative feedback from their peers,” explains Jorgelina Allegranza, professor of philosophy and the leader of the secondary…
Read MoreMeet Stacey Williams, PCI Changemaker
Less than a month ago, Stacey Williams packed up her life on the East Coast and moved to San Diego with three teenagers in tow to begin work as the new Director of Human Trafficking Prevention Programs at PCI, a Global Communities Partner. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has upended how she is able to…
Read MorePandemic response in Granadero Baigorria Leads to Strong Bonds and Cooperative Efforts
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought growing challenges to communities around the world. Many vulnerable communities and citizens are stuck in a state of social isolation and economic crisis. Even though that is the reality in many communities, in Granadero Baigorria, Argentina, where the John Deere Foundation-funded Sowing Futures program operates, a group of people did…
Read MoreGuatemalan Youths Cultivating Hope in the Face of COVID-19
For five consecutive years, farming families in the dry corridor of western Guatemala have watched their primary sources of income and food wither and die from severe drought. Season after season, failed harvests of maize and beans have led to grinding poverty and crisis levels of hunger and malnutrition among vulnerable households. These persistent challenges…
Read MoreCOVID-19 Response in Brazil
Over the past several months, the Global Communities’ Sowing Futures team in Brazil has supported the John Deere Brazil Foundation in delivering 3,836 food baskets to 1,953 families in need to John Deere home communities across Indaiatuba, Campinas, Catalão, Montenegro and Campinas. The amount of baskets delivered equates to approximate 102,000 pounds of food items. Seventy-one Deere volunteers and 201 community volunteers participated in identifying…
Read MoreExpecting During the Unexpected: Pregnancy and Birth in the Time of COVID-19
For all that has come to a screeching halt in the time of COVID-19, life still goes on. In hospitals, homes and clinics across the country—regardless of social distancing measures and lockdown policies—over 10,000 babies will be born today. And that’s in the United States alone. Even under normal circumstances, giving birth can be an…
Read MoreGlobal Communities Board Chairman Dick Celeste to Co-Chair Ohio COVID-19 Testing Task Force
The article was first published here. By Seth A. Richardson, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio – Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday that two former Ohio governors would lead a task force to help expand coronavirus testing in Ohio. Former Govs. Dick Celeste (on the photo), a Democrat, and Bob Taft, a Republican, will lead a task force set…
Read MoreCommunities and COVID-19 Recovery Policy Implementation: Learning From The Example of Rainwater Harvesting Systems In Honduras
By José Eguigure The article was originally published at https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/jos%C3%A9-eguigure As a current student at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), I attended a virtual session called “The Fog of War: Real Time Lessons for Developing Countries in the Fight Against Covid-19” taught by Professor Ricardo Hausmann. Hausmann strongly recommended that we focus our attention on what…
Read MoreTurning Up the Volume on Black Maternal Health in the US
Ahead of Black Maternal Health Week and in recognition of the critical support provided by nurses, midwives and community health workers year-round, PCI’s Healthy Start Director Lisa Bain and licensed midwife Nikki Helms spoke with Drew Schlosberg of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Listen on to learn more about how we are addressing disparities in perinatal…
Read MoreHaiti Cholera Response
The 2010/2011 Cholera Prevention Initiative, under the post-earthquake OFDA-funded KATYE, promoted disease prevention in Port au Prince, Gonaives, Cap Hatien, Carrefour and Leogane. Over a critical three-week period, community mobilizers disseminated cholera awareness and prevention messages in high-risk areas. Mobilizers surveyed 24,000 households to collect data on vulnerability to cholera as determined by existing knowledge…
Read MoreFulfilling Long-awaited Dreams through the Paraíso Community Residents’ Association
Noeli Jacinta Becker has been a resident of the community of Paraíso neighborhood, in Horizontina / RS, for over 12 years and cannot contain her excitement in recounting the most recent triumph of the community’s residents—the long-awaited legalization of their land with City Hall. “It is the greatest of all our recent achievements,” says the…
Read MoreUnited for a Dream: Community Members Build a Much-needed Sports Field at High School in Granadero Baigorria
Ricardo Donoso is the deputy director of the No. 422 High School in Granadero Baigorria. For more than 10 years, he has been working side-by-side with the school’s principal, Rossana Inveninato, and where, in reality, the school has become a second home through which a large number of kids pass through to receive their training…
Read MoreYouth Form Alliances to Address Growing Mental Health Problems in Community
Youth from the Jardim Oliveira Camargo community in Indaiatuba / SP have recently designed a new project that aims to support residents who are suffering from depression and other mental and emotional illnesses. Priscila Santos and her longtime friends, Edson Guedes and Taylane Souza, were practically raised together in Jardim Oliveira Camargo. Over the years,…
Read MoreBuilding back stronger in Haiti, neighborhood by neighborhood
In January 2010, Haiti was changed forever by a devastating earthquake. Within moments, entire neighborhoods crumbled, upending families and communities in the blink of an eye. With the support of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), PCI worked with partners to pull from the wreckage an entirely new approach to humanitarian assistance –…
Read MoreRooting Out Human Trafficking in San Diego, One Student at a Time
Bernadete Leal begins every Project ROOTS session in a darkened classroom with one question: “Where do you want to bring light?” While the exercise is a small component of the after-school program, Leal said its power lies in teaching students they can be a force for positive or negative change in the world. And it’s…
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