More than 50 volunteers bravely banished any fears of heights, as they abseiled for Africa at a series of events organised in Limerick over the past year. Munster Rugby’s iconic Thomond Park stadium and Ireland’s tallest hotel, The Clarion, were two of the locations, as volunteers literally took the plunge to raise funds to support our work.
Read MoreBack on their Bikes
Fresh from their gruelling ten-months overland charity challenge half way around the globe and the boys behind were back on their bikes (literally), plotting an extraordinary endurance event that will bring some of the world’s toughest athletes together, next Spring. Athletes from the UK, United States, mainland Europe and Ireland will compete in, which is being organised by Maghnus Collins Smyth and David Burns as a charity event for Self Help Africa.
Read MoreWorld Champ Strikes Gold in Galway
During last year’s Olympic Games in London, David Rudisha’s 800m gold medal performance made him the star of the show. On a recent flying visit to Ireland the world title-holder showed his 24-carat mettle as a person by becoming a champion of a different kind to thousands of Irish fans. The jet-heeled world-record breaker thrilled children by visiting no less than 16 schools, a university, and also competed alongside hundreds of runners in a series of specially arranged events.
Read MoreSopranos Star and Miss USA
It’s some years since larger than life TV mafioso Vincent ‘Big Pussy’ Pastore thrilled audiences as a star of hit series ‘The Sopranos’. He was back in the limelight for Self Help Africa recently when he joined former Miss USA Nana Meriwether to take part in New York’s 9/11 charity day organised by Wall Street’s BGC Associates.
Read MoreMtukula Agriculture Enterprise Fund
Supporting women farmers is central to the work that Self Help Africa is doing to eradicate hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.The Mtukula Agricultural Enterprise Fund (MAEF) was established in 2012, with the express objective of promoting and supporting agri-businesses that could generate extra income for women in Southern Africa. Launched in Malawi and Zambia, the fund received more than 130 proposals in response to an initial call for submissions, before selecting four innovative business ideas for piloting.
Read MoreThe Meki Batu Fruit and Veg Co-Op
Formed in Meki town, Ethiopia, as an agricultural union to represent the interests of 12 producer groups across a district that was the site of one of Self Help Africa’s earliest agricultural projects, Meki Batu Fruit and Vegetable Growers Cooperative is virtually unrecognisable today from the organisation that was created in 2002.
Read MoreSelf Help Africa in the USA
The streets of Manhattan and Boston are now linked to the small farms of sub-Saharan Africa, as Self Help Africa continues its growth to raise funding and awareness of its work across the United States. Our journey to the US began in early 2009, with the decision to set up a new company; there – Self Help Africa Inc, which was subsequently granted charity status.
Read MoreGalway Kenya Run
World record holder and Olympic Gold medalist David Rudisha won the hearts of thousands of Irish fans, when he visited close to a dozen schools and competed in a series of showcase events in the West of Ireland recently. The Kenyan champion and his Irish-born coach Br. Colm O’Connell were in Galway in September, for a charity run and other events that will raise funds to support Self Help Africa and other charities.
Read MoreDambos
Water supply and management is one of the key challenges facing most African smallholders. It’s a challenge made all the more testing by the impact of climate variability. But it’s a challenge that can yield a healthy dividend, as has been witnessed with wetland management efforts in Malawi and Zambia that have resulted in crop yields increasing by between 30-60%, as a direct result of work that local village committees have carried out in collaboration with Self Help Africa.
Read MoreWorking together, building cooperatives
In management-speak, the acronym TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Africa, where individual smallholder farmers struggle to earn a viable living from the land. Joining up as teams, they become a vast alliance in the fight against hunger and poverty. A key part of … Read More
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