Combating extreme poverty

The FXB Village project in Naluko village aimed to enable 80 vulnerable and HIV-affected families (approximately 500 people) to achieve sustainable economic and social self-sufficiency. Beneficiaries were to be provided with livelihood skills training and an in-kind grant to start an income-generating activity. The project included the provision of nutritional support and access to water and medical care, together with a schooling programme enabling out-of-school children to be educated and giving young people access to vocational training. It also aimed to provide children and caregivers with psychosocial support, in the form of individual and group counselling.

By the end of the project, 497 villagers had benefitted from project activities. 96% of families, up from 3%, were able to save $10 each month thanks to the income generating activities they had developed, with 90% accessing microcredits. All of the families reported eating three meals day and 99% had access to a kitchen garden ensuring that none of their children were malnourished. The proportion of births attended by medical staff rose from 14% to 100%. An improved water source was accessible to 98% of the families. Thanks to the FXB schooling programme, 96% of children between the ages of 5 and 17 consistently attended school. All the young people enrolled on the vocational training programme gained employment.

The Swiss association François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB-International) was founded in 1989. Its mission is to fight poverty and AIDS by helping orphans and vulnerable children affected HIV/AIDS, and by strengthening the social and economic capacities of their families and communities. FXB International is active in Burundi, China, Colombia, India, Mongolia, Uganda, DRC, Rwanda, and Thailand.