Doulos Community

Urban development programs: we focused our urban development activities in 2015 on two primary programs. 1. Training for transformation: a) business start-up training--the dynamic business start-up project (dbsp): in 2015 we focused on following up and coaching the 120 participants who had been trained through this course in 2011-2014, particularly the 59 trainees from 2014. We also conducted an evaluation of the program through detailed interviews with more than 40 of the earliest participants, enabling us to identify new directions for the program for 2016. B) worldview training: the worldview training courses offered by Doulos have the goal of breaking attitudes of fatalism, passivity and dependency. The courses are designed to stir up people's hope and their confidence that they can take initiative to change their lives and circumstances, focusing on the themes of stewardship and fruitfulness. Some of the specific training courses which we use as part of our worldview training include: "crossroads;" "seeds for sustainable change" (ssc); and "holistic integrated sustainable transformation" (hist). In 2015 Doulos worked with 8 local trainers for the crossroads program, who had been trained in late 2014, to more fully adapt the crossroads course to the mauritanian context, adding local stories and proverbs to the curriculum. With that course revision completed, a new round of crossroads courses began in november 2015, with a training course held for 18 women who are leaders in local women's cooperatives. We estimate that our training for transformation activities directly or indirectly benefitted 340 individuals in 2015. 2) sa'ada Community nutrition program: Doulos continued running a nutritional rehabilitation program in the sa'ada neighborhood of nouakchott, a very poor area of the city with a population of about 24,000. The sa'ada nutrition project focuses on bringing nutritional rehabilitation programs and health education into women's homes, showing families how they can improve the nutrition and health of their children using locally available ingredients and resources. In 2015, this program provided intensive nutritional training and medical support to 136 malnourished children and their families. The program staff and volunteers conducted nutrition screenings for nearly 2,100 other children throughout the Community over the course of the year. We provided ongoing training for 15 Community health volunteers. These volunteers conducted home visits in the neighborhood to offer basic nutritional teaching and training regarding the importance of good hygiene in preventing disease.

Rural development program: in 2015, Doulos Community continued to support a range of rural development projects in the guidimakha region in the south of the country. One project in the region focuses on agricultural development and micro-credit including loans for appropriate technology and agricultural equipment. The guidimakha program also promotes literacy, selling books in local languages at very reduced prices. A second project focuses on nutrition and health education. In 2015, the agricultural development project helped local farmers to purchase of 48 plows and donkey carts, 3350 meters of fencing and 9250 meters of barbed wire. Doulos provided micro-loans to 37 communities, primarily to support the creation of Community shops which allow local families to buy basic staples at a lower than normal price. In 2015, Doulos' staff in selibaby included a trained midwife with over 20 years of experience in the arab world. She was able to provide ongoing training and consultation for traditional birth attendants in collaboration with local health authorities and the local office of the world health organization.the health and nutrition project office in guidimakha focuses on providing basic health services and training to families in the region, including blood pressure monitoring and counseling about a healthy diet, wound care and first aid training, nutritional training, and dental care. Some of the primary themes for the health education focus include: malaria, diarrhea and dehydration, cataracts and other vision problems, muscular pain and exercise, care for burns and infections, and the prevention and treatment of childhood malnutrition. The project provided medical care and advice to approximately 5375 individuals in 2015, as well as providing social assistance to families of several special needs children.