MEDA had a chance recently to fulfill an unusual dream for Mahnooz Mohammad, a sales agent in MEDA’s Through the Garden Gate project in Afghanistan. Read more about Mahnooz and her dream here.
When MEDA goes to work in developing countries, the benefits are felt not only by clients, but also by local staff. We may call it "capacity building," but Parinaz Hissami of Afghanistan knows it's more than that. Learn more about Parinaz' accomplishments here.
MEDA is returning to its roots in Paraguay this summer as part of the Mennonite World Conference, with a seminar and tours:
July 12-28 – Attend the Mennonite Church World Conference and tour Paraguay and Peru with Allan Sauder and Donna Snyder
MEDA and TourMagination have planned a 17-day tour to visit MEDA projects in Paraguay and Peru, as well as attending Paraguay 2009, the 15th Global Assembly of the Mennonite World Conference in Asuncion, Paraguay.
MEDA began in Paraguay and has its longest history there, while in Peru MEDA continues its traditional of innovation for the poor. More information or registration.
Thomas R. Bishop, Greenwood Village, Colorado, MEDA treasurer, may be an investment banker by day, and an avid MEDA member, but his spare time is devoted to model trains ... for his grandchildren, of course! Read More.
In Pakistan, MEDA's Behind the Veil project created an innovative way to link isolated, homebound rural women embroiderers to the country's lucrative high-end and usually urban markets. Through this award-winning program, and working with local partners, more than 9,000 women living in poverty have become successful entrepreneurs, earning their own income, feeding their children, and gaining respect from their family and within their community. Now MEDA is taking this successful value chain approach and applying it elsewhere with Pathways & Pursestrings, a new four-year project. Watch as just a few of these women share their stories.
"We give people tangibles," says Scott Ruddick, MEDA's manager of cross-cutting services, "but even more important, they can have hope through their own hard work." Scott discusses how issues such as gender, the environment and disease, such as HIV/AIDS, impact MEDA's work in economic development, and the importance of measuring and evaluating our work to ensure we are doing the best job possible. Click here to listen (~4.9MB - If there are problems, please right click and select Save As.)
