Your support is very welcome in Zanzibar

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With its coral sand beaches, turquoise sea, and rich history, Zanzibar is becoming

a magnet for international tourists. But beyond the resorts lies a very different reality for people living in this poverty-stricken Tanzanian island in eastern Africa.

Barefoot children in threadbare t-shirts roll tires with sticks. Men struggle to carry bushels of firewood in donkey carts. Women sit in the dirt and sell peanuts for pennies a bag.

Even the lucky few who manage to get work in the growing tourism and hospitality industry, are usually relegated to low-paying server or chambermaid positions – due to lack of education or skills.

That’s where Canadian philanthropists, Pat Alias and Alistair Pirie came in. They started a college to help Zanzibaris develop their professional and vocational skills in order to vie for higher paying

and more sustainable jobs such as chef, accountant and manager.

Using funds from their not-for-profit, Hands Across Borders Society and their own savings, they built the Jambiani Tourism and Training Institute (JTTI) in 2006. More than 500 students have attended JTTI for free, to earn the two-year Hospitality and Tourism diploma.

Cuso International volunteer, Ishwar Persad from Toronto, is a JTTI instructor. Thanks to your Cuso International support, Ishwar is helping to give marginalized Tanzanians the skills they need to change their own fates.

See inside for more

I N T H I S P O S TSecuring livelihoods in Tanzania pg 1

Protecting child victims in Jamaica pg 2

Growing opportunities in Guyana pg 3

A message of thanks from Cambodia pg 4

A high percentage of people

in Tanzania live in absolute

poverty, with 67.9% of the

population living on less

than $1.25 a day.

From the field

Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, last year Cuso International supported:

217volunteers

and 136 partner groups working on secure livelihoods

programs in 27 countries

115 volunteers and

74 partner groups working on education

programs in 15 countries

50 volunteers and

36 partner groups working on health

programs in 11 countries

YO U R I M PAC T

Hello from Cambodia,

Thank you so much for supporting Cuso International.

Because of you, volunteers like me are able to go

to different regions all over the world and help

transform the lives of vulnerable people.

I’m currently working in the remote villages of

Mondulkiri, Cambodia, with the Indigenous People’s

Health Improvement Association (IPHIA). We continue

to make great progress in improving access to

healthcare for the impoverished Bunong people.

Once again, on behalf of Cuso International, and all

the volunteers in the field right now, thank you for

your support.

Best,

Yves Bureau

Cuso International Volunteer, Mondulkiri, Cambodia

200-44, Eccles Street, Ottawa ON, Canada K1R 6S4Tel: 1.888.434.2876 ext.222 | fax: 613.829.7996 www.cusointernational.org email: support@cusointernational.org

charitable registration 81111 6813 RR0001

Training for jobs in the travel industry

We'd love to hear from you

64 volunteers and

51 partner groups working on HIV/AIDS programs in 16 countries

FPO

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C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1

“The students are all so committed,” says Ishwar. “But it’s not easy for them. Often the only meal they get all day is at school. They’re supporting extended families. They have to fetch water, tend a garden, come to school, go back at night, look after kids, and do chores.”

Many students, like 24-year-old Hamid Mohamed, live in small, crowded huts – with no electricity. By the time he finishes his chores, he has to study by candlelight. “When he says he couldn’t finish his homework because he ran out of candles, that’s not an excuse,” says Ishwar.

Pat Alias says she couldn’t offer the program, and give hope to disadvantaged Zanzibaris, without

the help of people like Ishwar – highly skilled and experienced professionals who volunteer their time to make a difference. That’s what your support makes possible.

“ The students are all so committed. But it’s not easy for them.”

ABOUT CUSO INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER, ISHWAR PERSAD

Ishwar lived and worked in the Caribbean and United Kingdom before settling in Toronto. He brings degrees in tourism and international affairs, plus extensive experience as a hotel manager and government advisor to his volunteer position in Zanzibar.

A message of hope from Jamaica Helping to give child victims a voice

Keisha* was worried that what happened to her would happen to her siblings. So the ten-year-old made the

long walk alone to the nearest police station.

“I had to go because my dad did something bad to me,” says the soft-spoken little girl.

Keisha was raped by her father when she was six, and again when she was nine. The attacks were terrible

enough, but for children like Keisha, the journey into the Jamaican justice system can also be very traumatic.

In the inner-city neighbourhoods of Kingston, cases often fall apart when kids are too frightened to testify. Not only do the attackers go free, they often return to the same community as the children.

“Children in Jamaica are, frankly, treated just like adult witnesses,” says retired Ontario judge Honourable John

McGarry, who volunteered in Jamaica with Cuso International in 2011. “I sat in on a case where the 12-year old victim was sitting in the hall, right across from the accused. She lasted about 15 minutes before fleeing in tears,” he remembers.

To help protect kids while giving them a voice, John worked with the Jamaican government and Unicef to create the ‘Children in Court’ program. His ideas included having children

testify via video or behind a screen so they don’t have to face their attacker. For Keisha, that means she can testify knowing that her Dad won’t be able to hurt her again.

Thanks to you, kids like Keisha are getting a chance for a safer, more hopeful future.

See the program in action and watch our YouTube video "Their Day in Court" at http://tinyurl.com/courtday.

*Not her real name.

Jamaica is consistently listed among the most violent countries in the world. And

children are increasingly the victims.

From the field

I M PA C T FA C T

Thanks to donors like you, nearly

500 students have attended the free,

two-year diploma course annually.

Thank you from GuyanaYou helped give local farmers more opportunities to grow

After two hours of travelling by boat into the depths of the rainforest, Cuso International volunteer,

Clive Gobin, finally arrived at his destination – a tiny community near Mabaruma, in northwest Guyana.

Most of the people in this remote community are subsistence farmers – barely growing enough food to feed their families. But here, Gobin found more than a dozen women making soaps and creams from the fruit of

crabwood trees, which they collect early every morning.

Clive is in this impoverished corner of Guyana to help a woman’s group, known as Wini Naturals, and other groups like them, find ways to market their products locally and beyond. “They are amongst the most marginalized and disadvantaged people living in the country’s remotest areas,” says Clive. “Being able to sell what they grow and make can provide them with a sustainable source of income.”

Originally from Guyana, Clive attended university there and worked in the private and public sectors before completing his Master’s degree in information management. He eventually settled in Toronto. Now back in Guyana, Clive shares his expertise as a Marketing Facilitator with local farmers through an organization called the Women Agro-Processors Development Network. “I decided to come back home to help,” says Clive. And he has, thanks to you.

I M PA C T FA C T

The Wini Naturals farmers Clive

has been helping near Mabaruma

recently sold 500 bars of their

soap to supermarkets in the capital

city of Georgetown.

Retired Ontario judge Honourable John McGarry

Hamid studying outside his home.

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