Association of Volunteers in International Service, USA

Twenty-five farmers, including 19 women, came together to cultivate crops in the "Bitojjo-Tukorenamani" ("Let's Work Hard") Farmer Field Business School. Before joining the school, their harvests barely had any financial impact on their livelihood; they were mostly for home consumption. In 2018, AVSI's Graduating to Resilience began supporting the school's members offering service bundles that include seeds, training, and linkages to markets, and the group's motivation grew. As part of the USAID-funded Activity, the farmers also learned good practices such as pest management, proper crop spacing, and soil and water conservation, alongside soil fertility management. More Information 

Although there is a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the urban violence, the guerrilla warfare spreading in several Israeli cities, is still worrisome. It has been hard for local NGOs to keep implementing projects and activities with so many clashes and accidents.

“We are being put to the test. Last week, we had to close AVSI’s office in East Jerusalem,” confirms Clementelli. “At this stage, like many other NGOs in the region, we have suspended all movements between Jerusalem and the West Bank that would have forced us to pass through checkpoints and put us at risk. We are creating a work plan to accompany, through our local partners, our beneficiaries in the West Bank and ensure the continuity of the projects.” More Information 

AVSI Foundation, in partnership with the Red Cross and the City of Milan, distributed 68 tons of food to 12,000 people (4,500 families) who are going through financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative is part of the project “Building Hope: Emergency support for hospitals and vulnerable families in Italy affected by COVID-19,” implemented by AVSI with funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Food distribution is only one component of Building Hope. The project also provides educational support to families who face unemployment or loss of income and who struggle to give access to education for their children. AVSI is distributing tablets and internet bundles for access to virtual learning. The multi-sectoral project is also allowing for investments in telemedicine and at-home rehabilitation for patients with acute post-COVID conditions with the Sacco Hospital of Milan. In addition, the Civil Hospital in Brescia received improved diagnostic capacity for COVID testing, leading to a significant reduction in false-negative tests. More Information