CAPTIVATING KAILI
PROJECT UPDATE
JUNE 2015
The Story Continues – January 2012 – December 2017
Welcome to a special update on the Captivating Kaili Village project. It’s hard to believe that we are already into the final phase of this program. Thank you so much for your willingness to keep supporting this effort and for getting us to this point. As mentioned in previous editions, this report is a SPECIAL DONOR ONLY update. You are one of 80
people who have made this project possible, and close to 300 families are directly benefiting from your generosity. In this report, you will note that we are on-track, on-budget, and are successfully seeing new families brought into the program thanks to existing families progressing to the point they can pass-on-the-gift to new families. This has been a real highlight for us to witness. We hope this report helps you to share in our celebration of achieving the goals set forward in 2012. We hope you are keeping up with our BLOG stories on this project every few months, as well as reading brief updates in our Simply Captivating 6 monthly newsletters. If you really want to be sure not to miss anything, be sure to join us on our Captivating Facebook page and our China based Captivating WeChat account. Details can be found on the last page of this report. Thank you again for your support of this work. We estimate that close to 700 children are being directly impacted because of this work and your partnership. Poverty will be history for 450 families by the time this project comes to a close in 2017. Best wishes, Andrew Colquhoun Co-Founder & CEO CAPTIVATING INTERNATIONAL
TIME FOR A QUICK RECAP – OUR PROJECT GOALS:
By completion of this work in December 2017, 450 families will be either poverty free or on their way towards achieving this. The project has three distinct phases:
1
STAGE ONE (COMPLETED Sept 2013) 150 families received training, support and an injection of capital to commence sustainable income generation (the capital was given as a repayable loan, averaging RMB5,000/US$850 per family).
2
WE ARE HERE
STAGE TWO (IN PROGRESS, scheduled for completion Sept 2015) The first group of 150 families will repay their loans, with the loan capital being “passed on” to another 150 families. These same first families and village “Self Help Groups” will provide training and support to the new families (see further on for an update on this stage).
3
STAGE THREE (commencing 2017) The second group of 150 families (Stage Two families) will have repaid their loans, with loan capital “passed on” to the final group of 150 families.
The cycle will continue on from here impacting more families, but it is at the end of 2017 that Captivating will stop tracking and supporting it. 300 families would be poverty free, and 150 families well on their way.
Building a Strong Future by Francine Zhang South-western China is ranked as one of the poorer areas in China. Parents are having to leave their children at home with relatives and go to the cities to find work and look for opportunities to make more money to support their family. Daily food is usually porridge and salt and they have very few possessions except some pots and pans and some bedding. Children love to go to school and learn but it can often take 2 hours to get to school. The children love to play and physical education is a favourite subject however in many cases the playgrounds don’t have any equipment. In 2012 Captivating partnered with Heifer China to promote a village improvement project in Guizhou. This project aimed to implement sustainable projects to increase the income of poor families through farming and raising cattle, sheep and pigs. Relevant skills and training have been given in an effort to help others in need and build strong, healthy communities. Francine from Captivating meeting with the village leaders discussing how the project has helped.
Each farmer goes through extensive training in the program to learn animal care and resource management. This is to ensure that they can build a sustainable way of life. Over the past year the project has run well and we can see the training that has been applied since the program began to empower the people to change their lives. Many parents have new hopes of improving their financial situation so that they can stay at home and provide for their children. I, as a member of Captivating International and a Chinese national, am very proud of the work that Captivating and Heifer have been doing along with Chinese government departmental offices such as the Animal Husbandry Department. There is an old Chinese saying that goes “with no small steps, one can’t cover a thousand mile journey; with no small streams, there can be no oceans or seas”. Every bit of effort goes towards creating positive change and building a strong future. A big thank you to our project partner Heifer China, for your consistent leadership of this project, and to Captivating’s generous donors. None of this would be possible without you.
2014 Kaili Village - THE STORY SO FAR 2012: January – December
Captivating Guizhou - Kaili Village Development Project January 2012 to June 2015 consolidated
note: Amounts have been converted from HK$ to AUD$ using an average weekly rate of 7.3091 to 1 AUD$
DONATIONS: Project Sponsorship - through ICC Australia
HKD
AUD
2,143,996
293,333
92,505
12,656
2,236,501
305,989
Project Sponsorship - other TOTAL DONATIONS received by Captivating
Project committee & 5 Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed.
88 families start program– financial processes implemented. 46 training sessions – strong village participation. 53 poorest people assisted with social welfare sows, pigs, chickens & quality feed provided. 17 acres of vegetables, fruit trees and herbs were planted.
PROJECT ALLOCATIONS Captivating Administration
6,557
897
272,335
37,260
1,954,124
267,355
2,233,016
305,512
3,485
477
1,954,124
267,355
Animal, agricultural & horticultural purchases
1,138,263
155,732
Technical training & project management support - Heifer
668,503
91,462
147,358
20,161
Fundraising & Marketing expenses (incl ICC admin) Funds directly supporting the Project TOTAL ALLOCATIONS Balance as at 30 June 2015 HOW PROJECT FUNDS WERE USED
Captivating project monitoring and on-site staff salaries
*ICC = International Childrens Care - Captivating’s Australian based partner
Cap*va*ng Guizhou -‐ Percentage Alloca*on Cap*va*ng Administra*on
0% 12%
Local government funded 2 waste disposal units and a road. Greenhouse built for 2 families. 2,5002 mtrs pig houses built.
2013: January - December Project extends to 2 more villages – total 153 families in program now. 67 training sessions held – strong village participation. Help extended to the poorest in the village. Fattened pigs, beef cattle and quality feed purchased. 52 acres of vegetables, fruit trees and herbs planted. Children educated on environmental protection & road safety; mass cleaning conducted by children. Study tours to other cooperatives took place. One cooperative was started.
2014: January - December
Fundraising & Marke*ng expenses(incl ICC admin)
79 training sessions – strong village participation.
Funds directly suppor*ng the project
Villagers repaired 1.5km of main road in Daxi Village.
88%
88% of funds have directly supported the project
Financial comments for Heifer Report 2015:
Captivating Administration: You will note that Captivating administration is 0%. Our total admin expenses (HK$6,557 – which rounds down to 0% in the pie chart) are low thanks to our dedicated administration supporters (see logo’s below) and Captivating events such as the Shenzhen based Kidz with Heart Mini Olympics event, and Midnight Charity Race.
Exchange rate: Captivating, as a Hong Kong charity,
uses HK$ as our base currency. Last year we reported in Australian dollars only (as most sponsorship for this project is from Australia). This year, we have shown both currencies. Because funds have come across from Australia at different times, we have used an average exchange rate over the life of this project to reflect more accurate Aus$ figures in this report.
AXESS
ACCOUNTING SOLUTIONS
Purchasing and selling of pigs, vegetables, geese and cattle. 45 acres of Chinese herbs planted. 117 acres of walnut trees planted. Daxi Black Pig Cooperative was officially established. 36 families have fully repaid their Captivating loan. 2 rubbish management tanks built. Local Government assisted 1,000,000RMB for trees & geese.
2015: January - June 45 new families joined the project. Crops of sweet sorghum, Mexican corn, Lucerne, ryegrass and American cherry trees were planted. Training of planting management were provided to current and new townships. 1550kg grass seed and 700 saplings were distributed. Community hygiene has improved. Participants’ environmental awareness improved. 98 families have repaid their loan.
PHOTO GALLERY
Daxi Village training day
Daxi Village vegetable planting demonstration
A village pigsty
Pig raising in Daxi
Goose raising in Ji Bo
Preparing the ground for planting vegetables
Passing-on-the-gift Triumph We are thrilled to report that passing-on-the-gift has been hugely successful. As at 30 June, 2015, there are 282 families in the Captivating Kaili Village Program. For those who have been following this project, we started with 153 original families back in 2012 who received initial funding from the program. Of these 153 families, 129 have fully repaid their original gifts enabling new families to join the program. This means their home businesses are working and their family income levels have increased. The most recent example of this was on June 16, 2015, when a passing-on-the-gift ceremony was held in Ji Bo village. At this ceremony, 21 farmers actively attended wanting to join this project. This is a day of great celebration for the families as this is a significant milestone for them. They are issued a certificate for being successful with the program and for repaying the money. They also get to experience the joy of seeing another family benefit because of their repayments - another family given the opportunity to create a brighter future for their children. Participants of this project learn many things including: the best ways to buy and sell in the markets; best farming practices; environment protection and so much more. The villagers have begun to implement these principles within their communities. This has resulted in this community coming together to build bridges, fix roads and implement rubbish management systems. The flow-on effect from project pass-on-the-gift has and will continue to be a success - continuing well past the time Captivating completes their role the program. This 5 year program is projected to conclude by December 2017, by which time 450 families will either be poverty free or on their way to being poverty free.
Village Job Creation
Yang Lao Hai is 47 years of age, unmarried and lives in Daxi Village. Yang Lao Hai had never had a job because he has an intellectual disability which has left him with limited skills. He lives at his brother’s home and usually helps with simple farm work. His family is poor and he had no savings money. This meant that Yang Lao Hai’s future was projected to be difficult and he would be dependent on his brother for survival. The Captivating Village Sustainability Project came to his village and through training of the villagers as well as those that participated in the passing-on-thegift project, living conditions in the village have greatly improved over the past few years. Many old habits have changed. One such habit was throwing garbage anywhere. The village built a rubbish dump to manage the garbage. This has resulted in a cleaner environment as well as job creation for the village. Yang Lao Hai was elected by the village committee to manage the garbage tank and to keep the village clean. It has been two years since he started this work (a story reported by Captivating in one of our previous issues) and we know Yang Lao Hai has been very dedicated to his job. He now has a stable salary and is able to have meat on the table, new clothes to wear and the overall quality of his life has improved. He said that as long as his health is ok, he is willing to continue to serve the community and make a good and clean environment for the village. He is very appreciative to have this opportunity to be self-reliant and no longer be a burden for his brother. Those that can’t join the Pass on the Gift project are still benefiting as the community is proactively looking for ways to improve their living conditions. Yang Lao Hai is one of many who have, either directly or indirectly, had their lives changed as a result of the Captivating Village Development Project.
These other village activities have been made possible thanks to this project.
Ji Bo Village newly built activity room
School students collecting rubbish
Village road development
Village road development
282
Families being helped out of poverty...so far
918 190 12%
Pigs provided...so far
Cows provided...so far
retained for Captivating administration / fundraising expenses (subsidised thanks to corporate administration partners)
4,910kg
Quality feed and seeds provided...so far
It’s always wonderful to read of project successes. Although we are priviliged at Captivating to have such great partners, the simple reality is that this Kaili Village Development project has (by far) been our most successful project implementation. Full credit to our implementing partner – Heifer China, but equally full credit to our wonderful and consistent donors. Today we know that 3 villages are on their way through an amazing transformation. For Captivating, although this will directly benefit 450 families eventually, it ultimately means much more secure futures for several hundred children who will without a doubt finish their schooling and go as far as they or their parents wants them to. It’s creating the ability for families to make these choices that make this work so rewarding. Thanks for being part of this. So, what’s next? Financially, the major investments have now been made to this work. What remains is for us to see the successful implementation and follow-through of the passing-on-the-gift aspect of the program. Our estimate based on current giving levels and the remaining budget is that financially this project will conclude ahead of schedule around June 2016. Although we will continue to monitor progress through to the end of 2017, we will be in a position to conclude your financial support by June 2016. We will keep you posted on this. Naturally, we would like to go on to help more and more villages and help more families break the cycle of poverty. So, it would be great to have you continue on with us after this point, if you are willing. In the meantime, please be sure to keep up with our regular stories we post about families benefiting from this project. You can find this by either liking our Facebook page (Captivating International), or following our website BLOG’s (captivating.org). We are also setting up our WeChat and LinkedIn social media sites. Hopefully one of these options keeps you updated. If you have any questions about any details in this report or about this project in general, please be sure to contact me directly. andrewc@captivating.org
Blessings and best wishes,
Andrew Colquhoun Co-Founder & CEO Captivating International
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CONTACT Andrew Colquhoun at andrewc@captivating.org DONATE to this work through our website www.captivating.org and receive tax deductible receipts for Australian, Hong Kong and US donations. SUPPORT A PROJECT by emailing andrewc@captivating.org IN SHENZHEN CHINA OCTOBER 17 SAVE THE DATE and attend our 7th Annual Charity Fundraiser hosted by the Futian Shangri-la, Shenzhen, China Visit www.captivatinggala.com to learn more. SPEAK UP and spread the word about this project to your family, friends, and business network.