Our grant pool for 2005 was divided between Latin American countries where we had made previous grants, and two countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
To be considered for a grant, projects had to improve the standard of living for an identifiable group of people as part of a larger plan to develop community resources, or improve water access or quality, or build the capacity of past and current grantees. Two projects were chosen:
CEDICAM (a 2003 & 2004 grantee in Oaxaca, Mexico) used the grant to continue the Ita Nuni Marketing Association funded in 2004. This phase was a training course to teach 20 peasant families the marketing and business skills they need to make this cooperative project successful.
Lambi Fund of Haiti (a 2004 grantee) used Pangea funds to start a cooperative plowing service for the area farmers, using the profits from the service to establish a micro-credit fund for its members.
Our grants to African organizations focused on community-based responses to the HIV / AIDS crisis. Projects had to provide support to community-led groups caring for orphans, widows, and caregivers; programs to encourage education, income-generating activities for caregivers and children heading households; or health education.
Rabour Village Project (Kenya) began cultivating a cash crop of sunflowers and raising hybrid dairy goats, with the sunflower oil and goat milk/meat used to augment food supplies for Rabuor's orphans, caregivers, and other vulnerable children.
Teens Against AIDS (Tanzania) conducted an AIDS awareness/prevention project among the Masai youth, training peer educators with skills in counseling, care for people living with HIV/AIDS, communication, advocacy and conflict resolution skills.
Ikonzo Musanda Self-Help Group (Kenya) constructed and equipped a two-room school and a small community library.
Common Ground Program (Kenya) supported 14 orphans at an agricultural academy, as part of a program to provide training in organic farming techniques for women and adolescents affected by HIV/AIDS.
St. Margarita Development Centre (Kenya) purchased motorized tilling equipment, pumps, seeds, and provided technical training to revive community farming in fields idled by illness and the loss of plow animals to a tsetse fly infestation.