Nutrition improvement for women and children

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Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, Egypt

The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) is the service program of Global Ministries partner in Egypt, the Coptic Evangelical Church. CEOSS provides comprehensive community development in rural and urban villages in Egypt. In Jafar Village, community members are trained with the help of CEOSS to bring improvements in health, education, agriculture, economic opportunity, and environmental protection. The goal is for Jafar to become self-sufficient and for it to be able to accompany other villages that wish to undertake a similar process with CEOSS.

Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, Egypt

The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) is the service program of Global Ministries partner in Egypt, the Coptic Evangelical Church. CEOSS provides comprehensive community development in rural and urban villages in Egypt. In Jafar Village, community members are trained with the help of CEOSS to bring improvements in health, education, agriculture, economic opportunity, and environmental protection. The goal is for Jafar to become self-sufficient and for it to be able to accompany other villages that wish to undertake a similar process with CEOSS.

Jafar is a village of around 5,000 people, located 155 km south of Cairo. Eighty percent are Christians and 20 percent are Muslim. The community is very poor — the basic occupation is agriculture. Eighty-five percent of the population are farmers but must work as day workers, as over half of them are not landowners. The most important crops are wheat, clover, corn, sugarcane, also potatoes, cucumbers, pepper, and lettuce. There are no governmental services in the community and the community works independently to provide some services to its residents.

CEOSS started working in Jafar through a local committee made up of representatives from community families, both Muslim and Christian. This interfaith make-up is an unusual occurrence in the Middle East in general, including in Egypt. CEOSS trained the committee to identify community problems and to become empowered in order to find solutions for them.Today the committee is a Community Development Association (CDA), with its own board and 83 participants. The CDA, together with CEOSS, have designed a comprehensive development strategy and have implemented a number of projects.

CEOSS is working with the CDA in Jafar in areas of Education, Housing, Health, Agriculture, and Economic Development. In order to address the malnutrition of the communityês women and children, CEOSS requires support to do the following:

1. Treatment on a case by case basis of malnourished children;

2. Treatment on a case by case basis of anemic pregnant and lactating women;

3. Preventive health education sessions with mothers and children;

4. Infrastructure improvements to houses, including installation of latrines and clean water provision.

5. Provision of covers for two agricultural irrigation canals which will decrease pollution and help regulate irrigation water.