Communities
CEN works in communities in developing countries. These communities face extreme conditions – such as isolation, poverty or recent civil unrest –yet are in a position to take advantage of the power of information and information technology to address challenges they face.
The communities where we work are extremely poor by American
standards. For example, 45 percent of the residents of the Brazilian
Amazon – where CEN is currently focusing most its energies
– earn less than US$2/day. Nepal, where we’ve also
recently
started to work, is one of the poorest nations in Asia, and over the
half of the population over 15 years old is illiterate, including 74
percent of women. Economic opportunities in both areas remain very
limited.
Unlike relief organizations that focus on meeting
people’s
most basic needs, however, we are not currently working with the
poorest of the poor. CEN focuses on helping people who are one rung up
the ladder of poverty– people who are still very poor by
Western
standards but who have most of their basic needs met, such as basic
nutrition, improved levels of child mortality, and at least basic
health care.
This next “tier” of the poor, which is estimated to
number
over one billion people worldwide, are often overlooked but also have
the right to aspirations for themselves and their families and are in a
better position to be able to apply the skills and resources that CEN
offers. Furthermore, if the majority of the population is fighting for
even its basic survival, few have the energy or other resources they
need to improve education or pursue more strategic income-generation
opportunities. CEN looks beyond people’s day-to-day survival
and
helps empower people to make long-lasting and sustainable improvements
to their communities and lives.
Recently we’ve also begun a relationship with the village of Rivan-6 (HumdhiLampata) in Nepal through our participation in the Youth Action Nepal Workshop Pilot. Expect more updates about this community in the near future.
We invite you to browse through this section to learn more
about the
communities where we work, including the challenges they face and what
they are doing to overcome these challenges.
