GOALS
Empowerment, autonomy and self-support.
We operate in 5 Areas: Housing, Food, Health, Education or Training and Work.
We define short-, medium- and long-term strategies in two ways, "giving the fish" (assistance) and "teaching how to fish" (empowerment).
We first "give the fish" because we believe it is a factor that, although of a temporary nature, becomes essential to making the remaining path towards the main goal successfully.
The training of all and follow-up is essential. For this, a joint commitment must be established, in which the number one objective of our cooperation is clear: autonomy and self-support for all.
We created several Programs to be worked on by our social company by THF®️, the first social company in Portugal, which is based on a set of actions that allow a cooperative work where all sectors of society have an active and direct intervention in the sustainable resolution of problems related mainly to training and employment. Know more here.
HOUSING
Together, we aim to work to ensure safe and dignified housing for all!
The first step to start to TEACH How to Fish approach is to meet with the people with whom we will work. Not with the volunteers, but with the people we intend to accompany and whom we intend to serve.
We introduce ourselves, present our intentions, values, and goals, and then understand from each one what their greatest difficulties are and how they feel we can be useful to them in short-, medium- and long-term.
Then THF is designed with them and the commitment is taken on by all as a team.
Based on the Sustainable Development Objectives (SDG) currently, directly or indirectly, we are working on 14 of the 17 Goals considered.
The empowerment of people is the process we have chosen with the vision of allowing a future in dignity and autonomy for every human person.
Investment in training and proper follow-up are essential. Health, safety, privacy, education and human rights must always be guaranteed.
HOUSING
Together, we aim to work to ensure safe and dignified housing for all.
Goal 11 of the SDGs: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
THF provides access for everyone to safe, adequate and affordable housing and basic services.
The dignity of housing is also one of our priorities, with a special focus on vulnerable communities that survive in inhumane conditions (in slums, for example), with people who are homeless, and with people that are now in temporary shelters.
We want to ensure the necessary partnerships to respond to all situations in the immediate support without ever losing sight of the need to include people in communities. For example:
- Ensure the recovery of houses in unoccupied buildings, preferably from the state, for accommodation, be it individual, in pairs (shared housing) or families, at risk or homeless.
- Ensure the restoration of derelict houses, the replacement or installation of electricity and sanitation, in order to guarantee the well-being and safety of children, giving priority to ecologically sound materials and solutions, safety and respecting local culture and laws.
- The use of unoccupied or undeveloped land without construction can also be considered as well as the use of containers for housing, a concept increasingly used in Europe and we have several examples in Spain, Germany, etc.
- Decentralization is also essential in order to be able to provide other solutions both for housing but also for economic and social dynamism in a sustainable way for each country. In this way, we will be “obliged” to find solutions for employment, training, etc., in the countryside, for example, and the real costs of housing in this case will certainly be greatly reduced.
The main challenges of housing recovery are finding a modular and versatile solution at the best price, which must occupy a small area on the ground and its replication must be easy and intelligent.
FOOD
Together, we intend to encourage and help families to have access to a regular balanced diet, in full autonomy.
Goal 2 of the SDGs: Zero Hunger.
THF aims to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition, guaranteeing access for all people, in particular the poorest and most vulnerable people, including children, to quality, nutritious and sufficient food all year.
In rural areas, the main concepts of agriculture are deep-rooted, however, the first support and encouragement for some families to begin to think of these solutions as the solution to cease being dependent on charity, as well as, above all, on ensuring essential daily food for all by cultivating quality food and ensuring sustainable food production systems and the implementation of resilient agricultural practices.
Fishing and herding are other ways to help the poor.
Balanced nutrition is indispensable for the healthy growth of children and the well-being of adults. No child can have energy, or concentration, to study on an empty stomach. In addition, they always have the opportunity to trade with their neighbors or to transform and sell the surplus of their production or the seeds themselves through "seed banks".
With the assurance that they have food daily for their survival, it will certainly be simpler to devote the rest of their time to some other activity or to their children.
HEALTH AND HYGIENE
Together, we aim to protect everyone's health and prevent some diseases.
Goal 3 of the SDGs: Good Health and Well-being.
THF intends to substantially reduce the number of diseases due to hazardous chemicals, contamination and pollution of air, water and soil.
The main reasons for health problems are associated, for example, with the lack of basic hygiene habits, because normally they do not have shoes or what they have is inadequate (especially when walking in dirty water, garbage, etc.), in the absence of family planning, substance abuse prevention and treatment, including substance abuse and harmful use of alcohol or tobacco.
CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
Together, we aim to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all.
Goal 6 of the SDGs: Clean Water and Sanitation.
THF aims to achieve universal and equitable access to safe drinking water for all, as well as access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and to stop open defecation, with special attention to the needs of women and girls and those who are vulnerable.
Drinking Water is another key element preventing health problems. Drilling holes and water pumps, manual or non-manual, must be secured as well as family or at least community water filters.
EDUCATION (Support to Public Schools and Extra-School Support Spaces)
Together, we aim to work on improving learning conditions and conditions that will allow children to access and attend school.
Goal 4 of the SDGs: Quality Education.
THF approach aims to ensure that all girls and boys complete primary and secondary education which must be free, fair and good-quality, and which leads to relevant and effective learning outcomes, and that all have access to quality development in the first stage as well as pre-school care and education, so that they are prepared for primary education.
People's training is the greatest form of empowerment, both in the case of children and in the case of adults.
It is in present-day education that we find hope for a sustainable future, through education for development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promoting a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and cultural diversity.
For children, it is essential to guarantee access to public school, their attendance and evolution in education, giving them the necessary training and equivalences. For this reason, attendance at homeless shelters, false "orphanages", as well as in day centers that want to substitute attending Public School, never helps them, it harms them.
Teach How to Fish's goal is that access to public school as extra-school support, and access to all activities and supplies, is a guaranteed right for ALL CHILDREN, even the poorest. In this way, we created the Education Support Program. Find out more about the Program here.
It is also very important to ensure:
- That the volunteer's work will always have to go through the work in the training of the teachers, and indirectly with the children since it is they who are present permanently and manage to give continuity help and support to the children
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That it is very important for children to learn and experience other activities, such as Dance, Music, Sports, and other Arts, and to have other important topics such as recycling and agriculture
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That these spaces ensure the daily monitoring of children while they are allowed to enjoy other goods and activities that they would otherwise often not have access to (school supplies, clothing, and footwear, filtered water, etc.)
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And because Culture, Arts and Sports are very important for children, we also consider in our project:
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Creation of versatile and modular platforms that allow several children to play simultaneously
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A Space dedicated to Sports practice, like soccer and volleyball (beacons and net, balls and others that are necessary)
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Agriculture Classes
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"Trip to TEACH": study visits to other schools, interaction with other children and teachers, as well as cultural heritage in each country
YOUTH & ADULT'S TRAINING
THF approach through by THF most diverse training programs, works on human skills in order to develop and stimulate self-knowledge and self-confidence.
We also ensure equal access for all men and women to quality technical and vocational education, at affordable prices or free of charge through funded programs, in order to ensure that youth and adults, men and women, are literate and acquire the basic knowledge of mathematics, for example, but also for them to specialize in their area of training or work, to enrich their curriculum and so that they too can later contribute to the empowerment of their community.
WORK CONDITIONS
Juntos, pretendemos assegurar que os pais ou cuidadores têm um trabalho digno e que este lhes garante sustento e independência financeira.
Goal 8 of the SDGs: Decent Work and Economic Growth.
This point represents the third and final phase of TEACH How to Fish Project with families.
THF intends to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and people with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value, by encouraging education and training. Obviously, it also intends to end modern slavery and trafficking and ensure the prohibition and elimination of child labor.
Ensure workers' rights and promote safe and secure work environments for all workers, including migrant workers and people in precarious employment.
Given the high rate of growth in tourism practically all over the world, including in developing countries, developing and implementing policies to promote sustainable tourism, which generates jobs and promotes local culture and products.
In developing countries, it is also important to emphasize the importance of the informal sector of the urban economy, in the area of production (agriculture, handicrafts and simple industrial forms), which is assumed to generate wage opportunities for a large part of the population its strategic importance being undeniable.
Crafts, for example, are always something desired by tourists and visitors, and usually done outside of the big centers and by the neediest people.
We believe that what will make the difference can often go through the adjustment in the process of creation and production, creating different models of easy transport.
In agriculture, it is essential to consider and anticipate the transformation of production, so as to be able to take advantage of and market the surplus, for example, with the production of tea or the sale of seeds.
WE MEASURE OUR ACTIONS:
Measuring the social impact of our actions is essential to ensure transparency and, above all, to be able to interpret and learn to cooperate better and in a more focused and effective way.
The SDG Action Manager tool combines Impact Assessment with the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, which allows TEACH How to Fish as for the social enterprise by THF, to channel actions in order to generate a positive impact through dynamic self-assessment and setting goals for improvement. The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact are:
Human rights
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Businesses must support and respect the protection of internationally recognized human rights
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Ensure your non-participation in human rights violations
Labor Practices
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Companies must support freedom of association and the effective recognition of collective bargaining
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The abolition of all forms of forced and compulsory labor
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Effective abolition of child labor
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Elimination of Employment Discrimination
Environmental Protection
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Companies must support a preventive approach to environmental challenges
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Carry out initiatives to promote environmental responsibility
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Encourage the development and dissemination of environmentally friendly technologies
Fight against corruption
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Businesses must fight corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
