Recent Developments

All year, TIST have witnessed dedication, patience, and generosity throughout their community.  As the pandemic extended into its second year, the TIST Farmers looked beyond individual needs and focused on the wider community - and the truth of the old adage "It takes a village" has never been more apparent.  

TIST Farmer Modi Joseph of Uganda shares this collaborative mindset, observing that the TIST Program “has really improved our lives here within our village.”  As a community, they now have energy saving stoves, access to firewood, and a more reliable food supply.  As an individual, he now has access to medicine and his own food supply because of the variety of species he has planted.  Since 2019, Mr. Modi's Small Group, Nekoyedde Tukole D, has planted 990 trees. 

By participating in TIST Cluster Meetings, he has not only learned about energy saving stove construction, but also transplanting, pruning, and grove management.  These meetings facilitate farmer-to-farmer learning and benefit the wide network of TIST participants.  Modi Joseph sums it up well: “This project has changed our lives.”  Learn more about Joseph's story here. 

In 2021, TIST Farmers earned Triple Gold Certification for the TIST Program, demonstrating exceptional community, climate, and biodiversity benefits!  This certification is a direct result of TIST Farmers’ activities extending beyond the individual and into the local areas.  In Kenya, TIST Leadership launched the TIST Education Fund to support the students in the TIST community who most need funding to continue their education, and will support students in other TIST operating countries in 2022!

Using tools such as www.Join.TIST.org and the TIST Learning Center, TIST Champions are expanding the Program through physical and digital farmer-to-farmer connections.  New Small Groups are steadily joining the Program with approximately 1,000 new farmers joining every month and almost 3,000 Small Groups joining TIST in 2021!

In 2022, TIST Farmers will continue to improve their farms, communities, and the planet.  If you would like to make a difference and support TIST's accomplishments you can donate at program.tist.org/donate 

Over the last few weeks, Jacaranda's Mentorship team have been busy running three centralized trainings in emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) as part of a wider randomized control trial determining the effectiveness of their package of solutions on patient and provider outcomes. Through practical application of classroom learning, nurses from twenty facilities are now better equipped to offer mums dignified, competent emergency care. 

Held across Kisi, Meru, and Kajiado Counties, the trainings helped build not only competence, but also confidence, with mentors learning the principles of respectful care, bereavement support, and a roster of new communications skills - both when talking to the mums they care for and reporting on their condition. Uniting providers across disciplines, levels, facilities, and counties, these trainings typify Jacaranda's innovative mentorship model; blending vibrant discussion, theory, and practical simulation of emergency scenarios to help address common bottlenecks to quality care provision across thirteen counties in Kenya. Here's the full story...

If Jacaranda have learnt one thing through COVID-19, it's the power of accurate information and the threat of its absence. When it comes to maternal and newborn health, information is the lynchpin to mums seeking care at the right time and place, helping them recognize signs that they or their baby may be at risk. But how do they maintain the relevance and impact of the information they share with mums as they grow? 

Jacaranda recognize that every mum is different. Some mums use basic phones, others smartphones. They speak different languages, and have varied needs depending on, say, their age, educational level, stage of pregnancy, or location, which is why they rigorously and routinely adapt the messages they send mums through PROMPTS - their AI-enabled digital health tool - to make sure lifesaving information around pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum is inclusive and easily understood. This month Jacaranda sent their 50 millionth message. The figure is an encouraging benchmark of their current capacity and demand but as they expand, their priority is always that quantity does not replace quality, and mums continue to receive timely, clinically-accurate messages tailored to their needs. The tangible impact they've seen so far in shifting health seeking behaviors is testament to this approach; women on the platform are 27% more likely to seek prenatal care and uptake of family planning has doubled. As Jacaranda test and adapt their messages, they commit to equity and relevance to ensure they continue to place mothers at the center of design.  Read the full story here.