The Millennium Development goals (MDGs) were a noble set of aims produced at the Millennium summit in New York in 2000. These goals set forth a strategy to bring better living conditions and prospects to millions of people around the world. The MDGs are
MDG 1: To eradicate extreme hunger
MDG 2: To achieve universal primary education
MDG3: To promote gender inequality and empower women
MDG 4: To reduce the child mortality rate
MDG 5: To improve maternal health
MDG6: To HIV/AIDS and other diseases
MDG 7: To ensure environmental sustainability
MDG 8: To develop a global partnership for development
Each goal has a set of sub-targets and tools to measure success, for more information see the UN Millennium page here.
The work that The Kindu Trust carries out in Ethiopia falls in line with at least five of these universal goals.
MDG 1: The Kindu Trust through its direct financial payment service supports families living in poverty, helping them to buy food and fuel. We support over 200 families through our service and work to narrow the poverty gap that exists within Ethiopia through vocational training courses and income generating projects.
MDG2: The Kindu Trust provides much needed educational support services to our sponsored children. Although education is free in Ethiopia, materials such as pens, books, uniforms and note pads are not. These costs can cripple family budgets and result in a child not attending school. The Kindu Trust covers all these costs and provides extra curricula lessons outside of school in our Kindu Klub. We set out to support our sponsored children all the way through the education system to university.
MDG 3: Development cannot progress without full equality and participation of women. The Kindu Trust actively supports female relatives of our sponsored families, seeking to find them employment or vocational training wherever we can. The Injeera project that The Kindu Trust has helped launch is a proud achievementthat reflects this aim.
MDG 6: The Kindu Trust runs a fortnightly Coffee Morning for HIV+ ladies. The women attending have discovered a mutual support network, where they can chat and gossip without feeling stigmatised. In a society which continues to shun those infected with HIV, making friends has historically been very difficult for these ladies. The coffee morning provides them with the opportunity to feel normal again. Alongside the health counselling they receive, this support makes a big difference to both the physical and mental well being of the HIV+ ladies.
MDG 7: The Kindu Trusts strives to put environmental sustainability at the heart of its operations. Our jewellery project is prime example of how we have integrated an income generating project with environmental sustainability. 
These may be large aims and we may be a small organisations but the work we carry out has an even bigger impact. The Kindu Trust supports over 200 families across Ethiopia making sure they have the educational, financial and health support they need.
The Kindu Trust 