Scientia et Educatio Naturam Sanitatemque Emuniunt
Science and Education Preserve Nature and Health
La Science et l'Éducation Préservent la Nature et la Santé
Supporting scientific research, start-ups and/or NGOs
Supported Projects
2022 - 2024
Project country: Uganda
Grant period: 2023 - 2024
APT Action on Poverty is a small specialist NGO with over 30 years of experience developing economic solutions to address hunger, injustice, and barriers to safe and lasting work for marginalised people. Its mission is to build sustainable livelihoods, transform lives, promote economic empowerment, and generate social change by helping vulnerable and socially excluded people achieve sustainable livelihoods, and address the barriers that limit their participation. While child labour is extremely harmful to children’s health and development, it remains very common in Uganda, especially in rural areas where, driven by poverty and food insecurity, 60% of children (5-11yrs) are involved in economic activities (UBOS, 2021). To address this issue, particularly in sugar and rice production which are particularly hazardous, Action on Poverty has launched a three-year project with its partner Platform for Labour Action (PLA) in Eastern Uganda, to protect children in over 12,000 families from child labour. Through raising awareness, training, and monitoring duty bearers (local government and private sector employers), as well as providing legal support to child labour victims, the partnership will aim to tackle the problem. Recognising that child labour is caused by poverty, it will also be working with at risk families to develop alternative livelihood opportunities, as well as supporting 1000 former child labour victims to return to school or undertake vocational training. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels is supporting this project, helping to provide the necessary training and support so that vulnerable households can become more resilient, and businesses can be held accountable for child labour violations. https://aptuk.org.uk/
Project country: Benin
Grant period: 2021 - 2024
Chaîne de l’Espoir Belgium aims to improve access to quality, specialized healthcare for children in developing countries suffering from congenital diseases and defects in areas such as cardiology, orthopaedics, ENT, urology, and neurology. Working with volunteer medical and paramedical experts and NGO volunteers, Chaîne de l’Espoir Belgium supports local hospitals, trains staff and provides the necessary care, as well as medical and surgical treatment. In 2021/2022, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Chaîne de l’Espoir Belgium with its project to reduce locomotor disabilities in children in Benin. A multi-centric study was launched to examine rickets and the abnormally high prevalence rate of lower limb deformities in children in the country. In addition, a specific orthopaedic surgery training programme for the management of complex fractures was also conducted. Indirectly, the project benefitted more than 1000 children. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of Chaîne de l’Espoir Belgium to continue its study into rickets and lower limb deformities in children in Benin. According to preliminary results, conservative or surgical treatments led to an improvement in most of the malformations identified in the children studied, with an almost complete correction of the deformity. It was also shown that less severe deformities could be treated immediately with non-surgical treatment (vitamin D supplementation and nutritional support). In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels again renewed its support of Chaîne de l’Espoir Belgium, enabling it to provide scholarships and academic enrolment support to three Beninese doctors following a paediatric surgery specialization at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou. https://chaine-espoir.be/
Project country: UK
Grant period: 2022 - 2024
Endometriosis UK is the leading UK charity championing the rights and needs of those with endometriosis. Endometriosis impacts the physical and mental health of 1 in 10 women and those assigned female at birth in the UK from puberty to menopause, although the impact may be felt for life. Endometriosis UK works collaboratively, across communities, to break down barriers to access and information, and ensure that everyone gets prompt diagnosis and the best treatment and support. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Endometriosis UK to develop new and updated, clinically reviewed website information, as well as to create information pamphlets in 5 new languages, and run a monthly webinar program to help those living with endometriosis. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of Endometriosis UK, to help with the recruitment and training of 40 new volunteers, and enable its helpline and webchat to operate with regular hours and in different languages, improving accessibility and quality of service. https://www.endometriosis-uk.org
Project country: Malawi
Grant period: 2021 - 2024
Since 2006, the Face-to-Face Project (F2F) has pioneered on-the-ground programs in Malawi and Cambodia that recognize the realities of hunger and poverty and then guide families to take small, safe steps toward improving their lives. Believing that people can break their cycle of poverty by developing a self-reliant mindset and reducing dependence on monoculture maize, F2F supports families to create high-yield, no-cost organic Victory Gardens at home. These organic home gardens simultaneously cultivate 30 to 40 kinds of vegetables, herbs, shrubs, and trees, focusing on plant diversity. Families save money, increase income from the sale of produce, and improve nutrition. And communities report higher school attendance, a decrease in child malnutrition and crime, more village banking groups, and more development projects such as borehole and bridge repairs. In 2021/2022, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported the Victory Garden Campaign in three districts in Central Malawi, enabling an additional 525 gardens in the area, benefitting 2300 people. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of the Victory Garden Campaign for an additional two years. Despite the tremendous destruction brought on by Cyclone Freddy, as of the end of October 2023, a further 1314 new gardens were counted, benefitting another 5200 people, with thousands more gardens estimated but uncounted due to challenges from the cyclone. https://facetoface.org/
Project country: Belgium
Grant period: 2022 - 2024
Since 1986, the mission of the Fondation Saint-Luc has been to develop and coordinate the sponsorship and fundraising activities of the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc (CuSL), one of the most important academic hospitals in Belgium. Focused on excellence and humanity, the foundation’s activities support the funding of advanced research, the acquisition of advanced equipment and technologies, the training of medical specialists and health professionals, as well as humanization projects within the Saint-Luc clinics. In order to improve the diagnosis and prognosis for patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), the Fondation Saint-Luc launched a three-year project to implement and study a comprehensive multimodal evaluation of MS patients using state of the art techniques. Specifically, the study includes patients at risk of developing MS, newly diagnosed MS patients, and patients initiating a new treatment. The study measures the extent of ongoing neuronal destruction; identifies the microRNA profile of individual patients; and performs advanced brain MRI techniques, allowing the detection of the whole spectrum of MS lesions. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels committed to supporting the final two years of this project, so far enabling the study of approximately 200 MS and 50 non-MS patients and the creation of a comprehensive characterization of their disease status, including clinical parameters, blood biomarkers, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Thanks to the project, the research team was able to describe novel biomarkers for disease severity to help guide the treatment choice and determine the disease prognosis; discover new biomarkers that could help in the diagnosis of MS in future patients; create a large biobank of samples to continue the research; and setup tests for the benefit of all MS patients. https://www.fondationsaintluc.be
Project countries: Bolivia, Trinidad and Tobago
Grant period: 2021 - 2024
Habitat for Humanity International is the world´s leading housing NGO. Since its foundation in 1976, Habitat has opened offices in more than 70 countries and helped more than 46 million people. It aims to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter by empowering people in the world’s poorest communities to overcome the chronic lack of decent housing. Its vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. In 2021/2022, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported Habitat for Humanity to install water management systems (rainwater harvesting) within communities in Trinidad and Tobago, building community resilience to water-related challenges and disasters such as flooding, and helping to reduce the risk of exposure to water-borne diseases. In addition, a Construction Technology Training program was developed to reschool contractors using inadequate building practices. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of Habitat for Humanity, helping to build water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions in Bolivia. Specifically, 180 technical solutions were implemented at a housing level, including improvements to rainwater collection systems, bathrooms, and handwash stations. In addition, the municipal water supply was augmented for 10.968 residents, increasing the availability of clean water for domestic use. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels is supporting Habitat for Humanity to continue its work providing water, hygiene, and sanitation solutions for vulnerable communities in Bolivia. This work will be conducted at the household level, through community infrastructure projects, and via education and training. https://www.habitat.org/emea
Project country: Madagascar
Grant period: 2022 - 2024
Health In Harmony (HIH) aims to reverse rainforest loss and promote a sustainable planet for us all. Utilizing Radical Listening, HIH invests in rainforest communities as climate and conservation stewards, aiding them in addressing and halting the root issues of rainforest degradation. Recognizing the intertwined nature of human and ecosystem health, these communities devise solutions that merge healthcare access, conservation, livelihoods, and education. Currently, HIH supports 135,000 community members in safeguarding 9.4 million hectares of tropical rainforest across Indonesia, Madagascar, and Brazil. HIH is actively scaling this model with the goal of protecting half of Earth’s tropical rainforests (900 million hectares) by 2030 by investing in rainforest communities’ solutions. In Madagascar, HIH works with 31 local communities in the Manombo Rainforest. These communities are on the front lines of the climate crisis, experiencing intense multidimensional poverty, high malnutrition rates, and limited access to food and livelihoods. Amongst such scarcity, the tropical rainforest surrounding these communities offers food and livelihoods, but often communities must over-harvest and harm forest integrity to generate sufficient resources. Manombo Rainforest, like many ancient forests around the world, is nearing a critical tipping point. Unfettered degradation could result in the extinction of multiple wildlife species, and forest loss increases poverty and health impacts for the communities that rely on the rainforest for drinking water, irrigation, mosquito control, and weather regulation. The symbiotic relationship between community and rainforest well-being requires win-win solutions. Through HIH’s proven Radical Listening methodology, communities have designed livelihoods that not only sustain themselves and the forest, but also regenerate this climate-critical ecosystem. In 2022/2023, the SENSE Foundation Brussels supported HIH to provide 1,179 community members in the Manombo Rainforest with training in alternative livelihoods, focusing on areas such as beekeeping, handicrafts, and regenerative agriculture. In addition, HIH was able to begin constructing new ponds and rehabilitating old ponds to serve as village resources for fishing. In tandem with pond construction and rehabilitation, 12,000 fingerlings, or juvenile fish, were distributed to begin fish populations that can be sustainably harvested. In 2023/2024, the SENSE Foundation Brussels renewed its support of this project to ensure the continued development of community-designed alternative livelihoods, including beekeeping, handicrafts, fish farming, marine fisheries, and chicken farming. Over two years, HIH aims to support 800 community members (50% women) with livelihood trainings, indirectly impacting many more through increased economic resources and improved environmental conditions. https://healthinharmony.org
Supported Projects
2019 - 2021
Chain of Hope Belgium aims at consolidating access and quality of specialised care for children in their native country. The goal is for local teams to acquire autonomy in caring for children suffering from pathologies requiring specialised technical operations.
SENSE Foundation Brussels’s support in 2021/2022 is contributing to a multicentric study on preventive aspects of pathologies requiring corrective orthopaedic surgeries, particularly orthopaedic deformity on children’s lower limbs likely due to vitamin D deficiency rickets causing varus or valgus.
The study may show that rickets can be reduced through the elaboration and implementation of a preventive policy on food security and nutrition in Benin, as an increasing number of children are being treated and knowledge on rickets among specialised practitioners improves.
Fondation Energies pour le Monde FONDEM (Senegal)
Created in 1990, the Fondation Energies pour le Monde (Fondem) is a public interest organisation. Fondem supports and promotes access to clean, reliable, and quality energy from local renewable sources, thereby contributing to global poverty alleviation and environmental protection. Fondem focuses its actions where electrification is most needed: rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2021/2022, SENSE Foundation Brussels is contributing to the EGALES "Egalité des Genres et Accès à l'Electricité au Sénégal" project.
Continuous decrease in rainfall in Casamance, Senegal, has led to truck-farming becoming the main activity, as an alternative to traditional rice farming. However, due to the lack of appropriate equipment and the difficulty in managing water resources, the income generated has remained scarce, and the workload, mainly supported by women, arduous. The EGALES project aims for sustainable social and economic development, by harnessing solar energy and optimizing water usage.
EGALES aims to durably improve the working conditions and the income of 600 women thanks to solar pumps and irrigation systems while training them on good farming practices and water management. It also aims to create the conditions for scaling up by testing financial mechanisms enabling women’s contribution to the production of equipment.
