Friday, November 27, 2015

Finding a way in South Sudan

The Republic of South Sudan, Africa’s youngest nation, faces considerable humanitarian challenges.

The terrible legacy of civil war and chronic underdevelopment weigh heavily on the ability of the new nation to provide basic services and respond to humanitarian needs. As a result, communities are vulnerable and struggle with insecurity, displacement, food shortages, outbreaks of disease, and seasonal floods.

Conflict has flared up again in the region, but despite the current situation, HOPE International Development Agency continues to work with families in the district of Ibba, helping them improve their lives.

In addition to helping families overcome food shortages by providing them with the knowledge and supplies needed to grow nutritious wheat and legumes, HOPE donors have also provided communities in Ibba with clean water, primary education for children, and sanitation and hygiene training that significantly reduce rates of disease among families.

Today, nearly 1,600 students are attending school in four primary schools in the area. Hygiene and sanitation training has helped 700 people learn how to reduce their risk of disease and improve their health, and more than 1,000 people have access to clean water.

The people of Ibba are doing whatever they can to improve their lives, despite the challenges, and so is HOPE as we walk with them on their journey out of poverty.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Thoughtful gifts you can give this Christmas

HOPE International Development Agency's 2015 Gifts of HOPE Catalogue is full of Christmas gifts you can give to make the world a better place.

This year's catalogue features 12 thoughtful gifts that will change lives throughout the world.

In addition to helping orphans in Ethiopia, transforming young minds in the Philippines, supporting learning in South Sudan, and nurturing children in Haiti, you can help families become self-reliant, earn sustainable incomes, grow bountiful harvests, and gain the confidence needed to change their lives.

Each gift in this year's Gifts of HOPE Catalogue can change lives. Make this Christmas a special time for you and the poor by giving gifts that will not fade, wear out, or go out of fashion.

Give gifts to make a better world.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

A promise to Chan - a new life!

In our latest film, “A Promise to Chan”, a young donor named Alison witnesses the amazing story of transformation that came once Chan's family had clean water readily available.

When the HOPE cameras first met Chan, she and her children were living in desperate poverty in a tiny shack on a dusty piece of land. Chan and her children had no access to clean water, education, or health care.

Watch "A Promise to Chan" and witness her journey out of poverty.



Donate to help provide clean water, education, food security, and income development for families in Cambodia.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Living in a tent for one year is part of Masresha’s commitment to the people of Wabe Shore

Helping people requires commitment. This is especially true among the people of Wabe Shore who live in a rugged, remote region of southern Ethiopia.

Masresha, a young Ethiopian man supporting the work of HOPE International Development Agency by helping communities learn how to help themselves, exemplifies the type of commitment it takes to help people lift themselves out of poverty.

For nearly nine months, Masresha has spent his days among the people of Wabe Shore and his nights sleeping in a tiny tent pitched on the edge of a small forest. By the time Maresha finishes his work, he’ll have been in Wabe Shore for one year.

Masresha, a HOPE community mobilizer in southern Ethiopia, is helping the families of Wabe Shore by supporting the ongoing development of Self Help Groups and Water Committees that will ensure the work that HOPE donors have funded remains self-sustaining for years to come.

When asked about living in a tent in such a remote area, Masresha replied, “What matters is helping the community and knowing that they have a bright future ahead of them. The tent doesn’t matter.”

One of Masresha’s favorite ways to explain why he feels the work is worthwhile and brings him so much satisfaction is to tell the story of Wachay, a local man who has benefited from the work of Masresha and HOPE.

“Wachay used to travel long distances across treacherous terrain to access water – it was a real burden for him,” says Masresha. “Today, because of our work, Wachay has clean water readily available right in his community, very close to his home. In addition to having clean water to drink, he also uses the water to irrigate his crop fields and grow more food. For me, it has been very rewarding to be a part of this amazing change”

Masresha personifies commitment. His love of people and desire to help them become free from poverty is a key reason the work of HOPE in southern Ethiopia is transforming lives for the better, day after day, and year after year.