Overcoming poverty by working together to create local solutions

Even though 80 percent of families living in Layyah, Pakistan are completely reliant on livestock for their survival, no one could figure out how to reopen the only veterinary clinic in the region.

At first glance, the problem seemed to be the lack of veterinary services in the region, which is home to nearly 15,000 livestock.

A closer look, however, revealed that the real problem was that families were unsure of how to work together to get the clinic reopened.

HOPE International Development Agency assisted families in Layyah by helping them set up an action group focused on reopening the clinic. During the monthly meetings and training sessions held by the group, women and men in Layyah learned to work together to achieve common goals and build strategies for securing support from the local government.

The group raised awareness of the need for a veterinary clinic by holding press conferences and hosting other public events. After several events, the local government became aware of the need for a veterinary clinic and attended one of the press conferences.

Within a week of attending the conference, government officials not only appointed a veterinarian for the clinic, but also provided medicines for the clinic’s dispensary.

Today, the clinic is fully functional and providing services to Layyah and an additional 23 villages in the surrounding area.

With a bit of help and encouragement, families worked together to create a local solution that resulted in the veterinary clinic being reopened – a very important step in their journey out of poverty!

It takes more than courage

Courage is no substitute for a life-changing gift.

Halgage, a young mother of three children, knows this to be painfully true. No amount of courage and hard work on her part brought her one step closer to becoming free from poverty.

“Our life was miserable. We did not have enough food, clothing, or income,” says Halgage, recalling the immense burden she felt in not being self-reliant.

Halgage’s husband labored in the fields of others and despite his best effort, he could not earn enough income to support his family. Halgage spent her days trekking through the countryside, fetching whatever water she could find, most of which made her and her family very sick.

Then something wonderful happened. Friends of HOPE International Development Agency gave so that we could collaborate with Halgage’s community to install a water system to provide a plentiful supply of clean water to the entire community.

The day the water system was completed and operational was the day Halgage said a joyful goodbye to the 5-hour treks she had endured for decades.

Halgage knew what she would do with her newfound hours each day. She would concentrate fully on making her family’s dream of being free from poverty become a reality.

But as Halgage quickly found out, it would not be that simple. A big obstacle stood in the way of achieving her family’s dream of being free from poverty.

“We had the potential to work and improve our living conditions, but we had nowhere to borrow the money we needed to get started,” says Halgage, recalling the hopelessness she felt.

The solution to overcoming this obstacle became apparent when Halgage joined a self-help group, a small group of 20 like-minded women in her village who come together to learn new skills, support each other in starting small businesses, and solve challenges faced by their community.

Halgage developed a plan, borrowed a small amount of money, and got to work making her family’s dream of self-reliance a reality.

With her borrowed money, Halgage rented a small plot of land and purchased tools and seeds to grow vegetables, which she continues to sell, for a good profit, in small markets in the neighboring towns of Gezeso, Laka, and Belta today.

Every basket of vegetables sold increased Halgage’s confidence and her family’s quality of life. With her ever-improving confidence, Halgage expanded her small business to include buying cereal crops in her village and selling them, at a profit, at the same local markets where she sold her harvest of homegrown vegetables. Halgage and her family, with the help of her friends and fellow self-help group members, also built a new home of bamboo and thatch, using some of the proceeds from her business.

All of this incredible change was made possible because a friend of HOPE International Development Agency gave a gift that made a huge difference for Halgage and her family.

“Now I am self-employed and can help my family and send my children to school,” says Halgage, her face beaming with pride. “Our income is dramatically increased from before and we now have enough food, clothing, medication, and things like education materials.”

“I never dreamed I’d have such a wonderful life, but it happened,” says Halgage, recalling how desperately poor she and her family used to be.

It takes more than courage for people like Halgage to become free from poverty. It takes your gift.

Help a family like Halgage’s become free from poverty today.

An evening you'll remember

Celebrating 40 years & 20 million lives changed.

A wonderful meal, live music, silent and live auctions, and the company of friends is what you can look forward to at our 40th Year Celebration HOPE International Development Agency Film Premiere & Dinner events this fall in British Columbia and Alberta.

The highlight of the evening is our latest film, “A Promise to Chan”, shot on location in rural Cambodia earlier this year. The deeply moving and highly uplifting film chronicles the journey Chan and her family took out of abject poverty and into self-reliance.

Please join us this fall for what is sure to be a memorable evening, for you and for the families in Cambodia you will transform though your giving.

To reserve your tickets, or for more information, please visit www.hope-international.com today.

Embraced rather than ostracized

As a single parent living in abject poverty in rural Bangladesh, Ruma faced a tough choice.

She and her children could try to make a go of it living on their own, or they could all move in with her parents who were also poor.

Living on their own would most certainly put Ruma and her children at risk given that she had few skills and little or no income.

Living with her parents would mean placing the burden of her poverty on her parents, something Ruma did not want to do. Being unable to contribute to the household’s income would also put Ruma at risk of being ostracized or even abused within the community.

In the end, Ruma and her children moved in with her parents, the only real choice between the two very tough choices she faced.

Fortunately for Ruma, her children, and her parents, HOPE International Development Agency was working in the district of Pakhia where they live.

When HOPE first began working to help improve the health and well-being of women and children in Pakhia, more than one-third of households reported that their children were malnourished. Two-thirds of children in the district suffered from frequent fevers, and nearly one in five children suffered from diarrhea, typhoid, scabies, or pneumonia.

Today, because of the collaboration between HOPE and communities in Pakhia, 93% of households report that their children are better nourished and 78% report that they are consuming fruits and vegetables from their own gardens. In many cases, families are earning income with their gardening.

Ruma received training in the cultivation techniques needed in order to grow a variety of vegetables and fruits in a garden of her own. As her skills and garden grew, Ruma included more vegetables in the family meals. Today, vegetables are an important part of every meal, and as a result, Ruma’s children are now healthy and happy.

The training and skills Ruma possesses has also enabled her to earn income by selling a portion of her vegetable harvests at the local market. The income she receives helps support her parents and send her children to school.

Because of her success, Ruma is now the leader of a local community group and serves as a role model for others in her community looking for the inspiration needed in order to transform their lives.

Ruma is provider rather than a burden, and instead of being ostracized, she has been embraced by her community as an example of the amazing transformation that can take place when people receive the help they need.

New crisis emerging in Myanmar

Myanmar - August 21, 2015

A new crisis is emerging in the aftermath of Typhoon Komen, the huge storm that swept through Myanmar earlier this month.

The storm affected 1 million people and current estimates show that more than 700,000 acres of the 1.2 million acres of farmland flooded by the storm are damaged.

This is a big blow for farming families who rely on their crops for food and income. The next rice harvest is in jeopardy if they cannot restore their way of life and farm fields in the coming weeks.

HOPE International Development Agency is helping families in the aftermath of Typhoon Komen and we urgently need additional funds to meet to the enormous need.

Families need our help in order to avoid becoming unnecessarily dependent on food aid for months to come and taking on unaffordable debt in order to meet their basis household needs - both of which will draw them deeper into poverty.

PLEASE DONATE ONLINE TODAY

Donate by phone at (toll-free) 1-866-525-HOPE(4673).

Number of people affected by flooding in Myanmar rises to 1 million

Myanmar Update - 1 million people are now affected by widespread flooding in Myanmar and more help is urgently needed.

Concerns for the long-term food supply of families affected by the flooding and destruction continue to deepen as another 200,000 acres of farmland are now flooded.

In all, 1.2 million acres of farmland are currently under water, with 450,000 acres completely destroyed. The flooding is massive and has impacted all but 2 of the country’s 14 states.

One aid official in Myanmar says that people who are able to return to their homes are returning to nothing.

HOPE International Development Agency is continuing to help families affected by this terrible disaster by providing urgently needed items such as food, clean water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, fodder for farm animals, and support for farms.

The number of people affected by the flooding has increased greatly and additional help is needed in order to help as many families as possible.

PLEASE DONATE ONLINE TODAY

Donate by phone at (toll-free) 1-866-525-HOPE(4673).

Survivors of Cyclone Komen need help right away

A woman with all that remains of her belongings.

Families in Myanmar were already coping with weeks of heavy rain when Cyclone Komen stormed into their lives earlier this week.

In addition to high winds, flash floods, and destruction on a massive scale, Cyclone Komen has also brought misery and suffering to the people of Myanmar, 70 percent of whom live on 2 dollars a day or less.

More than 300,000 people are affected. Nearly 1 million acres of farmland are submerged. Food and clean water are scarce to non-existent. Shelter is equally hard to find. Roads have vanished and rivers, normally used for transportation, continue to rage and remain choked with tons of debris.

“Flash flooding submerged my seven metre high, two-story home,” says one father whose family survived the torrent of water that tore through much of Myanmar earlier this week.

HOPE International Development Agency is raising funds to help families recover in the aftermath of the huge storm.

It costs $100 to help provide one family with what they need in order to recover from this terrible disaster. Your gift of $50, $75, $100, or more would be a blessing as it helps provide a family with urgently needed items such as food, clean water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, fodder for their farm animals, and support for their farms.

DONATE ONLINE TODAY

Donate by phone at (toll-free) 1-866-525-HOPE(4673).

Fall 2015 HOPE Film Premiere & Dinner events - join us as we celebrate 40 years and 20 million lives changed

Our story began 40 years ago when a few people in Canada came together to find ways to help the world’s poorest families lift themselves out of poverty.

This year, as we celebrate 40 years and 20 million lives changed, we invite you to join us at one of our Fall 2015 HOPE International Development Agency Film Premiere & Dinner events in British Columbia and Alberta this fall.

You will enjoy a wonderful meal, the company of friends, live music, silent and live auctions, and have an important opportunity to transform lives in Cambodia through your giving.

This year’s film, shot on location in Cambodia earlier in 2015, gives you an intimate glimpse into the lives of families living in rural Cambodia. You will also see the amazing work that is being done by these families to lift themselves out of poverty.

Please join us this fall for what promises to be a memorable evening, for you and the families we are helping in Cambodia.

Look for a HOPE Film Premiere & Dinner event in your area.

Hope overcomes uncertainty

Lahtaw standing in her vegetable garden, the source of her family's self-sufficiency.

Life reaches a new level of difficulty when the uncertainty associated with leaving everything behind seems less daunting than staying where you are.

Such is the case for families in Myanmar’s conflict-ridden northern Shan and Kachin states. The two states are embroiled in an ongoing conflict between ethnic groups and the government-led military of Myanmar.

Lahtaw and her family of nine were forced to leave everything behind as they fled the conflict in their area. Their journey, fraught with uncertainty, concluded when they arrived at the Hpum Lum Yang camp for displaced persons.

“When we arrived in Hpum Lum Yang, we had nothing. No land, no money, and no food,” says Lahtaw, recalling what it was like when she and her family first set foot in the camp three years ago.

Soon after, however, things began to change for Lahtaw and her family as they received help and starting building a new life within the relative safety of the camp.

“We were provided with a piece of land, seeds, and tools to start a backyard vegetable garden,” says Lahtaw. “We planted dill, mustard, long bean, tomato, parsley, eggplant cucumber, cabbage, and cauliflower, and had a good harvest!”

Lahtaw and her family also learned how to make organic fertilizer and natural insecticides for their garden, eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers and insecticides, while at the same time, improving the quality of the soil and saving money.

“Since we started gardening, we have produced enough food to meet our needs. Our family is healthy and we are saving money too because we no longer buy vegetables from the market,” says Lahtaw.

Lahtaw and her family, now self-sufficient, won’t be returning to their original home any time soon given that the conflict that forced them to leave shows no signs of subsiding. But with the help they have received thus far, they are a building a new life in the camp. A life that is full of hope and significantly less uncertainty.

Creating resilience among farming families in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan

When the floodwater receded, both the land and its people were scarred.

It was early September of 2014. The monsoon rains had arrived in Pakistan and were unusually heavy. In the region of Muzaffargarh, small creeks transformed into rushing torrents. Rivers and canals, swollen well beyond anything anyone had seen in a long while, overflowed their banks, enveloping everything in their path.

The destruction was on a scale approaching the unimaginable. Entire fields of rice, maize, vegetables, and sugar cane vanished, buried under water and mud – and just days before the harvest! Planting the next crop, a type of wheat popular in the region, was impossible. The torrent had ensured that nothing could be planted for weeks to come. Many homes, animal sheds, and seed storage buildings fell victim to brute force of the floodwater.

Meeting with flood-affected families to assess the damage.

Restoration for families and their farmland

HOPE International Development Agency sought out the poorest of the poor affected by the devastation in Muzaffargarh. The generosity of HOPE supporters made it possible for flood-affected families to rehabilitate their land and replant crops as soon as possible. It also restored a sense of hope and normalcy amidst the upheaval.

At the time, Noreen Mai, a mother struggling in the aftermath of the flood said, “The flood destroyed all of our stored food and my family is facing serious problems. But due to this support, my family will overcome this situation.”

Improving the long-term outlook for farming families

Beyond the work of meeting the needs of flood-affected families in the weeks and months following the disaster, HOPE has been helping families learn new skills and pool their resources. Both of these initiatives make the families, and their communities, more resilient – a crucial aspect of life in a region frequented by natural disasters.

HOPE has also helped form, train, and support community groups in Muzaffargarh and four other neighboring districts. The work with the community groups continues, helping them further increase their skills, knowledge, and ability to work together and with local government in order to access additional resources. In addition, the poorest of the poor among farmers are being supported in their efforts to start new farm-based income enterprises, including village-based food processing.

Natural disasters, like flooding, will strike again and threaten to undermine the courage and tenacity of farmers in Pakistan. But through the support of generous friends of HOPE, farmers in Muzaffargarh are using this respite from disaster to strengthen their resiliency, overcome the challenges they face, and prepare for future challenges.

A new crop and new hope for families who lost everything during the flooding of 2014.

Clean water is on the horizon for the people of Muyange, Burundi

There are two obstacles standing between the 3,400 people in Muyange village and a life-long supply of clean water; 7 kilometres of rugged terrain, and the funds needed to complete the work.

Muyange is located in Bubanza, a rugged region of Burundi, an impoverished country in the northwest of Africa.

The people of Bubanza are among the poorest people in Burundi and suffer greatly because they don’t have clean water. High rates of disease and death, especially among children, are evidence that clean water is crucial.

HOPE International Development Agency has been helping people in the Bubanza region gain access to clean water. So far, 2,700 people in three villages have clean water.

The challenge today is to raise the funds needed to pipe clean water to Muyange, a village 7 kilometers away from the main water spring that supplies the other three villages.

Supplies, like water pipe, connectors, and other materials used in the construction of water tap basins in the village need to be sent to Muyange so that the water system can be completed. In addition, people also need to learn how to care for their new water system and their health.

Having an abundant supply of clean water, right in their village, will ensure that the 3,400 people in Muyange, especially the women and children, will not be forced to trek 10 kilometres every day in search of water, nearly all of which is teeming with life-threatening diseases.

Ndazina, a village chief from Muyange knows the incredible impact clean water will have on his village and he shared his heartfelt thoughts with us recently, “We told you of our needs, and thank God that you listened”.

If you'd like to help ensure that supplies, like water pipe, connectors, and other materials used in the construction of water tap basins in the village, are sent to Muyange so that the water system can be completed, you can give online today.

Everyone is excited about completing the water system - even the children are helping out!

Nepal Earthquake Update

HOPE International Development Agency continues to work among survivors of two massive earthquakes that struck Nepal in late April and mid-May 2015.

Finding the most vulnerable
As with all HOPE International Development Agency efforts to help people in need, we seek out the most vulnerable. In Nepal, we are working in the villages of Sipapokhare and Sunkhani, both of which are located in remote, mountainous regions that are difficult to access. Most of the people in Sipapokhare and Sunkhani are considered outcasts by other societies in the region and were highly marginalized before the two earthquakes shattered their lives.

Ensuring the most vulnerable survive
Realizing that people in Sipapokhare and Sunkhani would struggle to survive in the aftermath, HOPE established earthquake relief camps to provide temporary shelter materials, food, and non-food essentials. So far, more than a 1,000 people have received items such as heavy-duty tarpaulins, emergency food rations, clothing, and hygiene products.

Helping people rebuild
In addition to supplying people with important essentials needed in the aftermath of the two major disasters, HOPE is also helping the most vulnerable rebuild homes that were damaged or destroyed by the earthquakes. The new homes are being constructed with locally available materials, and people in the villages are participating in the clearing of earthquake debris as well as the construction process - giving them a sense of ownership and hope amidst all the destruction and loss.

You are changing lives!
Thank you for helping families in Sipapokhare and Sunkhani restore what was taken by the two earthquakes. There is much more to do given the size of the disasters.

If you would like to help further, you can donate here.