YEMEN- HISG has helped launch a vocational training center in Mayfa'a, Yemen to teach job skills and improve the quality of life in the nearby villages.  The training center is managed by one of HISG's partner non-government organizations in Yemen.

The center is currently training six students to become electricians.  The apprentices installed electricity in the training center's workshop and in the home of one of the poor families in Mayfa'a.  These practical exercises give the apprentices an opportunity to serve the community, as well as demonstrate their skills in order to help them find work once they complete the training.

HISG also provided funding for the training center to acquire a solar-powered battery system that the students will install at a boarding school for Bedouin children.  This school is in the remote Muhamdeen Valley and none of the buildings in the village have electricity. Insufficient education is one of the largest challenges in Yemen, especially among rural children.  The battery will provide electricity for the boarding school and vastly improve the situation of the children and teachers there.

HISG is committed to working with local organizations that are helping the Yemeni people progress economically and educationally.  If you would like to connect with us on this project, please contact us or consider a donation to HISG.

EAST JAVA, INDONESIA- HISG is working with volunteers in Surabaya to care for hundreds of homeless children in the poorest part of the city.   The living conditions in this slum are shocking.  One of HISG's partners told this story about the situation of the people he met:

"We were visiting the people living under the bridge by a river filled with the stench of waste and rubbish. We met a lady who had just given birth to a premature child.  The child was tiny, no larger than a Coca-Cola bottle.  The mother is so poor that she had no money for milk and fed her child coffee with a tea spoon.  We arranged for milk and a bottle to be delivered to her right away.  Three days later we heard the news that the baby had passed away.  The child never stood a chance in the harsh environment and it is such a tragedy.  To compound the problem, evidently the baby was born out of wedlock and the mother is a prostitute.  This means the child had no papers, no official record, no name, and no interest.  The dead child was simply disposed of like a piece of garbage."

It is hard for most people to even imagine tragedies like this happening, but they are a sad reality of life under the bridges of Surabaya.  HISG is working with volunteers who are reaching out to this community made up primarily of beggars, prostitutes and garbage collectors.  The volunteers are bringing milk to young children three days each week, and hope to expand the program to include eggs and multi-vitamins soon.  They are also implementing a project in July that will allow some of the school-aged children the opportunity to attend school for the first time in their lives.

This project focuses on some of the brutal conditions faced by the poorest of the poor.  HISG is committed to caring for the least cared-for portions of the population, and is doing so through projects like this child nutrition program.  To partner with HISG in this project or others like it, please contact us to find out how you can help.

In a previous Pulse Report, we described the partnership initiated by HISG called the Hope Resource Network, which was formed to help collect and ship needed supplies quickly in a disaster response.  Hope Resource Network is currently working on supply shipments to China, Myanmar, Syria, Sudan, and possibly Lebanon and Jordan.

The network consists of 18 national and international organizations that are prepared to work together to respond to specific requests for supplies with shipments that can be put to use immediately.  In the weeks following the Myanmar Cyclone, the network was able to share information regarding avenues for shipping and port conditions in Myanmar.  Now that a consignee has been tested and established (see HISG Operations, above) HISG and Hope Resource Network can begin shipping containers of supplies that will help the rebuilding effort.

The partnership with Hope Resource Network has been invaluable as HISG works to connect resources to needs.  It has proved to be an effective and reliable system for identifying critical needs and then meeting those needs in a timely and cost-effective manner.  Please contact us for more information about HISG's shipments of supplies to needy people around the world.