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Pulse Report May 18, 2009

Learning to use the sewing machines

Community Development - Niger

NIGER - The young lady in the picture on the right is one of 17 women enrolled in sewing and knitting classes that HISG is supporting in Niamey, Niger's capital city. The class was originally set up for 10 women, but because of the enormous need and the pleas for help from the community, an extra seven students were accepted. The students come from desperate situations but are very grateful and committed to the training. Some of them walk nearly two and a half miles (4 km) each morning to attend the classes. Both the instructors and the women in the program are very encouraged to see the potential for this project in their community. You can read more about the sewing classes online at www.HISG.org.

Disaster Relief

BANGLADESH - Since 2007, HISG has been helping the people of Bangladesh recover from Cyclone Sidr. The storm produced 16-foot tidal waves that flattened houses, displaced more than 500,000 people, and decimated Bangladesh's fishing and agriculture industries. We have worked with local partners to provide critical supplies like clean water, medicine, blankets and emergency food rations; and to rebuild houses for families who have lost their homes. In the past few months, HISG has transitioned from distributing relief supplies to working with families to help them identify sustainable businesses that will build their community. Some families have started raising goats, which are easy to care for and produce high-protein milk. Other families have re-started rickshaw taxi services they operated before the cyclone. HISG is working with communities in Bangladesh to ensure that they move past immediate aid and progress into developing and rebuilding the community.

HISG Operations

"The training completely changed me. The training gave me many experiences to manage my own business. The foundational plan that I use today works solidly and I have competence in my business thanks to the training. I know the place to start. I made a good business plan, especially the management, and the record keeping."
- "Shawn" age 24; Bamako, Mali

Occasionally, HISG staff are asked why we put such an emphasis on training healthy community development models, rather than simply funding projects. The reason is reflected in Shawn's comment above. Healthy transformation of communities will only take place to the extent that the funded projects are based on healthy foundations of understanding in the people involved with them. HISG's training programs, like the one offered in Bamako and all around the world, are changing what communities believe and how they can change their circumstances. Then, when they implement projects, they better understand how to address issues such as poverty, corruption, lack of incentive, or hopeless outlooks on life, with holistic and sustainable answers. Only when these issues are confronted and new levels of understanding are created, can the potential barriers to healthy community development be removed and replaced with solid foundations. Shawn's change in attitude is shared by others in the community and will benefit them regardless of what projects come and go. Please contact us for more information about the impact of HISG's training programs in needy communities.

Department Focus - Hope Resource Network

HISG is working toward the goal of recruiting more international warehouses into the Hope Resource Network (HRN). The network currently exists as a partnership between a national network of warehouses and logistics providers in the United States and a growing network of participants around the world. HISG's HRN manager is preparing to meet with individuals and organizations from a number of different countries that can play significant roles in global humanitarian aid distribution. Expanding the network to include more of these international partners will allow the partnership to ship more supplies around the world to people in need. The HRN was established as a means for warehouses and logistics providers to work together during disaster situations, and for general humanitarian relief. It has proven remarkably effective shipping supplies to parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, and is an essential part of how HISG connects resources to needs.