Stories from the Field

Though Human Concern International works every day to improve the lives of orphans, one day is particularly crucial: Arab Orphan Day. Declared by the Arab league as a response to the many challenges faced by orphans, it falls on the first Friday of every April. It is designed to build awareness of the plight many of these children face, and to serve as a celebration of both them, and those who work tirelessly to improve their lives. On this day the goal is not to raise money, it is simply to give the children the chance to do what children do best: play, laugh, and make new friends. It is a day to remind orphans that they are not forgotten; they are valued and cherished. HCI, along with our local partners, celebrated this day in the Middle East.

Orphans throughout the Arab world are stigmatized, marginalized and severely disadvantaged. In a society where family is of the utmost importance, they are often isolated. As a result, they are at risk of exploitation and may be forced into dangerous and degrading work, including child labor, and sexual exploitation. Without financial and emotional support from a complete family environment, they must bear responsibilities well beyond what should be required of someone their age. They run the risk of becoming adults inexperienced and unfamiliar with the values and skills normal for participation in society in a productive, positive, and sustainable manner.

Human Concern International has gone to great lengths to reverse and prevent some of the disconcerting trends faced by orphans. By providing financial and community support, our program can help to prevent the isolation of children, and rebuild damaged self esteem. We seek to empower these children, and their care-givers, so that they may become self-sufficient, happy, productive members of society.

Gaza:

Orphans in Gaza face perhaps the most difficult conditions in the entire region, and their numbers are growing. During the 2008-2009 Israeli incursions, nearly 1,500 children were orphaned in the space of less than a month. They must face the violence, deprivation and uncertainty of a life under siege without the stabilizing support of a complete family. On Arab Orphan Day HCI and its local partner, the Aid and Hope Program for Cancer Patients (AHP), took a group of orphaned children out for a day of fun. There was face painting, a playground, and the chance to relax for children living under extreme conditions. They were also given a good, healthy meal which included chicken and meat. This is very important, as meat is now prohibitively expensive for the majority of people in Gaza, and as a result children face a whole host of nutritional problems including iron deficiency, and a lack of protein. The children loved their food, and the chance to play together. They were eager to write letters for their sponsors, and were very reluctant to leave when the event finally ended.

Egypt:

On Arab Orphan Day, HCI and its local partner, the Gozour Foundation, took a group of orphans between the ages of 5-16, along with their mothers, out for a day of carefree entertainment. They were brought to the “Fangoon” art school where they were given the chance to paint, make pottery and jewelry, and generally have fun. For both children and mothers it was a welcome relief from the stresses of their daily struggle to survive. Our organizers could not help but smile at the sight of the children having such fun together. A deteriorating economy and increased hunger means that these orphans face many challenges, but HCI is working to better the lives of as many as possible. The day also marked the commencement of HCI’s Child Sponsorship Program in Egypt, which will match donors with children in need, and give those children the financial support they require to have a fair chance at a productive life. The event raised awareness amongst local communities of the valuable work performed by HCI, and helped to strengthen links and support networks. We can be sure that the children will not forget their special day of fun, and as they finally had to go back to their homes they told us they were already looking forward to next year’s event.

Lebanon:

Arab Orphan Day in Lebanon was celebrated in Tripoli by HCI taking 25 orphans out for a day of fun in cooperation with our local partner, the CIWS. They were given the chance to meet, play, and eat outdoors in a healthy environment with other children who face the same challenges of living as orphans in Lebanon. The children come from families who live in poverty, and survive on donations to make ends meet. The stress and uncertainty they face every day takes a severe emotional toll, and deprives them of a child’s basic right to play and develop healthily. On Arab Orphan Day we sought to provide them with some relief, if only for a short period. They live in crowded, poor neighborhoods where parks and public spaces are non-existent. The chance for them to visit a pleasant, outdoor environment was something they do not normally get to experience, and they loved every minute of it. They started the day with a great meal at the local “Yalla Yalla” restaurant, which also had an indoor playground which the children enjoyed immensely. After, they were taken to banks of the local river where they could relax, play, and enjoy each other’s company. The sound of the children, their mothers, and the volunteers all singing together was a welcome change from the often bleak picture of life in the Mediterranean’s poorest city. The day gave these children what they needed most, a chance to escape from the difficulties of daily life, and the knowledge that they are indeed loved and appreciated.

Rights Based Approach:

In all of our activities, whether in Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine or Sudan, HCI takes a rights based approach towards working with orphans. Our actions are intended to comply with, and realize, the articles set forth in the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This document, ratified by 192 nations, is a powerful tool in the global effort to enhance children’s right to education, health care and safety. Although it is the state’s responsibility to fulfill the obligations outlined in the convention, in practice limited resources means that this is not always possible. It is, therefore, incumbent on non state actors, like HCI, to fill the gaps. Children are vulnerable, and lack the political power to claim their rights themselves. The CRC is a powerful tool that places obligations which every nation must meet for the sake of their children. HCI, through our child sponsorship program and events like the Arab Orphan Day celebration, is working towards a day when all children can benefit from the rights of the CRC.

Future Challenges:

Unfortunately, the checkered, unstable political landscape of the Middle East has bred conflicts such as in Lebanon, Palestine and Sudan. The deaths of fathers and mothers in these events has created an altogether new tragedy, as the children they leave behind join the growing ranks of the region’s orphans. This means that HCI’s support will be needed ever more in the future. We must continue to work towards a day when orphan children will enjoy all of the same opportunities and joys as others, and rightfully take their place as full members of society. Though events like Arab Orphan Day are undeniably helpful, there is still much work to be done.

The Sudanese Association for Disability and Rehabilitation in Fasher area, north of Darfur region in Sudan was established in 1987. HCI relationship with SADR started in 2003 when HCI supported the development of the SADR’s library with books and training materials about small income generation activities.

With the help of HCI, SADR has now 2865 members. 2120 members in Fasher area, 127 in Malit area, 385 in Kabakbiyeh area, and 297 in Ala’et area. All in Northern Darfur state. The majority of the members are physically challenged, and the remaining are either blind (207 members) or deaf (336 members.)

This extraordinary outreach and membership expansion was further supported by HCI. In 2007, a micro-credit scheme targeting unemployed physically-challenged people was initiated. The project provided the beneficiaries with needed training and technical assistance as well as seed funding over two phases to manage and run a micro-credit scheme to provide beneficiaries with loans to setup small income generation activities. In 2008, HCI provided SADR with mobility equipments for its physically-challenged members.

In January, HCI launched The Building Opportunities for Sudanese Disabled project to further support SADR’s 2865 members with special needs and its 5110 registered beneficiaries, also with special needs. This project touches on the economic aspect of the lives of people with disability, and this is often either absent or invisible as a need to the community they exist in. The project is also designed to provide aid for the community as a whole, not only the physically challenged. The increased employment and income generated by vocational training, on-the-job support, and business development services that the project provides, also gives an economical boost to the community. The project combines vocational training, on-the-job support, and targeted micro-grants offered to the community members and disabled people.

In this phase, groups (each consisting of 10 pre screened and identified disabled individuals by HCI and its local partner SADR) are formed and receiving training concerning micro-business management; each group is responsible for the management and follow-up of the initiatives submitted. Each group has a group leader, a secretary and a financial leader to facilitate the loans/grants scheme moderation in each site and credit collection. Initiatives are being developed by the people with disability to generate income. Feasible ideas will be provided with a combination of grants and loans, and they will be implemented.

Some of the initiatives being designed include: a refrigerator project (where the beneficiary has purchased a refrigerator to rent it out to other small business for storage and protection), a men’s wear workshop (where the beneficiary has purchased a sewing machine to make clothes) a wood chopping and coal production business (where the beneficiary has purchased the tools needed to chop wood and make coal for heating purposes), a school uniform workshop (where the beneficiary has purchased a sewing machine to make uniforms), a water station (where the beneficiary has purchased a carriage to sell water) a home based cafeteria, and a bean canteen.

Also In this phase the vocational skills of physically challenged individuals in the areas of Fasher, and Mahaliya northern Darfur has been improved.

Understanding the culture and living conditions of the local communities we work with is part of HCI’s philosophy while serving these communities, especially at times such as Eid when great importance is placed on reviving and enjoying the traditional aspects of local culture. In addition, these traditions serve to strengthen community ties and embody important ideals such as generosity and helping the needy.

On the 10th of Dhi Al-Hijaa during the pilgrimage season, Muslims around the world celebrate Eid Al-Adha or the “Feast of Sacrifice”. As part of the celebration, an animal is sacrificed for the sake of Allah and to feed the needy and poor. It is a rewarding spiritual act for Muslims. Every year, Human Concern International (HCI) carries out the Adahi Meat Distribution Project in different underdeveloped Islamic countries to feed needy and vulnerable families.

In 2009, the project was implemented in Gaza, the West Bank, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan (with Iraqi refugees) where families of the poorest communities received meat packages directly from HCI’s team, or through the help of our local partners.

The goal of the Adahi Meat Distribution project was to enable poor and vulnerable families to cover their basic need for animal protein during this holy season. Inflation of the prices of meat usually occurs during this season, which reduces the purchasing capacity of many families, especially poor ones. Many families also cannot sacrifice their own livestock because they need their animals for the production of milk, cheese and other dairy products, and to work in the fields.

The project has three main objectives: relieving poor families who cannot afford the high price of meat during this season; forming links with local communities to address the needs of poor and vulnerable families, and complementing HCI’s overall relief and development initiatives in the region. HCI’s selection criteria directed distributions to low-income, large, and single-parent families, particularly if the single parent was a woman or person with special needs.

In Gaza, HCI’s team made up of tens of volunteers went door to door and personally delivered the parcels containing meat portions. They listened to and made note of each family’s problems so that this information could be used for the next needs assessment and distribution project. Hundreds of families benefited from the distributed portions. The distribution was implemented in Sheikh Rdwan in Gaza city, Ezbat Abdrabo in Jebalia, Al Zaytoon neighberhoods, and Shajaeya in Al Shatae refugee Camp.

Neighborhood committees and the local volunteers helped in the distributions. The Shahada family, one of the families benefiting from the Adahi packages told the volunteers that they literally hadn’t tasted meat in months, as did another family from Ezbit Abd Rabo, who were extremely thankful for the meat they received, without which their Eid would have been miserable.

In the West Bank, HCI’s team organized the distribution of hundreds of meat packages to low income families with special needs persons in the Central District of the West Bank.

Female-headed households, and families where the breadwinner is disabled, were selected as front-end beneficiaries. Local women’s groups and village councils assisted in the identification of beneficiaries. HCI’s local partner, the Vocational Training Workshops for Girls NGO in Palestine contributed additional parcels that were distributed to additional families. The slaughtering took place at the premises of the NGO, as did the distributions. Families arrived early morning of the first day of the Eid to get their Adahi. The project provided direct support to the families surrounded by the West Bank Wall or by Israeli settlements. Local newspapers reported on the distributions.

In Sudan, HCI along with local partners, organized and implemented this year’s Adahi Distributions in many refugee settlements in the south, north and west of the capital. The Adahi Project targeted all those who reside in these communities, focusing on single mothers and orphans. Targeted beneficiaries where identified in association with local partners. The slaughtering and distributions were done according to the Islamic traditions. Every family received one package. The project targeted the poorest families, especially widows, orphans and families with no income. HCI’s team made a point to be active in communities that contain refugees from the Darfur region and from southern Sudan.

In Egypt, HCI’s team distributed meat packages to the poorest households in the marginalized new desert settlements of Kalabsha El-Jedida, Bashayer el-Kheir, New Tomas and ‘Afia village located west of Lake Nasser.

In order to guarantee a proper exposure to the HCI, banners, stickers and bags with the HCI logo where printed to be used on the day of distribution, so that people from the villages would recognize that the event was an HCI initiative. HCI’s local partner, the Center for Development Services, contributed additional parcels bearing the logos of HCI and its partners that were distributed to additional families.

In Jordan, in the Jabal Al Qusour district, one of the poorest areas of the capital Amman and home to thousands of Iraqi refugees, HCI’s team distributed food packages to marginalized and mostly widow headed Iraqi refugee families despite the continuing challenge of reaching needy Iraqis who are often unable to seek out official forms of aid because of economic constraints or disabilities.

Family Development Association, a women-headed grassroots organization, assisted in reaching out to Iraqis most in need based on the preset selection criteria. HCI’s long term local partner, New Development assisted in the screening and selection of final beneficiaries, as well as in the procurement of food items in close consultation with HCI’s team. HCI’s local partners contributed additional packages bearing the logos of HCI and its partners to be distributed to additional families. Local newspapers reported on the distributions. These families are live mostly on donations and humanitarian aid with no financial income whatsoever. The Adahi distribution made it possible for them to fully celebrate the holy days. One of the families which received a meat portion hadn’t included meat in their very humble meals since the last Ramadan Eid.

In Lebanon, hundreds of needy single mother headed families benefited from this year’s meat distributions during the Eid Al-Adha in Tripoli, Lebanon. Some of the distributions were conducted at the premises of HCI’s partner in Tripoli, the CIWS.

HCI’s team went door to door in the poorest neighborhoods of the city of Tripoli and personally delivered the meat portions to the remaining beneficiaries. HCI’s team supervised and monitored the entire process from the procurement of the supplies to the packing, as well as the organization of distributions and the selection criteria for beneficiaries in order to ensure the highest and best efficiency.Beneficiaries have commented positively on the distributions, and have sent greetings and best wishes to HCI, and to the people who made their Eid possible.

The Adahi project is designed to deliver immediate relief to the poorest families in 5 Arab countries (Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt). It is important to continue implementing this seasonal project every year, as poor families can’t afford meat portions in their diet due to its high costs. The Adahi project promotes sharing and caring values especially in times of need, as well as in times of feasts. The project promotes the good will of HCI and our commitment to working and alleviating poverty in the Arab region. It enhances HCI’s relations with local partners who implement these projects, and the communities in which we work with.

The Adahi project as an immediate relief project supports other development projects that HCI is implementing in the region by exhibiting HCI commitment to poor communities need. It demonstrates the quick response and delivery of the HCI’s projects while working towards longer and sustainable outcomes through our other specialized projects.

The number of orphans and children from single mother-headed households in Sudan has risen dramatically over the past few years due to war, natural disasters, and other crises. Poverty and economic hardship also have added to children born out of wedlock who, according to Sudanese law, are considered orphans. Since 2003, HCI has been addressing this problem by sponsoring orphans in Sudan as part of HCI’s regional Child Sponsorship Program. There now are over 140 orphans from Sudan’s poorest communities having their basic needs met–health care, nutrition, education, guidance–getting a shot at a brighter future.

Building on HCI’s extensive regional experience in orphan sponsorship, HCI has been exploring new ways to reduce immediate needs of orphans and to create greater opportunities for their future progress.

Entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly accepted as an important means and a useful alternative for income generation in young people, particularly in the developing world. As traditional job-for-life career paths become rarer, youth entrepreneurship is regarded as an additional way of integrating youth into the labor market and overcoming poverty. For orphans, entrepreneurship is a bottom-up method for generating an income, self-reliance and a new innovative path to earning a living and caring for oneself. More importantly, when these end-results are met, the psychological health of the orphans improves; when orphans, for the first time, generate an income and develop self-reliance, they are going to feel worthy, confident, and self-confident.

Furthermore, the majority of orphans, especially children from single mother-headed households living at home, rely heavily on financial and in-kind assistance from either better-off individuals or from institutions. Such children become passive receivers of charity, meaning that they rarely get the chance to explore and build on their capacity. With such mindset, such children rarely try, at older age, to make the leap from survival to long term sustainability by investing in entrepreneurship. The reason behind this is not only the fact that they rely on charity every month and thus feel no pressure to work, but also because they have been passive receivers for such a long time that they have lost the mental readiness to actually build progress on their personalities. These children, as adults, no longer believe that they can be productive - they lose self-confidence.

It is October, there is a group of fifteen teenagers gathered together eagerly taking notes, we are in one of HCI’s entrepreneurship classes held in Sudan, these eight girls and seven boys’ lives are about to change; they are one of many groups of orphaned youth to be selected for HCI’s program. In a series of six three-hour classes, they are cultivating a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship, developing entrepreneurship within the group, getting a deeper understanding of running a business, receiving hands-on entrepreneurship training, testing their business ideas under realistic circumstances, and most importantly, getting “a sense of and feeling for” entrepreneurship and business by implementing the concept of “Business for a day” in which they are asked to carry out a spontaneous business activity, which is subsequently evaluated.

Alia is one of these students; She lives with her mother in a makeshift house made from bits of plastic & aluminum, her father and brothers were killed several years ago in the bloody civil unrest that plagues the country. She is one of the many internally displaced people that have fled the violence in the south of the country and live in the slum-like settlements around Khartoum. The only opportunity she has to improve her life is the education and the help she receive through HCI’s sponsorship program. Even though she is just seventeen, she is already full of business ideas, she tells us that she is learning a lot from the classes and is excited to start her own business; “there is no running water in our area, the women have to trek for 45 minutes to the nearest well to fetch water every morning. If I take out a micro loan, I will be able to buy a donkey and use it to carry water from the well and sell it to the women in the settlement. By doing this way the girls in the settlement will have more time to go to school and learn”.

There are thousands of young people like Alia in Sudan, needing a just little bit of guidance and a small push in the right direction in order to unlock their full potential and build up the confidence to develop their own livelihoods; after all the visions we offer our children shape the future.

For the Muslim world, the month of Ramadan is traditionally a time for inner reflection, devotion to God, self control, and fasting from sunrise to sunset. It is also a particularly joyous time when relatives and friends invite each other over to gather around a table and break the fast together-Iftar-and above all a time of giving and feeling for the poor. The tradition of fasting is one that makes people all over the world feel with those who are hungry, with those who are destitute. In Ramadan, HCI takes the opportunity to honor these valued traditions while continuing to extend help to the poor and needy in the communities they serve; in the Arab world alone it is estimated that 65 million people live below the poverty line and about 11 million people suffer from malnutrition with 12.7 percent of children under the age of five being underweight. HCI is painfully aware of these statistics and has been dedicatedly engaged in battling poverty, disaster and despair here for over 20 years.

This Ramadan, like many Ramadans before, in villages, towns and cities all over The Arab world, HCI has reached out to many disadvantaged communities in the true Ramadan spirit; hundreds of traditional healthy Ramadan meals have been served to those the most in need of help and support. In addition, specially designed care packages that contain food items such as rice, dried beans, sugar and dried fruit that the families can make use of throughout Ramadan have been distributed by HCI to help ease the economic burden on these families while being as nutritionally beneficial as possible. HCI’s selection criteria direct food allocation to low-income, large, and single-parent families, particularly if the single parent is a woman or person with special needs.

GAZA STRIP

In Gaza City, HCI organized an Iftar for war affected farmers and their families who have been supported by HCI to establish their own farming businesses. One hundred and fifty people came together to share the success of what HCI introduced into their lives, out of destruction these people have managed to reestablish their livelihoods, it is impressive; It has been nine months since the last Israeli Operation here and 3 years into a stifling siege, life for Gazans is characterized by chronic unemployment, infrequent access to power and water, health hazards stemming from inadequate sewage system, and sub-standard housing with thousands living in tents or the rubble of their former homes. When it was time for the distribution of food packages to the needy, the war affected people of Gaza did not have to stand in long queues this year, HCI’s team made up of tens of volunteers went door to door and personally delivered the much needed food items and listened to and made note of each family’s problems.

THE WEST BANK

Life has not improved for many of the Palestinians living in the West Bank since the construction of the separation wall that has severed communities, people’s access to services, livelihoods and religious and cultural amenities. In keeping with its commitment to help where it is needed, HCI’s presence was also felt in the West Bank this Ramadan; in the Central District of the West Bank we organized food package distributions for low income families with persons having special needs.

SUDAN

In the Salama settlement, south of the capital Khartoum there are about eleven thousand internally displaced people who have fled the violence in the south and west of their country. Here they face chronic poverty, high unemployment, and many health problems. Iftars were organized for them here as well as in the north and west of Khartoum in similar settlements. The distribution of hundreds of much needed “goodwill” or “fasting” food packages as they are called in Sudan were implemented all over the capital as well.

Since it is also close to the time when school fees must be paid and school supplies must be purchased, to ease the economic burden on these mostly single mother headed households, and inspired by our firm belief in education as a form of empowerment, we have also prepared back to school items to be distributed to several community schools around the capital. Our Iftars and packages may not seem enough compared to what these communities require, but they address an immediate and pressing need, hopefully with more funding in the future we will be able to do more, for now at least these settlers know that they have not been forgotten.

EGYPT

Kalabsha El-Jedida, Bashayer el-Kheir, New Tomas and ‘Afia village are new Egyptian settlements west of Lake Nasser; they were conceived as part of the government’s plan to resettle one million people around Lake Nasser by 2017 to green the desert. Several of these small agricultural communities have already sprouted up in this desolate land, but the lack of basic amenities has so far been a hindering factor in this project realizing its true potential. Yet even in the face of enduring hardship, these vulnerable and marginalized settlers from all over the country are determined to make a future for themselves and for their families. This year, HCI in collaboration with local partners made sure that 400 of the poorest households in these settlements took home a food package that would be a source nourishment and economic relief.

In the two days of distribution, work was continuous around the clock to ensure the timely delivery of the food parcels. The New Tomas and ‘Afia village are quite far; approximately 270 km south of the nearest city, Aswan. Making this journey in the morning with the scorching heat was quite challenging for the team but after Iftar as we drank cold water and ate dates, allowing their sweetness to awaken our blood sugar and digestion, we felt inspired to see firsthand the courage and will of these settlers determinedly building a new life for themselves under difficult conditions, and we felt happy to have played a small role in their narrative which will undoubtedly prove to be a success story.

LEBANON

In Lebanon, one hundred and fifty physically handicapped individuals and their families from all over the country participated in an Iftar organized by HCI in partnership with the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union. In the hopes of making their Iftar a memorable one, a carefully selected wheelchair friendly venue was selected for the event and a Hakawati, a traditional storyteller, was at hand to volunteer and entertain these families with inspirational tales; the human connection between the storyteller and the audience creates a sort of friendship, and thus the stories told become more believable and accepted. This makes the message or the advice hidden within the story more influential to their lives.

In the northern city of Tripoli, one of the poorest cities on the Mediterranean coast with an alarmingly high number of single mother headed homes as a result of war and conflict, HCI organized a series of Iftars and distributions; food packets were distributed to needy families in the north and three hundred orphans and their families were invited by HCI to break their fast together over a period of three days. We are pleased to report that the normally quiet Ramadan evenings in Tripoli were filled with laughter and the sounds that children generally make when they are having fun. Furthermore, HCI organized an Iftar in the high and remote village of Jabal Akroum for the needy local families.

IRAQI REFUGEES

It is estimated that Jordan hosts over 500,000 Iraqi refugees, the majority of which are without residency permits and unable to work legally, they are often fearful of seeking out official forms of aid. They largely confine themselves to their homes because of economic constraints, disabilities and concerns about their legal status. Access to educational and health services remain limited. Every day is a struggle to hold their families together with very little means. And even though their future is uncertain and their current situation is grim, going back home is out of the question; home is where they saw the destruction of their communities and the constant threat of violence, torture and extortion. Growing numbers are living at or below the poverty line. The resources of many families have dwindled to almost nothing and this creates concern about the simplest things, like how they will feed their children each night.

This year, HCI’s team in Amman distributed hundreds of food packages to mostly widow headed Iraqi families. Not only did these families receive temporary relief to their economic burden but their dignity remained intact, and they felt cared for.

In May 2009, the HCI team launched two projects in Sudan that will provide credit capital and the necessary training and coaching to two new communities in two settlements in the south and the north of the capital Khartoum as well as a project which will promote entrepreneurial spirit among impoverished Sudanese orphans, and giving them the proper training in setting up and managing their own small businesses. Human Concern International has always made an effort to work with poor communities in Sudan; with 2 million Sudanese at risk of death, in addition to those who have been injured, displaced and have lost all of their support and care networks due to the continues civil unrest, poverty and lack of proper infrastructure, one should feel concerned. The living conditions in these settlements are extremely unsafe; while visiting the community leaders, we witnessed the cruel effect of poverty on people; in these two settlements people had built their houses from scrap metal, water was insufficient and unclean, sanitation services were nonexistent and the scarcity of food was visible on the children, someone even pointed out those dying from malnutrition.

This difficult image that we witnessed will soon be changing with these projects that were launched in partnership with several local long-time partners in Sudan, including Peace and Development Volunteers (PDV) and African Charity for Child and Mother Care (ACCSOM). One project will assist the rebuilding of Sudanese lives through micro credit, and provide access to finance programs for low-income Sudanese widows. The second project aims to unlock and unleash the economic potential of Sudan’s orphans that HCI has been sponsoring since 2003. Through the micro-credit initiative: 100 widows will receive loans for income generation and small businesses, 2 revolving loan programs will be established and will be operated by local communities, 2 local credit committees will be established at two targeted communities, and 16 people at two local credit committees will receive training in basic credit provision.

The second project’s objective is to assist orphans shift their mindset from being passive receivers of donations to active income generating entrepreneurs. Instead of being drawn into a passive cycle of receiving charity and relying on the kindness of others, 30 orphans will receive the training and materials necessary to embark on their own business ventures. They will also be given the opportunity to test their ideas under real-life circumstances, and take part in the “Business for a Day” program, in which they will operate a business for one day. An investment club, run by the orphans, will be set up. The club will be endowed with a trust fund, which will be invested towards implementing club activities. Thirty orphans, fourteen years of age and older, will take part in the first phase of the program.

The implementation of these two projects will provide the solid ground on which these widows and orphans can build their lives on, where the knowledge and the technical assistance will be provided by the project’s workshops and volunteer trainers and the revolving funds and loans will be in the hand of their own community to make use of, nurture and pass on to other needy members of their community to slowly but effectively reduce poverty levels within these two settlements.

Our field visits were not only to launch new projects, but to also follow up and connect with other local partners in these two settlements, where HCI has long been implementing relief and development projects that offer Sudanese orphans economic security through the child sponsorship program; where devastated, left out and marginalized orphans are given access to food, security and education throughout their sponsorship period. Our local partners took us to a library that HCI helped establish, where many of the sponsored children are able to have access to knowledge and information.

During the same visit, HCI and the Canada-based International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) launched a new interesting initiative in Sudan, related to International Water & Sanitation (IWS) and targeted in the first phase at building the capacity of Canadian international institutions in this area of technical assistance. To have a better understanding of the situation, HCI will prepare a comprehensive country analytical report in partnership with HCI local partner, Peace and Development Volunteers (PDV). The result of the report should formulate the ground in which HCI and other Canadian based organizations can implement large-scale interventions in Sudan to ensure water sufficiency, and opportunities for related income generating activities. Projects like these are vital and have the potential to fundamentally change many lives, especially in impoverished settlements like these ones. HCI also witnessed the launching of a new civil society-public partnership for the provision of family-based health insurance that our partners are engaged in.

In the last part of our very dynamic and productive field visit, we also got the chance to visit the health clinic that was established with the help of HCI to serve the new settlements in northern Khartoum. The health clinic has outstandingly been operating autonomously, self sufficiently and effectively to serve the population with a professional team of health experts that are semi volunteering to cover the health needs of the area, from treating chronic illnesses to dental care. During our visit at the clinic, we came across a group of young boys in the process of being circumcised; our local partners explained the importance of having such traditional operations take place in a clinic by the hands of medical practitioners, instead of having them done the traditional way in an unsanitary environment that often yields harmful outcomes. Wandering around the clinic, we were content to see the staff operating professionally; taking care of the patients and maintaining the medical equipment to make sure that as many people as possible are able to benefit from it.

It was a busy week in the field in Sudan, but those few days have made us more confident after seeing the efforts of our local partners to sustain themselves and sustain project impacts and use all the available opportunities to help their communities. As the humanitarian situation in Sudan is deteriorating, HCI feels obliged to double the efforts to provide immediate relief to those who are in need, especially those that are most vulnerable; orphans and widows.

“My name is Abeer.

I snuck into the pocket space under the stairs and settled on a worn rubber tire. I took into myself a rusty-bladed knife in a box of wood shavings, and watched the crystal bubbles in clear olive-oil jugs, and mourned.

My fuzz-head torn-shorts brother sat cross-legged on the ground beside me, and he held my hand in his so brown, scab-kneed little urchin thinking thoughts deep by the rusty-handled hoes. We sat, us two, drifting between time and place, the air so still and dry it burned our skins- but did not burn the hurt engraved underneath-sitting amidst ruins of an ancient town, already forgetful of the fairy foot-falls of elfin children, the glorious frivolity in their pearly-toothed grins.

I inched close wondering- it was the first reverberating life motion, memories in this garden-climbing a shiny-leafed fig tree- Tripoli, Lebanon, and the scorching abyss of the dark planting hole, seeds dropped down deep, nothing shaded, only burnt-black bright migraine-sun-and brown-skinned children sitting hollow-eyed each on a ladder rung propped up against a pomegranate tree, dread in small hands gripping splintery wood, watching the dust settle amidst the rubble of a now-sky-roofed house.

My father is dead. My home, it is ruined, racked by the explosion that took so much away from us. Our family is destitute, our basic needs for food, clothing, shelter- they are all unmet. It is with despair we look to the future. We are deprived of the paternal care that gives us good homes and a chance at a decent education. We are deprived of the capable love that can erase the dread we face our future with, bring back the frivolity in our smiles and set our lives moving again in a direction where we will not have to watch the dust settle over our ruin.

But there is a beacon of hope. My little brother, Ahmed, only 5 years old, has been sponsored by HCI for two years now. It is the only source of income for my family now.”

(more…)

The second and the third day of Eid Al-Adha dawned windy–one of the most important events in the Muslim calendar both religiously and socially — rainy and cold, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of HCI team in Middle East, assisted by volunteers and local partners, determined to see that the poorest of the poor had a decent feast day observance. It is a celebratory time when fresh Adahi meat is enjoyed.

Upholding a long-held tradition, thousands of families in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan — widows, orphans, unemployed, those with special needs — received meat packages along with a “Happy Eid” card and the good wishes of HCI supporting integrated development and relief programs in the communities where distributions were implemented. Recipient families were identified with assistance from village councils and local partners.

“This reinforces our emphasis on development versus relief,” stated Rabih Yazbeck, HCI ME Regional Director. “It allows us to share in local celebrations and support local residents on such important occasions,” he continued, “taking us beyond simple food distribution to underscore the entire development process in which we are engaged.”

HCI selection criteria directed meat allocation to low-income, large, and single-parent families, particularly if the single parent were a woman or person with special needs.

And since a picture says more than a thousand words, here is a selection of photos from HCI’s Adahi Program for this year:

For the past five years, HCI has been working for the well being of the estimated 11,000 internally displaced people of Salama settlement, who have fled the violence in the south and west of their country and now live south of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Here they face chronic poverty, both high unemployment and illiteracy, and many health problems. Their health is jeopardized by both poverty and the environment in which they live. Eyesight related diseases rank very high among children due to environmental and dietary habits, as HCI research found out, particularly due to the pollution of drinking water and dietary habits.

HCI new intervention in the area addresses this problem by implementing an eyesight health campaign targeting school-aged children in the area. The project conducted a needs assessment/research of health issues of greater concerns to the local community.

The first intervention addresses eyesight related disease and eyesight problems by implementing mobile clinics to provide eyesight medical checkups and provide them with medicines and eye glasses. Eye related first-aid boxes and medical supplies were also provided to families. Water tanks for safe drinking water were also installed at two schools. Hundreds of families and their children participated and benefited from this campaign.

In partnership with three local grassroots organizations and Peace and Development Volunteers (PDV), a local voluntary organization, hundreds of school-aged children benefited from this intervention to-date at two sites in the same area. A third campaign will be implemented later this month at a remaining third site. Such intervention allowed for the implementation of quick impact interventions that built confidence between the partners and provided solid ground to expand much-needed health interventions in the area.

HCI operation in this area stretches back to 2003. HCI has been helping people in the area through community-based organizations established by local residents. Since 2003, HCI has been working in this area on microcredit projects for women, school rehabilitation, education support, income generating activities and food and non-food distributions.

In partnership with local and international partners, HCI has been working on health programs in Khartoum since 2002, particularly in Dar-El-Salaam settlement north of the capital Khartoum and home to about 16,000 displaced people. This include establishing a fully operational health clinic providing health and reproductive services for over 33,000 patients; seven women trained in community health outreach, emphasizing nutrition and hygiene; three women trained as midwives; and nine as home visitors, benefiting nearly 4,000 families; health awareness training for 45 women, establishment of a health awareness committee, and surveys conducted on reproductive health.

The Holy Month of Ramadan is a time for inner reflection by Muslims, devotion to God, self control, and fasting from sunrise to sunset. It is also a particularly joyous time when relatives and friends invite each other over to gather around a table and break the fast together–Iftar–and above all a time of giving and feeling for the poor.

For several years HCI and its local partners have joined together to honor these traditions, extending help to the poor and needy in the communities they serve in Sudan.

This Ramadan, hundreds of Sudanese families received nutritional packages. In some of the poorest areas of Khartoum, widows and orphans, the elderly and the disabled, as well as low income families were able to fully participate in their traditions.

The most difficult to reach, HCI stretched out its hand through seven local non-governmental organizations and committees, working in four different areas.

In the poverty-stricken Salama settlement, south of the capital Khartoum, distribution and Iftars took place with the help of three local organizations: El Nahda (Society for Well-being of the Physically Disabled), Al-Hannan Association and Disability People Organization. In Dar El-Salam Tawidat settlement, north of the capital Khartoum, distribution and Iftars took place at two schools and a mosque. Other distribution points and assisting community organizations were: African Charitable Society for Mother and Child Care, Al Khogali Khalwa and Um-Mou’mineen organization.

“HCI Ramadan program increased closeness among the families in their communities,” commented HCI coordinator in Sudan who coordinated and supervised the distribution in each area. “This year’s distribution was well organized and more focused and transparent,” he concluded.