News Behind the News
October 2011

// October 17th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Adopt a Village, Afghanistan, China, Disaster Relief, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Sri Lanka, tcd, TLD

Kids in Camba Berua, Indonesia

A summary of news and reports from the field staff and interns of GHNI, Geneva Switzerland.

HORN OF AFRICA FAMINE REPORT

We’ve just received a report from our field partners working in Somalia. First of all, thank you so much to all of you who donated to help with this relief! Because of your generosity we were able to distribute food in the northeastern part of Somalia in an Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp. There are approximately 700 families in the camp and we had enough funding to provide food to 250 of the most needy families.

GHNI is sponsoring aid for communities that are starving, but also ones we believe will be open to their own development through Transformational Community Development (TCD). TCD provides coaching and training in drip irrigation, sustainable agriculture and public health so that many families can have a future of less famine and more resilience. Donate to Food Relief.

AFGHANISTAN

The region where we work was recently turned over to the Afghan Army. Taliban signs have shown up and the area is becoming more dangerous. We are thankful one of our local staff was a former commander and has the respect and following of the local population. The situation for security in Kabul continues to worsen, but our director, Pat Lightbourne, continues on. The Adopt a Village Program is also continuing as a Swiss Company, Rimuss, has adopted a village of Pushtun people and we are getting regular reports of progress and change, one life at a time.

ARMENIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

GHNI staff, Jeff Latsa and Hal Jones, are currently on their way to Armenia where the rural poor are largely neglected. Armenia is one of the poorest countries in Central Asia and has had very little economical strength since the fall of communism. GHNI is having our first Transformational Community Development Conference for Central Asia and more than 20 delegates from several Central Asian countries are attending.

LIBYA

The National Transition Council is very close to being in control of the whole country. They come from many mixed backgrounds, but the majority have told us they want democracy in Libya. A recent powerful group of oil buyers was told they must wait until the legitimate government is in place before any contracts are made. This is a good sign. We have friends who have been involved in our work there now, working to help give leadership to the new country. We are seeking to send top consultants from free countries to advise many of these leaders.

JAPAN

Relief efforts continue to reveal the extent of the damage to both infrastructure and human lives. We are helping a counseling center and will then transition to help some of the poorest of the poor. We are very excited about the expertise of our partners.

NIGERIA

Northern Nigeria is one of the most neglected areas of the world. Almost no aid organizations provide this area with help for solving endemic poverty. A team lead by Hal and Lana Jones flies there this November with doctors and volunteers to help in several villages of the Dukawa people. We still need funding to drill a well and for medical supplies. Click here to help and type in “Nigeria” in the special instructions box.

SRI LANKA

In the wake of the end of the 26 year civil war, Sri Lanka is getting very little aid to help rebuild the country, especially for the rural areas. Our Director, Celeste, and his wife Jayrani have done a great job of getting Transformational Community Development going in some villages. Then Celeste was hit with a heart attack in India at a GHNI Conference just a few weeks ago. He is recovering and back home now. Thanks so much to those of you who contributed towards his medical bills!

MYANMAR

Recent events in Myanmar include over 200 political prisoners being released from prison. We are hoping more peace and opportunity will return to help the poorest of the poor. Orphan care programs abound now in the country as a result of Cyclone Nargis. GHNI is teaching many community-based orphan care programs how to become self-sustaining through agricultural programs.

INDONESIA

Technology and hope met in the community of Camba Berua as our team taught a lesson about self respect and believing in yourself. Two of our team-members, John and Julie, set up a Skype phone-call with one of their friends from the US. This friend of John and Julie’s is disabled with limited movement in her arms and upper-body.

The participants stared in amazement at the computer screen as John and Julie’s friend sat in her wheelchair smiling and talking to the participants. Julie translated for her friend, “Even though you may look at me and feel sorry for me, I believe (there) is so much to be thankful for. I am able to work, I’m able to attend college and one day I hope to get married to the man of my dreams.”

SYRIA REFUGEES

Thousands of families from Syria have fled to the relative peace of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. GHNI Jordan Director, Jamal Hashweh, has found many families in the northern desert of Jordan and is presently gathering a partnership of aid organizations to reach out with tents, food, clothing and medical help.

EGYPT

Ezbet El Nikhil is a slum inside the poorest part of Cairo’s suburbs. The majority of the people there collect and sort garbage for a living. They are so poor they often have their children work instead of going to school. With the insecurity in Cairo, many of the poor have been directly affected and often go without food. A short-term team of GHNI leaders went to help our partners with a food distribution. While there, the mostly illiterate women who stood in line for food said, “Please teach us how to read!” We are presently planning to teach community health to the families, as well as literacy.

IRAQ

As I write we have two leaders from GHNI helping the Ministry of Education in Irbil with a series of training programs called Transformational Leadership Development led by Mike Shea. Mike’s team is comprised of business men and women who teach and also spend time with the various leaders. The relationships that develop through the TLD programs are amazing! Contact Mike.Shea@ghni.org for more info.

INDIA

Transformational Community Development is exploding in India. Mike Parks and his team have trained leaders of a group of 700 village workers.  In the next 30 days we will launch in the first 17 villages across the country. Over the next few years the plan is to help up to 80,000 villages learn how to help themselves. We need partners to help us adopt village clusters. Please contact Dan.Emig@ghni.org if you’re interested.

JORDAN

Villages of ancient Moab will soon be helped by our Transformational Community Center in Ma’in, Jordan. The Center will benefit five villages in the area and partners are helping us renovate a building to provide training for poor women, youth, and host short term teams! If you would like to help click here.

CHINA

GHNI is partnering with a great group of partners in China, working from Cheng Du and the surrounding area. They will be training young business entrepreneurs in how to start a business that they can also use to train others in some of the poorest small towns in the rural areas, where much poverty still survives. The motivation and drive of these trainers is so exciting. The program we have engages top successful small business people from many countries to help them learn how to teach the poorest of the poor.

GENEVA INSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP AND PUBLIC POLICY

Our next conference is scheduled for June 2012. The theme is Post Conflict Leadership and Public Policy and we are planning on bringing together leaders from the Arab world, Africa and Asia. The world is changing and we are so encouraged that emerging and existing leaders want to hear experts from all over the world to provide counsel and model legislation for building stronger countries. It cost us almost $3,000 to bring each law maker. If you would like to help one, contact Jessica.Marchand@ghni.org, Senior External Relations Officer.

Effective Training from India to Egypt

// October 10th, 2011 // No Comments » // Egypt, India, tcd

When you see the term “development worker” what do you think of? Be honest. Ok, how many of you pictured Western workers who sit around holding hands with indigenous community members singing Kumbaya? I really hope that’s not what you pictured, but more often than not I think this is a common stereotype.  While we are all for peace, development work is a lot more complex than meets the eye. This is why GHNI is putting a special emphasis on training for our field leaders and staff.

GHNI recently held two Field Leaders Training Conferences, one in Bangalore, India and the other in Cairo, Egypt. All of our current practitioners led discussions on various aspects of effective Transformational Community Development (TCD) — from how to assess possible new villages, to how to find a Man of Peace and a Champion, to first steps and seed projects in a village, to building a TCD committee. Everyone was able to share “best-practices” on how to effectively help villages truly transform, and heard new and innovative ways to do so. It was also a great time for our staff to spend time together and take part in the family-culture of GHNI. One Field Director wrote, “Very well put together… Excellent overall…it really helped to hear people’s personal experiences and thoughts… I feel loved!!”

It’s always good to feel loved.

News Behind the News September 2011

// September 16th, 2011 // No Comments » // Afghanistan, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Sri Lanka, tcd, TLD

Some of the kids in GHNI's orphan care programs in Myanmar

A summary of news and reports from the field staff and interns of GHNI, Geneva Switzerland.

HORN OF AFRICA FAMINE WORSENS

Drought, war, disease and tribal conflict have devastated Somalia and its bordering countries. International appeals have gone out and there is some response, but much of it will be too late. GHNI has a trusted partner that has been working in a region of Somalia for years.  WE HAVE SENT FUNDS IN THE LAST FEW DAYS SO OUR PARTNERS CAN PURCHASE FOOD IN SOMALIA TO FEED THE STARVING. Most aid agencies send containers which will take months to arrive. Also, this constant relief unfortunately often helps to create and continue dependency. GHNI is sponsoring aid for communities that are starving, but also ones we believe will be open to development teaching. GHNI’s Transformational Community Development lessons provide training in drip irrigation, sustainable agriculture and public health so that families can have a future of food security and more resilience. Click here to contribute to disaster relief for Somalia and northern Kenya.

AFGHANISTAN

Violence has not deterred our work in Afghanistan, and the women often take the lead. Generous friends from Switzerland, friends of GHNI, have helped many poor women become self-sustainable by sending funds and spores for mushroom cultivation. This was the vision of Michael Mueller of Switzerland, former GHNI Director, Afghanistan.

ARMENIA AND CENTRAL ASIAN RURAL POOR

Armenia is one of the poorest countries in Central Asia and the rural poor have largely been neglected since the fall of communism. GHNI is having our first Transformational Community Development conference for Central Asia in Armenia the third week of October. We expect over 20 champion trainers from four or more countries. We desperately need funds. Cost per foreign delegate can be up to 90 USD per day.

LIBYA: RELIEF AND RECONCILIATION

Dr. Peter McLewin recently led an international team to Benghazi to bring medical supplies for many wounded as well as study the long term needs. Because there are few aid organizations there, GHNI was hosted for several days by members of the National Transition Council. While there, GHNI conducted in-depth assessments in several sectors of social needs including education, medicine, business and development. In the midst of the team’s stay, they were introduced at a rally of more than 100,000 people. One of our team members spoke briefly about how her brother had been killed in a terror attack by a Libyan on a Pan Am flight, and it caused her to have a hatred for Libyans. Then she said that since coming to Libya and seeing the pain of the Libyan people caused by Gaddafi, she now had a sense of unity and reconciliation with them. The crowd went wild. We are hoping to help the new government in its steps towards a democratic, free state.

JAPAN

Relief efforts continue in Japan from the results of the earthquake and tsunami. GHNI has sent people and resources with a view to help with long-term community development. Our present program is in partnership with several agencies that provide counseling services for victims of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Several internationally known psychologists are helping in this endeavor. We also are doing an assessment to provide the poorest of the poor with a community development program like TCD under the auspices of the partnership we are engaged in.

NIGERIA

The rural poor of northern Nigeria have, for the most part, been very neglected. GHNI West African Director, Martins Atanda, has recently seen so much success in helping poor villages become more self-sustaining, that a local chief gave a hectare of land. This land will be developed as a model for sustainable agriculture and cash crops with a center for GHNI to teach Transformational Community Development. Volunteers will be coming in December from Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Togo, Niger and other francophone countries for training. To sponsor a village worker contact Jeff.Latsa@ghni.org

SRI LANKA

Still recovering from the years of civil war and terrible flooding earlier this year, Sri Lanka is not much in the news. Yet the doors are now more open than ever to help the rural poor, who often live on less than $1 per day. Our Directors, Jay and Celeste Pieterz, report they are making inroads in remote village areas and are actively teaching GHNI lessons to the villagers in Agalawatha.

MYANMAR

Orphan care programs abound in Myanmar as a result of Cyclone Nargis. GHNI is teaching many community based orphan care programs how to become self-sustaining through agricultural programs. A team from Hong Kong bought 200 chickens for a small orphanage and now the 20 orphans are being sustained with no outside help! Plus they are learning farming and care for animals.

INDONESIA

Our GHNI staff serving in Indonesia, Cedric Lehot from Switzerland, and Phil Costello, National Director, share this report: Two weeks ago, Cedric and I (Phil) officially closed down our Toraja Project after three years. Although our partnering family was disappointed to see our involvement officially end, they could not be more grateful for the past three years GHNI has invested in their community. Pak Yordan, Pak Issac and Ibu Demise all expressed in different ways how grateful they were for GHNI. Pak Yordan pulled me aside and went on and on about how before GHNI, no one in the community knew anything at all about organic farming, but now because of GHNI’s investment in them, they have the tools/skills they need to continue this practice.
 
SYRIA REFUGEES

Thousands of families from Syria have fled to the relative peace of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. GHNI Jordan Director, Jamal Hashweh, has found many refugee families in the northern desert of Jordan and is presently gathering a partnership of aid organizations to reach out to them with tents, food, clothing and medical help.

EGYPT

Ezbet El Nakhel is a slum inside the poorest part of Cairo’s suburbs. In a historic first, our partnership director reports they held a Health Survey Project for forty-seven people. The doctors did various analysis for the people there, including urinalyses, blood analysis and blood pressure. They also held community health meetings to increase their awareness for disease prevention. Our partnership team was also able to reach 500 families with food rations during the revolution – thanks to the generosity of many of you!

IRAQ

We are seeing leaders transform! GHNI is helping the Ministry of Education in Irbil with a series of training programs called Transformational Leadership Development led by Mike Shea. Mike and his team will be in Irbil this October conducting another TLD conference. They are looking for volunteers with good business leadership backgrounds to help teach. Contact Mike.Shea@ghni.org if you are interested!

INDIA

Approximately 400 million rural and some urban Indians have been left behind the Economic Miracle of India. Much of this is due to their lower caste status or because of injustices laid upon their ethnic group. A rural focused group has approached GHNI and now we are training 700 of their village workers in TCD and these trained workers will reach up to 80,000 villages. A major part of the effort will include helping these 700 workers be self-sustaining with no western aid supporting them!

JORDAN

Jordan is an island of stability in the midst of much conflict. The commitment to help the poorest youth continues. We are excited to announce that the Vocational Student Loan Program, mostly funded by European donors, has been fully subscribed. This means all the funds have been loaned out to some of the poorest of the poor Jordanian youth to attend technical school and make a living for themselves and their families. A major breakthrough here is the fact that it is a loan program, not a give away program and the ones we help have committed to repay so others can be helped. 285 USD can help fund a few months of tuition for a student loan. To help, click here and type “Jordan Student Loan Program” under the Special Instructions.

CHINA

Although the rapid advancement of the economy has helped millions in China, up to 400 million of the rural poor remain hidden and hurting. GHNI is partnering with a great group of partners in China, working from Cheng Du and surrounding areas. The training will teach young business entrepreneurs how to start a business that they can also use to train others in some of the poorest small towns in the rural areas. The motivation and drive of these trainers is so exciting. The program we have engages top successful small business people from many countries to help them learn how to teach the poorest of the poor.

GENEVA INSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP AND PUBLIC POLICY CONFERENCE NO. 2

Government leaders from more than 12 developing countries convened in Geneva this summer to learn “Sustainable Development for the Rural Poor”. This was the theme of our conference this year as we brought together government leaders from countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, India, and Indonesia with globally recognized professors from Switzerland, Europe, the Americas and Africa. The various professors and speakers taught and shared model legislation and also presented a fantastic case study on how villagers amongst the rural poor of Kenya have come to become self-sustainable. This Kenyan village has become a model to other villages for food, water security, micro-loan programs, public health and providing basic education for the children of semi-nomadic Borana tribes. The government leaders discussed ways to make the laws and regulations of their lands more positive towards allowing Transformational Community Development to function in their countries. The results were requests for more of what we teach! 2,280 USD sponsors a government leader to our next conference. Click here to help.

Life’s not all Daisies and Hot Dogs

// September 7th, 2011 // No Comments » // Adopt a Village, Kenya, Supporters, tcd

Save for the scattered acacia trees, plants are low and mean, bristling with spines meant to discourage anyone or anything looking for moisture. Bodies and spirits are battered, perhaps, but not beaten. And in these hard times, they’re also in need of a helping hand. These are the people who GHNI seeks out, offering to work with them on projects that will provide long term benefits to their villages - projects that mostly address the need for water, food, wellness, education and income.

It is important to note that what GHNI offers is “a helping hand up, not a hand out.” The goal is for a village to achieve sustainability – continuing benefit without outside support – in each of these areas.

As Priscila, a GHNI intern, so poetically observed about central Kenya, “Life’s not all daisies and hot dogs.” It certainly isn’t. But there are daisies coming up. And, if not ball park hot dogs, you will find a meal of goat or chicken, warmly offered in a village home.

It was a privilege to meet the people in “my” (and 99 other sponsors’) village of Ola Nagele,  as well as those in the other villages around Isiolo. The GHNI plan is a good one. And, even though there is the occasional bump in the road, it is working to provide meaningful, sustainable improvements in places where they are much needed.

Perhaps you’d like to help plant some daisies. If so, GHNI has plenty of seeds. Check out their Adopt a Village page for information on how you too can become a sponsor of a village in East Africa or elsewhere in the world and give your own personal hand up to someone. 

Priscila with one of her many Kenyan friends.

The difference between relief and development

// June 30th, 2011 // No Comments » // Indonesia, tcd

Phil Costello, GHNI Project Manager in Indonesia, writes this story from the poor fishing village of Camba Berua.

Yesterday our team launched our TCD Leadership training in Camba Berua. The first lesson compared relief and development. The lesson kicked off with a skit about two people faced with the problem of crossing a raging river. They looked for a way around this river, but there was no other way…they HAD to cross. Both people in the skit can’t swim, so the drama starts off with our two main characters trying to figure out how to cross this river!

Finally help comes along in the form of a third person. Luckily, this person knows how to swim, so the two people ask her to carry them on her back across the river. She starts with carrying the first person a little ways, but after a while she becomes completely exhausted and has to leave her new friend on a rock in the middle of the river.

Completely worn out, she swims back to the first person and says, “Well I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is I’m too tired to carry you on my back. The good news is I know how to get across the river without swimming. I can teach you how to jump from rock to rock to cross the river.”

This third person teaches the second person how to jump from rock to rock in order to cross this raging river. At first, the person being taught has a hard time, slipping and almost falling, but then she “gets the hang of it” and now knows how to cross by herself. This second person goes back to the first person (who is still stuck on a rock in the middle of the river!) and teaches her the same approach.

From this lesson, our team split the leaders off into groups and led a discussion on how short term relief, such as foreigners from the outside trying to solve all the problems, differs from a locally led development initiative. It was amazing to see the “light bulb” come on in many of their minds.

The Shock of Generosity

// June 23rd, 2011 // No Comments » // Tajikistan, tcd, TCD Food, TCD Income

Generosity and kindness can be shocking, particularly when least expected. Recently I heard a story of a single mom – a widow – who received the shock of her life.

Her name is Kurbonboboy Ohunova and she lives in one of the most mountainous countries in the world, with breath-taking peaks her backdrop and the hard ground her field. The country is Tajikistan, just north of Afghanistan and west of China.

Twenty years ago Kurbonboboy’s husband died, leaving her a young widow with two children and nothing more than a small, rugged house. Since then, Kurbonboboy has spent the summers laboring in the fields – hard, manual labor – earning one to two dollars a day. Her daughter, now 24 years old, helps her in the fields while her son studies at school. During the winter when the ground is frozen and piled high with snow, she sells sunflower seeds near the school.

There is no doubt Kurbonboboy works hard to provide for her small family, even though it is barely enough. As it is, they eat once a day. When asked if they eat meat, she said she couldn’t remember the last time she even saw it.

After meeting and talking with her, GHNI provided the funds for our local partner organization to purchase and give her a milking cow with a 5 month old calf. The partner organization also purchased 10 hens that lay eggs. Kurbonboboy was shocked. Never had she received such help, nor did she ever expect it. Now she will be able to include protein into their diet and sell the milk and eggs to support her family.

Her heart overflowing with gratitude, she thanked all who made this happen.

Thank you for making this happen. Your support for GHNI is bringing help and hope to people like Kurbonboboy all around the world!

Naomi Schalm
GHNI Web Journalist

Kenyan boy finds triumph out of tragedy

// May 20th, 2011 // No Comments » // Kenya, tcd, TCD Education

Habiba Mengesha is not only a mother of four beautiful children, she is also GHNI’s Co-Director in Kenya. Together with her husband, Wubshet, they implement, coach and oversee Transformational Community Development in four villages across northern Kenya. She writes the following story of triumph and hope.

True hope brings great transformations. I have so many stories to tell about how GHNI has changed the lives of so many people for good. But for now, I will narrate a story of young boy named Abdi who lost his father 15 years ago in Gambella village.

Abdi’s father and mother were among 20 people who were taken out of the village to be killed in a cold blooded circumstance in 1994. But his mother was the luckiest amongst of all the families and the only one who survived the mass murder. She was left with nothing apart from Abdi – who was two years old – and his two siblings.  

After learning of the death of her husband and her other relatives Abdi’s mother became traumatized and mentally ill. In that situation with her abnormality she managed to raise her three children who never knew what comfort was all about. Even at the age of five they walked from farm to farm looking for casual jobs just to get something to eat.

It was just last year when Abdi, whose father was killed 15 years ago, passed the national exam necessary to go to secondary school – and he passed with high marks. His mentally-ill mother came and narrated her story to us. Even though she has been through so much, she has hope for her son. Abdi qualified and we accepted him for a GHNI Scholarship to attend secondary school. The school is in a neighboring town requiring him to board there. Now he will be able to continue his education and pursue his dreams in life.

With this great accomplishment they could not believe that they will make it in life one day. This has brought great hope for the mother, Abdi and his two brothers.

GHNI broadcasted on Noteworthy News

// May 11th, 2011 // No Comments » // News, tcd

Noteworthy News recently highlighted GHNI in their “Shining World Leadership” segment. This program is broadcasted on 14 satellite platforms and on over 90 cable and IPTV networks, in more than 60 languages and over 40 language subtitles to date. Thank you Noteworthy News for this outstanding piece!

Giving a high-tech voice to low-tech villages

// May 5th, 2011 // No Comments » // Adopt a Village, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, tcd

So maybe I’m biased, but I have to say, I love how GHNI is focused on building relationships and two way conversations between partners and villages. We’re using the latest technology to build bridges between worlds, like LIVE video Skype calls between partners and villages. And then we thought, why not let the villages share their stories directly with you through a platform we use all the time – blogging! We didn’t know quite how it would work since some of the places have very little internet access, but we decided to venture out and try.

Our tech gurus trained two local guys in Garmaam, Ethiopia and Ola Nagele, Kenya on all the tech savvy ways to post pictures and send updates through mobile phones – and they’re doing great! Well, at least when the internet isn’t down. Some things…well…a lot of things are just not in our hands.

Our newest village blog recently went live from Camba Berua, Indonesia, where GHNI’s Phil Costello makes you at home in this fishing village through videos and blog posts.

Village blogs…it’s our new way of amplifying the voice they already have and making this world a little bit smaller. Follow along and join their journey!

Here’s the latest post from Phil in Indonesia:

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since I first set foot in Camba Berua. Now after seven months of working with the community, I’ve gotten to know many of the families on a personal level. Inspired by a blogger/photographer from the States named Jeremy Cowart, I had the idea of taking a few of the photos which I took almost a year ago and giving them to families around Camba Berua.

I chose a few of my favorite pictures and our GHNI team set out to give Portraits of Hope to families in Camba Berua…(video by Tim Stark)

Children and Art in Afghanistan

// March 23rd, 2011 // 5 Comments » // Afghanistan, tcd, TCD Education

Shukria is a 9 year old girl in the village of Qala e Nadir, Afghanistan. Along with the other girls in her village, Shukria doesn’t go to school.

GHNI has been working together with the village of Qala e Nadir in Transformational Community Development (TCD), where one of the expressed needs of the village is education for their children.

In one small step toward education, GHNI provided notebooks and pens for 40 children in the village – both girls and boys. Shukria got her own set and was thrilled knowing that the older boys in the village could begin to teach her and the other girls how to write the letters of the alphabet.

Last November GHNI ran three mornings of art classes in Qala e Nadir led by Debi Partridge, a volunteer artist from the U.S.

The girls were so excited to paint and draw, especially Shukria who loved to draw pictures in her notebook. The second time Debi returned to the village, the boys asked to join the class as well as a mother with her baby.

These children all loved the opportunity to sit, paint and draw. It was a wonderful time, with many of the children expressing themselves through drawing, painting and crafts for the first time. Shukria was so happy when Debi admired the drawings she had done in her notebook. Debi also helped the children paint pictures of themselves and make some paper flowers.

GHNI Director in Afghanistan, Pat Lightborne shared, “It made me realize that creativity needs to be fostered. Art may be a seemingly frivolous activity, but for a few hours it gave these children an experience that they treasured.”

Shukria hopes that GHNI will continue to help their village and that one day she will be able to read and write.