Homeless Serving Hope – Again

// September 9th, 2011 // No Comments » // ServeHope, Volunteers

photo by Franco Folini

There are certain things that are worth doing – again. It’s kind of like how my favorite movies are the ones I can watch over and over. This is a story I don’t think I’ll tire of hearing. In fact, this year, I’ve decided to be a part of it.

Last October GHNI launched its first ever “ServeHope” campaign, and we highlighted the project Homeless Serving Hope on our blog. The post had one of our highest Facebook shares and tweets. Ken Miller, who led the project, is leading it – again. Well, the concept is the same, the project is a little different.

Ken is the director of Project Revive, a city transformation initiative to create common ground in various contexts in order to serve the common good. This year for GHNI’s nationwide ServeHope event, Project Revive is gathering teams of volunteers in Boulder and Denver, Colorado, to serve the elderly. Sound sweet? It gets better.

Each team of volunteers will be joined by five or so people from the homeless community connected with the Boulder Outreach Homeless Overflow (BOHO). Together the teams will work on landscaping projects for the elderly and disabled adults organized through a service called CareConnect. All the while, the volunteers will be raising sponsorships where 50% of the proceeds will go to serve the homeless at BOHO and 50% to GHNI to help serve developing villages around the world.

I love how four different organizations – GHNI, Project Revive, BOHO and CareConnect – are working together to not only help our local and global poor, but to unravel stereotypes and restore dignity to diverse populations.

Ken speaks clearly about his vision to see these diverse populations benefit from each other, “This is not just a one-way mainstream-helping-the-marginalized street. We are a community, and knowing our neighbors and serving our neighbors – both local and global – is one of the best ways to break down barriers and build understanding. And did I mention serving hope?”

If you would like to lead your own ServeHope team, check out the details on our ServeHope website. If you’re in the Denver/Boulder area and would like to join Ken’s team, you can contact him at ken.miller@uscm.org or 720-317-7558. I know I will be.

Disaster Redesign: from Victim to Relief Worker

// June 9th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Disaster Relief, Volunteers

I can just hear it, the cartoon medley of birds singing as a yawning sun rises over a quaint meadow. Butterflies and bunnies are frolicking to and fro and then BLAM….some crazy character comes crashing through and the whole scene flips up like a roll chart.

Perhaps it’s a bit simplified, but it’s my animated version of what happens when disaster strikes. No one ever thinks that their story will be disrupted by some outside force. Disasters happen to ‘other’ people ‘over there,’ wherever that is.

GHNI volunteer Liz Makarra

A GHNI volunteer, Liz Makarra, has a story that was interrupted by a really, really big outside force named Ivan – Hurricane Ivan. But in her case, she saw it as an opportunity that would ultimately bring her full circle to helping others affected by disasters.

Liz was living in the Caribbean when Hurricane Ivan slammed through the islands in 2004. She lost her house, her personal belongings, her vehicle, her work place. In a matter of a day, the hurricane took all she owned. With nothing holding her back, she saw her situation as a fresh start to go back to school to study what she really wanted to do – interior design.

Seven years later, Liz now lives in Hawaii working for The Honolulu Design Center and has traveled the world over. While she loves her job, there has been a nagging within her to do more.

When she came across a GHNI Disaster Relief Team Training (DRTT) link on a friend’s Facebook page, it struck a chord. Liz turned in her application and attended the GHNI three day training on Hawaii’s North Shore in September 2010.

GHNI establishes a pool of volunteers from the trainings to take part in disaster relief teams on short notice. For Liz though, it has become much more. She shares, “Working and communicating with GHNI and a diverse group of people coming from the military, medical field, and non-profit sector…really lit a fire inside of my heart to pursue more training. I definitely felt inspired to action.”

Since the training, Liz has been researching ways to become fully certified in a disaster relief program. Going through GHNI’s training helped pinpoint what her interests are, and what they’re not. “I would be more of a liability than a help in a first wave situation. I didn’t realize that before. I would much rather figure that out in training than on the field.” She hopes to become a liaison communicating between organizations, and work toward creating and implementing disaster relief plans.

Little did Liz know back in 2004 that her experiences of loss would lead her full circle to helping others in the midst of suffering and calamity.

“Hope needs to be served in a big way…people need hope planted in their hearts; that through any kind of obstacle there is opportunity.”

If you would like to attend one of GHNI’s Disaster Relief Team Trainings, you are invited to our next training July 29 – 31 in Maui, Hawaii. AND you do not have to withstand a hurricane to qualify! We need people with various backgrounds such as medical, security and logistics, as well as general assistants. Click here for more info, or contact Leslie Kahihikolo at leslie.kahihikolo@ghni.org

GHNI Medical Relief Team to Libya

// May 21st, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Disaster Relief, field work, Libya, Volunteers

We are now recruiting for a
GHNI Medical Relief Team to Libya

Travel Dates:

• Arrive Cairo, Egypt, June 22
• Depart Cairo for Benghazi, Libya on 23
• Depart Benghazi for Cairo, June 29
• Depart Cairo, June 30 (or stay on longer for personal visit)

Purpose: Medical relief and relationship building with local health officials

Desired Team Members: Surgeons, specialists and nurses

General Plan: After 1 day preparation in Cairo, take in and deliver meds and work with local health leaders

Costs:

1. Air fare to/from Cairo, Egypt
2. Daily hotel and ground transportation: $100 per day max
3. Ground transportation Egypt-Libya: plan on $200 round trip

Accommodations: Secure, 3 star hotel

Visa: Visa on arrival for Egypt $15, no visa needed for Libya

Passport: required, with expiration date not less than 6 months after expected departure

Team leader and contact: Peter McLewin: inglesideinternational@gmail.com

Required Forms:

1. Download Medical Questionnaire
2. Download GHNI Liability Release Form
3. Download Field Trip Security Agreement

Inside Libya’s Borders

// April 22nd, 2011 // No Comments » // Disaster Relief, Libya, Volunteers

Hal Jones, President of GHNI, just came back from spending several days in war-torn Libya last week. He writes about a young man he met at a hospital:

“He stands next to the ward holding many of his comrades too wounded to move to Europe for the needed care, and too wounded to live.  He has a dead-pan face and has what we call the “100 mile stare”. It’s clear he suffers from combat fatigue. He is 23 but looks 19. He has been sent back from the front, where he saw atrocities that no young person should have to see, but which generations of young men around the world face when thrust into the meat grinder of war. He tells me that he has been re-assigned to guard the hospital 12 hours per day. I sense he was also sent back from the front due to shock from sleeping in the freezing cold desert at night, ducking bullets in the day, wondering constantly if “his time will come today,” and trying to show bravery in the horror of seeing his friends’ limbs and heads blown off or burned unbelievably.

This is just one of the young men I met in the hospital ward, yet in many ways he represents them all.”

Help for the Libyan People

Hal went in with three colleagues, all humanitarians, with more than 10 tons of food and medicines to distribute to victims of the civil war in Libya. GHNI is partnering with 20 non-profit groups to bring critical needs and hope to the people of Libya. This partnership is to coordinate relief efforts for a stronger impact and to prevent over-lap in aid.

The assessment team traveled 18 hours from Cairo to Benghazi. Once there, they discovered that only a few other aid organizations had been there to assess the needs of the people. The streets were quiet and safe, the rural areas strangely so.  Being only 150 kilometers from the front lines took a little edge off the sense of peace in the city.  People were so happy about the humanitarian help that taxi drivers actually gave the team free rides, and a restaurant even gave them free meals! Hal shares,

“So few non-Libyans were there that we stuck out.  Every place we walked people shouted, “Shukran,” which means “thank you” in Arabic. The fact that we had brought in desperately needed medical supplies traveled fast.  Soon we were ushered into the meeting room of some of the National Transition Council leaders who thanked us. The leaders, along with several other groups familiar with the situation, reported that they desperately need medicine (especially burn medicine), and medical personnel (especially surgeon specialists and nurses).”

The medical supplies the team brought in went straight to the main hospital in Bengazi, where it was assured that the meds would go free to all who were impacted by the fighting, regardless of race, tribe, sex or political status. The packages of food were delivered to internally displaced people.

The sad reality is these supplies will not last long. The fighting continues and the hospitals are overwhelmed.

Hal comments, “I believe this is one of the most crucial times in the history of Libya and North Africa and I unashamedly ask for your kind support!”

GHNI is committed to not forget the hurting and hidden people of Libya. We are not taking a political stand. We seek to serve all the people there.

We already have a representative on the ground and the greatest need is for large quantities of medicines, especially surgical supplies and burn medicines.

If you can help or connect us to a possible supplier, please contact info.ch@ghni.org.

We want to send out our first shipment by mid May.

We need 25,000 USD to pay for the collecting, shipping and clearing of up to 3 containers of meds.

We need 25,000 USD to pay for specialists and consultants to travel to Libya and be hosted by the National Transition Council.

The kinds of volunteers needed:

1. surgeon specialists
2. male and female nurses
3. consultant on building a disaster response program within the government
4. consultant on building a police force
5. consultant on creating a utilities coordinating office in the municipality

If you qualify, please send your resume to info.ch@ghni.org.

We believe by helping now, the door will remain open for long term community-based transformational development.

Thanks for considering this important matter. Time is very critical. You can give by clicking here:

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Tour de Hope

// April 15th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Jordan, Supporters, Volunteers

This week students from the Campus Christians group at Pittsburg State University set up three stationary bikes in the epicenter of campus and cycled for 36 hours straight. Their goal? Ride 1,000 miles and raise $1000 to feed 25 refugee families in Amman, Jordan for one month. They called it “Tour de Hope”.
 

You couldn’t miss them. There they were in the middle of campus, during Greek Week, cycling away. They invited students, faculty, and anyone passing by to log some miles and help feed the hungry in Amman. And they did!
 
It all stemmed from a desire to do something that was not about them, to do something big and help change the world. A group of students volunteered with GHNI last summer to deliver boxes of food to refugee families all over Amman. Campus leader James Bacus said, “It changed our lives – it changed my life.” They’re going back this summer and decided to raise funds to help more families.
 
“We dreamed this up 6 to 7 weeks ago and didn’t know if anyone would even care,” James said. The response to this student-led event surprised them. All together they logged 1500 miles and were interviewed by their local news station and newspaper. They raised $600 just from student donations and are still receiving pledges from local businesses and churches.
 
They ended the event yesterday at 6:00pm with a big cookout free to all students.
 
Thanks CC for dreaming big and partnering with GHNI to help feed Amman’s poorest refugee families!! We can’t wait until you arrive this summer and get to meet the families you cycled to help.

Running Hungry

// April 13th, 2011 // No Comments » // Egypt, Japan, Volunteers

This time, we are excited and thrilled that David and Benjamin have chosen to benefit GHNI. If they can raise $2000 by May 1st, they’ll be dressed in “cheesy apparel” for the Wisconsin race. Funds raised will go to help GHNI’s relief efforts in Japan, and to help feed needy families and Libyan refugees in Egypt.

Thanks David and Benjamin! We’ll be following your blog and cheering you on!!

Algonquin to Gambella

// January 11th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // Adopt a Village, Kenya, Supporters, tcd, Volunteers

My camera viewfinder usually points at scenes of abject poverty and unimaginable human suffering where GHNI is working among some of the poorest villages around the world. For this story I found myself passing by flower gardens, flowing rivers and entering lovely homes with white picket fences in the suburban Chicago neighborhood of Algonquin, Illinois.

I interviewed the Lossau family (featured in this story) and six other neighbors participating in Adopt-a-Village with GHNI. Adopt-a-Village is a program that aims to connect small groups from the developed world with a specific developing village in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Matt Lossau and his neighborhood group are partnering with Gambella, Kenya. They’ve made a 3 to 5 year commitment to help bring TCD or Transformational Community Development to Gambella in food, water, wellness, income and education projects. As you’ll see in this story they are building a true relationship with the village through regular updates, GHNI Compassion Trips and actual video conversations.

While producing this story I realized a unique aspect to this program that might not be obvious at first glance. The transformational process is two-way. As partners build a relationship with the village to help them out of poverty, they find that they are transformed as well. This may be just as valuable for neighborhoods here at home as it is for villages in need thousands of miles away.

I hope you’ll take time to look around GHNI.org and learn how to adopt a village.

Algonquin to Gambella from Global Hope Network Int’l on Vimeo.

Shirin Faridi is a producer, reporter and media consultant with a passion to tell the stories of overlooked or marginalized people in war zones, natural disaster and developing countries. She’s a regular contributor to ghni.org presenting reports that show GHNI projects around the world.

First Graders Catch the Christmas Spirit

// December 30th, 2010 // No Comments » // GHNI Holiday Store, tcd, Volunteers

It’s easy to think that during the holidays first graders are only concerned about what they will be getting from ol’ Santy Clause. Not these first graders.
 
Tricia DeJulia and Laura Carafiello (pictured here) team-teach a first grade class at North Lake Park Community School in Orlando, Florida. Knowing that parents sometimes give Christmas presents to teachers, Tricia and Laura suggested that in lieu of gifts, parents could make a donation to Global Hope Network International. The class would then choose together how to “spend” the donations on GHNI Hope Gifts for poor families around the world.
 
Tricia commented, “We have so much; it’s a good time of the year to teach the kids about how much they have and how much they can give to others. It’s fun for the kids, and it shifts their focus from what they’re getting to what they can give.”
 
For the next couple of weeks, checks and cash rolled in. One family gave $10, another $50, another $100. On the last day of school before the holidays they counted a total of $400. The kids were ecstatic!
 
Before the class got to choose the Hope Gifts, Tricia and Laura started the conversation by asking the kids questions like, “How many pairs of shoes do you own?” and “How do you get water?” Then they explained how there are children, just like them, who have no shoes at all, or have to walk a long way to get water. Together these teachers taught their first-graders about how the money they raised will help families in poor villages around the world.
 
Then came the fun part. The class voted on how they would designate the $400.
 
“Who would like to give a goat? Who wants to give a well?” Hands shot up as they voted.
 
One of the girls felt like she couldn’t vote because her family didn’t contribute. But Tricia ensured her that they were all giving the gifts together as a group.  Even kids who weren’t able to donate were still a valuable part of the process. The little girl then eagerly joined in the voting, knowing her opinion mattered.
 
With their purchases, the first grade class at North Lake Community proudly provided 6 gifts: two water filters, a shallow well, a goat, a solar cooker, and school supplies.
 
One of the moms wrote an email to Laura and Tricia thanking them. Her daughter had such a great time and couldn’t stop talking about it. In fact, her daughter was so excited about this season of giving that she even donated some of her personal items to a local charity in Orlando.  
 
As Tricia shared, “Sometimes Christmas is all about the gifts, and it can be.”

Thank You for Serving Hope!

// November 13th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Supporters, Volunteers

The stories and numbers are in!

Thank you to each and every one of you who was a part of ServeHope this year! Whether you volunteered or gave a financial donation – THANK YOU! You have been a part of a huge and successful effort to serve the poor both locally and globally. Here are some quick stats:

• More than $30,000 raised! Thank you!!!
• Almost 200 volunteers and staff served the poor!
• ServeHope took place in 10 states nationwide!
• The number of lives that will be impacted? Countless!

This was our first year ever doing ServeHope and we couldn’t have done it without you.

If you have a story you’d like to share, photos or videos, we would love to hear from you! You can contact me at naomi.schalm@ghni.org.

And be sure to check out more of our ServeHope videos clips!

Thanks again for joining with GHNI to help the global poor by serving those in your local communities. It truly is a win-win!

Jeff Power, GHNI’s Director of US Partner Development shares a few words…

Overcoming Mountains

// October 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Volunteers

The heart of GHNI’s ServeHope! event is to bring to life an attitude of involvement in our communities and the world around us, to engage our talents to encourage those who need it, and to open our eyes to how we can make a difference any and every day.

On October 16th, three mountain guides from Laramie, Wyoming, are partnering with SROM to take six underprivileged students from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Laramie and their “Bigs” out to experience the thrill and personal challenge of rock climbing.

Matt Troyanek, Caleb Dodson, and I all have professional backgrounds in rock and mountain guiding and have been personally and powerfully impacted by the beauty and challenge of the mountains.  It’s our desire to share that which has played such a major role in our lives with the kids from BBBS.

We will be spending the day teaching mountain safety, basic technical skills, and climbing techniques that will help them build a skill set and grow in confidence that impacts all areas of life.

I’m ecstatic about the chance to work with these kids and the positive response we’ve had from both SROM and BBBS to get involved!

Now we are looking for people to join us and sponsor our ServeHope! project.  If you have any questions, I’d love to talk. Here’s my contact info. You can also donate online to help us Serve Locally while Impacting Globally. Every bit helps!

Thanks!

Jonathan Ahlschwede
GHNI US Mobilization Specialist