Just to help paint a picture for you, Yemen is located on the tip of the Arabian peninsula, just south of Saudi Arabia and on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Just across those waters are Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Last February there was a ceasefire signed between Government forces and rebels. Tensions are still tight and the United Nations published an article on July 22nd warning that the humanitarian situation in northern Yemen is dire and under-funded.

When I was in Yemen, GHNI decided to contribute money to buy backpacks for some orphans. However, when our partner approached the orphanage, they said that the government had given them enough backpacks “literally the week after I left.” A little while later the director of the orphanage came back with an unusual request. Let me elaborate.

A short time ago there was a fire and a riot at the Central Prison (right next door to the orphanage). Two guards were killed, two inmates escaped and the warden subsequently fired.  This incident raised various concerns, including everyone’s awareness of fire safety.

Since the orphanage didn’t have any fire equipment, the director asked my friend if he could help them buy some fire extinguishers. Our friend agreed to help purchase the equipment, plus the necessary fire-safety training. Incidentally, the amount needed was the exact amount of the gift we left for the backpacks.

Because of the support of people like you to GHNI, the kids at the orphanage can sleep safely at night.

Jeff Latsa
GHNI Field Director

This spring GHNI was authorized to work in the Otash IDP Camp and are working with an amazing group of women. We partnered with a Sudanese NGO, Children’s Development Foundation (CDF), and built a new women’s center where there will be livelihood and income generation training, health and hygiene classes, counseling, and cultural exhibitions. 

GHNI recently held a Training of Teachers (TOT) for Community Health and Hygiene classes. One of the new teachers who will be working at the center is Hamed.

Hamed is an IDP in Otash Camp. He is a teacher in one of the camp’s emergency schools and a member of the Otash Youth Committee. He is a husband and father of three children, and he is deaf.

At the end of the TOT he gave a short illustration explaining the importance of reaching the disabled population within the Otash IDP Camp. He was overjoyed with the fact that the health and hygiene classes were being offered to the deaf. Too often the disabled are overlooked and considered sub-human. Hamed is excited to be part of our team working to empower the community with the knowledge needed to improve the conditions of individuals, families, the disabled, and the camp as a whole.

David Jung, a GHNI partner, describes the three main ways we can respond to a perceived need. We can do, we can teach, or we can empower. From day one we have to approach the people we help as equals, as co-workers who are the answer to their own problems rather than victims who are merely recipients of our resources and expertise. That’s how we empower people.

So, what’s the difference between the two wells in Hurso? The abandoned one was built by a large non-governmental organization (NGO). They came into the village ready to fix Hurso’s problems for them. Without the cooperation of the local leadership and against their preferences, they sunk a $10,000 bore hole over 150 meters deep. The villagers felt excluded and uninvolved, so they sabotaged the well by filling it with rocks. The NGO’s intent on merely “doing” rather than “empowering” resulted in a sad waste of time and money.

The flowing well in Hurso belongs to Abdul Sammad, a local man who wanted to begin farming, but lacked water for irrigation. With a little support from a friend, he and five other villagers began to dig. Three months later, after fighting their way through 60 feet of hardened clay and bedrock with primitive tools, they hit water. When he first took me to see his farm, it was easy to see the pride he had in the well he and his friends had dug with their own hands. Now Sammad has a healthy crop of young tomatoes, onions and corn, and is one of the first successful private farmers in Hurso.

The two wells in Hurso illustrate the difference between people who are treated as victims and those who are empowered, and I’m excited to be a part of GHNI’s efforts as we empower some of the poorest villages in Ethiopia.

Peter Masters
GHNI Intern, Ethiopia

When we had our video call with Wubshet and Habiba (GHNI Kenyan staff) and the elders in Gambella, my heart about jumped out of my chest.  Seeing the school, which was absolutely their first priority, where children are learning, growing, and changing the future of their village brought tears to my eyes.  When they talked about the cash crops they had just sold, I was speechless.

To see these people conquering their poverty is beyond humbling.  It’s BEAUTIFUL!

Then my oldest daughter Macy got an idea.  She sat for two days creating duct tape purses, wallets and phone holders to raise money for the building projects in Gambella this summer.  The making part was really fun – ripping apart the sticky stuff in all different colors to create designs, pockets and accessories.  She and her friend Rachel sat for HOURS!

Then came the trickier part: selling.  Macy is a quiet girl.  She isn’t one to holler out and draw attention.  The plan was to set up a little stand next to my booth at the farmer’s market.  So once the pasta booth was up, we arranged a makeshift table out of ‘leftover’ stuff from my booth.  A basket flipped over on top of a plastic bin was the centerpiece, with two prettier upside-down bins beside.  The little duct tape creations lay displayed – smaller ones for a dollar, bigger ones for four.

Away she went.  Macy, who is 10, and her 5 year old sister, Abigail, sat at that stand from 7:30 in the morning until 1:00 pm (sometimes fighting over who got the big chair, of course!).  Macy would tell me, “MOM, make sure to send your customers over here when they’re done!”  Little by little she would tell the story, “We’re helping a village in Kenya.”  Dollar by dollar, hour by hour, Macy and Abigail sat.  They chatted with people about Gambella and their fabulous duct tape creations.

When the last customer of the day asked, “How much is this one?” Macy replied, “Four dollars, but would you consider giving six so I could end at an even $100 for the day?”  I about FELL OVER!  Little did she know Abigail had a wad of five dollars in her hand.   So the two ended the day with $105 raised for Gambella projects this summer, and a mom that was so proud, she still can’t stop talking about it.

That is beautiful!

by Mary Lossau

Pierre Marshall Tullier (1945-2010)

Global Hope Network International has lost a great friend and supporter. Pierre was a board member of GHNI and had a great compassion for bringing help and hope to the hidden and hurting around the world. He was involved in a hands-on basis as a great encourager, traveling to a number of the areas where GHNI works. Pierre “came on to the board at a critical time when we needed encouragement and wisdom. He provided both,” stated Scott Gillis, fellow GHNI Board Member.

Pierre was born in New Orleans in 1945 to Peter and Marjorie Tullier, and was raised in Lafayette, Louisiana. After his parents moved to Annapolis, Maryland, he was appointed as a page in the United States Senate. He graduated high school from the Capitol Page School in Washington, D.C. in 1963 and was presented his diploma by President John F. Kennedy. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University and a Masters degree in Operations Research from George Washington University.

Pierre later joined Dunn Capital Management, Inc., where he worked for 26 years before retiring as President of the company.

Pierre and his wife Sandra always opened their home to leaders and families of the organizations in which they were involved. He served as a director on several boards including GHNI’s.

Pierre is survived by his adoring wife of 25 years, Sandra, as well as their five children and ten grandchildren.

A celebration of Pierre’s life will be held on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at the Grace Place, Stuart, Florida at 10:30 AM.

In lieu of flowers, Pierre’s family has requested that contributions be made to Global Hope Network International, among other organizations. A special Pierre Tullier Memorial Fund has been established for those who want to give to the causes that Pierre strongly believed in and supported.

Although Pierre’s impact will endure for many generations, he will be sorely missed.

A lot had happened since my arrival a week earlier. During those seven days my eyes opened wide. Some GHNI co-workers and I went outside the city to a valley near the town of Yakawlang, where the mountains reach the sky, snow capped peaks are still present in the early summer and poplar trees line the valley streams. We surveyed and conversed with village elders looking for a way to work with the people in this far reached area of Afghanistan. As always, our mission with GHNI is to help empower local villages to help improve their state of development themselves. At the end of the trip, we identified a village at the end of the valley where a school building project had been stalled for two years due to corruption and greed. We will continue to visit this village, building relationships and finding ways to combine the strength of the locals as well as our organization to bring education to the village children. In a land that has seen so much violence and grief, there is hope for Afghanistan’s future.

I was amazed at the persistent enthusiasm of the team. We got sick, sunburned, and were bitten by numerous mosquitoes. Yet, everyone still worked fiercely and finished each task we were assigned. We were also always warmly received by humble and giving Indonesians both in Makassar and in Toraja. My team members and the local people all taught me a profound lesson about what it means to have genuine compassion and to serve others.

The last night in Sulawesi, shortly before my team members and I parted ways, we took a trip to see the sun setting over the Makassar Straight. We all sat quietly on a ledge seeing the most soothing blue, pink, orange and purple hues splashed across the dusky sky. During that tranquil moment, I reflected upon the last nine days and realized how special it had been. The last time I was in Indonesia, the world as I knew it was gigantic. Since then, I have traveled to many parts of the world experiencing different cultures. The world doesn’t seem so humungous now. Nevertheless, a part of my roots will always remain in Indonesia. It’s where I began. Going on this trip and partaking in GHNI’s work to serve and work with the local people reminded me of the beauty, charm and splendor of Indonesia’s rich culture, breathtaking landscapes and welcoming people. It made me comprehend and appreciate the core of my being and the memories of my past. The best part about the journey back is being able to share the incredible experience with ten remarkable people who shared my ache, my joy and my adventure.

- Maya Minwary

When I arrived in Indonesia and queued for my visa, I felt like a stranger. It was a weird sensation to feel like a foreigner, but look like one of the locals (well, for the most part…minus the laid-back Californian attire). It had been 19 years since I last stepped foot in Indonesia. The unfamiliarity, however, gave me a sense of excitement that accompanies the start of an adventure. So, my adventure began on a humid, rainy afternoon in Makassar with ten other bright-eyed and excited GHNI volunteers, strangers who would soon become fast friends.

The next nine days tested our abilities to be flexible and adaptable. We took a grueling eight-hour night bus ride to the town of Toraja. Soon after our arrival, without much sleep, we took off for the project site in a village up in the hills. GHNI has been supporting the local village to establish sustainable organic coffee and pig farms. We came to provide additional manpower to prepare for another pigpen and plant over one hundred coffee seedlings.

The daily walk to the project site confirmed how beautiful the countryside of Indonesia truly is, especially during rainy season. The lush, emerald green hills are neatly carved with brown rice fields like steps on a staircase. Each day we worked in Toraja, we were greeted by the giggles of shy children who would run and hide behind their houses as we passed. We trekked through sodden rice paddies and narrow mud paths to plant the seedlings under the burning sun. Drenched with sweat and covered in dirt, we returned to our hostel before dusk where we would shower and regroup for dinner. I think the hard labor during the day made us enjoy our dinner and socializing with each other even more. When it was time to leave Toraja, we had successfully planted 100 coffee seedlings and help build a pigpen. We boarded the bus for another eight-hour ride back to Makassar as a whole new adventure awaited us…

Tune in next week for Part 2 of Maya’s Indonesian journal.

As GHNI looks ahead to the next ten years, it all boils down to one thing: PEOPLE. Thousands of lives have been touched by this organization over the last decade. I’m excited to see how many more will be forever changed, one village, one person at a time.

By Naomi Schalm