A Community Transformed
New Wells Drilled
Households with Clean Water
Income Cooperatives Launched
Journey to Self-Sufficency
From Surviving Day to Day to Building Their Own Future
When Global Hope Network International first arrived in Polewali in late 2019, the village on Sulawesi Island was quietly struggling beneath the weight of circumstances that had long gone unaddressed. Husbands and fathers had left for jobs in distant provinces. Children were missing school. And every morning, women rose before dawn to begin a grueling journey — walking more than two kilometers to the nearest river, three and four times a day, carrying whatever water they could manage.
One woman slipped on the steep path and couldn’t walk for two weeks. This was simply life in Polewali. Sanitation was nearly nonexistent. A single latrine, owned by a local business, served the entire community. Social divides ran deep — village clusters kept to themselves, and trust between neighbors had worn thin over generations.
Five years later, Polewali has graduated from the Transformational Community Development (TCD) program. The community solved its own water crisis. It launched cooperatives. It built latrines — family by family. It brought its people back together. And it did all of this by leading itself.
The Multiplier Effect
Polewali’s story doesn’t end at its borders. Neighboring villages have noticed — the cooperation, the new income, the clean water, the returning young graduate. One community’s transformation plants seeds in the next. Your support doesn’t just change one village. It changes the conversation across a region.
Before TCD (2019)
- River/stream 2 km away; walked 3–4x daily to fetch water
- 1 latrine in the entire village, owned by a local business
- Primary earners working outside the province, sending money home
- Low school attendance rates for children
- Fragmented village clusters; deep social division
- Waiting for outside help to solve community problems
AFTER GRADUATION (2024)
- 5 drilled wells; 30+ households with clean water at home
- Community-wide latrine construction; families building their own
- Soap cooperative, clay craft businesses, duck livestock program launched
- Improved attendance; college graduate Rahmadani returned to invest in village
- Cross-cluster cooperation; new TCD groups forming in formerly isolated areas
- “This is our community and our problem — we must be the ones to initiate.”
Village Testimonials
Ndari spent most of her adult life believing that clean water was simply beyond the reach of her family. Every day she made the same walk — 1.2 miles each way to the river, three or four times, carrying everything she could.
After eight months of community organizing, thirty households now have two new wells with pumps and tanks.
“Without having to walk so far every day, I now have time to focus on my household — and I even started working a side job in the next village over, which has increased my family’s income. The water from the new well is so much cleaner than what we used before.”
Husni lives in one of Polewali’s most isolated clusters — a small group of households known for keeping to themselves. For years, she was known as someone who simply didn’t participate in village life.
Then she crossed into another cluster to join a TCD income generation group, learning to craft and sell clay pots alongside women she had barely spoken to before.
“I am very happy to have joined in these activities. I hope it continues to have a positive impact on my family’s economic situation.” Her TCD team hopes her neighbors will follow her example.
Rahmadani is one of the very few young people from Polewali who — through his own hard work and his parents’ sacrifice — earned a college degree. At 27, he came back.
Rather than seeking opportunity elsewhere, he returned to Polewali and became active in the TCD community. The training team sees him as exactly what a graduated village needs: a locally rooted leader with new skills, fresh ideas, and a deep stake in what happens next. The community is looking to its young people to carry the transformation forward.
Field Reports from Polewali’s TCD Journey
Quietly Working Towards a Brighter Future
Community members are setting aside differences and working together for Polewali’s future.
Three Important Areas of Growth
Continuing to partner with the Polewali community to meet their basic needs of water and latrines leads to local expansion and future partnerships.
An Exciting Long-Term Impact
The Polewali community is looking towards its young leaders to provide fresh and innovative ideas for a sustainable future.
A New Way Towards a Healthier Life
Pak Mo realizes that even when change is difficult, it is worthwhile and transformational!
One Woman’s Clay
One woman’s skills in working with clay leads to a fortuitous partnership for a whole community’s water system.
Developing New Areas and Growing Others
Never keeping success to themselves, the Polewali village clusters continue to share and spread the lessons they have learned.
Developing New Areas and Growing Others
Never keeping success to themselves, the Polewali village clusters continue to share and spread the lessons they have learned.
A Growing Unity
Through continued involvement and successful projects built through working together, Polewali Village is growing in its unity and care for each other.
Long-Term Sustainable Profit
One man hopes his goat-tending ideas will spread throughout his village and lead to long-term profit for everyone.
Building the Necessary
Although it may not be glamorous, the latrine partnership in Polewali is changing lives and creating a more healthy environment.
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