Transforming Critical Need into Sustainable Change
The mission of The Hope Alliance is to empower impoverished people with the skills and tools they need to create positive change in the lives of their families and in their villages. The Hope Alliance also educates and exposes volunteers to the situation of those in developing countries. The Hope Alliance partners with active village groups in developing areas of the world to co-create change in quality of life. Local organizations and villages lead projects that include health worker training, medical care, clean water, sanitation projects, economic opportunity (micro-credit) and education projects.
The Hope Alliance assists communities in development, not relief, although it plays an extremely important role in saving lives, it is only temporary and is not sustainable. The communities to whom we offer our help are not necessarily victims of natural or civil catastrophes; they are people who can maintain a subsistence level of living. This means that they have just enough to get by but lack the resources and education to get out of perpetual poverty. Development is simply teaching them the skills they need to help themselves and linking them to resources necessary to progress. We want to make sure that our projects have a measurable, proven positive impact on communities.
“Unless we partner directly with the villagers to empower themselves and create active village participation, even though intentions are good, we will end up with empty medical clinics, empty schools and broken water systems” -Dr. John Hanrahan, Co-founder, The Hope Alliance
Supply Shipments: The Hope Alliance continues to support project areas with shipments of medical supplies and equipment specific to each countries needs and capacity. Our most recent container, which shipped in July of 2009, included five clinic modules for the Hospital T’Zunun Ha in Guatemala. Communities in Peru, Ghana, Vanuatu, Haiti and Ethiopia have also received Hope Alliance shipments of medicine, medical supplies, food and school supplies in years past.
Education Fund: The Hope Alliance administrates the Atitlan Education Resource for Opportunity, or the AERO Fund designated for the youth in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. It is their fervent hope that this financial resource can grow and become the mechanism by which many talented and ambitious young folks, who would not otherwise have the opportunity to gain an education or training in a trade or craft, can become successful and contributing members of their society.
Construction Expeditions: The Hope Alliance has strong ties to local Rotary Club and Rotary International, a service organization that works to combat hunger, improve health, sanitation, and education. World Community Service projects is one avenue that promotes collaboration with partnering countries to work on sustainable projects, such as the Biogas digester program in Nepal that transforms waste into a reusable resource for that community. Or the Aguajal Trancayacu project in Tarapoto, Peru that promotes reforestation, restoration and management of the Aguaje.
Medical Expeditions: While the medical clinics conducted by The Hope Alliance have been successful, they have been the catalyst to open the doors to the communities where sustainable projects within the communities have been developed. Under the direction of the Ministries of Health, medical and nurse practitioners along with student volunteers assist local healthcare providers address health issues facing rural villages. Past teams have included Surgical teams that support local hospitals and work collaboratively with local physicians to teach current surgery techniques. Health education teams address the long-term need in local education and preventable illnesses.
Dental Expeditions: Dental hygiene is a growing concern for both young and old alike. Most expeditions focus on extractions instead of restorative work and also on education and improving their diet.
Micro-Credit: This program provides economic opportunity to individuals so they can pull themselves out of poverty. At the same time, creating a more vibrant economic atmosphere and increased market activity which benefits the entire community. The micro-loans provide access to capital and also provide business enterprise training. The Hope Alliance micro-credit programs are in Iquitos, Peru and El Estor, Guatemala.
Vision Pilot Program: The vision pilot program has been designed to complement the World Health Organizations Vision 2020 initiative; the right to sight initiative aimed at prevention and treatment of vision loss through successful interventions and treating preventable impairments, in order to have the greatest possible impact on vision loss worldwide. Village Health workers are trained to identify preventable illnesses and refer individuals to the most appropriate resources available for that area.
To learn more about Hope Alliance, please visit their website.
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