 Community Development
DARFUR, SUDAN- As a follow up to our previous report
about the problems in the Sudan, HISG is proposing seven new
initiatives in Darfur. These are specific projects
carefully selected and designed to help the people of Darfur
move beyond the need for outside aid and into true community
development. The conflict in Sudan has displaced
approximately 2.4 million people since 2003, and the situation
in Darfur is still extremely precarious. The seemingly
non-stop armed clashes are causing massive population
displacements. The Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps
are reporting an increased amount of unrest and violence
inside the camps. There are several restrictions on
humanitarian access and a high incidence of targeted attacks
against humanitarian workers and their assets. The conflict
continues to significantly impact local economies, commerce,
and basic human needs in the conflict areas. HISG's 2008 Darfur
Initiative includes a broad range of projects directed at
different issues inhibiting development in the region.
Some of the projects categories are:
Please visit our website
or contact us to read more
details about each of these projects, They range in scope from
eight water filtering systems that can each provide 30,000
gallons of clean water per day, to building projects, to
providing textbooks to students who have none. Each of
these projects will make a significant impact in the lives of
people in Darfur, and HISG is excited for the opportunity to
serve. |
 Disaster Relief
GLOBAL INFORMATION CENTER, TEXAS- HISG is expanding the
Global Information Center (GIC) to better prepare people all
over the world, especially the private sector, for large-scale
disasters. The private
sector is made up of businesses, faith-based organizations,
educational institutions, civic groups and non-profit
organizations. Volunteers from these five groups provide
a vast majority of the workforce in disaster response and
recovery operations. Emergency responders from the
public sector, like police officers and firefighters, make up
less than 1% of the population. Unfortunately, there is
no system in place to coordinate the efforts of the private
sector and connect them to government operations.
"The Federal
government should recognize that the private and
non-government sectors often perform certain functions more
effectively and efficiently than the government... public-
private partnerships should be a part of the logistics systems
and response plan."
-from The Federal Response to Katrina:
Lessons Learned
The Global Information
Center in Texas is a 24/7 nerve hub for all the different
entities to share information and work together. The GIC
has powerful communication and data storage/sharing systems to
make this long-overdue concept a reality. HISG has
experience working in disaster relief in many different
countries, and the expanded capabilities of the GIC are in
response to a direct need for more coordinated efforts. Our
past performance, vast networks and capability to receive,
process and share information make us uniquely positioned to
tap into all the assets the private sector has to
offer. For more information on the Global Information
Center, and the wide variety of services that it can provide,
please contact Kyle
Adams. |
 HISG Operations
HISG
International Director Norm Brinkley met with over 400
delegates from across North Africa and the Middle East at the
end of January to discuss all the obstacles and challenges
that are impeding community development in these
regions.
Many
of the countries represented are still transitioning to the
21st century way of life, and some are left behind in the 20th
century. Educational opportunities are slim, especially for
girls, and many poor families do not see the value in
education. Infrastructures are stretched thin because in
every one of these nations, more than half of the population
is under the age of 18. Governments are unstable as a
result of extremists and radical elements that thrive in
uncertain and poor economies.
These
root causes lead to a number of problems. In Mauritania
for example, the poor treatment women has resulted in an
astonishingly high divorce rate -some have estimated as high
as 95%. This weak family structure is in turn
contributing to poverty, malnutrition, the growing number of
AIDS cases, and child abuse.
HISG
is in the midst of all of this, hearing the heart beat of the
population, talking to leaders, and finding out how to help in
micro-enterprises, orphanages, and community development
projects across the vast array of landscapes. HISG staff will
be traveling extensively in north and west Africa in the month
of March with the goal of identifying ways to bring meaningful
aid to the region. If you would like to connect with
HISG on these projects, please contact Norm
Brinkley.
|
 Department Focus
For the past year HISG has been connecting warehouses
that want to work together to provide aid for disaster areas
and for general relief and development. The partnership is
called the Hope Resource Network, and is a remarkable example
of how much can be accomplished through like-minded
cooperation. HISG Director of Logistics Russ Lockhart has
developed partnerships with ten different warehouses in the
U.S. and one in Hong Kong, and has access to a number of other
warehouses through HISG's other networks. The Hope
Resource Network is an essential part of how HISG connects
resources to needs around the world. Building
relationships for warehouses to work together allows these
warehouses to ship more goods to needy people worldwide,
access a wide variety of goods to meet more specific needs,
and cut down or even eliminate shipping costs. Members
of the Hope Resource Network have worked together to ship food
to Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, and multiple countries in
Africa; disaster relief supplies to Central America; and
medical equipment and supplies to Ghana and the Dominican
Republic. The Hope Resource Network offers a proven
system to manage gift-in-kind donations and make sure that
those donations get delivered to the people who need them the
most. If you would like more information on how the
Network works, please contact Russ
Lockhart. | |
