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Remembering Haiti: 2 Years On
On the two year anniversary of Haiti's devastating earthquake, we present these images, from Global Hand's Tom Williams, taken in August 2010. We remember the tragedy, and we stand with those who are still suffering, and with those striving to help.
Upcoming shipment: Restoring communities in Sierra Leone
Musa, just nine years old, has cerebral palsy and spends his life in a wheelchair. The little boy lives in rural Sierra Leone, a nation where the average person can expect to live to around 48 years of age. Musa’s short life began with trauma. His mother was seriously sick during her pregnancy, and suffered a bad fall, with her growing belly taking the weight of the fall. A short time later, Musa was born prematurely, in a difficult birth, which doctors believe could have caused his brain damage.
Upcoming shipment: Empowering women in Kenya
Kenya is a welcoming, sun-drenched country, known by tourists for its stunning native wildlife and safari holidays. There are many areas of Kenya, however, that are suffering in deep poverty. The region we are shipping to, in the south-western corner of the country, is a remote area of about 9,500 people, where unemployment is very high, and most people live a hand-to-mouth existence growing what food they can. Some villages have no access to clean water at all, meaning children become frequently sick from water-borne illnesses, and because education is scarce, HIV/Aids is 15% higher in this area than the national average.
Upcoming shipment: The web of poverty in rural Uganda
Masaka, in Uganda, is a beautiful combination of lush, fertile farmland and the red dusty roads that are the image of rural Africa. It's a place of close communities and warm family culture, yet the majority of the population lives in isolated villages that are suffering from poverty and a lack of resources to help them move forward and grow.
Upcoming shipment: Hope in Kenya
Lindy, of Kenya, was 14 when her parents died of HIV/Aids. Suddenly, Lindy was thrust from childhood into being the family breadwinner, as she struggled to provide food, clothing and be a 'mother' to her younger brothers and sisters. Today, Lindy is using the pain of a difficult childhood as power to lift up women and girls in Africa from poverty into being champions of their own community, educating others in development issues.
Upcoming shipment: Uganda slum life
Harriet is 14 years old and lives in a slum in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Six years ago, Harriet’s mother died, leaving her and her three younger siblings in the care of their father. Just two years later, their father abandoned them, as the children slept at night, and has never been seen again. At the age of 10, literally overnight, Harriet became the head of her household, comforting the wails of the frightened little ones, and knowing she had no means to feed them or pay her rent.
Hope in rural Cameroon
There are between 1 million and 4 million child labourers in Cameroon aged between 5-14. Some of them work on plantations and farms, some sell small items on the streets and in markets, some are employed by their own families, who need the free labour simply to survive, and some work as prostitutes.
Shipment to India
Bhavani is a 42 year old fisherwoman who lives on the coast of south-east India. Her family has, for years, been totally dependent on the sea for its livelihood. Bhavani’s husband Muthu would sail out to sea each day at 4am, and Bhavani would sell his ‘catch’ at the local market. It was a precarious existence, however, and as the family grew, and their needs increased, it seemed that fish were getting more and more scarce. The income from Bhavani’s daily market sales was not enough to meet their needs for food, medicine and school fees. They had no option but to take out loans from a local moneylender. There was no way that Bhavani could keep up with the wildly inflated repayments and she was terrified of the violent moneylenders. She felt the family sink further and further into destitution and desperation. There seemed no way out...
10) Promotional campaign for Global Hand/UN website
A global PR campaign to connect business and poverty.
2) Cooking sets for Hong Kong people in need
Cooking appliances for Hong Kong people who cannot afford them.
HOPE FOR HAITI
In January 2010 a population wept in agony. The earthquake that hit Haiti all but flattened the already impoverished nation, and killed at least 230,000 people. Now, in November 2010, Hurricane Tomas has caused flooding in parts of Haiti, forcing thousands of people who had already been made homeless in one disaster, to pack up their few possessions and flee yet another.
