Cathy Herholdt, Author at Humanitarian Aid & Relief

Empowering women to earn income safely through microloans

A woman sweeps up garbage in a Dhaka slum.

Bithi and her husband left their families in rural Bangladesh and moved to the over-crowded city of Dhaka—home to 5 million people—in search of a better life. The only work they could find was in a garment factory, earning meager wages. The couple rented a small, one-room home in a slum near the garment factory.

Thousands of Dhaka residents, desperate for work, accept low-paying—and often dangerous jobs in garment factories. Others work as rickshaw pullers or day laborers.

The couple was barely surviving when Bithi became pregnant. She gave birth to a little girl named Jannath, which means “heaven.” Bithi was referred to a World Concern clinic so Jannath could receive immunizations. During her visit to the clinic, doctors discovered that Jannath had a hole in her heart. The family was referred to a local hospital where their daughter received treatment.

A woman sews in her business. — A young Bangladeshi mother operates her own sewing business, with the help of a World Concern microloan.

As Jannath grew, Bithi visited the clinic regularly for checkups. She built a relationship with the staff there, who support and encourage her to keep her daughter healthy. But they also noticed that Bithi was struggling emotionally and financially. Her husband blamed her for Jannath’s health problems. And their daughter was often left in the care of others so that Bithi could work at the garment factory.

Realizing that Bithi needed a better income to afford treatment for her daughter’s heart condition and to support herself and her family, the staff recommended her for a World Concern microloan. With Bithi’s first loan of $270, she was able to quit her job at the garment factory and start her own business as a seamstress.

She’s now able to care for her daughter full-time, and has hope for a better future, beyond grinding poverty and exhausting, long hours in the factory.

Microcredit training — Women receive training in business ethics through World Concern’s microcredit program.

World Concern microloans help thousands of women like Bithi transform their lives by starting their own businesses. Women who are helped through our microcredit program are provided with loans, training on how to profit from a business and ethical business practices, and ongoing support to grow their businesses – even hiring more women who need to earn income safely.

This woman operates a successful screen printing business in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the help of World Concern.

Learn more and support a Bangladeshi entrepreneur with a small business loan.

Westport family plans “virtual” 5k 130 miles away

Donald Ross and his family will be walking to help protect innocent kids from human trafficking on Saturday, May 11. But instead of trekking five kilometers alongside the 2,000+ participants expected at the Free Them 5k/10k in Seattle that morning, they’ll be supporting the cause from 130 miles away in their coastal hometown of Westport.

Donald and his wife Debbie felt compelled to join the fight against human trafficking when they heard about World Concern’s Free Them 5k/10k on Spirit 105.3, which they stream via cable out on the coast.

Donald Ross and family — Donald and Debbie Ross, along with their 3 kids, will walk the Free Them 5k in their hometown of Westport, Wash. on Saturday, May 11.

“I have three kids—two teenage daughters. Something resonated with me. I thought, this is something I have to do,” said Donald. “[Trafficked] kids—they’re all somebody’s kids.”

Because they weren’t going to be in Seattle in May, Donald figured they’d take part in the event next year. When he went online to make a donation for this year, he saw the “Virtual” 5k option. A light bulb went on and he realized his family could register, fundraise, and still make a difference this year by walking near their home.

In hopes of getting others in their area involved, Donald secured the high school track the morning of the event, and asked Westport’s mayor, Michael Bruce, to officially start the race at 9:30 a.m. The Ross family, and others who join them, will run or walk “in spirit” alongside participants in Seattle.

Donald encourages anyone in the Westport, Ocean Shores, Grayland, Aberdeen, Hoqiuam or Raymond area to join them on Saturday, May 11 to take a stand against human trafficking.

Register as a “virtual” participant to join the Westport team, or to walk/run any time or place you choose. In doing so, you’ll help protect innocent women and children from the danger of human trafficking.

Tong and Duangmany, two young girls now safe from traffickers

When we met 12-year-old Tong, she had not been to school for two years and was working on her parents’ rice farm in rural Laos, near the Thai border. Her family of 9 is often hungry. As the 3^rd oldest child, she feels it is her responsibility to help her siblings survive. So, Tong was considering going to Thailand to find work.

Tong at home. — Tong, safe at home with her family.

“I heard from friends that it is easy to earn income (in Thailand). I would like to try. Even just a little pay for any work, I will accept,” she said eagerly.

Telling a child like Tong that this would be dangerous is the first step in keeping her safe. She also needs opportunities at home to earn income safely and to get back in school.

So before she left, World Concern offered her the chance to learn sewing skills. Although she was the youngest of 14 girls in her class, she quickly learned to sew a beautiful traditional Lao skirt. Tong also learned she can sell her skirts for about $5 each. By making two or three skirts a week, she can greatly increase her income. And, since she’ll no longer have to work in the rice fields, she can go back to school.

Now, when asked if she plans to go to Thailand, she responds confidently, “For what? I can earn income here and be with my family. There is no need to go there.”

Tong learning to sew. — Tong is learning to sew in a World Concern skills training class so she can earn income safely at home.

Tong’s story illustrates how teaching children and young girls about the risk of trafficking and offering them alternative ways to earn income keeps them safe.

Another girl in her village, Duangmany, wishes she had this opportunity at Tong’s age. When Duangmany was 15, she took a risk many girls her age are willing to take. She left home and travelled 12 hours to a small town outside Bangkok in search of work.

Far from home, Duangmany ended up working in a small restaurant, preparing food and serving beers to male customers.

“The work was very tiring. I had to get up early to prepare the meat,” she recalled of her experience. “I woke up early in the morning and worked late in the evening to clean and close the shop. I worked long hours and felt physically exhausted. When I requested a chance to rest, it wasn’t allowed. What I was earning was not enough for the work I did.”

Although Duangmany says she was abused by the restaurant owners, she was attracted to the freedom to buy shoes and clothes with her money. But eventually, her body gave out and she wasn’t able to go on. She returned home with $6 in her pocket.

Duangmany learning to sew. — Duangmany (left) learned to sew in World Concern’s skills training class. She also tells other young girls about the danger awaiting them across the border in Thailand.

When asked about the abuse she suffered in Thailand, Duangmany grew quiet. She refused to talk about the experience of serving beers to men, and when asked if she would ever consider going back to Thailand, she shook her head and said, “No.”

After joining the World Concern vocational skills class and learning to sew, she has hope for the first time to earn enough income and to help support her family—in a safe way. And when other young girls talk about going to Thailand for work, she can tell them about the reality of what’s waiting for them across the border.

Photos: Meeting critical needs for displaced families in Myanmar

Last month we told you about thousands of innocent families who were forced to flee their homes because of fighting in Northern Myanmar. These families arrived in overcrowded camps with nothing. People were sleeping outdoors in the cold and children were sick. Many of you stepped up and donated. Here are some photos just in from our staff in Myanmar showing how we’re helping.

New latrine in Mynamar camp. — A new latrine to protect the health of displaced families living in a camp in Kachin State, Northern Myanmar.

New well. — A new well being dug in one of the camps.

Nutritious food in camps. — A World Concern staff member (right) checks the nutritious food families are receiving in the camps.

Sick mom and baby receive medical care. — A sick mom and her baby receive medical care.

Hand washing training in camp. — World Concern hygiene trainers conduct a hand washing training in the camp to help keep families healthy and stop the spread of disease.

A water tank holds safe drinking water. — A brand new water tank holds clean, safe drinking water in one of the camps.

Well being dug. — Another angle of a well being dug to provide a sustainable source of clean water.

Families receiving supplies. — Families receive blankets, mosquito bed nets, and emergency supplies.

Your Free Them 5k/10k fundraising goal may be closer than you think

Thoeum Thaiy came across World Concern’s Free Them 5k while looking for his next race. A friend had encouraged him to start running, and he’d completed his first 5k in March of 2012. He knew that registering for another event would keep him hitting the pavement. That’s when he heard about the Free Them 5k.

“The cause really resonated with me,” he said.

Thoeum was born in Cambodia, and his family immigrated to Thailand in 1979. They lived in refugee camps for several years when Thoeum was very young. He has little recollection of that period in his life, but his older siblings often talk about the experience.

Thoeum Thaiy and family — Thoeum Thaiy with his family. Thoeum was last year’s Free Them 5k top fundraiser.

“It struck a chord with me—the mission—with my background (as a refugee). It seemed like a perfect fit,” he said.

Thoeum set what he thought was a pretty aggressive fundraising goal: $1,000. He wrote his own story on his fundraising page, then encouraged friends and family to help him protect vulnerable kids and families in places like Cambodia and Thailand who are at risk of human trafficking.

He posted the link to his fundraising page on Facebook and sent several emails to coworkers and other contacts. Right away he raised about $700.

“It was surprising and amazing how many people gave,” he said. Thoeum was most surprised by generous coworkers—some he hadn’t had much contact with recently—who gave about $200.

Although his initial goal seemed high, “as it inched closer, it was exciting to see the number tick up,” he said.

An employee of Merrill Lynch, Thoeum took advantage of his company’s matching gift program, which added another $700, and enabled him to surpass his goal.

Thoeum ended up raising $1,900 for the 2012 Free Them 5k, making him the top fundraiser last year.

“It doesn’t take a lot of effort or time to do a Facebook post,” he said. “Folks are willing and want to help. All it takes is that initial step of asking.”

Whether you sign up today, or you’ve already registered, be encouraged by the success of Theoum and others and give your fundraising page a push. Your goal may be closer than you think!

How one family radically changed their Christmas giving

What if your family spent less money on Christmas gifts this year?

What if you focused more on giving and helping others instead?

What if you did something amazing, like bringing clean water to a desperately poor village?

Family at Christmas. — Several generations of Rod Robison’s family gather at Christmas. Last year, they donated enough money for a well in Somalia.

That’s exactly what Rod Robison’s family did last Christmas – and they’re doing it again this year. Instead of spending hours in crowded shopping malls, spending loads of money on “stuff,” Rod’s entire extended family pooled their money and raised enough to pay for a well for needy families in Somalia.

He said the idea came after his son Jordan, a freshman in high school, did a report how the lack of clean water impacts poor communities – causing sickness, loss of productivity and income, and perpetuating poverty.

Rod, who had given gifts to family members for years from World Concern’s Global Gift Guide, sent a letter to all of his extended family members who gather in Dallas for Christmas each year. Here’s part of that letter:

“In a real sense, the lack of clean water is drowning people in a cycle of extreme poverty that continues from generation to generation. That is, until someone steps in to help break that cycle.

That’s what I’m suggesting the Robisons, Herringtons, Hansons, and Lambs do this Christmas. Break the cycle for one village.

During Jordan’s presentation he held up a catalog from World Concern. He showed the kids in his class how they could buy ducks, chickens, pigs, or goats for a family caught in the grip of extreme poverty. Or even a well for an entire village in desperate need of clean water.

He challenged his fellow classmates and their families to spend some of their Christmas money this year on someone else. Someone in desperate need.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate God’s grace this Christmas than to share some of that grace with someone who needs it badly. Can you?”

Rod’s family members were thrilled with the idea. His daughter, Jennifer, a mom of twin one-year-old boys, said she and her husband had asked for only gifts that helped others, like those in the Global Gift Guide.

Global Gift Guide gift cards. — Some of Jennifer’s immediate family members who received Global Gift Guide gifts for Christmas.

“My parents did a great job of teaching us there are lots of people who had less than us,” said Jennifer. “We have enough stuff. We really wanted to do something for someone else. At Christmas, we’re celebrating Christ’s birth, but what are we really giving to Christ on his birthday? He says, ‘Whatever you’ve done for the least of these, you’ve done for me.’”

The family raised most of the $3,000 for a shallow well in Somalia, but they also had others join their efforts. Rod shared the story on a radio station and one of the hosts asked afterwards if she could donate to their project. They ended up raising several hundred dollars extra and were able to give some animal gifts as well.

“It was very exciting to see it come together,” said Donna Lamb, Rod’s sister. “We were thrilled to be a part of it.”

Rod, who is the host of a radio program called “Radical Stewardship” on the Family Life Radio Network, said he hopes others will consider changing their mindset from one of ownership to one of stewardship.

“We were put on this earth for a greater purpose than heaping stuff on our laps – to use what God has blessed us with to help others,” he said.

Rod suggests families start by taking 10 to 20 percent of what they would normally spend on Christmas and putting it toward helping others. “That’s going to buy a lot of good,” he said. “The stuff you could have bought with that money doesn’t mean a lot, but it means the world to someone else in need.”

See more gifts that change lives at www.globalgiftguide.org.

Helping families recover after Hurricane Sandy

When Hurricane Sandy hit the island nation of Haiti on Oct. 24, it took the lives of more than 50 people, destroyed more than 6,000 homes, and damaged another 21,000 homes. According to the U.N., nearly 2 million Haitians were affected by the storm, which made landfall on the island nation as a category 1 hurricane before spiraling through the Atlantic and slamming into the East Coast of the U.S. on Oct. 29.

Mr. Maxi and family members outside their one-room shelter. — Mr. Maxi (center) stands with several family members outside the one-room shelter they pieced together with debris from their destroyed home. This family, and others, will soon have a new home.

As families braced for the hurricane in Southern Haiti, a struggling farmer named Mr. Maxi did all he could to protect his home in the rural village of Marc-Cavaillon. He feared for the safety of his wife and two sons as fierce winds and torrential rains battered their home. Their lives were spared, he believes, by God and a few trees on their property as their home collapsed during the storm.

“We were so sad to see all that we possessed disappear in a brief moment,” he said.

The family gathered up the scraps of metal and wood from their home and pieced together the one-room shelter you see in this photo, which is where they’re living, “while waiting for God’s help,” Mr. Maxi said. The family is supported by his crops, but his income is barely enough to survive. His two children are not able to attend school, and can only write their names, he said.

Help has arrived for this family and others in Marc-Cavaillon and surrounding villages. The Maxi family will soon have a new home. Because of the remote location of this village, families here say they never receive any government assistance, even after major catastrophes like Hurricane Sandy. Residents said they consider World Concern’s help a “response from heaven.”

We are working to repair or rebuild more homes damaged by the storm in this area. We’re also giving families small cash grants to buy food, restart businesses, and get back on their feet earning income again.

Helping U.S. families recover

In the U.S., we’re working through partners who were on the ground on the East Coast within days of the storm, assessing needs, providing spiritual support, and organizing opportunities for cleanup teams. One partner your donations are helping support immediately dispatched rapid response clean up teams to communities in Northern New Jersey, such as the town of Little Ferry, which was heavily damaged by the storm surge.

As we maintain these relationships with our partners and assist with long-term recovery, we will continue to walk alongside families on the East Coast and in Haiti who lost so much. With a disaster of this magnitude, it will take time before life returns to “normal.”

Car dealership helps drive away poverty

Kurt and Craig Campbell with goats in their dealership. — Craig (left) and Kurt Campbell know that goats like these can have a huge impact on the life of someone living in poverty.

Customers at Campbell-Nelson Volkswagen and Nissan in Seattle might be hearing, “Baaaa!” rather than, “Ho, ho, ho!” this holiday season. That’s because owners Kurt and Craig Campbell wanted to do something to make an impact on the lives of the poor this Christmas, so for every vehicle sold, Campbell-Nelson is giving a goat through World Concern to poor children and families in developing countries.

And car buyers are loving it.

“Our customer feedback has been 100% positive with many of them actually feeling a strong connection to the good that a goat provides to those struggling in poverty around the world. I have seen several customers smiling as they walk toward their new car, holding the plush goat they receive after their purchase,” said Kurt. “We have given 340 goats and are well on our way to reaching our goal of 500 goats by year end.”

Salesman Clint Richardson agreed his customers really appreciate the outreach. “World Concern does amazing work, and we love being part of it,” he said.

“Goats are a very tangible way for us to help people suffering from dire economic circumstances in some the poorest countries in the world,” said Kurt, whose compassion for hurting people led him to visit Sri Lanka with World Concern. One of the most significant things Kurt observed was how the World Concern staff pays attention to individual people, walking with them through their struggles. (Read more of Kurt’s story)

“We’re affecting people’s lives and it’s wonderful,” he said.

High school students raise awareness of World AIDS Day 2012

The following blog post was written and submitted by King’s High School Social Justice student Trinity Chanel Hepper in recognition of World AIDS Day 2012.

As today, Dec. 1, marks World AIDS Day, King’s High School Social Justice class, taught by Ryan Crane, decided to make a bold statement on the campus of King’s High School.

Students on World AIDS Day 2012 — King’s High School students in Seattle, Wash., stand amidst 250 white crosses, symbolizing the number of people who die of AIDS every day.

Some of the students met early Friday morning, Nov. 30, before school and set up 250 stark white crosses on the lawn in front of the high school, symbolizing the 250 lives lost every hour from AIDS.

Senior Trinity Chanel Hepper, a student in the social justice class and club said, “The crosses almost symbolized grave crosses that you would see in like a military graveyard. I felt shock from how depressing it looked and from the number of people that die in just one hour from this terrible disease. My classes are longer than an hour and 250 people die in less time than I am in my class. I really hope our idea and our action made an impact to the student body of King’s. I know it got people talking which is always good.”

Some associate AIDS with people from other or third world countries, but it’s right in our own backyard. In 2010 the estimated number of people in the U.S. who were diagnosed with AIDS was 1,163,575; of these, 226,593 were adult and adolescent females, 9,475 were children under 13, and 893,058 were adult and adolescent males.

The social justice class aims to raise awareness different injustice topics happening around the world—even locally.

“Kids that attend King’s have such a great opportunity to change the world, and for us as a class to bring awareness to [the student body] is a good thing,” said Mr. Crane. “Hopefully it will plant a seed, and make them have a desire in whatever they do in their future and even through their job to help change and make a difference. They all know of injustices, but they don’t know about them, in detail. So we try to bring awareness to them and ways to help solve and create problem solvers out of them.”

“AIDS is a worldwide problem and our students and young people need to be aware of it,” said Trinity. “The crosses put on the front lawn of the high school did just that.”

It’s Giving Tuesday! Make your holiday shopping matter

You survived (or avoided) Black Friday and Cyber Monday and made it to Giving Tuesday! A much more meaningful day, we think. Giving Tuesday was created to encourage giving to charity during the holiday season, which we heartily support!

A boy in South Sudan drinks clean water from a well. — Clean water is a life-saving gift. You can provide this for children like this boy in South Sudan, knowing your gift is changing lives.

Here at World Concern, we have a special Giving Tuesday challenge – an opportunity for you to double the impact of your gift. Any gift made to the Global Gift Guide by the end of today will be matched. We’re already more than half way to our goal! After hearing about the success of this challenge, another donor has offered up an additional $10,000 in challenge money. An amazing blessing.

Will you help us reach our goal and ensure the families we work with benefit from these matching funds? If you’ve been thinking about giving alternative gifts that truly impact the lives of the poor this year, today is the day to do it. You’ll double your impact, helping provide life-saving care and practical gifts to twice as many children and families living in extreme poverty.

Here’s a little inspiration – a few of our favorite gifts:

Clean Water – Help build a well! For families who are used to walking for miles to fetch dirty water, a well is a real blessing.

Give a Goat! – Help hungry children with a kid goat. Once full-grown, goats can produce up to a gallon of nutritious milk each day.

Soccer Balls – Soccer is more than fun and good exercise—it’s a sport that unifies and builds friendships. A soccer ball shows kids somebody cares.

Thanks for helping us reach our Giving Tuesday matching challenge goal, and for giving gifts that really matter.