Blog: Asia

On behalf of all of GHNI's staff, volunteers, villagers, and partners, we would like to sincerely thank you for all you did to support us on Giving Tuesday this year!

Whether you were a donor, advocate, or social networker, you played a key role in our Giving Tuesday success. The numbers are still being finalized, but here's a summary of what we know so far.

The children were given a lesson on an environment study as a preparation for their forthcoming examination in school.

The teacher explained that the environment consists of water, land, lakes, rivers, humans, animals, plants, and air. The environment must be kept clean to get fresh air and reduce pollution in order to overcome the occurrence of diseases.

“My name is **Dinithi. I am nine years old and I am in the fourth grade. At present, my mother is at home, as there is no work on the estate. My father works abroad as a day laborer. He is unable to send money monthly, as the company he works for keeps their salaries in the area for over three months. Some months, when the money does not come, we only have one meal a day. This makes me think of what I should do in the future to overcome this situation.

Sewing Center

The sewing center is providing the best skills training to women, enabling them to make a difference in the community as they help their families. We are on the track to empower the women to live better lives.

I have been following up with villagers by teaching lessons on health, hygiene, and disease prevention to the children and women’s group. I was greatly encouraged when the community told me that our Transformational Community Development (TCD) lessons are so powerful for their community development.

The first group that participated in the micro loan program has benefited much from the small fund that we supported. The first group paid back their loan and then it was loaned to the next group. More community people are interested in participating in the micro loan program.

The ladies’ involvement in GHNI’s Transformational Community Development (TCD) program is really benefiting their families. They are learning to read and write, as well as showing their interest in developing skills to start ventures to support their families and children. The micro loan program, which helped them farm tomatoes, is encouraging them to open micro shops. What a great encouragement for us to see them using their skills, starting small businesses, growing vegetables, and saving money on food for their families.

For this quarter, I would like to highlight some stories of progress in Myat Hlae Village. Our Transformational Community Development (TCD) work in this village has become more sustaining as the community leaders take the lead and continue to make progress with the participation of a large number of villagers. One of our greatest achievements during these months is the sanitation project. Until now, around 18 new toilets have been built under the management of the village TCD leaders. More families are already waiting for the next round to start.

In Jatapara Village, our Transformational Community Development (TCD) taught the community how to grow crops with low rainfall. Suggestions on how to grow fast-growing crops in hilly areas were made to farmers. Farmers like Rubi and Bablu have performed well and rice farming is going well here. We are teaching villagers to drink clean water and eat healthy food.

Thank you!

Manu
GHNI TCD Worker

Life is going well in Hoogly Village. We are enjoying the Durga Puja festival, one of the biggest festivals of the Bengali people. Last month, we celebrated Teacher's Day in our computer center. We also taught more children how to wash their hands and its importance.

Thank you!

Bapi
GHNI Partner

Last quarter was sowing season in Kharibari Village, so we did not have any weekly meetings. The villagers were really very busy with sowing and planting.  We continued our Saturday special classes for children.

I personally visited Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jalpaiguri and delivered Nepiar grass to the Goat Loan Program beneficiaries.

I was also invited to tribal social meetings in Malbazar to share about the work of GHNI. I shared about the Transformational Community Development (TCD) concepts of GHNI.