The Community Hope Project provides updates on their fundraising efforts, projects in Sierra Leone, and next steps. They have raised $2150 total so far to support a school and future projects in Hill Cut, Sierra Leone like a microfinance program, training center, and community garden. They are also expanding programs like their youth ambassador program and pen pal program to connect students in the US and Sierra Leone. Upcoming priorities include developing a microfinance program, training center, and improving water access.

1. Community Hope Project
November 2011
UPDATE

2. Agenda
 Brief overview of CHP for newcomers (mission, principles,
activities)
 Fundraising:
 Total raised: $1650 + $750 additional
 Total sent: $2150
 Needed monthly (just to maintain school): $450-500
 Impact in Hill Cut + next steps
 Local updates:
 Website progress
 AIP: CHP internships beginning winter quarter
 Student organization at UCSD
 Possible trip to Sierra Leone this summer
 Non-profit status
 Next steps: planning for Teams

3. CHP Mission
…fostering hope, health, justice,
opportunity and growth through
human connection, creativity
and empowerment

4. Guiding principles
 Global social and economic justice is good for those
individuals and communities that are suffering,
good for those of us who commit to helping to
change things, and ultimately, good for all people
 Health, well-being, access to clean water, ample
food, decent housing, education, healthcare and the
opportunity to work and live with dignity should
be available to all

5. General hypothesis
The general hypothesis is that when someone:
-Increases her/his sense of self-efficacy, mastery and control over
her/his world;
-Enjoys a connection to a group of like-minded others, and
cultivates relationships of mutual respect, valuation and reciprocity;
and
-Perceives her/himself to be of value, and to be living a life of
purpose and meaning,…
...(that) there will be a positive effect on his/her emotional,
psychological and physical health.
We would expect to see this at both the individual and aggregate
(community) level. We hope to measure this so that if it proves to
be so, it might be replicated elsewhere.

6. General Project Overview
Community health/development
initiative
+
Connection btwn folks in S.L. and U.S.
+
Youth Ambassador Program

7. More detail:
Community health/development initiative
 Partner with communities internationally (1st project:
Hill Cut Community, Freetown, Sierra Leone)
 Anthropological & human rights principles: respect for,
and deference to, community beliefs & norms; partnership
model-not bulldozing
 Identify needs, interests, priorities of community
members
 Facilitate development (if not already present) of
community leadership organization
 Generate and/or marshal resources for community-
identified priorities (school, adult literacy, micro-finance
program, training center, water, garden/market
development, health center)

8. CONNECTION
 Pen pal program (18 kids currently with pen pals;
50+ more waiting in Hill Cut; 3 adult pen pal
relationships established; 65+ more waiting)
 Sister school arrangements
 Possibly laptop program (One Laptop)

9. Youth Ambassador Program
 Recruit 10-12 students (middle/high schoolers in
low-income areas) at a time and train them in a peer
leadership curriculum that looks at:
 Global and local health (with emphasis on ecological
model of health & the social determinants of health)
 Social, economic, environmental and global justice
 Actions they can take to effect change in their own
lives and the lives of others (both internationally and
their own communities)
 Fosters knowledge, perspective, empowerment
 YAs select a service or fundraising project to
undertake (alone or as part of a team) that benefits
their pen pal, their community, or both

10. Fundraising:
Total raised: $1650 + $750 additional
Total sent: $2150
Needed monthly (just to maintain school): $450-500
Additional $500/mo to provide lunch
-to support one child: $20-40/month (with or without
lunch)
-to fund a new or expanded business for one family:
$100-150 (one time)
UPDATE: Just received additional gift of $1000 on the
17th! Will be sending this off to help support the
school and begin the micro-finance program

11. Where the money has
gone….

12. View from Hill Cut,
Freetown, Sierra Leone

13. Community Dwellings

23. Temporary building for
school in Hill Cut

27. All labor for the construction was provided
by community members on a volunteer basis

29. Opening Ceremony for the
new school

33. The first class of kids!

35. Participants in the adult
literacy class

37. Adult Literacy Teacher

38. Teacher for the children

39. Sample business products
proposed for
microfinance program

40. Bead Necklaces

41. A beautiful local craft called,
“gara”

46. Hand-made slippers

50. Soup-making

51. Next projects:
 Micro-loan program (line-up of applicants, each with a budget and
requesting $100-150 to start or expand their business)
 Training Center (the adults want to learn different craft skills from
one another; we are talking about this being one of the requirements of
qualifying for a micro-loan)
 Alternate (clean) water source (next few photos show current
water source, which is not very good, and brings a number of risks)
 Community garden and market (currently, people have to walk
about an hour to reach the nearest open-air market)
 Community health clinic (along with a program to train
local adults to be local community health educators,
using a “promotoras” model, and possibly fund a
scholarship to send the most promising on to nursing or
medical school, with agreement that they return to work
in the community afterwards)

52. Current source of water
in Hill Cut

55. Template for what the website will look
like (w/different photos)

56.  Next steps: planning for Teams
 Fundraising
 Program planning
 Research design