Newsletters

In the category of family infrastructure under which we help farmers and daily wagers build shelter and toilets and gain access to solar electricity, kitchen gas and clean drinking water, we achieved major goals this quarter. Our housing assistance project has since 2008 been helping families living without shelter to build homes and assisting those living in dilapidated rooms near collapse to repair and reconstruct. We provide bricks and/or roofing material and motivate the families to contribute other material and put in the labour themselves. This both preserves their sense of dignity through self-help and ensures a sense of ownership and participation in their own development.

As the second quarter of the year got underway, we set out to help more families build their home infrastructure. In our housing project, we provided bricks while motivating the home owners to buy their own roof and also contribute the labour charges. This is in line with our principle of community participation so that families gain both a sense of self-help as well as value for the home they build. In the last quarter, we helped two labourers and and one buffalo trader to build their homes. Since 2008, we have helped 39 families build homes.

The first quarter of this year brought with it a very difficult time for our organization. Our founder Naween Mangi, Ali Hasan Mangi Memorial Trust’s workers and supporters fell victim to a planned and intense attack of harassment and threats by members of society who oppose development and the empowerment of women and the poor. This harassment included verbal abuse in public, late night threatening phone calls, in-person threats, illicit police cases and false claims on our property. The harassment reached the point where our founder was forced to vacate her residence in the village due to constant harassment. Several times a week people opposing our work would send drunk and armed individuals to stand outside the residence late at night and shout out threats, bash on the door with various weapons and create harassment.

With the close of 2015, our organization completed eight years of serving the people of Khairo Dero, a settlement of about 500 houses, roughly 3,500 people, located 25 kilometers from Larkana city in Sindh, Pakistan. As you know, our project is focused on integrated rural development with the aim of creating a model of village development at the community level that can be replicated elsewhere. As we reach this landmark, we thought we would share with you our experience and successes over these years.

Welcome to your quarterly newsletter. This time around, in addition to updating you on all our projects and accomplishments in the last three months, we will also be seeking your urgent assistance with fund-raising to keep our work going. More on that later in the update.

Welcome to your newsletter for the quarter ended June. Despite the searing hot summer in our project village of Khairo Dero, district Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan, we’ve had a very busy three months.

Welcome to your first newsletter of 2015. We’ve made a great start to the new year in our project village of Khairo Dero and look forward to getting a lot more done in the rest of the year.

Welcome to your final newsletter of 2014. We’re happy to update you on a busy quarter we’ve had in our project village in Khairo Dero and we’re excited to report that our work is expanding and flourishing.

Welcome to your third newsletter of 2014. We continue to make progress toward our aim of creating a model village that can be replicated and are happy to share this past quarter’s developments with you.

On Oct. 5, 2014, villagers of Khairo Dero held their first ever protest rally in history by coming out onto the streets to protest against a gunfire attack on the village home of the founder/managing trustee of Ali Hasan Mangi Memorial Trust. No one was hurt in the attack and no one was apprehended. Hundreds of men, women and children walked through the village shouting slogans in support of the Trust.