Dear donors, supporters and friends,
Welcome to your newsletter for the third quarter of this year. As always, we are excited to tell you about the development work we have been able to undertake in the last three months because of your generous support.
Welcome to our second newsletter of 2017.
In this update, we decided to give you an overview of everything we have achieved so far since we started work in our project village of Khairo Dero in 2008. As you know, our organization’s purpose is to create a model of integrated rural development in which the community is an active participant.
Welcome to your first newsletter of 2017.
As the year got underway we were faced with a challenge relating to one of the five government
schools we have adopted in Village Khairo Dero. Since we adopted the Govt Boys High School in 2014
we had been persuading the government-appointed headmaster to cooperate with us, perform his duty
and run the school properly.
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.
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.