Oct. 20th, 2023

Weekly Newsletter

A Message from our Chairman

For 20 years, our caring and informed donor community has continually helped Humanity First USA respond to emergencies near and far. Your routine support during times of disaster and times of peace has made HFUSA an impactful humanitarian organization. Thanks to donors like you, we remain prepared when disaster strikes, can provide relief during crises, and serve the neediest people in America and across the globe.

The current Middle East conflict weighs heavily on all our minds. We are pained by this horrific situation as the harm and uncertain future upon innocent lives remains a grave concern. We hope and pray for a swift end to active conflict, enabling paths to help. Our unwavering commitment to serving all of humanity remains our focus.

As we closely monitor the conflict, we continue serving those who rely on our daily assistance worldwide. Our goals remain to be prepared for crisis response and serve the front lines of eradicating hunger, providing safe and clean water, saving people’s eyesight, securing medical care, and delivering quality education. We know that communities with access to basic needs can thrive and flourish and, we pray, be at peace.

I ask you to please join our end-of-year events to learn about this critical work and be part of the solution. Your engagement and donations ensure we can continue alleviating the suffering caused by disasters and poverty.

Thank you for supporting HFUSA to make a difference in our small world every single day.

Munum Naeem

Chairman & Executive Director

Humanity First USA

Welcoming new babies at Nasir Hospital despite civil disturbance

Nasir Hospital has remained open during nearly two weeks of civil protests that have disrupted transit and daily life throughout many regions of Guatemala. But simply getting to the hospital, even for care that cannot wait, has been extremely difficult. Recently, two expectant mothers were brought by ambulance, with our doctors riding along, through numerous roadblocks to make it to Nasir Hospital for successful deliveries.

Claudia decided to trust her prenatal care and planned cesarean birth to Nasir Hospital after learning about their excellent quality of maternal care. Unfortunately, just days before her scheduled birth, roadblocks began to cause hours of gridlock in the area. Claudia lives one hour away from Nasir Hospital, and the roads between were unpredictable even for emergencies. Nasir Hospital exhausted every last resource to go to Claudia's house with the doctors in charge of performing her cesarean section and transfer her to the hospital.

Shortly after this, Nasir Hospital staff once again went through great lengths to bring 17-year-old Angie, who lives in a village three hours from the hospital, in for her cesarean birth. Both mothers and babies are healthy, and they are grateful to the medical teams for ensuring the safe birth of their children.

We celebrate the birth of these two new babies and thank the hospital staff for their dedication. ♥️

Three women and one man in scrubs pose smiling for the camera

The Nasir Hospital medical staff who persisted through the challenges to make sure Claudia and Angie received the care they needed.

Nasir Hospital has postponed our upcoming Gift of Sight medical mission as well as a series of anniversary and fundraising events due to these disruptions. Thank you to our volunteers and guests who have been so understanding of these challenges and who are ready to return to Guatemala when we can reschedule.

Four Humanity First water wells in Nusa Tenggara Timur Indonesia will support 1,100 households

Clean and safe drinking water is now available at no cost, and at a short distance, to 1,100 households in remote and dry areas of Indonesia. Humanity First USA, HF International and HF Indonesia completed a joint project to dig four brand new wells in villages where rainfall is low and economic need is high.

The Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) region of Indonesia has a dry climate and rocky soil, making water availability highly dependent on rainfall captured during a short rainy season. The scarcity of clean water in the areas of Kupang, the Sabu Islands, and South-Central Timor exacerbates poverty, hinders access to education, and affects overall nutrition levels.

The HF team used a rigorous two-part assessment process to identify four villages with high need and an engaged community as the final sites for new wells. The team sought input from NTT provincial government planning and public works authorities, held technical meetings with the district governments of three target areas, and engaged activists and community leaders who possess an intimate knowledge of local conditions.

All four wells were completed and inaugurated in the spring and summer of this year, and now thousands of people have ready access to clean and safe water!

A man in a T-Shirt with a head scarf smiles and his quote reads, "Humanity First's arrival is akin to a shooting star, a pleasant surprise from Jakarta, drilling in a remote corner of Indonesia."

Young person in shorts seen from behind carrying water jugs by hand and on their head.

On the Sabu Islands, people often carry water in jerry cans or buckets over long, hilly distances from distant springs. Children are typically responsible for retrieving water, which disrupts their education. The level of education in the Sabu region is notably low. The majority of students complete only junior high school while further education is attainable only for a select few with surplus income.

South Central Timor is recognized as one of the poorest areas and holds the unfortunate distinction of having the highest prevalence of child stunting in Indonesia. Lack of access to clean water in this region is a significant factor in the pervasive issues of poverty and stunting. Residents carry water for several kilometers from distant springs or purchase it out of very limited incomes.

Completing the wells required digging 50-60 meters in Kapang and Sabu regions and a full 80 meters in South Central Timor! After the wells were complete, each village held a small inauguration ceremony that included local customs like animal sacrifice, planting trees, prayer, and communal meals. The project will be monitored and evaluated for expansion to other villages in the future. Congratulations to the HF Indonesia team for a successful project that has had an immediate impact on the daily lives of thousands of people.

A few dozen people of all ages pose in a large group with a sign for the water well held by a man in the center.

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