When we’re sick, or our children are sick, we can call a doctor.  But in the developing world, there is a lack of doctors, nurses, health facilities and medicines.

More than 10 million children under the age of five die each year…and two-thirds of these deaths could be prevented with effective, inexpensive treatments that are already available, including vaccines and antibiotics.

Beyond the statistics, the real tragedy is that there is a face and a family behind every one of the 10 million.  What you may not know is that pneumonia – one of the illnesses that can be effectively treated – is the single largest killer of children, claiming 2 million lives each year.  This is more than HIV/AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

Fortunately, Project HOPE has developed its own weapons in the fight against childhood pneumonia.   In Nicaragua, for example, we are working in an area where about a third of all infant and child deaths are attributed to pneumonia.  Local clinics frequently run out of essential medicines, and there are no trained personnel to prescribe when the medicines are in stock.  HOPE is addressing this by sending medicines, training providers, and training mothers and other caregivers in how to recognize danger signs while the disease is still manageable.

Elsewhere, we are working to promote good health by improving family income.   For more than 10 years, Project HOPE has worked with women in poor communities around the world to create and manage Village Health Banks (VHB).   These innovative programs integrate conventional micro-credit lending with health education. 

Studies by Project HOPE and by outside organizations have shown that these women increase their income – some quite substantially – as well as the health knowledge necessary to maintain good health.   More importantly, women themselves report enhanced self-esteem and standing in the community. 

Nowhere is this more evident than in southern  Africa, where abject poverty and AIDS continue to ravage families.   But alongside tragedy there are inspiring success stories.   In Mozambique, Marta cares for seven children, ages 2 through 10, orphaned or abandoned because of AIDS.  Marta operated a small market stall selling cabbage to provide for her family, but, with loans from her Village Health Bank, she has expanded her business, adding not only a second stall, but actually hiring an employee.  Seven of her children are now attending school, she can afford medical treatment whenever necessary, and she can purchase a wider variety of nutritious food….all of which gives her the self-confidence and self-esteem to continue striving for a better life for her and her family.

In addition to our long-term health education programs, Project HOPE receives more than $100 million in donated medicines every year, and delivers them to communities in desperate need around the world.  But in the end, it is not about money or medicines or airlifts…it is about lives.

Eleven-year-old Safarali is one of those lives.    Not long ago, Safarali arrived in the Faizobad Central District Hospital in Tajikistan from the small village of Kabkhrezwith acute appendicitis.   For three days, he suffered at home with a fever, before he was finally brought to the hospital.   He was operated on immediately.  For the surgery, Safarali received Propofol, donated by Project HOPE.  Afterwards, he recuperated with antibiotics also donated by HOPE.  One life saved.

Whether short-term medical humanitarian assistance for acutely ill children, or long-term programs focusing on medical training and health education, Project HOPE has an unwavering commitment to protecting and improving the health of the world’s most vulnerable – most of whom are women and young children.

Thank you for your involvement in HOPEfest. We think it is a great way to show you care and a great reason to celebrate.