Motivated to Mill: Magabeni Milling Project
There is nothing more exciting seeing motivated people working together to bring change to their own community. The community of Magabeni comprises of about 200 homesteads. The people living here have to travel kilometres to mill their corn into the staple ‘mealie meal’. They then have to carry the heavy bags of maize on their […]
Matale, Sri Lanka: Improving education outcomes
Operation Hope has been working in Sri Lanka for many years. One of our key focus areas is improving educational outcomes for children. Some of the ways we have achieved this has been through providing school books and materials, ensuring that children have access to healthy food, and educating families and the community about child […]
My Pet Photo
My Pet Photo is proud to be a supporter of Operation Hope. We know how precious pets are. After all, they’re more than animals… they’re family! If you’re a pet owner then you know there’s something very special about the relationship you have with your furry, feathery or scaley friend. They bring joy, laughter, comfort, happiness […]
Access to Education in Sri Lanka
Education is a vital key to empowerment, in breaking the cycle of poverty. Educated children can change society, improving social, economic and health outcomes. Operation Hope chooses to invest in programs and projects that promote learning and aid school attendance. In November two Operation Hope board members went to Sri Lanka on a monitoring and […]
Chickens – a way out of poverty
Operation Hope Swaziland’s community empowerment arm has been developing a commercial chicken project with a group of 35 people, with varying disabilities. This group are very engaged, committed and passionate about learning and making a sustainable way forward for themselves. The area they live in is a very poor rural area of Swaziland where the […]
Transformation Stories (Pt 2) – Alpheos’ New Life
Did you come to our Walkathon this year? It was a great event full of fun, a sense of purpose and of course…walking! Our aim for this event was for us as a community to raise $5000 towards building a home for Alpheos, a single dad with a leg disability and doing life tough in Swaziland. Alpheos use […]
Education – the key to transformation
We all know education is important right? It is a children’s right. It is an integral part of a growing society. Yes? Yes. A recent Global Citizen article (read full article here) stated that: • Education increases a person’s income, • Education saves lives, • Education makes children healthier, • Education builds peace, • Education increase food production […]
Four Little Red Balls
What do these four little red balls have to do with community development? If you asked me several years ago I would honestly answer – ‘well nothing!’ Seven years on and I must say that these little red balls have become one of our favourite community development tools. My husband Chris bought them the first year […]
Any excuse for a party!
Over the last 6 years we have occasionally put on parties for the local children. Why? Well just because really… you don’t need a reason to party do you? Let’s be honest – many of the children and families in poor marginalised rural areas shoulder so much responsibility that taking a day off is a release. We see […]
Training for transformation…
“Practice is the hardest part of learning, and training is the essence of transformation.” Ann Voskamp At Operation Hope we believe that to truly move forward we need to expand our understanding, skill set and experience. We should never cease learning. With this in mind, we endeavour to regularly provide training and learning opportunities for our […]
Empowering through Education…
Education is a vital human right and plays a key role in human, social, and economic development. Education reduces poverty, boosts economic growth and increases income. It increases a person’s chances of having a healthy life, reduces maternal deaths, and combats diseases such as HIV and AIDS. Education can promote gender equality, reduce child marriage, […]
Global School Classrooms and Pit Latrines… completed!
In 2014 Operation Hope began working with the Global Revival Primary School – a school that had many poor and vulnerable students in its makeup. The school was in desperate need of more classrooms. One classroom alone had 112 students which made both learning and teaching very difficult! Through the generosity of our supporters and donors, together with the school community, […]
Our Giant
In 2015 Thobani, our Operation Hope Agricultural Advisor, told us he would like to raise awareness and sponsorship funds for our Operation Hope Swaziland projects by wheelchairing 17 kms from Siteki to Magazavane. Encouraged by his enthusiasm we all worked together as a team to make this happen. Here is his story… Hello, my name […]
In Remembrance… Mkhulu Dibha
Over the last few years we’ve had the privilege of working alongside some pretty amazing people. Mkhulu (grandpa) Dibha was one of them. In 2013 we received a referral from social welfare to assess two young orphan boys who were living with their grandfather. When we visited the homestead we found a lovely, sweet old […]
Global School Classroom Update… almost there!
Last year we brought an update on the 4 new classrooms Operation Hope was building in partnership with the Global School and Micro Projects (a Swazi Government department). You can read about this here. After the initial meeting and finalising the plans, it was all systems go. We were truly amazed at how many of the school […]
Dry as a Bone…
It’s mid afternoon and we’re on the road to Mhlumeni, a rural area in Northern Swaziland. We are going to visit a new family who has reported that they have very limited food and water. The grandparents who live there are caring of their very sick grandson who is floor bound (they have no bed). The grandson soils his pants […]
Transformation Stories (pt1) – A Family Home…
Transformation – ‘a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance, a metamorphosis’). During our time in Swaziland we have seen some resilient, brave and hard working people. We have been privileged to partner with them and witness their transformation over the last few years and would like to share with you their stories of change over upcoming blogs. Meet Mzwandile We first […]
