PHASE I - ALLIANCE OF PAKISTAN FLOOD RELIEF EFFORTS IN-KIND DONATIONS DRIVE

Background Information

Since the beginning of August 2011, monsoon rains have caused widespread flooding in southern Pakistan affecting 5 million people. The recent floods have exacerbated the situation in Sindh Province, where communities are still recovering from last year’s floods. Nearly 1 million homes have been partially or fully destroyed and an estimated 222,000 people are in temporary camps.The most acute needs are shelter, food security, water, sanitation hygiene and health.

The Pakistan government disaster management agency, NDMA, is leading the disaster response, with support from other relevant government agencies. The Red Cross, and various UN agencies are at work on the response, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Program (WFP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).  The Office of Secretary-General of United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon recently issued this statement: “We call for solidarity of the international community in support of disaster management and risk reduction in Pakistan.”

Call to Action

In response to the most devastating floods in the last 51 years and keeping in perspective a united effort in the Greater Houston Area, more than thirty (30) organizations, community leaders, and media partners have joined efforts and established the Alliance of Pakistan Floods Relief Efforts to serve those affected.

Given the magnitude of these floods and considering the encouraging statement issued by the UN, the Alliance would like to invite the City of Houston International Department and City of Houston Officials to support the Alliance’s efforts by facilitating a joint press conference to create awareness and give the Houston international community the opportunity to help the millions of women, men and children affected by these devastating floods.

The first phase of the Alliance’s efforts will be an in-kind donation drive that will continue until October 16th, 2011. The second phase will be a fundraising event scheduled to be held also in October 2011.

Mr. Saeed Sheikh, president Houston-Karachi Sister City, is the Alliance’s Coordinator.

HOUSTON STUDENTS HELP WOMEN BEEKEEPERS REBUILD THEIR LIVES

Houston, Texas.- Students from Klein Forest High School’s Pakistani Indian Student Association (PISA) partnered with the Hashoo Foundation to help women beekeepers who lost their beehives –their only source of income- to the devastating floods in Pakistan. The students donated new beehives to help the beekeepers rebuild their honey business and income generating enterprise.

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Beehives damaged by the floods

PISA raised $5,000 during their charity show for the flood relief efforts in Pakistan. The students adopted 16 women beekeepers from the villages of Danyore, Mohammad Abad, and Sultanabad, and replaced 53 of their damaged beehives with new ones. The new beehives will increase the beekeeper’s capacity, help them kick-start their honey producing business, and allow them to the fill orders placed by the hotels and grocery stores for the last quarter of 2011. The beekeepers are part of the Women’s Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project Plan Bee in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Sana and Christy performing during the PISA charity show at Klein Forest High School

Hashoo Foundation initiated the Women’s Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project Plan Bee in 2007, to empower women in the Northern Areas of Pakistan by expanding employment opportunities and providing a sustainable source of income through the sale of high-quality honey. The project is based on a system of social barter, designed to promote social change. Hashoo Foundation agrees to buy the women beekeepers' honey at market price and successfully links them to the lucrative markets of 5-star hotels and grocery stores in Pakistan, provided that the families agree to send their children to quality schools provide them with regular health check-ups and improve nutrition at home.

Beekeepers from the villages of Danyore, Mohammad Abad, and Sultanabad

"I am super excited that all our hard work is actually accomplishing something significant and that we are meeting the goal we set every year, which is to help others. I am so excited about our partnership with the Hashoo Foundation, and that we have the opportunity to improve the lives of the people of Danyore, Mohammad Abad, and Sultanabad. I think that is what PISA is all about: helping the world to be a better place," Jasleen Talwar, a PISA student

Hashoo Foundation team in Gilgit delivering the new beehives donated by PISA

“The Plan Bee Project is a great way to reach out and make a real difference in the lives of people! It has allowed us to use the money from our charity show to make areal and visible difference in our sponsored villages. I am proud to have been a part of such a wonderful project." Firza Jawaid, PISA student.

Making a Tangible and Measurable Difference in the Beekeepers Lives

“The student’s financial contribution provided each of the 16 beekeeper with 3-4 beehives depending on their individual situation. Under normal weather conditions, we expect three to four harvests per year. A beehive is expected to produce 16-18 Kg. of honey per year. In this particular project, each beekeeper should produce 4 Kg. per beehive in October during the last harvest of this year. The overall projected production for the new beehives is 212 Kg. and Hashoo Foundation is committed to buy the honey at the market price of $4.00 per Kg. The income the beekeepers earn from the sale of honey will enable these beekeepers to send 54 school-age children back to quality schools. 117 dependents will be indirectly impacted,” informed Kamal Uddin, Hashoo Foundation’s Enterprise Development Officer.

Close up of one of the new beehives donated by PISA

According to Cristal Montañéz Baylor, Executive Director of the Hashoo Foundation, “The beehives donated by PISA are making a tangible and measurable difference in the beekeepers lives. The students’ financial contribution was much needed and their commitment and compassion to help rebuild the beekeepers honey enterprise is very commendable.”

PISA’s Contribution is Making the World a Better Place

Village Danyore

38 beehives were distributed to 12 beekeepers
90 indirectly impacted dependents
45 children will be able to return to school
152+ Kg. of honey expected to be harvest on October 2011

Village of Sultanabad

8 beehives were distributed to 2 beekeepers
16 indirectly impacted dependents
5 children will be able to return to school
28+ Kg. of honey expected to be harvest on October 2011

Village of Mohammad Abad

7 beehives were distributed to 2 beekeepers
11 indirectly impacted dependents
4 children will be able to return to school
36+ Kg. of honey expected to be harvest on October 2011

Hashoo Foundation team in Gilgit delivering the new beehives donated by PISA

Dr. Norman J. LaFave is Klein Forest High School PISA Sponsor and Advisor. When asked about the student’s decision to partner with the Hashoo Foundation, he stated “it is a pleasure to see the efforts of my kids support such a wonderful cause. The adoption of the villages of Danyore, Mohammad Abad, and Sultanabad through Plan Bee has allowed the students to make a real difference in the lives of people. It is something they can be proud of and remember with pride as they go forward with their lives".

PISA’s beneficiary working in the field

"We are very thankful to have given the funds from our charity show to the Hashoo Foundation. We are pleased that Ms. Cristal Montañéz Baylor gave us this opportunity to help the women of Northern Pakistan," Hythum Moqbel, PISA President.

There are several villages that need help. Hashoo Foundation USA encourages schools, organizations and individuals to replicate PISA’s project by adopting a devastated village. Every $106 raised will buy a new beehive and help the beekeepers generate a stable income to support themselves and their dependents. See assessment report…

You can help!!

Click the beehive to Donate

Phase I Honey Bee Training Skardu Chapelwood Foundation 2011

Report on Honey Bee Training in Skardu Chapelwood Foundation and Hashoo Group Sponso...

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISES WITH A MARKET-BASED APPROACH

Skardu, Pakistan.- The Chapelwood Foundation and the Hashoo Foundation are empowering communities by creating sustainable enterprises, building capacity, developing a good quality product and providing access to market through the sale of honey in big cities of Pakistan.

Building on the success of the Hashoo Foundation’s Women’s Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project Plan Bee, the Chapelwood Foundation in partnership with the Hashoo Group funded the expansion of the Women’s Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project Plan Bee in Skardu in Baltistan, Pakistan.

 

Working in Remote Mountainous Areas 

Skardu is located in a remote, isolated area of Northern Pakistan at an altitude of nearly 2,500 m (8,200 ft). The town is surrounded by grey-brown colored mountains, which hide the 8,000 meter peaks of the nearby Karakoram range at the confluence of the Indus river.

The objective of the Plan Bee Skardu is to enhance income of the target families through honey bee farming and to help them use the extra income for education, health care and food for the children.

 

Empowering Communities  

Initially, Plan Be Skardu was proposed to empower just women through honey bee farming. As the Hashoo Foundation was developing its baseline survey and selection criteria for the women, some of the men in the area approached the Foundation and described the lack of employment opportunities and the need to earn a livelihood for their families by undertaking entrepreneurial initiatives. These men requested to be trained in honey bee farming with the women. This is a remarkable social change since this region is considered as one of the most male-dominated areas in Pakistan.

 

Promoting Economic Development

On April 2011, forty (40) new beekeepers (20 women and 20 men) were trained in honey bee farming as part of the Plan Bee Skardu project.  The Chapelwood Foundation sponsorship provided the beekeepers with training, beehive kits, extractors, masks, and the opportunity to earn a sustainable income to provide for themselves and their families.  Each beekeeper received 2 beehives and is expected to produce 16-18 Kg of honey per beehive per annum, which will earn approximately $128.00-$144.00 accordingly. This income will allow the beekeepers to improve their quality of life. This project has an indirect impact on 253 dependents.

 

Promoting Education
Plan Bee Skardu is based on a system of social barter. Hashoo Foundation trains the beekeepers, provides technical assistance to ensure quality production, and buys the beekeepers' honey for 20% above the market price. The Foundation successfully links the beekeepers to the lucrative markets of 5-Star hotels, grocery stores and other venues in Pakistan provided that the families agree to send their children to quality schools, have regular health check-ups and improve nutrition at home.

Plan Bee Skardu will enable 106 school-age children to have access to quality education.

 

Traditional Social Setting and Gender Disparities
The successful implementation of the project has not only resulted in empowering individual beekeepers and their families, but has paved the way for future interventions by breaking traditional barriers in a highly conservative local society.  The traditional social set-up, lack of access to education, and gender disparities in the area were the main hurdles confronted during the mobilization phase of this project. The Hashoo Foundation team played a very important role in achieving the set objectives effectively and efficiently.

Mobilization play a very important role since promotes involvement in decision making.  When communities become independent through honey bee farming, social gathering is expected to increase by 100%.

It is anticipated that the change in the socio-economic conditions of the beekeepers will have an impact within the community, which may in turn, lead to a greater indigenous efforts to break the shackles of marginalization, thus helping alleviate poverty in Pakistan.

 

Market-Based Approach
Regular monitoring field visits to the project site will be conducted by the Hashoo Foundation team to oversee the progress of the project.

Hashoo Foundation will configure the association of the newly trained beekeepers on cluster-based and registered them with the Northern Area Honey Bee keepers Association (NAHBKA);  and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hussainabad Local Support Organization (HLSO) for the collection and quality assurance of the honey.

The Foundation commits to purchase all the produced honey at market-based price; and is responsible for the processing, packaging and labeling, and ensured to explore national & international market for the sale of honey. 

It is anticipated that the change in the socio-economic conditions of the beekeepers will have an impact within the community, which may in turn, lead to a greater indigenous efforts to break the shackles of marginalization, thus helping alleviate poverty in Pakistan by building sustainable enterprises with a market-based approach.

Thank you Chapelwood Foundation for making the Plan  Bee Skardu project possible.

Report on Honey Bee Training "Plan Bee" in Skardu a Chapelwood Foundation and Hashoo Group Sponsored Project


Honey Bee Farming Training "Plan Bee Skardu" Pictures