If it were easy, it wouldn’t be a problem worth solving. If it were simple, the system wouldn’t be difficult to fix. And if it were unimportant, it certainly wouldn’t be a sacrifice worth making. So, what are we really doing? Simply put, we are trying.

Since the start of 2012, you have invested over $25,000 in five different communities in Nigeria with the sole purpose of improving the lives of the people in the communities. Our goal is to tip the scales of justice in their favor by investing in the following areas listed below. We believe that investing in these areas will provide access to immediate standard of living improvements (water and microloans) and long term improvements (education).

Microloans – We want to give people the opportunity to access credit so they can improve their lives by starting or expanding small businesses.

Education – We want to give children the opportunity to receive an education. In every community where there is an existing education infrastructure (teachers, school building, willing parents and children), we will invest in sustaining the education investments.

 Water – We want to provide better access to safer water so that people in the communities do not have to spend hours fetching unsafe water.

Thank you for your support so far. Please continue to help us as we invest in these communities.

PSH at a glance – 2012

Check out the ACT Page to see how you can support us.

Thank you.

Your PSH Team.

Tags: Africa, Updates

I remember the first time I visited Nigeria after being in the United States for eight consecutive years. The minute I got out of the plane, feeling the heat and breathing the air, I smiled uncontrollably. The same thing happened to me on March 15th, 2012 when I landed in Nigeria for a two week trip
representing Poverty Stops Here (PSH). Ultimately, representing everyone who has ever given anything (be it money, time, prayer) to PSH.

I went to Nigeria to ensure our projects were being executed as planned and to figure out how we could become better stewards of the hard-earned resources you have entrusted into our hands. The 2012 PSH trip was easily the most reassuring trip I have made so far. I met people that have received loans (loans that are only possible through your donations), I gave a presentation about PSH and service to a group of University of Lagos law students, I visited all our partner communities, including Balogun village, and I met with our partner organizations on the ground. At the end of the trip, I left Nigeria with unquestionable knowledge about the importance of our work and why we must continue down this path.

The PSH 2012 trip has set us on course to accomplish a lot this year. We currently have plans to invest over $50,000 in five different communities in 2012. In addition to that, we have made the strategic decision to invest in education in some of our communities. See Education Investment for more information on how we plan to invest in and support our education efforts.

As I traveled across different cities in Nigeria I realized that Nigeria, like Africa, is not a foregone conclusion. Our generation has an unprecedented opportunity to rid the world of the kind of poverty that should only be in history books. Perhaps its that “unprecedented opportunity” that puts an uncontrollable smile on my face every time I am greeted by the hot air in the country.

Thank you for joining us as we work to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in our world. God bless you… and God bless Nigeria.

Efosa
for Poverty Stops Here

Tags: Africa, impact

For most of the people in the communities we work with, social security or any other kind of support is not an option. Neither is retiring or kicking back every now and then. In fact, for most of these people, life is characterized by constant struggle to stay above water. They have the determination to succeed. We try to help them do just that.

Mairo is a grandmother in her late 50s living in Paikon Kore. Some of her grand children live with her. She sold fire-wood and dadawa (a local spice made from locust trees) in small quantities, making barely enough money to manage her family. She is too old to work on the farm, and was increasingly relying on help from relatives to provide the needs of her grand children.

Felicia, also from Paikon Kore, is in her early 30s. She is a trained fashion designer, but was struggling to make a living. She had good ideas, but did not have the funds to launch her business.

With funds provided via PSH, Mairo was able to increase the scale of her trade, buying spices in larger quantities. She now has better returns. Felicia was able to rent a shop in Gwagwalada town, which is much more central to attract more customers. She has also been able to provide a place for young apprentices to learn the trade. She is really happy to be empowering these young girls.

With your support, we hope to continue to enable people like Mairo and Felicia as they try to make the best of their lives.

Act now…see how by clicking HERE.

The PSH Team

Tags: Updates

We say all the time that Our mission at PSH is to transform people’s lives with work we do. It sounds like a grand and noble goal, but we recognize the reality. Change is tough. It gets even tougher when you talk about lasting and sustainable change.

Poverty Stops Here began when a group of friends got together, pooled resources and funded the construction of a Hand-Pump well in a Village in Africa. Suddenly, people who previously had to walk miles to fetch unsafe water now had access to pipe-borne water. Illnesses avoided, time and effort saved…the total impact of this project on the community members was substantial.

The impact on the individuals who made it possible was also considerable. They could see, first-hand, that it is possible for individuals to really make a difference. There was no going back after that.

What we try to do is provide a strong foundation for our partner communities to build on. We concentrate on clean water and good sanitation in that respect as an initial step. The negative impact of a lack of accessible clean water to communities is huge. Sick children can’t do well at school; sick adults are not very productive; a lot of money is wasted on drugs; a lot of time and effort is wasted getting to water sources.

We believe these concerns have to addressed to a reasonable extent before the community has a real chance to make progress. We also then try to encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses by providing micro-loans. This is how we go about implementing change.

Unfortunately, the process often takes longer (and costs more) than we would like. We have to conduct studies to understand the needs of the communities. We have to partner with local organizations to ensure that we are efficient in deploying our resources. We have to keep track of the changes and be ready to respond to unexpected developments, as well as report back to you, our donors, on the progress we are making. All-in-all, the process can be frustrating at times.

However, with each new challenge, we grow a little bit stronger. We learn, we adapt. Now, in 2012, we are older and wiser…and better equipped to help the people in these vulnerable communities.

We are making good progress each day, and we remain steadfastly committed to our goal. But We still need your help and support. That’s what has gotten us where we are today, and it’s what will push us to our ultimate destination.

To get some ideas about how you can support us, please check out our ACT page.

Thanks for your help.

The PSH Team

Tags: impact

PSH would like to thank all of you who supported our efforts to sponsor (in partnership with Hands-At-Work) 50 orphans and vulnerable children in Ilaje community during 2011. This year we hope to double that number, and hope you will continue to support us.

Many children’s lives have been greatly improved due to the work we have done. Mischeck is one of them. He is a 10 year old boy and the last born of a family of 5 children, four males and one female. All the children were living with their parents in a slum area of Lagos about 2 hours from the main city.

Mischeck in Ilaje Community

Their father died after struggling with a serious illness which lasted for over 2 years. Almost all the family properties acquired by their father during his working years as a civil servant were sold by the family to pay for his medical bills at different hospitals. After his death, tragically, his wife also fell sick and after just 3 months, she died. All the children were forced to abandon their education because there was no income to pay the school fees or for school equipment.

The older 3 boys looked for different kinds of menial jobs to do so they could earn some income and survive. These boys had no place to sleep as they could not afford to continue paying for their house rent. They resorted to squatting with some of their friends in a slum area in Lagos – they had no choice but to cope with this situation. After the death of his parents, Mischeck was staying with his only sister and both children were very vulnerable. After about a year, the 12 year old girl was raped by a man in the community who then ran away after learning that she was pregnant with his child. When Mischeck’s Auntie came to visit the 2 children and discovered the horrendous situtation they were living in, she felt very concerned for them and decided to bring Mischeck and his pregnant sister to Ilaje community to stay with her in her one room rented house.

Mischeck’s Auntie struggled to provide for the children’s basic needs due to her age, because she isn’t able to work to earn any income. She relies on the charity that people give her to feed herself, Mischeck and his sister. Mischeck would spend his days staying at home with his Auntie and sister until, a few months later, one of his Auntie’s friends told them that the Ilaje community school cares for the most vulnerable children in the community. Mischeck was taken to this school and finally adopted.

Children taking medication

Since this time, Mischeck has been benefitting from the 3 Essential Services from the Community Based Organization – Eagle Foundation. His sister also delivered a healthy baby girl but the Father of the child is still nowhere to be seen. The children’s Auntie, who is 70 years old, has continued to support these children in her own little way by providing them with shelter and protection against any other form of abuse. The older 3 boys continue to stay in another part of Lagos, far from where Mischeck and his sister stay. Mischeck has been very happy to be living in the community of Ilaje for the past 2 years and he is presently in Primary 4 at school.

For 2012, we currently have 11 children sponsored for 2012 and are hoping to get at least 40 from individuals sponsoring children. To see more about Ilaje community, click HERE.

Thanks once again for your support.

The PSH Team

Tags: Communities, Updates

Hajdo is a mother of five in her late 40s from Paikon Kore community. She was a petty trader who bought provisions in small quantities and re-sold them. She said she made very little profit and sometimes ran at a loss. This made it difficult for her to support her husband – a local transporter – and help meet some of needs of the family. Having children meant they had to pay school fees and provide healthcare for them, in addition to their basic needs.

There were times when the family just didn’t have enough money to afford the childrens’ school fees. At times like these, the children were sent home from school. They had to remain at home until Hadjo and her husband were able to raise the money. This meant the children would miss out on classes, and then fall behind in their academic performance. This sort of absence from school obviously has more long-term effects on the childrens’ lives.

Hadjo says “When I eventually secured a loan from PSH, I started buying goods in bulk from wholesale shops and retail at a reduced price. More people now patronize me and I make reasonable profit. Also the number of times I go to the market has reduced because I buy more goods than I used to. I happily support my family now”.

To see more about how PSH is fighting poverty, and how you can help, please check out our Impact Page.

Thanks for your support!

The PSH Team

Tags: impact

Ngozi Chiwezie is a mother of four in her 40s. She, along with her children and her husband, a pastor, lived in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. She was an average business woman, owning a shop where she sold clothes. Trouble started for her family when the Government started the demolition of “illegal” structures in Abuja, and their newly built house and shop were demolished. The demolition forced them to relocate to Paikon-kore, a village nearby.

Following the relocation, her children had to stop school as all their available resources were used to move the family. Hardship became a way of life as they only barely managed to feed themselves. Things were difficult especially with her new status as a house wife.

She tells part of the story…”My eldest son, Ebube, could not start senior secondary school after his upper basic school until sometime in 2010 when he was awarded a full scholarship through Oria International Initiative. I wondered how my son who had been at home secured a scholarship from people far away that I don’t even know, I was sure it was God at work”.

Oria International Initiative is one of PSH’s partners in the region that have helped us to provide help to these people.

Ngozi continues…”Early this year [2011], I was shortlisted to meet a staff from Oria International Initiative, Lagos. He asked me series of questions…I can’t remember some. He talked about me being empowered to be able to take good care of my children?s needs. The discussion continued on my business plan. After a series of meetings I was eventually given a soft loan on behalf of PSH.

“I resumed my former business of selling fairly used clothes. I now go around at least three neighboring community markets and I also have a local shop where I sell. The loan is very useful to the family as I can now support some of my children’s basic needs. For example, I have bought exercise books, new sandals and a new uniform for Ebube…our food and nutrition has also improved.

I pray that the Lord blesses my business to grow and also bless the source of this loan”.

Ngozi is putting her life back together, and is now contributing to her family and community. PSH is trying to help as many other people in need as we can.

To learn more about PSH’s efforts and how you can help, please go to our ACT page.

As always, thanks for your support.

The PSH Team

Tags: Updates

At PSH the work we do is about people, at the end of the day. So, in our posts, we are increasingly going to talk about the individuals whose lives you are helping to change in our partner communities. These are the people, just like you or me, that now have access to cleaner water, better sanitation and business microloans to improve their lives. Today we’ll talk about Ajumai.

Ajumai is a single mother of about 18 years who dropped out of upper basic school two years ago as result of an unintended pregnancy. Her guardian stopped caring for her as a result of the pregnancy and the supposed father of the child denied responsibility. She was left alone to source for her means of livelihood and to care for her health and other needs. As you can imagine, this would be a big challenge for any young woman without employment. It was an even bigger challenge for her because of her pregnancy.

According to Ajumai, this was the most difficult moment of her life. She had to engage in hard labour just to be able to meet her basic needs. She barely succeeded. After the baby was born, now with an extra mouth to feed, things got harder. She had to depend on relatives and friends for survival. This caused her some embarrassment, and she also had to endure some unfair treatment at the hands of those she had no choice but to depend on. There were times when she had to leave her baby with little or no care, just to try to make ends meet. This is a horrible situation for any mother to be in.

Her difficult situation continued until recently when she became a Poverty Stops Here beneficiary. PSH provided Ajumai with a loan to help launch her trade business. She was able to start petty trading of grains and fire wood sales as well as other seasonal agricultural/farm business. According to Ajumai “this was the beginning of a new life”.

She rounded up by saying: “I make profit that takes care of my basic need and that of my baby even though I don’t have savings yet I am a happy girl”.

This is the impact you are helping to produce. It might seem small, but to someone like Ajumai, it means the world. To learn more about how you can help, check out the ACT page on our website.

Stay tuned. We will be bringing you more of these stories as time goes on.

Thanks for all your help.

The PSH Team

Tags: Communities

First of all, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. 2011 has been a very good year for PSH. We have learned a lot more about the work we are doing in Nigeria and have developed closer relationships with our partners on the ground.

At Poverty Stops Here, we truly believe that we, simple individuals, can eradicate extreme poverty and this year has allowed us take a confident step towards proving that.

Donations from individual contributors, people just like you, increased by a staggering 55% from around $11,000 in 2010 to $17,000 this year. This has allowed us to raise over $35,000…most of which has already been deployed to improve lives in our partner communities. We cannot thank you enough. Here are just a few of your 2011 accomplishments.

Over $16,000 invested in Ilaje slum
In 2011, PSH joined forces with Hands at Work to sponsor 50 orphans in Ilaje community. We invested $9,000 to ensure these children could go to school and receive food and after-school care. We are also investing $7133 to help purchase a bus that will be used as a taxi service. The funds from the taxi service will help Hands at Work compensate the already enthusiastic group of volunteers we working with in the community.

Loans, Water and Sanitation
One of the major accomplishments of PSH in 2011 was kicking off our widespread microloan campaign in three different villages. Since the start of the year, we have loaned money to 20 people in three different communities.

In addition to that, we received information that our old water wells were no longer functional. We intend to work with the community to fix the wells and implement a more sustainable approach to providing access to safer water in the communities. In addition to that, we will begin working with the communities to help implement programs that will improve the sanitation in the communities.

Benefit Concert, Silent Auctions, and Christmas Party
We have had some great events this year as well. In September we organized a Benefit Concert in Madison, Wisconsin while some of our friends in Austin, Texas held a Silent Auction and Christmas party. The Austin folks raised over $4,000 from their events.

Feedback to You
We started out the year promising to provide better feedback and updates to allow you see exactly where your resources are going. We now provide frequent updates via our Facebook page (Please Like us!); and also via our website Blog. We have implemented Community pages on our website so you can see exactly what our investments are in each community. These pages also allow you to donate directly to a particular community. You can click HERE to visit this page and see for yourself.

In 2012, we plan to take this feedback to the next level by providing you quarterly updates of what is going on in our communities. While most of our programs are long term, multi-year projects, we promise to keep you abreast of our successes (and failures) as we work to improve the lives of people living in extreme poverty.

Your support, as always, is the key to the success of this effort. To learn more about how you can help us, please click HERE.

Our journey continues in 2012…we hope you will come along with us.

Here’s to a Merry Christmas and a great start to 2012 for you.

The PSH Team

Tags: Updates

In this post, we’ll be taking a realistic look at the lives of a couple of children in Ilaje village, one of our partner communities.

Good things are happening in Ilaje. The moral of the volunteers is very high right now which is encouraging. We are currently working with Hands at Work to implement an income generating activity to support these workers in the care-giving they provide for the orphans and vulnerable children in Ilaje.

Favour Afamuefune is 8 years old and lives in the Ilaje community. Favour lost her father at the age of four and has since been living with her mother in the community. Her mother has little time for the girl or her younger brother. Favour, being a very young girl, has faced a lot of challenges including neglect by her mother and attempted rape by rogues in the community.

Favour has been exposed to these things because her mother does not fully care for her or her 3 year old brother Abraham; she sometimes isn’t home until very late in the night. Favour is always afraid to talk to people because she does not feel safe. Favour and Abraham were discovered in the community wandering about without any parental care and were later brought to the Ilaje community school where they have been benefiting from the 3 essential services and receiving care their mother has denied them. Favour and her brother look after themselves since their mother is not always available to care for them.

Favour in Ilaje Community

The community school is really the only safe haven they have. After finishing at the school, Favour and her brother stay with one of their mother’s friends where strong and harmful drinks are sold to men in the community which makes these children vulnerable in the presence of these drunken men. Favour and her brother regularly stay in the midst of these dangerous people until late in the night when their mother comes around to take them home.

Favour now receives care and love when she is in school with her friends and plays with them. The little girl is happy at school and is able to relate well and face her academic work at school. Since she has been adopted at the community school, Favour has been doing well academically and is taught about the love of God, as well as receiving one hot meal per day. The community school is a place where she builds good relationships and it is hoped she will continue to receive care and support through home visits. Favour is presently in Primary 3 while her younger brother, Abraham is in the Kindergarten class.

She still faces many challenges but, with your help, we are helping to provide an atmosphere of love and care that will give her and others like her an opportunity to flourish.

Thanks for your help. To find out more about our projects please check out our Impact page.

The PSH Team

Tags: Updates