Empower Women in Pakistan with Vocational Skills

HOPE Joins Forces with Revive Environment and GlobalGiving to Bring Low-Cost, Sustainable Wood Stoves to 480,000 Flood Affectees in Pakistan Following the 2022 Flood Crisis

Dear HOPE Friends,

https://youtu.be/E5Idm8Ci9f8

Whether it’s money, the environment, expertise, or time, the resources at our disposal are undoubtedly the most precious assets that we have.  This is why we are thrilled to share with you the debut of our latest project, an innovative idea which is a win-win-win involving multiple fronts - protecting and saving our earth by reducing the impact of carbon emissions, as well as improving the lives of a staggering almost half a million underserved people, both from a time, money, health, and poverty alleviation ‍ perspective.

The Pakistan Flood Crisis of 2022 was a huge environmental disaster, but it is a trend that highlights the impact climate change is having upon the world at large.  The 2022 floods were not an isolated incident, but rather a shift that has been emerging for decades.  Climate scientists estimate that the devastation of the 2022 Floods in Pakistan (in which of the country was technically under water) was 50% worse due to the effects of global warming.  

Due to their location, many countries surrounding the Indian Ocean are more susceptible to the impacts of climate change.  Pakistan contributes less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet due to its location, it is one of the countries most vulnerable to effects of global warming.  Sadly, when a country is already grappling with poverty ‍, the brunt of damages often falls heavily upon the most disadvantaged fragments of society. 

The visionary behind this project is Mr. Zia Khaleeli, an Oxford-educated entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of multiple organizations working towards green solutions such as Revive Environment.  He currently serves as the Chairman of the Environment and Energy Commission for the International Chamber of Commerce in Pakistan , and has an extensive array of both field and technical expertise which has positioned him to be a leading voice of change in sustainable and innovative solutions for Pakistan.

In a first of its kind initiative for Pakistan, Mr. Khaleeli reached out to HOPE to launch and distribute a sustainable and environment-friendly solution to the energy crisis that permeates all aspects of daily life for tens of thousands of people living in poverty.  HOPE will fulfill the logistical distribution and training for this project through the generosity of a Long-Term Flood Rehabilitation grant awarded by GlobalGiving.

Background:  

The background of this project dives into daily life in poor communities in Pakistan such as Sujawal and Badin.  These two districts comprise of underserved, congested slum areas in Sindh which lie approximately an hour away from Karachi.  In total, over a million people live in both of these poverty-stricken cities and these communities experienced widespread flooding and devastation during the 2022 Flood Crisis.   

The HOPE Pakistan Team conducted a four-month field assessment study amongst 200 families ‍‍‍ in Sujawal to examine the wood-burning stoves that have been a way of life for many for decades due to the lack of gas in rural areas.

Here are Our Findings:

• Since absolutely no gas is available in rural areas, poverty-stricken families rely entirely upon collecting wood or cow dung to use as fuel for cooking.  
  
  
• Large amounts of wood collected translate to a poor use of both time and income for families already struggling to make ends meet.
       
• Utilizing traditional wood burning stoves contributes heavily to respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia.  For families who are already struggling with poverty ‍ and lack of access to healthcare , this is a practice which lowers their quality of life even more.

• Lastly, traditional wood stoves contribute to pollution - in fact, globally we have 2.3 billion people who rely on traditional stoves and lack access to clean cooking.  Cooking emissions worldwide are, believe it or not, about the same as the aviation industry. 

Here is Our Plan of Action: 

• 60,000 Underserved Families ‍‍‍ (480,000 Beneficiaries Total) in Sujawal and Badin will receive newly designed, portable, energy-efficient wood stoves.  These stoves are a green innovation created by Revive Environment in order to address the reliance upon high volumes of wood or cow dung for fuel in order to cook , and subsequently provide a solution to reduce carbon emissions produced by traditional cooking methods.  Upon official launch of this project, we plan to distribute 2,500 stoves per month to reach 60,000 families over the course of two years.

• HOPE will execute the logistical aspects of this project - delivering the stoves to 60,000 ‍‍‍ families and providing them with proper training to use them  - via our Long-Term Flood Relief Grant from GlobalGiving.  Revive Environment has also graciously offered to maintain the stoves during that timeframe, thereby assuring that any technical issues (since this is a prototype in Pakistan ) that arise are addressed and remedied.

These stoves will serve as practical, environmentally-friendly, low-cost solution to the severe scarcity of gas (and consequential heavy dependence upon wood as an energy source) which has become a daily part of life for many poor families.  

Now as mentioned earlier, this project is remarkable in both its scope, the vast number of beneficiaries, as well as the broad array of long-term benefits.  

Long Term Benefits of the Improved Cookstove Project: 

• Save villagers money by minimizing the fuelwood they need to purchase in order to cook. 
  
  
• Reduce the amount of time both adults and children in poor communities expend in order to gather and collect fuelwood , thus allowing adults to seek proper jobs ‍ to improve their financial situation, and enable children to attend school.
  
  
• Empower women in particular by saving them time thus, allowing them to pursue literacy and vocational training.  In rural areas in Pakistan, only 1 in 3 women are able to read and write.
  
  
• The factory to manufacture these stoves has been built locally in Karachi , Pakistan by Mr. Khaleeli in an effort to create jobs for these villagers .
  
  
• Health-wise, the stoves emit very little smoke, thus reducing respiratory diseases which arise from traditional cooking stoves .
  
  
• The stoves are portable and can be used indoors or outdoors, thus maximizing their practicality.
  
  
• Revive Environment’s stoves will reduce the consumption of fuelwood by 40% to 50%, thus lowering our carbon footprint and minimizing the deforestation of local trees .

Concluding Thoughts:

This project is a milestone and the first of its kind in energy efficient solutions for wood stoves in Pakistan and we are humbled to have been selected by Mr. Khaleeli for this noble initiative.  We recognize that trust is an essential component in executing large-scale implementations and we are blessed to have been the NGO of his choice for this endeavor.  Revive Environment's venture will not only provide an energy-efficient solution to cooking for tens of thousands of families ‍‍‍ living in poverty, it comes with the rare combination of a win-win-win on all fronts.

We are grateful to GlobalGiving for their support of our work, especially with regards to 2022 Pakistan Flood Crisis.  Global-Giving's Long-Term Pakistan Flood Crisis grant came at the perfect time, thus ensuring that we will be able to provide the logistical resources and expertise to execute this project to 60,000 underserved families ‍‍‍  who were further debilitated by the 2022 Floods.  Over several years, we have personally built a rapport with GlobalGiving's Disaster Response ‍ Team and their interest, dedication, and excitement at silver lining moments amidst formidable challenges is something to be admired and appreciated.  

All praise ultimately goes back to God, and we are blessed to have prestigious organizations such as Revive Environment and GlobalGiving championing our work as well as the support of so many special individual supporters.  Thank you for sharing these milestone moments for us and take care.

Warm regards, 

The HOPE USA, HOPE UK, and HOPE Pakistan Teams

 https://www.hopecharityusa.org

https://youtu.be/E5Idm8Ci9f8


** Orchestral Accompaniment in YouTube Video is Accredited to Epic Orchestra's Cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist"

Links:

• YouTube Video of Green Cookstove Project
• HOPE USA Website

• HOPE.Revive.GlobalGiving.pdf (PDF)