See Beautiful Grant Applicant: HOW Global

The feature below is brought to you by HOW Global, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. 

To learn more about HOW Global, please visit their website page: here.

Feel Beautiful Feel Safe: Disaster relief water projects                                       

Most of us that live in the USA are living in environments where we are protected from severe weather and even natural disasters. We have storm shelters where we can wait out a storm or tornado warning, or we can run into a basement or hide with cover in  a small space within our home that has a roof that is sturdy along a floor foundation below our feet. We can run to the grocery store and prepare for a storm by buying flashlights and candles and a supply of water either for before or after a storm that may knock out all our power. We see the outcry of those of us in the USA who may go without power for just a few days or maybe even a week. Even so it is hard for us to relate to those who live this way on an everyday basis and how devastating it is when they do not get help in times of emergency.

What about those people who live in rural areas of poverty such as many of our projects in Africa, Haiti and now Puerto Rico? Once the media leaves the direct drama behind, there are millions left suffering and we lose touch with the fact that our global neighbors are suffering.

As the founder of HOW Global I have witnessed locations in the world that every day look as if they have been hit by an earthquake or flood. There are no paved roads and huge rocks are just lying in the middle of what is supposed to be a highway. Cars trying to travel to these areas even on an everyday basis must have a 4-wheel drive to get to that location.  Their normal way of life is without water, enough food or electric. So, just imagine life when a conflict or disaster takes place.
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The people in these places of poverty that have no government support are alone without a voice. My heart bleeds especially for the women and children who are the village workers who carry the water, seek out wood for a fire to provide light by burning. Water is already scarce but after a disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane there is none to be found. Most are without transportation to go and seek emergency supplies.

​A recent case of one of our school partners in Haiti was that the country was in conflict for a full 3 months. All schools were closed. People were told to stay inside their homes but in this case, their homes are without electric, meaning no lights, no water or food or way to escape. How do you escape conflict and danger if you are a family of 5 with school children and no transportation? How do you provide for your family with the basic needed to just stay alive? It is a very dangerous and frightening situation. Imagine how a child must feel during this time period.

When HOW Global was founded in 2006, one of our main goals was to make our partner water well schools become places that could be used for disaster relief purposes.  I am so proud that SEE BEAUTIFUL has helped make us successful. Our schools should be placed to go for water, electric where cots could be set up and an actual roof and floor are a part of that building where you are seeking refuge.

​Our partner schools that we call Green Hubs in some cases, have ground issues that does not allow us to drill at all. In this type of situation, we put up roof gutters and very large water holding tanks. In the case of Haiti this was a lifesaver to have water that had filled the tank just a week before the country shut down. Once the violence stopped and the holding tank was empty, we were able to hire a truck to refill it until the next rainfall. It is amazing to think that first batch of water was distributed to the whole community in this urgent time of need.

Our goal for 2020 is to improve our school partner hubs ability to become that place that can distribute water and provide information and means of allowing that community to recover after the disaster.

We are so lucky to have on the ground leaders who can communicate with us in times of urgent need and we can count on where our supplies and donations are going.
Adding more solar panels and solar pumps to the already lifesaving Green Hubs can save lives in times of emergency. Starting a new one in Puerto Rico will be a great milestone for us.
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With climate change taking a horrific effect on our planet, more and more disasters are being witnessed and experienced worldwide. Because of this, we wish to address the goal of safety in our year’s plan to bring solar and emergency water supply set ups to our hubs. 
When I spoke to the school children in Haiti and the teachers about this idea via Facebook, they were excited to know and understand that their school will help many. They posed for a photo pretending they are looking through binoculars so that they can show you their ability to SEE BEAUTIFUL and see HOPE.

Submitted by Rachael Paulson

Executive Director, HOW Global