Happy Holidays from Counterpart International
December 19th, 2011 | Tags: Happy Holidays, holiday card | Category: Happenings | Leave a comment
March 22: World Water Day
By Maggie Farrand
In a small community in Georgia, 30 miles from the capital city, Tbilisi, a series of natural disasters in recent years had devastated their access to clean, safe water. Heavy rains, flooding and erosion left the residents’ water collectors operating at 40 percent of their capacity, and their water reservoir had begun to corrode and leak. Families – mostly women and children – were forced to hike long hours to the nearest spring for drinkable water.
Last summer, Counterpart International responded to the needs of the Galavani community and their struggle to collect enough water for its 400 residents. Through a $12,000 grant from the Department of State, Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE), Counterpart was able to purchase and install a new 25-metric ton capacity water reservoir with a distribution tank and valves. Furthermore, 1,850 meters of rusted pipes were replaced with new ones. With over $17,000 in funding provided by LDS Charities, fences were installed, over 6,600 meters of rusted distribution pipes were replaced with new PVC pipes and the new reservoir was covered with a thermal insulator.
The rehabilitation of the water supply system re-established access to clean and safe potable water for all residents in Galavani. Now, they not only use the water for drinking and cooking, but also to irrigate their vegetable gardens throughout the summer.
Throughout the Former Soviet Union, Counterpart is aware of the power of water – the severe effects of unsafe drinking water, and the positive changes a water pump or a well can have on a community. Whether it’s replacing corroded pipes in Georgia, or installing deep water wells in Kyrgyzstan, we value people’s access to clean water.
Each year, Counterpart implements 20 Small Reconstruction Projects through the Department of State EUR/ACE – small-scale infrastructure rehabilitations that help targeted populations, including orphans, elderly, hospital or clinic patients and school children.
Learn more about our Small Reconstruction Projects. Donate to Counterpart today.
March 22nd, 2011 | Tags: Department of State, DoS, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Small Reconstruction Project, SRP Georgia, SRP Kyrgyzstan, water, World Water Day | Category: Happenings | Leave a comment
Celebrate International Women’s Day
By Maggie Farrand
One hundred years ago today, the world celebrated the first International Women’s Day - a day to honor the achievements of women past, present and future. In 1911, women fought successfully for their right to work, vote, to hold public office and to end discrimination.
Since that time, women have seen significant societal changes and attitudinal shifts towards them, but even today, education, health and violence against women continues to be worse than that of men.
And there are staggering statistics to show for it: women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property (UNICEF, 2007).
Today, whether it’s advocating for better reproductive health in India or awarding a small grant to a women-led NGO in Afghanistan, Counterpart is dedicated to capturing women’s potential.
We teach mothers in Niger how to see the first signs of malnutrition in their children; we work with women entrepreneurs in Guatemala on improving the quality of their handicrafts in order to attract more international buyers; we reconstruct rural maternity wards in Azerbaijan so patients can receive better prenatal care.
With the right tools and training, women will become more active and educated participants in their own development. They are the catalysts for huge global change.
Want to make a difference? It’s easy to DONATE NOW >>
March 8th, 2011 | Tags: International Women's Day, women, women's empowerment, women's rights | Category: Happenings | Leave a comment
Happy Holidays from Counterpart International
December 22nd, 2010 | Tags: happy holidays, happy new year, holiday card | Category: Happenings | Leave a comment
In Father Stan’s Own Words: Counterpart Co-Founder Shares Our Story
Counterpart founders, Betty Silverstein and Father Stan Hosie
By Maggie Farrand
"We didn’t go in the South Pacific blindfolded. We listened to them and let them lead the process. It was a groundbreaking approach back then.”
Those are the words of Counterpart International’s co-founder, Father Stan Hosie, who visited our offices last week to share the story of Counterpart’s early years.
Staff and visiting board members joined Father Stan for lunch, where he led us through those early days as a Marist priest in Australia, and how he first met Betty Silverstein in New York City.
He shared details on their first conversations about finding a way to help the peoples of the South Pacific.
He described the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific’s first office – 8 feet by 10 feet – and the tiny thrift store off 5th Avenue in Manhattan, where he and Betty raised money.
How it all began
Stan and Betty, back in 1965, realized that in order to really make a difference in the South Pacific, they had to first understand exactly what the local people needed.
So they recruited a Marist anthropologist from New Zealand, Dr. Gerald Arbuckle, and a French-American couple, Emile and Nell de Monchaux, to travel to the islands in the South Pacific and assess the people’s needs. These three experts sat down with local leaders, villagers and government officials.
With this collective effort, they produced a nine volume study, titled “A Socio-Economic Survey of Selected Melanesian and Polynesian Areas.” The study showed Betty and Stan ways in which they could provide immediate assistance – it even listed half a million dollars’ worth of projects in urgent need of financial assistance.
That is where Counterpart’s programs began.
Expanding Counterpart's reach
Stan and Betty continued to lead Counterpart, with successful programs in Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.
In the mid 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, they decided, with a nudge or two from USAID, to go global, expanding their work and impact to Eastern Europe and beyond.
“Stan’s visit was truly inspiring. Many of our current staff had only heard of Father Hosie, so it was a wonderful opportunity for us to meet him and see Counterpart’s history through his eyes,” said Joan C. Parker, Counterpart’s President and CEO. “I can see the roots of Counterpart in how we work today.”
Staying close to our roots
45 years later, Father Hosie spoke to the current Counterpart staff about how much has changed since those early years – especially the size of our operation – yet how much truly remains the same.
In Stan’s own words, “Those first guiding principles - helping local communities help themselves, involving communities in the planning of projects - still apply today. They make Counterpart the great organization that it is."
December 16th, 2010 | Tags: Betty Silverstein, FSP, Stan Hosie | Category: Happenings | Leave a comment
