We spent the morning at the Cabrera branch in Manila, seeing CCT’s many ministries in action. CCT’s strategic emphasis is to build a broad set of programs and services on the foundation of their microfinance branch network. CCT has 145 branches across the Philippines, providing a great backbone for broadening their ministry. The Cabrera community center is a great example of this transformation:
Archives For Staff / Travels
Hello there, everyone. My name is Dave Wasik, and it’s my pleasure to serve as the vice president of operations for HOPE International. I am writing this post from a Chipotle restaurant at Washington Dulles airport, about to begin my journey to Manila, Philippines, to visit the Center for Community Transformation (CCT), our partner in the Philippines. CCT is a cherished partner for HOPE, and we have learned a tremendous amount from them over the years.
As I entered data into an Excel spreadsheet in the small office in Nizhin, Ukraine, the quiet laughter of a little girl caught my attention. The girl nibbled on a snack near the back of the room while her mother filled out a survey as part of HOPE’s Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) project. HOPE, with assistance from Metrix Research Group, began testing a new M&E client survey in Ukraine in October. Despite their busy schedules and the cold rain outside, 36 men and women flowed through HOPE’s small office in the village of Nizhin on that Friday afternoon to participate in the survey.
HOPE Intl
Oct 5 2012
HOPE Intl
Staff / Travels
Each month, HOPE’s human resources team puts together learning updates for staff members’ professional development. This month’s update focused on development and fundraising. We hope you find these resources useful too!
Development
- Donors = Checkbooks with Mouths, by Chris Horst, HOPE’s director of development
In this blog post, Chris shares the importance of building relationships in fundraising. - Creating Enchantment, Guy Kawasaki
In this 62-minute Stanford talk, Guy shares secrets to enchanting others and developing influence.
Leadership
- Flawless Execution, by Mark Miller
In this blog post, Mark offers seven methodical ways for leaders to help their team pursue flawless execution. - 10 Ways I Want to Lead, by Mark Meyer
Pick one or two items to add to your leadership toolkit.
HOPE Intl
Aug 30 2012
HOPE Intl
Staff / Travels Working with the poor
HOPE Congo had its annual spiritual retreat June 27-29 at Vuela, a Catholic retreat center just outside of Brazzaville. It was a great place to get away from the city noise and see trees, flowers, and grass. All 37 of us piled into a bus and the HOPE truck and arrived at Vuela Friday morning. The office was split into three teams: the green, red, and yellow teams. Each morning we had a time of praise and worship led by one of the teams, and three office staff spoke throughout the weekend. This weekend was a great time for me and Nate to spend quality time with the staff.
HOPE Intl
Aug 10 2012
By HOPE Intl
Staff / Travels Working with the poorSome languages have honorifics reserved for elders. Others have local slang dialects tossed around and worn with pride in certain neighborhoods. While they may be spoken by people of totally different ages, locales, and cultures, each string of words shares solidarity in what it represents. The individual phrases may have very different meanings, but underlying each of these thoughts is a unique history and heritage. The words may project values of reciprocity & respect dating back to Confucius. Others can evoke eras and events long forgotten, only preserved in speech not stone.
![Before Eveness Mulungu joined the Walusungu (“mercy”) savings group through our church partner in Malawi, she faced days where she and her family ate animal feed because they couldn’t afford human food. But that changed when she joined the savings group. Eveness used her first group loan of about $1.70 (U.S.) to start a business selling doughnuts and beans.
“By the end of my first cycle I made $140 (U.S.),” Eveness shared. “My life is no longer the same now; [I] was regarded as no one in the community. ... This was the first time in my life that I ever touched and owned big money like this!”
Pictured: Eveness, with her husband in front of their piggery—a third successful business that she operates.](https://blog.hopeinternational.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)