“The sixteen building central cluster at Lallubhai Compound in Mankhurd rises ominously, each building separated by a space that could park only a single car. Dominos in a hellish mass of concrete, only 4 buildings have access to direct sunlight on one side each. Housed in these rows of buildings are slum dwellers from all over Mumbai City. Welcome to Mumbai’s slum resettlement housing projects.

No one moves to Lallubhai compound because they choose to, they move forced in the name of “slum rehabilitation.” Their homes have been demolished under the claw of a bulldozer. A visit to Mankhurd teaches you rehabilitation means for very little here and all you will find is a concrete slum - one of far more dangerous social ramifications.” -Akshay Mahajan

I stumbled upon Akshay’s flickr stream this morning as I was searching “india slum” on Flickr’s creative commons. I wanted to highlight the poverty that exists in India. The daily reality for the hundreds of millions trapped in urban slums is heartbreaking. It’s amazing that their existence is not completely void of joy and smiles are not uncommon. However, that’s probably what makes it sad, that these beautiful people are forced to make their memories amidst the garbage piles, raw sewage, drugs, violence and despair. Akshay provides a unique look inside their lives, check out more of Akshay’s flickr sets or visit his website.

This October Bright Hope is hosting its biennial Poverty Summit. Sign up for October 6 to hear India Partnership Developer, James Das, talk about the exciting partnerships we’re building relationships with there. It will be an encouraging evening as you discover the methods that we see working to lift families out of extreme poverty. (Plus there’ll be some exotic foods to try!)

Bright Hope would like give a big round of applause to Makila! Who said you had to be old to make a difference? This weekend 5th grader, Makila Rivera, decided she was going to do something for those living on less than $1 a day.

Earlier this summer Makila filled Med Packs at Bright Hope for children in Haiti. She enjoyed helping so much she decided she wanted to do more. Makila went with her mom to Photo’s Hotdogs in Palatine. She explained how she wanted to set up a hotdog and lemonade stand to raise money to help the extreme poor. They were more than happy to help and donated all the hot dogs and buns she needed! They let her use their mobile Vienna Beef Hot Dog stand and donated a gift package which Makila used for a raffle.

Everyone was getting involved. Makila’s mom works at a graphics company and when her boss heard about the event he decided he would make posters for Makila to post around the neighborhood.

Initiative like Makila’s gets us very excited. One person can make a big difference for families who live on less than $1 a day. The hotdog sale was such a success that Makila is going to do it again next week. If you’d like to show your support contact Meredith at Meredith.Hodge@BrightHope.org for the address and come eat a hot dog for the extreme poor! For more ideas about how you can get involved check out our Organic Fundraising Page.

If not for casual Fridays, Tuesday would be the best day of the week. It simply comes down to the fact that we’ve got some really cool people working at Bright Hope. And every Tuesday we all have the pleasure of gathering round the lunch tables and catching up with each other.

It’s an hour to clear our heads, forget the spread sheets and deadlines and enjoy our small band of brothers fighting for people living on less than $1 a day. Joy takes the weekly vote for takeout. Chipotle was the front runner until an off handed comment about Qdoba quickly swayed party lines and took the election by a landslide.

When the food arrives and the all call goes out we drop what we’re doing to gather around the lunch table. It’s a great way to stay connected. We talk about all sorts of stuff: John’s sky diving plans for next Monday, Meredith cringed as Ted shared her water park horror story and Craig and Mike (aka “W”) compared trips to the movies. It’s how we stay connected, it’s why we’re more than co-workers, we’re family. We even have a crazy Aunt Heather, she’s the one giving the camera the evil eye. (Just kidding).

Get to know us a little more, check out our staff bio page.

The official numbers aren’t public yet but the HopeOutLOUD blog is the place for insider information.

Here are the numbers we heard in staff meeting this morning: We had 1,419 people participate at all four sites which is almost 200 more people more than last year! We were all excited by the turnout. Josh is sitting in the meeting room, head down, crunching the numbers, processing our last big batch of donations, so far our total is $107,344.47! That deserves a round of applause.

For the kids we help this race means they get to start eating two meals a day instead of one! It’s life changing. Thank you for running, walking and fundraising. Your hard work is appreciated and all that money raised is being put to work making a huge difference to thousands of children around the world. We had a good time!

Check out pictures from each of our site at RunForHungryChildren.org 

Bright Hope hasn’t stopped focusing on the Haiti Earthquake ever since January 12th. Our efforts are making a huge impact and we wanted to update our readers with detailed information!

As of last week, through Bright Hope:

The most recent shipment contained: Food, 240 Tents, 2 Large tents, Hope Packs and Med Packs.

Thank you to everyone who has given financially, started fundraisers, or just spread the word to others in how they can help Haiti.

Haiti’s rainy season is here. Our goal is to send as many tents as possible to our partners for distribution. To donate a tent click here. 

Together - we are making a difference!

Before the earthquake, the town of Pignon (Bright Hope’s main project in Haiti for the past 15 years) had a population of 40,000, according to Jephthe, Bright Hope’s Project Developer, there is now over 100,000. The Pastor’s Association of Pignon (POA) estimated the pre-earthquake church attendance at 15,000 people is now 50,000. Even through hurt and destruction, the openness to God is more than any other time in Haiti’s history!

For the first time in Haiti’s history there was a national day of prayer granted by Haiti’s President! Most people in Haiti participated in the 3 day event and an estimated 90% of Pignon involved. Most businesses were closed and over 5,000 people at Jephthe’s church alone took action (that is over 6 times the normal attendance!). This event is a shining example of how the attitude of the people has turned toward God instead of blaming Him.

Now is the time to pray! The next 6 weeks leading up to Easter will be a perfect time for Haitians to become more open to the Gospel. The more people we can help through the local church the more people who will be ready for the wonderful story of redemption at Easter.

To find out more about what Bright Hope is doing in Haiti right now click here!

The lives of 2 million Haitians hang in the balance as Port-Au-Prince and outlying areas suffer the affects of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.The split-fault quake occurred Tuesday afternoon about 10 miles west of the Port Au Prince and could be felt as far away as 300 miles.

As the sky turned gray with a choking dust the infrastructure of city lay in rubble. Destroyed were buildings including the hospital, the National Palace, commerce center, government buildings and many homes. It was a long, dark, frightening night as Haitians searched for survivors. Many are missing or feared dead.

The Bright Hope Response

We are in touch with our church network in Haiti (Jepthe, our Project Developer in Haiti, is pictured here) and currently assessing how our assistance can best help save lives and glorify God.  I spoke with one Haitian leader who said “the best built buildings in Port-Au-Prince have been destroyed, imagine what has gone on throughout the city.”

We will have two immediate responses:  Distributing food, water, clothing and temporary shelter (immediate needs) and secondly to supply Med Packs (personal hygiene and First Aid kits) to needy families.

All our relief efforts are accomplished through churches. It will take days to know the full impact. Communications have been difficult as services have been interrupted.As we hear from our partners, we will update our website.

I need your help in four ways:  Pray, Network, Act, Give

1. Pray! Pray! Pray! Please pray now and in the upcoming days for the Haitian people, our Partner Developers and the Churches and Pastors we work with to provide relief.

2. Network:  Could you recommend Bright Hope to your friends on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and email to help in Haiti? Please forward this letter and our website BrightHope.org to those in your network.

3. Act:  We need groups to fill 5,000 Med Packs — a project for churches, Sunday school classes, scout groups and homeschoolers. Order in minimum quantities of 20 at $15 each ($300) or you can sponsor a pack and we will fill one for you for $30. To order a box of Med Packs ($300) call 224-520-6100 and speak with Joy. To sponsor a $30 Med-Pack visit our website.

4. Give:  As God would lay it on your heart at our website  www.BrightHope.org

Thank you for sharing and praying for those in most urgent need in Haiti.

Click here to watch!

Thank you to all who came together for the incredibly successful Hope4Haiti Event!

 More than 1,300 people volunteered. Collectively we packed 270,864 meals.

Exceeding Our Goal!

You can still get involved by Clicking HERE!

New Pictures are up now in our New Photo Gallery!

Bright Hope is Tweeting!

You can follow us by searching for: @Bright_Hope

What were you doing on September 12, 2009?

Laurie Teper was competing in an Ironman Competition for Bright Hope! Through swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running an entire marathon (all at once) she raised over $900 for Bright Hope! Through nine months of training, Laurie finished after 13 hours 15 minutes and 6 seconds.

Congrats to Laurie in her valiant efforts on helping the less fortunate through Bright Hope!

 There is still time to donate to Bright Hope through Laurie’s Ironman Competition by Clicking Here!