General questions
1.
How can I get in touch with HDF?
Human Development Foundation is eager to respond to your questions.
- Write to:
Human Development Foundation of North America
1350 Remington Rd. Suite W
Schaumburg, IL 60173 - Call at: (800)-705-1310 or (847)-490-0100
- Fax at: (847)-490-7150
- Visit us online: www.hdf.com
- Email at: info@hdf.com
- Pakistan CEO, Lt Col ® Azhar Saleem
- Contact our National Office in Pakistan:
House # 2B, Street # 38, Johar Road, F-8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan - Phone: +92.51.211.1293 to 5 | +92.51.211.1279 | +92.51.211.2280
- Fax: +92.51.210.1421
- Contact our other Regional Offices in Pakistan
- Contact the Board of Directors
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Administrative questions
1.
Are the board members in Pakistan and USA, paid employees or volunteers?
The members of both Pakistan and US boards not only work entirely on a volunteer basis, but also don’t get reimbursed for their expenses when they travel for HDF related activities, for example to make presentations for fund raisers, board meeting or even to Pakistan to visit the projects etc. Furthermore, many of the board members are major donors, too. Only the actual staff members are paid employees, both in HDF-P and HDF-US.
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2.
What is an HDF local network? How does one develop a regional network?
The concept of regional networks was adopted in keeping with our mission statement of facilitating a grassroots movement. The charter of HDF to "bring about a positive social change and community empowerment" is so vast that it will be impossible for a few individuals to accomplish it. HDF is a humanitarian organization, which seeks support from people of all faiths and all walks of life. Anyone who believes in the mission of HDF is welcome to join in any of the existing networks or to start one themselves if there is no network in the area and become a part of this movement. At this time our networks are really loosely structured. The Board is reviewing the governance and other issues in this area and will finalize its recommendations in Oct meeting. To develop a regional network, enlist yourself as a volunteer on our website, www.YesPakistan.com, and we will mail you a Volunteer package. This package will give you some more information about the organization. We also recommend you to visit Yespakistan.com and get to know the organization. Following is a brief outline for starting a network. You are welcome to call the office at any time and they will put you in touch with the appropriate people who can also help.
- After you develop a certain degree of comfort level with the organization and its projects invite a few like-minded people and discuss this with them.
- Develop a core group of committed people who are willing to contribute their time and energies for the cause.
- There will be more questions, feel free to call us any time and we’ll do our best to answer them
- Distribute our print material in the community to increase awareness
- After you have the core group, organize a community awareness program. Invite members of the community to someone’s house or a restaurant and make a presentation about the organization. We can provide you with some material for this. If you don’t feel comfortable in making a presentation yourself, let us know and someone from the central organization can come.
- Arrange a fund raising event. We can provide you with a manual on how to do this. You are also welcome to call and we’ll help you.
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3.
What is the relationship between the HDF board in Pakistan and the board in the US? Does the American board visit the project sites?
The Board of Directors in Pakistan will work in conjunction with the Board in America. Six HDF members currently serve on both the Pakistani and American Board. This will allow for an easy transition into the co-working of the two boards. The Board in Pakistan will supplement the Board in the US and provide more human resources and aid in organizing volunteers and starting local networks and internship programs in Pakistan. The Board in Pakistan offers another layer of accountability, strengthens the HDF mission of creating a “broad-based leadership,” and further connects the Human Development Foundation with the people of Pakistan.
Many members of the Board in the US individually visit Pakistan several times a year. The Board’s co-chairs visit the projects every quarter. All donors, supporters, and all who are interested are encouraged to visit the sites at any time. All visitors are requested to offer some about the project sites and possible improvements.
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4.
What are the criteria and the process for selecting members of the Board of Directors?
Individuals are chosen for membership on the Board based on the following criteria:
- Their commitment to the mission and goals of HDF
- Their contributions to the organization thus far in terms of time, energy, and finances
- Their attendance at HDF meetings and participation in discussions that make one more
familiar with HDF and its workings
- Any special skills or resources that they may bring to the table
- Their ability to donate time to HDF
* An effort is made to maintain a balance of the genders.
For a detailed description of the process for the selection of the HDF Board of Directors, please refer to the HDF Bylaws Article 4 – “Board of Directors.”
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5.
How can I get involved with HDF? What opportunities are available for volunteers?
Volunteers are the backbone and the most precious asset of HDF. They carry out many functions without any expectations of reward. Without their help, dedication and hard work the organization would not have been able to achieve all it has within a short time period. One of the goals of HDF is to establish traits of volunteerism and philanthropy in our communities. There are many opportunities for volunteering for HDF here in the USA depending on your time availability and skills, etc. Our mission statement also calls for "facilitating a grassroots movement for a positive social change”, which makes the participation by the volunteers even more crucial for the achievement of this goal.
Enlist with Human Development Foundation and make a difference by:
- Help start a network in your community. Ask the central office, who will assist you in getting started by sending you informational brochures, and other HDF project-related media.
- Promote our “Sponsor a Family Program”. Sign up for sponsoring one or more families for $15 a month per family. Encourage other to do the same. This covers the cost of providing education, preventative health care, and micro-enterprise for a family of eight in our projects in Pakistan.
- Reside in Chicagoland? Volunteer at our HQ for mailing, preparing packages, and telephone answering duties; become an Ambassador for positive social change!
- Help with a fundraiser. If there is an active HDF Network in your area that is planning a fundraiser, donate your time toward that fundraiser.
- Distributing our material in local Islamic centers and community events like Pakistan Day and Eid Day programs.
- Outsource to your contacts in the media! Help by getting HDF success stories and articles into print
- Hold a community awareness event at your home and talk about HDF and what it does. The central office will provide you with materials for that. We can also get you in touch with current volunteers who can share their experience!
- We are always looking for good writers! If you have writing skills, contact the central office.
- Visit our website, www.hdf.com, participate in discussions, and give us suggestions on improving the site.
YES! I WANT TO JOIN THE TEAM THAT IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
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Program related questions
1.
How does HDF select a project site in Pakistan?
The criteria for the selection of the project sites were alittle different in the beginning than later on. HDF’s first project was in Mardan. The reason for this was that APPNA SEHAT was already working in that area. The community was familiar with the concept of social mobilization and the organization had some existing credibility in the area. HDF had made a commitment to have at least one project site in all four provinces of Pakistan. The site in Raheem Yar Khan (Punjab) was selected because a donor pledged to fund the site initially. Shamsabad (Sind) was selected due to its proximity with the SEAHT project in Badin. In Baluchistan, the entry was difficult due to the local customs and traditions. So to overcome that hurdle, HDF built a dam in Zhob. This was done with the help of the community and with the understanding that after the completion of the dam, the community will help us in establishing our usual intervention i.e. education, health and economic development.Regardless of the reasons to start a project in a certain area, there are some basic criteria that must be met before starting a project. A Feasibility Study is done on sites that are candidates. The following is a brief list of some of the criteria for the Feasibility Study:
- The community falls within the range of predetermined criteria in terms of income level.
- Community is willing to commit to the long-term project.
- There at least 1000 housholds within a geagraphical area to make it cost effective. This was one of the challenges in Baluchistan where the people live over a vastly scattered area.
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2.
How are indigenous women involved in Human Development Foundation?
Women are involved at several levels. One of the main objectives of HDF is to empower women by education, income generation and skills training programs. They are treated as equal partners in HDF projects.
- There are female DO’s along the same lines as the male DOs. These DOs participate in the management of the micro-credit program. They also are part on the Parent Teacher Associations and health committees.
- There are 562 enterprises (established through HDF micro-credit) owned by female Development Organization members in Pakistan.
- A total of 11 workshops were held for women in different regions on garments, live stock management, poultry production.
- Women were lent Rs.196, 850.00 as of August 2002 toward Micro-Enterprise credit programs.
- Local women with education are trained as teachers for communities by HDF-P.
- Women are an active part of our Parent Teacher Associations and Health Committees
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3.
Can we get a picture and other particular of the family who we are sponsoring under "Sponsor a Family" progem in Pakistan?
The answer is no. The simple reason is that the $15 do not go to "a family". This number is based on the cost avereging. If you have one of our family sponsor brochures, we have written it on it, so that people know up front about it. We cannot do it for many reasons.
- The money is not given to a particular family.
- This money does not go to fulfilling the cost of maintaning one particular family either.
I'll try to explain: For example we have 100 families and the cost is $1500 per month for education, health and credit program. Some families may need more credit, some may need more education because they have more children or people enrolled in the adult literacy program and some may need more health. So that each famliy is not using all the services at the same level. So the $1500 is divided by the number of families and that is how we arrive at this number per family. It is more
for people to understand the cost effectiveness of the program and relate to their own expenses in this country, so they can appreciate that with so little money they can make a difference.
The other reasons that are important are:
- It will be almost impossible to picture women and girls due to cultural restrictions.
- It is really an insult to the family or an individual to advertise their need and poverty.
- We don't want people in our projects to feel that they are recieving charity from someone in America. We want to promote the concept of partnership and self help.
- The cost of the program will go up many folds, if we start taking pictures and mailing to thousnads of family sponsors.
- Think of the impact this will have on the self respect of the people in our projects.
If there are any further questions, Please feel free to ask.
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Unanswered Questions
1.
Where do I go if I have a question you have not answered?
Email us at info@hdf.com
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