On July 16th, the Global Partners in Hope team celebrated twelve years as an organization!
Founded in 2008, by CEO Ian Vickers and former chairman, Roger Atwood, GPiH started as a small project based out of a local Omaha church. Since then, our organization has grown and evolved, but our mission remains the same: to meet the tangible needs of people in communities across the globe, by delivering real, sustainable hope.
Over the last twelve years, Global Partners in Hope has had the opportunity to impact thousands of lives through the creation of our water wells, health centers, solar projects, and leadership training events. We have seen incredible progress in Mali, Togo, and China, the countries in which we primarily work.
In 2009, GPiH received its license to conduct leadership training in China and began hosting leadership training workshops to develop community leaders. Two years later, in 2011, GPiH built its first health center in the Bako Region of Mali. Fast forward nine more years, and we now have nine medical centers in total, with a tenth currently under construction. Additionally, we have established twelve water wells, developed twelve solar projects, and trained hundreds of community leaders within Mali, Togo, and China.
Last year alone, 2,600 individuals in China received leadership training through the 110 training and consulting events hosted by our in-country team. This year has presented many challenges, but our efforts continue with ongoing curriculum planning and the development of online content for leadership training.
Our nine health centers across Mali have treated over 130,000 patients and performed over 6,200 childbirths in just the last seven years. In the areas with health centers and water wells, we have seen a 95% reduction in mortality rates for children under the age of five. We are hopeful that we will see these numbers continually decrease as we continue building health centers accessible to remote villages across West Africa. We are currently building our newest health center in Togo, with plans to open the facility by the end of this year!
Throughout the last twelve years as an organization, GPiH has seen major growth in all aspects of our work, as well as many changes. One thing that has not changed is our mission and values. Connecting people who can help and people who need hope will always remain the focus of Global Partners in Hope’s work.