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Every year around 1 million people in South Sudan are displaced due to significant flooding. These families are already living in severe poverty and many have fled conflict – adding the devastating threat of flooding has a deeply detrimental impact on the wellbeing of families and puts many children at greater risk of abduction and recruitment.

Families impacted by flooding in South Sudan are doing everything they can to keep their families together and provide what their children need – but without help the challenge might prove too much.

That is why Hopeland has partnered with a Swiss-based humanitarian organization, Medair, to support the production and distribution of a brand new innovative solution for South Sudanese families.

This solution will keep families together during environmental crises. The flood-resistant homes provide a safe and secure environment, preventing displacement and the separation of children from their parents. Designed to be durable and long-lasting, they offer stability and security to families repeatedly affected by flooding.

Announced in our annual report last year we are pleased to be able to tell you that Hopeland and Medair have now formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Better Flood Resilience Shelter Kit project. Initial testing has gone well and the project is on track to continue the roll out in time for the next flooding season.

The project is a major innovation project taking place in South Sudan. Developed in collaboration with the University of Juba, and Swiss Technical University EPFL, the shelter kit is a response to worsening seasonal flooding in South Sudan.

High costs of imported materials, limited shelter assistance funding, and frequent displacements further exacerbate the situation and jeopardize the adoption of generic shelter solutions seen worldwide. These factors make an innovative solution especially valuable – this is why Hopeland is working directly with Medair’s Innovation team to support this life-saving innovation.

The innovation is achieved by designing a single kit that can be configured either as an emergency shelter or a permanent roof for a family home. This affords families both a safe living space following a flood, as well as a key element to their recovery after they return to their village.

Learn more about how you can support this project here!

The shelter kit is manufactured inside South Sudan by local workers using recycled materials including the re-use of used rubber tires which are turned into the ropes that hold the shelter in place. The reliance on locally-sourced materials is a key innovation that can make this solution an accessible intervention to flooding in the country.

The first phase of the project aims to provide flood-resistant homes to 170 families, which will benefit over 1000 people in South Sudan. It then has potential to scale further beyond that impacting thousands. By providing resilient shelter assistance, the project will help families stay safe during flooding, prevent displacement, and contribute to the long-term recovery and development of flood-affected communities. Making communities more resilient to environmental disasters will have a long term impact on not just families but all areas of the community.

Hopeland’s Co-Founder and CEO, Nicholas Evans, said, “This shelter innovation prioritizes sustainability and resilience, empowering communities with safety and protection, in order to rebuild and recover from crises. By integrating advanced design ideas with local expertise, we are proud to support a project that not only saves lives but also fosters self-reliance and community empowerment.”

Medair CEO, Anne Reitsema, said, “We are in this together! Medair and Hopeland have a shared passion for helping families survive. We are both committed to finding innovative ways to assist them in their greatest time of need. This combined with the South Sudanese and Swiss Universities’ shared passion for making assistance more efficient and effective makes us stronger together as we seek to come alongside communities grappling with extremely challenging crises which lead to repeated displacement.”

Medair has been operational in South Sudan since 1991. South Sudan is one of Medair’s largest humanitarian programs, providing humanitarian aid and services within WASH, Shelter, Health and Nutrition. Throughout its work in South Sudan, Medair emphasizes collaboration with local communities, government authorities, and other humanitarian partners to ensure effective coordination and maximize the impact of interventions. By combining expertise, resources, and local knowledge, Medair strives to address the complex needs of the population and contribute to sustainable development in South Sudan.

Hopeland is an organization that prioritizes support for families and for children that have been separated from their families. We connect partners to mobilize communities and incubate disruptive solutions that promote safe, stable home environments and nurture children’s development. We are supporting Medair’s vital work through funding, promotion, and other key support over the next two years. We look forward to sharing more updates as this project is rolled out in South Sudan.

Today our news feeds seem like they are always full of stories of despair – the pandemic, conflict around the world, climate change, and many other pressing issues can cause a sense of dread. Hopeland, and our platform for action and advocacy, is fueled however by a desire to share messages of hope with you all.

In that spirit we are thrilled to announce our partnership with New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services and our friends at New Yorkers For Children to create an innovative program for youth in foster care in New York City.

Our program, TechLink, is one of the first ever public-private partnerships to provide coding classes, tech immersion, and career planning for older youth in foster care – a group that Hopeland is focused on helping as we deliver our mission of ensuring every child has a safe, loving family.

Built upon the existing Code Next program Hopeland has partnered with Google to provide youth in foster care with a unique experience that includes other career and college planning support. The initial cohort of high school students has received career path planning education, mentoring and programming that will help them develop a pathway towards a successful STEM career.

In its pilot stage TechLink was launched in January 2021 and has already proven to be a vital program that provides an incredible experience to older youth in foster care. As a result of our program our youth are more empowered and less at risk.

Hopeland is committed to improving the lives of youth in this situation here in the U.S. because, historically, teenagers in the foster care system who eventually age out having never found an adoptive family to care for them have been less likely to graduate, more likely to face homelessness during their lives, and generally more likely to face difficulties. It is our hope that by creating programs like TechLink we can change the direction of these statistics. It is so important that we do everything we can to help these young people and ensure they can thrive.

In the words of our Co-Founder, Deborra-lee Furness, “Hopeland was created to not only give a voice to young people and families but also to take action to deliver our vision of a world where every child has a safe, loving family. I’m over the moon to see Hopeland launch this innovative and exciting program to help young people in NYC thrive!”

Fortunately, even though the problems faced by some young people aging out of foster care have only gotten worse during the pandemic, our programming has made an even more significant impact on the lives of youth by ensuring that they continue to learn, stay connected and advance their aspirational goals.

Although we were unable to hold lessons in person at the program’s state of the art tech lab in the heart of NYC, TechLink has been provided virtually throughout 2021 – impacting the work the youth were able to do and the opportunities that were open to them.

In spite of the odds, and thanks to the incredible leadership of the TechLink staff, the students have performed amazingly well and delivered some incredible achievements which were displayed at the end of semester presentation. The students have coded their own websites, created YouTube videos and podcasts, and learnt so much more. We can’t wait to see what else they achieve!

Students have said it is great to see women of color in leadership roles and teachers who “look like me”. We know how important it is for young people to have role models they can look up to and how valuable this is in the impact of our program.

We are also delighted to tell you that we have secured $100,000 in additional funding for the program to allow Techlink to expand in Fall of 2021 and to include a stipend for the youth who are participating. We hope this extra element of TechLink will ensure that every young person who is enrolled in the program not only benefits from the program but also gets some financial help in these difficult times.

We will be sure to share more updates with you as the program expands. TechLink is a great example of the incredible achievements that are possible when we work together with our partners to deliver for children and families around the world who need our help.

Hopeland’s focus on impact and innovation in delivering TechLink as part of our platform for action and advocacy has been key in creating this program that is benefiting youth in NYC today. If you want to learn more about our work please follow us on social media and sign up to support us at our website.

Having been deeply impacted by the ongoing crisis in Syria, the British rock band Coldplay were prompted to write the lead single from their latest album, a song called “Orphans” which received significant praise. 

Chris Martin told the BBC at the time of the song’s release about his inspiration for writing the song that, “It seems to me that one of the things that might help people have a better time is to put themselves in other people’s shoes, whether that’s these kids who have to leave Syria, or who grew up in Baltimore, or whatever it might be. Rather than judging from afar, maybe to  think ‘I wonder what it’s like to be there.” We of course completely agree with this powerful message!

The music video for the track featured Hopeland in recognition of the support that Coldplay have for our mission of ensuring every child has a safe, loving home.

Through our work with the band we are pleased to let you know the significant impact that their goodwill has had on our cause.

Coldplay generously donated 10% of the worldwide proceeds from the song to Hopeland and our work to benefit vulnerable children. An incredible donation that helps us continue our vital mission.

Coldplay’s original manager and “fifth member” of the band, Phil Harvey tweeted his support earlier this year saying they were “proud to support Hopeland’s life changing work with children who are separated from their families, through this song.”

You can still sing and dance along to the music video knowing that thanks in part to the generosity of Coldplay our mission and work continues.