Serving the Poor Using a Holistic Approach
Partners in Sustainable Development International is committed to uplifting families living in extreme poverty through a partnership with the PEP (Poverty Eradication Program) team in Bangladesh who empowers families to devise creative ways to solve the problems that keep them from financial security and independence. PEP recognizes that many of these families face so many obstacles to their economic recovery, that a comprehensive program is often required to offer them an opportunity for permanent uplift out of poverty. Sometimes, however, they only need a little assistance to become self-sufficient. The programs we fund are designed to work independently or in a more integrated way to meet the needs of the families we serve.
The PEP team focuses on identifying the very families most in need as defined by the amount of food available to them each day and their ability to access basic necessities, such as shelter, clean water, healthcare and appropriate seasonal clothing. Most begin the program without these basics - in a state of partial starvation and are initially given food to improve their health and stability.
Once a family is stabilized, a social worker helps the family identify and prioritize its needs. Together they create a plan for financial independence that includes the entire family; children, parents, the elderly and the housebound. Every family member has an individual plan that is a part of the whole family’s success and includes whatever training, education, tools and the support needed for each member to be successful.
Empowerment
Families choose work from a wide variety of programs, each with a learning component, to build a successful financial future. Many of the families we serve are headed by women. We serve these families by giving women a skill and resources to earn an income because we know that healthy, economically empowered women are changing their lives and the lives of those around them.
Many families graduate out of extreme poverty within five to ten years on the average. They leave our program with enough food to eat three meals every day, with access to health care and education for their children, and with skills to become financially self-reliant. They learn to build and manage their assets and create to establish savings for lean times or emergencies.
Accountability & Measurable results
The ability to measure our success is the responsibility of a network of social workers who live in the villages and work with each partner family to develop and help them execute their plan. Social workers are recruited from the areas where they work allowing them firsthand knowledge of the community and facilitating trust between them and the families they serve. Biweekly visits by social workers monitor progress and ensure that no family falls behind. When an unexpected situation arises, a family’s individual plan can be adjusted to make sure that they do not lose any progress they have made. Partner families are formally assessed every three years to be sure that they are meeting their goals as they work toward financial security and independence.
The success of each family is measured by the positive changes in their life and the continued progress on their plan for independence. Social workers collect data on the income the family is earning, the amount of food they have available, the number of children who have completed the two-year primary school program and transitioned into government schools, the value of assets the family owns, the amount of money families have saved, and the impact the program has had on the community, just to name a few.
