Program rationale

heiracy of need 

The below table helps us understand if and articulate why it's essential for us to work on a project during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Exisiting programs 

Below are the reasons we have used to determine that it is essential for us to find a way to meet the needs of the communities we serve, on a program-by-program basis. 

Australia

The Australian program aims to mobilise local national volunteers to help the recovery from wildfire. As yet, the program is not defined well enough to assess its alignment with these factors.

California COVID-19

Our work in Los Angeles is essential as it supports those directly impacted by COVID-19. Our two scopes of work focus on helping operate a COVID-19 testing centre and supporting food banks in their operation to support the many thousands of people who rely on their services to eat each day. Our partners, CORE and LA Foodbank have exhausted their volunteer capacity and we are able to provide the essential support needed for their operations. If we did not do this work, it would reduce the capacity of these two essential and oversubscribed services. 

California Wildfires Mitigation 

Wildfires in California are increasing year-on-year. The mitigation work is crucial to be completed prior to Fire Season to ensure that homes and communities are protected from future fires. 

California Wildfires Recovery 

Wildfires in California are increasing year-on-year. The “camp fire” in Northern California was the most expensive disaster of 2018 (when judged on insured losses). Thousands of people remain displaced and living in insecure accommodation. Our partner, Hope Crisis Response, is at a critical point where they are prepared to begin to reconstruct homes for those displaced by the Camp Fire. Our work enables the partner to finish the homes and extend their impact to more families. 

Central America DART

Deploying a small team to identify priority needs following two severe hurricanes which affected the area in late-2020. 

Florida

Working in partnership with the community and the long term recovery group (LTRG), funded in part by the American Red Cross. This program provides critical repairs to homes of families which have been displaced by Hurricane Michael in 2018. 

Louisiana

Our project in Louisiana addresses the immediate needs of households impacted by two severe hurricanes which made landfall near our operational location. The works are focused on providing a secure watertight envelope to prevent total loss of a home, and treatment of mold - the presence of which could cause respiratory tract issues - making an individual more susceptible to severe illness due to COVID-19. 

Mexico

Our Mexican program runs two school projects, following damages sustained in the 2017 earthquake.

The project will restore educational facilities at two schools. The students would return to use the school when our project completes. 

At Vicente Guerrero we are focused on retro-fit and repairs to bring the school back to the highest standards and are also rebuilding 1 new classroom and WaSH facilities. At Paulo Freire we are demolishing unsafe classrooms and rebuilding 2 rooms and WaSH facilities, in addition to retro-fit and repair.  

Nepal - remaining schools

We are returning to complete the work at Thakureshor and Janakalyan schools - both of which were left with work half-finished during the shutdown. Using local (national) contractors, overseen by our experienced Nepali staff. 

The work at Thakuershor is essential and a full campus rebuild, with all students in TLC's. It is imperative we complete the work as soon as possible. 

At Janakalyan the majority of the students are safe due to a government built 4 room block. However we are completing WaSH and 3 new classrooms to provide all students with a safe classroom environment, helping with physical distancing and providing appropriate hygiene facilities.. We forecast the projects will be completed by the end of April. 

Peru - Villacuri

Pre-shutdown, our team completed 40% of the 4 block, 10 room full campus kindergarten rebuild ahead. The current school has wooden classrooms that are not resilient and there are also insufficient classrooms for the community so children are not able to attend preschool locally. The community is anxious for AHAH to return and complete the work as soon as possible.    

Peru - Arequipa 

We have a team of local contractors completing this work in compliance with local Peru regulations. 

SE Asia DART

Deploying a small team to identify priority needs following multiple severe hurricanes which affected the area throughout 2020. 

Texas

Our current program in Texas is due to complete in April 2021, over three years since Hurricane Harvey caused widespread damage to communities throughout the state. AHAH are one of very few organizations who continue to support the families impacted in the area. Two homes are currently in progress and another eight families are in the work queue. 

The Bahamas

Our work in the Bahamas restores educational facilities for (an estimated) 200 students in the short term. We also expect to return safe housing to an estimated 200 individuals. 

This work is essential for the organizations continued feasibility. 

The Bahamas 1 - The plan for the rest of the financial year is split into 2 sections. Between January to May the focus is on minor roof repairs to residential properties and completing work at Every Child Counts School - which includes 4 new classrooms. From late May - August the focus will be purely on residential roof repairs. As time passess and NGO's leave the island there is still a significant number of families awaiting assistance.  

The Bahamas 2 - The program is being designed to work on 2 education facilities and residential roofs. From February to May we will be rebuilding classrooms at Little Darlings Academy. This is a private pre-school that has low rates and subsidies for a small number of families who can not afford childcare. The majority of pre-schools within the Bahamas are private facilities and they have not been able to re-open after Hurricane Dorian. Without our support it is clear that the pre-school will not open. The roofing project is designed to address a more technically challenging scope, with major repairs and full roof rebuilds. This scope of work has been designed to address the unmet needs of families who have not received assistance as the majority of NGO's focus on basic minor repairs. 

While all of the work across the Bahamas can be completed with contractors it is important to note that the cost of hiring local skilled labour is very expensive and we would need a skilled team of AHAH staff to support this work.