Why is fhn unique?

ISOLATED COMMUNITIES

• In Ecuador and Ghana, we work with populations that have been virtually ignored by the national governments. For example, no census has registered the total population of these regions to date, and almost no government-sponsored health or social services have been offered until now.

• The coastal populations of Ecuador have also been overlooked by the international aid community, which has primarily focused aid on that country’s Andean and Amazonian populations.

MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT

•fhn is innovative in creating successful partnerships with local people and governments, ensuring that we also hold local agencies accountable.

COMMUNITY-DIRECTED PLANNING

• fhn is accountable to the agenda set forth by the community—not the other way around.

• Local communities donated their own time and labor to construct the health center, giving them a stake in the project.

• We work with a concept of health defined by local people.

TRUST and TRANSPARENCY

• The level of trust between project personnel and local inhabitants is very strong, as our relationships are built first and foremost on friendship and transparency.

PARTICIPATION and FACILITATION

• fhn employs participatory approaches and methodologies to help the communities and individuals improve their well-being. To this end, we involve ourselves in the local community as facilitators, rather than directors.

SENSITIVITY and COMMITMENT

• fhn is committed to sustained, deep engagement with local people at each stage of project implementation, in order to understand their social, economic, political, and health realities, needs, and desires.

PASSION and PROFUNDITY

• We are passionate, with a deep-seated desire to benefit the short- and long-term wishes and needs of local people. We aim to tackle the causes of issues of concern, and not just treat the symptoms.