Celebrating 2024: A Year of Challenges, Opportunities, and Impact

With the end of 2024, we at Hope Health Action (HHA) reflected on a year filled with incredible opportunities and significant challenges. From launching new projects in East Africa to beginning a new chapter in Haiti, the journey has been a rollercoaster—but we’re so grateful to have shared it with you.

Thanks to your generosity and God’s amazing faithfulness, we’ve been able to change thousands of lives this year. Now, we’re excited to share 10 of our top highlights from 2024—moments that wouldn’t have been possible without your support.

2024 Top 10 Achievements

Grace Rehabilitation Centre Opens in Haiti

One of the biggest milestone moments of the year was in July, when we opened Grace Rehabilitation Centre in Haiti – which offers specialised care, physiotherapy, and vocational training to people with spinal cord injuries and other neurological disabilities. Opening this centre in less than 6 months was a huge feat, and is now enabling us to offer continued compassionate care to people that otherwise risked being left behind. 

Night to Shine

In February, we were thrilled to host our third Night to Shine event in Haiti, celebrating children with special needs. We had over 70 children in attendance with their parents or caregivers and over 150 volunteer staff to make it the most memorable night! This unforgettable evening brought joy, inclusion, and fun as the children were crowned kings and queens and walked the red carpet to cheers and applause!

Empowering with skills for life

Continuing and improving our holistic approach to disability care, our Vocational Training Programmes in Haiti and East Africa made significant strides this past year, focusing on equipping individuals with income-generation skills to create sustainable and independent futures. Beneficiaries are learning skills such as donut making, IT, and soap creation. We also offer training in sewing, shoemaking, and much more. By combining physical mobility support with these empowerment opportunities, the programmes foster independence, and deliver lasting change.

Special Education at Amazing Grace

In 2024, HHA partnered with Amazing Grace School in Uganda to launch a much needed Special Education Programme for children with disabilities, giving them the chance to learn and grow alongside their peers. In refugee contexts, children with disabilities are among the most vulnerable, often left isolated at home as parents work to survive. Our programme provides a tuk-tuk ‘school bus’ for safe transport and access to a Special Needs Teacher, fostering an inclusive environment where every child can thrive.

New Hope Kajo-Keji Turns One

In South Sudan, our New Hope Clinic continued delivering essential care, treating over 20.000 people since the start of the year. Following the outbreak of malaria in the region, a key highlight has been the start of our malaria prevention programme, supplying mosquito nets and the ground-breaking University of Oxford vaccine. Since launching in August, this programme has vaccinated over 300 children, having a major impact on so many preventable premature deaths.

Award-Winning Agriculture in Uganda

In May, we were proud to see our agriculture project in Uganda recognised through the Global Development Network’s award for ‘Most Innovative Development Project’. This year alone, this project reached an incredible 420 households across two refugee settlements with seeds, tools, land and training – empowering hundreds of vulnerable families to grow their own sustainable source of food and income. By empowering vulnerable individuals - particularly people with disabilities - and making them visible as able, active members of their communities, his project is not only combating hunger, but also promoting understanding and reducing stigma.

Mobility Through Innovation

In collaboration with our amazing global partners, we continued the distribution of wheelchairs in Haiti, Uganda, and South Sudan, providing over 1500 wheelchairs for life-changing mobility.  In addition, we launched an innovative Wheelchair Repurpose and Repairs programme in Uganda, transforming old, unused chairs into fully tailored solutions for individuals in need. The program is a wonderful leap towards more sustainable operations, transforming discarded or old wheelchairs into fully functional mobility aids, maximising resource efficiency and minimising waste. Over the past year, HHA’s amazing local team repaired and repurposed 570 wheelchairs - an enormous achievement that will enable even more beneficiaries to use chairs functionally and safely!

A new home for the Maison

In September, we proudly opened Maison de Grâce, our independent respite care centre in Haiti, dedicated to children with disabilities and their families. Currently supporting 23 children three days a week, the centre provides a holistic programme of care, including education, physical, music, and play therapy, as well as nutritious meals. Parents also receive invaluable support, advice, and the crucial respite they need. Maison de Grâce is more than just a centre, it’s a place of hope, empowerment, and renewal.

Partnering to treat malnutrition

With the help of our partner Edesia, we shipped over 1,500 cartons of Plumpy’Nut to refugee settlements in Uganda, delivering life-saving support to children facing severe malnutrition. Plumpy’Nut is a therapeutic, ready-to-use food designed to treat acute malnutrition. Packed with essential nutrients, it’s a transformative solution: a single course of treatment can take a child from the brink of starvation to a healthy weight in just 8 weeks. By bridging critical supply gaps, this vital intervention truly demonstrates the power of targeted nutrition to save lives and create a healthier future for vulnerable children.

Transforming care for mothers and babies

2024 marked the beginning of a transformative maternal and infant health programme in Haiti – an urgent need in a country with the worst maternal mortality rates in the western hemisphere. A recent highlight was the delivery of five life-saving ‘mOm’ incubators to Justinien University Hospital (JUH), the largest public hospital in northern Haiti, which previously had no working incubators. This milestone is just the start of a broader initiative, supported by an incredible partnership with J&K Wonderland. Alongside the incubators, we're also building clinical capacity, and launching a large-scale community-based maternal and infant health programme, with the goal of transforming maternal and infant health outcomes for years to come. We look forward to seeing this initiative flourish in 2025!