New group aims to end extreme poverty

This past semester, the University community welcomed the addition of a new outreach club on campus, Hopkins Ending Extreme Poverty (HEEP). HEEP is the Hopkins chapter of the larger non-profit organization, NURU.

The primary aim of HEEP is to raise awareness for extreme poverty and to increase the number of Hopkins students helping to raise money for NURU with its unique approach to ending poverty in third world countries.

Rather than dropping off aid or handouts, which are often ineffective, short-term solutions, NURU focuses on equipping impoverished areas with the skills and aid for long-term sustainability.

“NURU is really special because it promotes self-sufficiency in third-world countries,” sophomore Giana Dawood, president and founder of HEEP, said.

Jake Harriman, a former U.S. marine with a degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, founded NURU after concluding from his experiences in war that extreme poverty will be one of the main causes for terrorism and violent rebellions in the 21st century.

Despite facing several initial obstacles, NURU has made great strides towards improving the long-term conditions of areas tormented by poverty.

Launched in 2008, NURU began its efforts in the Kuria district of Kenya. When members of the organization first arrived, they worked with all levels of the community and conducted research as to find the most efficient ways of harvesting maize, the primary crop in the area. The first crop harvest of the NURU members witnessed a 300 percent increase in yield compared to past years with traditional methods.

“[NURU] started off with their work in Kenya and were there for seven years and so they’re just moving out of Kenya now and going to Ethiopia,” Dawood said. “Once in Ethiopia, they aim to teach the farmers, work with the political figures and the general public and help educate them on how to become self-sufficient. NURU members work in the fields of healthcare, government, education, water sanitation and they aim to help so that by the time they leave after seven or eight years, the region can sustain itself and work itself out of poverty to prevent future dependency on aid.”

Inspired by this new self-sufficient and educational approach to aid, Dawood and several other sophomores were eager to start a chapter at Hopkins.

“What drew us to starting HEEP was the different approach [they took to ending] poverty,” Dawood said. “They’re not just trying to give them food and give them water — leave them and hope that they can fend on themselves. Not only are they aiding them but also trying to address the issue and solve that issue and spending almost ten years there and working to improve education and any field that contributes to poverty and trying to address it and feel comfortable leaving them to go work in a different country.”

Because NURU does not accept any contributions other than monetary donations, HEEP has made its focus hosting various fundraising events each semester. The club kicked off the last semester with a bake sale and is working on planning more outdoor events this semester such as cook-outs and a 5K night rave (NURU is Kiswahili for ‘light’). It also hopes to include the efforts of the Panhellenic community on campus.

“We understand that we are a new club,” Dawood said, “[but] we really hope to get more people involved and excited by this different and new approach to ending extreme poverty in our lifetime.”