By: Mary Loibl, Sahaya International
What does it mean to uplift hope amid devastating crises in our world? To listen, build friendship, and turn hope to reality?
Sahaya International, a Davis nonprofit, has been working to do this for the past 25 years in the countries of India, Uganda, and Vietnam among others.
Sahaya International’s roots trace to 1997 when Koen Van Rompay, a UC Davis infectious disease researcher, met Indian social worker Mr. Selvam at an HIV/AIDS conference in India. Selvam invited Van Rompay to his hometown in rural south India to see its challenges firsthand.
Van Rompay was overwhelmed and couldn’t turn away. He offered to sell the hand-embroidered cards made by local women to support their families. He returned to his HIV research at UCD and sold the cards at the Davis Farmers Market. In 1999, he founded Sahaya International to build awareness and support of healthcare, education, socio-economic and environmental grassroots programs in developing countries.
Sahaya means “help” in Sanskrit, and that’s exactly what this nonprofit does. Sahaya International is volunteer-run and the maximum amount of each donation goes directly to programs that support education, nutrition, shelter, healthcare and HIV awareness, micro-finance for women entrepreneur groups, water and sanitation infrastructure, and more.
“Being able to permanently transform the lives of children who were in dire situations, often due to HIV, but who are now able to lead happy and productive lives [has been fulfilling],” Van Rompay said of his work.
Mr. Selvam, founder of Rural Education and Action Development in southern India, leads the primary schools built with Sahaya International, programs for HIV-infected children and adults, schools for people with disabilities and other programs according to the communities’ needs. His hope is for communities to be responsible citizens of their country and family.
Chung Truong, who came to the U.S. as a refugee and is now a dentist in Northern California, founded Sahaya Vietnam to partner with a Buddhist monastery in the Mekong Delta region to build simple homes of concrete blocks to replace plastic-covered shelters, and help youth overcome hurdles to attend school.
In the past 25 years, Sahaya International has forged many partnerships including the Mosquito Dengue Fighters Association (MDFA) in the Philippines started by Davis resident Dr. Cincin Young, and in Uganda, the Rafiki Memorial Wildlife Conservation Initiative near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the Banyabutumbi Cultural Heritage Organization (BACHO-K), which is especially in need of support right now.
Akiikih Appollo founded BACHO-K in the fishing community Rwenshama where he lives with his wife and children. Rwenshama is in an impoverished, isolated area on the shore of Lake Edward. Akiikih is passionate about music and dance, and equally passionate about caring for children in the community who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, natural disasters, and the consequences of poverty. Sahaya International teamed up with BACHO-K in 2021, and has funded construction of 2 dormitories which are now in use, and helped provide food, tents, income-generating projects, healthcare, education and support for soccer, music and dance—lifelines that boost hope. Akiikih’s dream is to have a primary school in Rwenshama and a dormitory for 41 children currently in tents and 14 displaced youth.
To learn more about Sahaya International and/or donate, visit sahaya.org. Donations can be made securely via the website or by check payable to ‘Sahaya International’, mailed to Sahaya International, c/o Koen Van Rompay, 1504 Portola Street, Davis, CA 95616.
