Financial Assistant - Hassan Mohammed

Hassan Mohammed is the Financial Assistant and the Human Resources Assistant for the ADRA Hais office

Hassan is a local Hais resident and has been an ADRA Hais team member for about 18 months. He has taken an expanding and responsible role as a “go to” person for most things that happen in the office. He has a young and energetic personality and nothing seems too difficult. He has keenly accepted the task of maintaining this ADRA Hais blog.

Hassan as the Financial Assistant is responsible for the tracking of the program funds, the comparison of budget with actual activity, petty cash activities and reporting to the Program Manager and the Finance Manager in Sana’a. He is also the Human Resources assistant and is involved with staff issues. In addition he also monitors the security of the office and staff activity. Another important role is that of translator since he has a good command of English and Marie Ann the Program Manager does not speak the local Arabic language.

Hassan is 29 and single although he intends to marry soon, InShallah! (If God pleases) and contrary to tradition he has chosen a partner, someone from the ADRA Hais office but he has not informed the family yet. We are looking forward to hearing some good news on a future blog.

At a college in Zabid near Hodeidah, Hassan studied English for 4 years and earned a BR Degree. He recognized at school that to get good employment he had to expand his language skill. In 2007 ADRA asked Hassan to attend a donor workshop as a translator and they were impressed with his skill such that ADRA offered Hassan the job of financial assistant. ADRA then sent Hassan to Hodeidah to learn computer skills. Over the past 18 months Hassan, through experience has been able to acquire the skills needed to do his job.

Hassan really enjoys his work at ADRA and his enthusiasm shows every day. The satisfaction from assisting disabled people gives Hassan the energy to advance. He would like to have more training and eventually rise with ADRA, to travel and to have different experiences investigating how others find solutions for their disabled.

ADRA Hais meets the Hais City Council

In a continuing partnership with the community the ADRA team met with the Hais City Council on 29th October and this photo shows the team outside the City Hall. Marie Ann Fernandez the program manager led the team accompanied with our financial assistant Hassan Mohamed, our program director Adbulai Yassin, and Paul Fish the ADRA visitor from Canada who advises local councils on the mobilization of local revenues.

The team initially sat down with Councilor Abdulai Khalil and with the Chief Administrator Mr. Salem Muhedeen. Hassan took on the important role of translator. Marie Ann explained the progress of the program in Hais providing services and skills training to the disabled. The Councilor acknowledged that the Hais community very much appreciated the program that ADRA was providing for their disabled. The Councilor expressed his fervent hopes that the program funded by Canadians would continue. The lack of local council funds meant that the ADRA services could not be undertaken by the community. Paul Fish commented that better local revenues might be mobilized from local businesses and those better off in the community. The Councilor and Chief Administrator were attentive and interested but at the moment they don’t have control over the levy of taxes. The administrator intends to take this up with the Regional Government in Hodeidah. He realises that the community needs to expand it’s services such as those that ADRA provides and for sustainability, the City of Hais needs to take on the ADRA services over the long term.

The ADRA team then met the Mayor of Hais in his chambers and Marie Ann paid the respects of ADRA and introduced the ADRA team. She talked to the Mayor about the disabled and ADRA’s work. In order to foster the awareness of the disabled to the community-at-large Marie Ann offered to put on a workshop about the ADRA program. The Mayor and Administrator were extremely pleased with the idea and offered the use of the City Hall. Everyone agreed to meet again on November 17th to discuss the agenda for the workshop.

The administration provided refreshments and we departed with a sense of goodwill and pleased in the knowledge that an important relationship with the community was being fostered.