MBE for charity CEO and co-founder Carwyn Hill
 

Carwyn co-founded HHA in 2007 after learning of Haiti's needs at the Baptist World Congress two years previously. The charity has also worked alongside Baptist communities in northern Uganda and South Sudan 

Carwyn Hill, co-founder of Christian charity Hope Health Action (HHA), has been awarded an MBE as part of The King’s 2023 Birthday Honours List. This honour is in recognition of his services to international healthcare, food aid and education.

Challenged by his faith, Carwyn co-founded HHA in 2007, with the mission of empowering some of the world’s most vulnerable communities to facilitate fair and equal access to life-saving health and disability care.

The charity’s vision was born after Carwyn responded to a post-it-note from the President of the Baptist Convention of Haiti, who had nowhere to stay while attending the 2005 Baptist World Alliance Congress in the UK.

Carwyn, whose father Paul is an accredited Baptist minister, subsequently visited Haiti and was shocked by the injustice of the healthcare system, witnessing the completely unnecessary death of an 11-year-old girl who died due to a lack of basic materials.

Upon returning home, his then-church, Coney Hill Baptist Church in West Wickham, Kent, rallied around the vision, and HHA began.

Since then, HHA has carried out work in Haiti and the refugee settlements of northern Uganda and South Sudan, working alongside Baptist communities, including both The Baptist Convention of South Sudan and Haiti. The mission has reached thousands of beneficiaries with projects including maternal and infant healthcare, disability services, emergency response, and nutritional support.

On receiving the award, Carwyn said, 'I’m incredibly humbled to have received this award and am delighted to accept it on behalf of everyone at HHA, acknowledging that this opportunity reflects countless people’s passion, prayers and hard work over the years. 

'Words cannot express how grateful I am to God for His faithful and gracious provision, the incredible HHA family around the world, and our amazing partners and supporters who’ve joined us on this journey.'

The honour comes at a particularly challenging time for the regions in which HHA works. To add to the ongoing widespread political and social turmoil in Haiti, the country has faced a concerning resurgence in cholera cases, and just last week, the south of the country was devastated by serious flooding, followed by a 4.9 magnitude earthquake.

In northern Uganda, while South Sudanese refugee communities are still reeling from last year’s serious drought, funding limitations have led to food ration cuts, leaving thousands, at risk of extreme food insecurity and malnutrition.
 

To find out more about Hope Health Action, visit: www.hopehealthaction.org