From Unsafe Water to New Opportunity: How Siyowi is Transforming Lives
Just a few years ago, accessing clean water was one of the greatest challenges facing families in the Siyowi District of Zambia. Every day, women and children walked long distances to collect water from shallow, contaminated wells. The journey consumed valuable hours that could have been spent farming, earning an income, or attending school. Waterborne […]
Villages Leading Villages: Our First Peer-Led Pilot
For nearly two decades, Shanta's model has depended on our own program staff walking villages through the same six-year path: form a Village Development Team, build a Community Bank, and grow toward independence. This year, for the first time, we handed that role to someone else, four Village Development Team members from villages that already [...] From Dropout to Dreamchaser
Fridah Fridah Mweete is sixteen years old, from Nachili Village. When her parents separated in 2023, the resulting family disruption left her without a stable home, and she moved in with her aunt. The transition came with a cost: without the support of both parents, and with her aunt's household already stretched, there was no [...] “The Right Decision Changed My Future”
Nang's Family in their Home Fifteen-year-old Nang Than Than Htay lives in a modest bamboo home in Myauk Hti Bwar Village with her father and two siblings. Her mother left for Thailand four years ago and gradually cut off contact with the family, leaving her father to raise three children alone. Despite these hardships, Nang's [...] From Experiment to Expansion: A Farmer’s Soybean Success
U Soe Myint in his Thriving Fields In Ham Phoe Pay Village, 36-year-old Khun Soe Myint has farmed to support his family his whole life. He grows corn, paddy rice, groundnuts, and garlic, the same mix that sustains most smallholder farmers in Southern Shan State. Soybeans were once part of that life too. As a [...] Success Is Best When It Is Shared
Lin Phon village is situated in Pin Laung Township, 29 kilometers from the nearest town. It has 56 homes with a population of 290 people of the Pao ethnic group. Farming is the village's primary source of revenue, and they raise corn, potatoes, and tomatoes. Poor families represent 49 of 56 households, or 87%. Lin [...] What Exactly is Community-Led Development?
Community-led development (CLD) is the active involvement and participation of local members in the decision-making, planning, implementation, maintenance, and monitoring of development projects in their own communities. Within the CLD approach, the communities themselves identify their needs, set priorities, and create solutions to address the most pressing challenges they face. Recognizing that each community is [...] 5 Years Ago- VNM’s Save the Day
Nang Pe’s Story My name is Nang Pe, and I live in Ga Naing Nge West village. I have three children, and my husband is Khun Lan. We grow cheroot leaves that we use to make cigars. When I was pregnant with my last child, I took prenatal vitamins from our Village Nurse Midwife (VNM), [...] Meet Janet Nyoni
Meet Janet Nyoni, Program Manager for People’s Action Forum, Shanta’s implementing partner organization in Zambia. How long have you worked for PAF? Did you work for another organization prior to PAF and if so, what were your responsibilities there and how did it prepare you for your current position? I have been involved with PAF [...] Nang No and her Tofu Business
Nang No, a 33-year-old mother from Htee Kan Laung is one of five family members with only an elementary education. Her three children are all in school: the oldest is 15 years old, the second is 13 years old, and the youngest is 5 years old. Her family’s income is from traditional farming- enough to [...]