For the first time, Shanta offered two Insight Trips in 2024. Interest for next year is also at an all-time high. Maybe you've thought about attending one yourself. If so, here is what you can expect… The trip begins with a few days in Victoria Falls. Just Google Victoria Falls and you will get a [...]
What interested you and for how long have you been involved with Shanta? Our Executive Director, Wade Griffith, is a close friend and was my Pastor in Birmingham, AL, before taking his current role at Shanta. I remember how excited Wade was about Shanta’s Development Model, passionately explaining why it was so different, and how [...]
Stella Potemkin, Shanta’s first Women’s Empowerment intern, shared a recent experience she had while working with the Fort Lewis College engineering department’s Village Aid Project in our partner villages in Zambia. You can read about the project HERE. She gathered with female People's Action Forum (our implementing partner on the ground in Zambia) staff, a [...]
A chance meeting between a Burmese tour guide and two Americans backpacking through Southeast Asia forever changed the destiny of so many villagers in rural Myanmar. When founders Tricia & Mike Karpfen and their guide, Thar Nge, first visited the remote, mountainous villages of the Pa-O ethnic tribes in 2004, they found gracious communities of [...]
Hey everyone! My name is Stella Potemkin, and I just wanted to take a second to introduce myself as the newest member of the Shanta Team. I was born and raised in Durango and then went off to get a double major in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science and Social Policy Analysis at Rice University. [...]
Imagine turning a struggle into a success story. Daw Nang Pauk, a 44-year-old resident of Htee Phoo village, did just that. She and her family have always struggled financially, but everything changed when they joined a ginger cultivation project organized by Shanta Foundation. Daw lives with her husband, adult children, and a grandchild. Her adult [...]
Hi Shanta family! I am just back from Zambia and want to give you a report on the amazing work being done there thanks to your support. As a reminder, we are working in four villages in southern Zambia near the town of Mazabuka. (Click here to see the area in google maps: https://rb.gy/giwqw8) That [...]
Typically, women in rural Myanmar households manage the finances of their families. With an annual household income of approximately $700, little to no funds are available for emergency health care or other family needs. Through our women’s empowerment programs, each village forms female groups with members taking leadership roles. An example would be Shanta’s Self-Help [...]
Terrace cultivation isn’t a new way of farming in some areas around the world, but in rural Myanmar, this method is not common practice. It can be labor-intensive to install and harvest, but the ultimate goal is to reduce soil erosion, improve soil quality, and use water more efficiently. Shanta implemented a pilot program in [...]
Francina Kobela is 55 years old and has two adult children, both women whose education stopped by grade 9. She is a true leader in her community, and upon her village, Nachili, partnering with Shanta in 2023, she was quickly elected a Village Development Team (VDT) member. She has never shied away from speaking up [...]
For the first time, Shanta offered two Insight Trips in 2024. Interest for next year is also at an all-time high. Maybe you've thought about attending one yourself. If so, here is what you can expect… The trip begins with a few days in Victoria Falls. Just Google Victoria Falls and you will get a [...] 
What interested you and for how long have you been involved with Shanta? Our Executive Director, Wade Griffith, is a close friend and was my Pastor in Birmingham, AL, before taking his current role at Shanta. I remember how excited Wade was about Shanta’s Development Model, passionately explaining why it was so different, and how [...] 
Stella Potemkin, Shanta’s first Women’s Empowerment intern, shared a recent experience she had while working with the Fort Lewis College engineering department’s Village Aid Project in our partner villages in Zambia. You can read about the project HERE. She gathered with female People's Action Forum (our implementing partner on the ground in Zambia) staff, a [...] 
A chance meeting between a Burmese tour guide and two Americans backpacking through Southeast Asia forever changed the destiny of so many villagers in rural Myanmar. When founders Tricia & Mike Karpfen and their guide, Thar Nge, first visited the remote, mountainous villages of the Pa-O ethnic tribes in 2004, they found gracious communities of [...] 
Hey everyone! My name is Stella Potemkin, and I just wanted to take a second to introduce myself as the newest member of the Shanta Team. I was born and raised in Durango and then went off to get a double major in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science and Social Policy Analysis at Rice University. [...] 
Imagine turning a struggle into a success story. Daw Nang Pauk, a 44-year-old resident of Htee Phoo village, did just that. She and her family have always struggled financially, but everything changed when they joined a ginger cultivation project organized by Shanta Foundation. Daw lives with her husband, adult children, and a grandchild. Her adult [...] 
Hi Shanta family! I am just back from Zambia and want to give you a report on the amazing work being done there thanks to your support. As a reminder, we are working in four villages in southern Zambia near the town of Mazabuka. (Click here to see the area in google maps: https://rb.gy/giwqw8) That [...] 
Typically, women in rural Myanmar households manage the finances of their families. With an annual household income of approximately $700, little to no funds are available for emergency health care or other family needs. Through our women’s empowerment programs, each village forms female groups with members taking leadership roles. An example would be Shanta’s Self-Help [...] 
Terrace cultivation isn’t a new way of farming in some areas around the world, but in rural Myanmar, this method is not common practice. It can be labor-intensive to install and harvest, but the ultimate goal is to reduce soil erosion, improve soil quality, and use water more efficiently. Shanta implemented a pilot program in [...] 
Francina Kobela is 55 years old and has two adult children, both women whose education stopped by grade 9. She is a true leader in her community, and upon her village, Nachili, partnering with Shanta in 2023, she was quickly elected a Village Development Team (VDT) member. She has never shied away from speaking up [...]