Ball Toss Game Before a single project begins, before a plan is written or funds are distributed, something more foundational takes place: people come together. When a new village begins its partnership, the elected Village Development Team (VDT) gathers for a very important training, not just to learn roles and responsibilities, but to experience what [...]
International Women's Month (AKA Women's History Month) Wrap Up! As International Women’s Month comes to a close, we’re reflecting on the strength, leadership, and determination of women across Shanta’s partner villages, and within our own team. This month, we heard from Khai, our Global Program Manager, and Janet, our Zambia Program Manager, whose voices remind [...]
Ng'andu with his family Supporting Family and Building a Future: Ng’andu Mwiinga’s Story At just 25 years old, Ng’andu Mwiinga of Mpasu village has stepped into a role many would not choose so young. After the passing of his father, he became the primary support for his widowed mother and younger siblings, providing food, clothing, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Eighteen-year-old Khun San Mhway lives in Htee Lone village with his mother and is the youngest of nine children. His father died when he was five years old, leaving only his mother to raise the children by farming corn and rice and working as a day laborer. There is only a primary school in the [...]
Ball Toss Game Before a single project begins, before a plan is written or funds are distributed, something more foundational takes place: people come together. When a new village begins its partnership, the elected Village Development Team (VDT) gathers for a very important training, not just to learn roles and responsibilities, but to experience what [...] 
International Women's Month (AKA Women's History Month) Wrap Up! As International Women’s Month comes to a close, we’re reflecting on the strength, leadership, and determination of women across Shanta’s partner villages, and within our own team. This month, we heard from Khai, our Global Program Manager, and Janet, our Zambia Program Manager, whose voices remind [...] 
Ng'andu with his family Supporting Family and Building a Future: Ng’andu Mwiinga’s Story At just 25 years old, Ng’andu Mwiinga of Mpasu village has stepped into a role many would not choose so young. After the passing of his father, he became the primary support for his widowed mother and younger siblings, providing food, clothing, [...] 
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 [...] 
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 [...] 
Eighteen-year-old Khun San Mhway lives in Htee Lone village with his mother and is the youngest of nine children. His father died when he was five years old, leaving only his mother to raise the children by farming corn and rice and working as a day laborer. There is only a primary school in the [...]