The Kushea Community Partnership is the perfect example of what happens when like-minded people come together with good intent. A partnership created out of our connection and collaboration with Point Innovate, King Nana Pra and Goal Zero. The goal of Project Kushea is to provide sustainable power for the community so individuals, families, and businesses can finally provide for themselves.
Our partner, Point Innovate is a sales and distribution business that creates high-impact social projects in the area, their strong relationship with the local King was essential in creating a long-term relationship that would allow for a single vision. King Nana Pra has been the ideal leader to work with. He invests his own wealth into the projects, but it is his passion for education and the success of the community that is truly inspiring.
Here are some of the projects currently in Kushea:
The Health Clinic – With Goal Zero solar generators and panels this clinic has now turned into a viable community resource.
The Police Station – What was once before a small, windowless, and doorless building that served as the police station is now a central community building where safety and civic pride can begin to blossom after a few improvements along with solar power and light.
The community technology center – This project is the most impactful install so far, the center will serve five local schools and communities, providing access to technology including digital media, books, educational content and the internet.
Cocoa Farmers Empowered – light and power was provided to the cocoa farmers, allowing for increased production.
Join us this month as we tell the story of Kushea!
As we continue our goal of helping communities lift themselves out of poverty and begin to provide for their own basic needs, partnering up with relevant and passionate people who help us extend our vision to areas we wouldn’t be able to reach is essential. One Heart World-Wide has been that partner for us in Nepal since the first earthquake hit in April.
One Heart World-Wide is a non-profit with a mission to decrease maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in remote rural areas; their journey started in the late 1990’s in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Since their work began, the maternal and newborn deaths have dropped from 10% to below 3%.
With a shared goal of helping the soon-to-be moms of Nepal birth and deliver their babies in a clean and safe environment, we began sending emergency birthing centers in the form of tents from our partner Barebones Living in addition to power and lights from Goal Zero. As OHWW has allowed us to watch our vision unfold we can see what a difference these have made for the workers and communities alike. Arlene, the founder of OHWW said this about the tents we are sending, “These tents are saving lives under extreme conditions, they are a game changer”. We are excited to provide safe shelters to the One Heart team, an essential tool in the building block of health and maternal wellness.
To learn more about One Heart World-Wide and the incredible work they do stop by their site and take a look.
When the earthquake hit Nepal, Somi Danuwar at seven months pregnant struggled to find shelter, food, and much else needed to support her basic needs. With no means to travel to a larger city with a health clinic Somi was not sure how she was going to give birth to her child. Luckily, One Heart World-Wide installed a birthing center near her where she was able to do her final check up, and on June 19th her daughter was born.
No matter where someone is in the world, the glow of a new mom still looks the same. Congrats Somi, we are so glad to be a part of such an amazing moment in your life.
This is the birth story of 20-year-old Ashmi Danuwar from Bhimtar. When the first earthquake in Nepal hit she was eight months pregnant and faced the loss of her home and an uncertain delivery due to the destruction of the clinic in her area. Unfortunately, because of her circumstances she would not be able to travel to Kathmandu or any other established clinic for the delivery of her baby.
During the remainder of her pregnancy she witnessed a birth take place in the ruined health clinic and was preparing to a labor in a similar situation. To her relief, One Heart World-Wide installed a birthing center close to her and she made plans to deliver there. On May 20th she gave birth to the first baby delivered in a safe and clean maintained room in Bhimtar since the earthquake. She was thankful to the workers and One Heart World-Wide for the chance to birth safely and surrounded with support.
This month we want to share our passion, our vision, and most importantly our WHY. But of course with anything, the best place to start is with our story.
We are a community that believes every person deserves to provide for themselves, lifting themselves out of poverty. We were created out of a desire to do good, providing meaningful and impactful opportunities to projects that enable marginalized people to meet their own basic needs. We hope to teach and inspire, so that families can have the tools to thrive not just today, but for generations to come. We believe that when one can provide, one can thrive.
We support projects that promote self-sufficiency and job creation, create sustainable access to shelter, food, power, and water, increase health access and provide education.
We look at projects in a new way. Rather than just giving money, we developed tools that no matter where we worked, what culture differences, what belief systems we were facing, what language barriers we had, we could still help lift people out of poverty. In our journey we realized that we didn’t have to go alone. We could find like-minded communities and organizations that, working together we could do miracles. Going alone without the support of a larger community is pretty tough and that is why we are glad to have you on board.
We can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together, are you ready?
All we can say is wow! What a week for incredible stories coming out of Nepal. We have seen many moms give birth safely and securely with the help of some incredible midwives, One Heart World-Wide, and of course your amazing donations that provided the tents and supplies needed. It is always nice to hear what a difference these have made for those in action, supporting these women in Nepal. This quote comes from a midwife from Nepal explaining the conditions for the moms.
“Many pregnant women come here but their house is broken, many mothers stay under the tree if possible, please help them by providing tents.” – Sabita Bhattarai
With all this good news there are also many areas still in need. Arlene, the founder of One Heart World-Wide describes these tents as a ‘game changer’ and can’t wait to see many more donated to help.
Want to find out how you can help? Even donating the cost of your morning breakfast can start making a change for these soon-to-be mommas, find out how today!
Ready to make someone’s first 24 hours incredible?
They say it takes a village to raise a kid – we say it takes a village to deliver one. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people get together with intent to do good. Thanks to everyone’s support for #safeshelterNepal we have been able to see the beginning of new life among the ruins of tragedy, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Join us on our journey from the moment we receive a donation all the way to celebrating a little one’s birth day in the rural villages of Nepal – just as Lao Tzu said ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step’.
It all begins with you, the moment a donation has been made the wheels begin to turn starting a domino effect of good. Thanks to our amazing founder, 100% of any donation goes straight to the supplies needed, allowing more to be given to the soon-to-be moms in need. These donations go towards tents that will be turned into birthing centers as well as lights and power provided by our partners Barebones Living and Goal Zero needed to bring a baby into the world safely, securely, and with all the support needed.
Next, the team gets down and dirty piling the supplies into a trailer headed towards Santa Monica for its long journey. The amazing people from First Mile are our knights in shining semi trailers making the trip. As soon as it arrives the team from Direct Relief flies it about 7,000 miles to Nepal, talk about a long flight.
After some serious jet lag our precious cargo is met by the always inspiring and amazing team from One Heart World-Wide – our partner on the ground. Once they receive the shipment it will begin the last leg of the journey, delivery to the rural areas in need of them the most. Once set up they are ready for next incredible story – labor and birth.
What an awe-inspiring path to making a change in a mom and newborn’s life. Ready to help us do it all over again? Donate the cost of a $20 baby blanket and we can bring a night of warmth and security to a newborn in Nepal
Have you ever noticed when a bunch of moms get together somehow we always end up sharing our birth stories? A birth story is so magical – the ups, downs, and then those times somewhere in between. With the first birthing centers being set up, the incredible stories from Nepal are beginning to be heard.
A birth story and photos from the Programs Director, Surya Bhatta of our incredible partner on the ground One Heart World-Wide:
“Radika Bhanadari, 24 years old, was expecting her first baby on May 9th, 2015. Her family’s home had collapsed on April 25th during the first earthquake. She and her family were living outside under a tarp waiting nervously for their baby to arrive. When the 7.3 aftershock hit on Tuesday afternoon, she and her family ran for their lives to the local health post that had collapsed during the first earthquake. Radika was in terrible labor pain and feared for her’s and her unborn baby’s life. When she arrived at the nearest health post staff from One Heart World-Wide, Direct Relief, and Choice Humanitarian were just setting up the first birthing tent, which had been donated by the Tifie Foundation. The tent was not fully constructed and had no birthing supplies when Radika arrived minutes after the earth violently shook, leaving all of us in a state of fear. Within minutes, the local skilled birthing attendant and our CEO, Arlene Samen, a maternal child health nurse practitioner, laid down a mattress to examine her in our birthing tent that had just been set up. It was determined that she and another pregnant woman needed to be taken to Kathmandu to the maternity hospital as we still did not have the necessary equipment to provide a safe delivery. On May 13, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy at the maternity hospital. Her husband called our Program Director, Mr. Surya Bhatta the following morning to express their gratitude and joy to the One Heart World-Wide team for bringing his wife to the hospital where she could deliver safely. In the darkness there is light, in the midst of tragedy people come together as a family to provide refuge in each other’s arms. One Heart World-Wide is grateful to all the organizations that came together in a time of crisis to provide a safe shelter for women to deliver.”
Let’s help One Heart World-Wide bring more shelter to these soon-to-be mommas who hope for a safe and clean place to bring their babies into the world. 100% of your donationgoes straight to the supplies that will help make that happen.
Have you ever had that feeling that your life was marked with a purpose? One moment to another, all linking to a greater good? That’s the life story of Kofi Johnson and one of the reasons Tifie wanted to support him and his dream of giving back to the school he grew up in, in Accra Ghana. Kofi is from Alpine Utah, adopted from the Peace and Love orphanage when he was 15, twelve years ago.
Kofi knows what life is like for the students at the school, and understands firsthand how this place can make all the difference for children who have nowhere else to go. His own mother passed away when he was just six and he survived on his own before finding his way to this school.
“Growing up, I was always put in a leadership role in my orphanage. I was one of the older kids and that comes with a lot of responsibilities. Of the 66 kids in my orphanage, 15 kids (including myself) were adopted. This helped me understand that I was adopted for a reason and it wasn’t a mistake,” Kofi says.
For the past three years, Kofi returns to Ghana to put on sports camp, remodel the orphanage and support the needs of the Graceful Grace school. This year, Kofi raised over $26,000 from friends and family for the 300 students at the school. All of that money was spent in Ghana to remodel each classroom, provide new desks, chairs and bookshelves, install hand washing stations, updated cooking area, and a new playground.
Healthy Habits & Flexible Goals in Humanitarian Trips
Kofi spent time in each classroom, reminding them of the blessing of their new facilities and the importance of caring for their school. This reminds us of Nana Prah’s commitment to cleanliness in Assin Kushea, just a few hours away. Two great Ghanian minds who think alike!
“I believe that having a clean environment is very important to human society and to children. With the money from our donors, we were able to help students and teachers organize each room with cupboards and garbage cans to promote a tidy environment.”
Kofi Johnson
While he was there, Kofi spoke with teachers and students about the importance of respecting themselves and their surroundings. From reminders of hand washing during Covid-times, to having nurses talk to each classrooms about health concerns, to personal development and self-esteem, Kofi is instilling the values of paying attention to the mundane minutia of daily thoughts and habits that end up creating the world we live in every day.
As often with these international humanitarian trips, the plan and the actual work look different than expected. Kofi had a great plan for how he wanted to help and how he saw that taking place. But of course, once arriving, the reality of the situation is often different, especially after a year away and a year of quarantine during Covid.
The roofs were in far more disrepair and he had to budget more money to fix each roof before they could rebuild the desks. He had set aside money to upgrade the kitchen facilities but the cooks were adamant about continuing to cook over their open fires and keep things as they were. Kofi honored their request and was able to deep-clean their kitchen area and adjusted the work plan to what they wanted. Flexibility and cooperation is key for a successful project.
Students came back into session before Kofi returned to Utah. They were excited to see new painted murals, a fun new playground, and new desks. Teachers and students sent a big ‘thank you’ to the donors through videos on instagram and in a signed letter from the school officials.
Extreme Home Makeover – Kofi’s Edition
It seems that whenever we have an open heart to help others, the opportunity will present itself. One day in the market, Kofi saw Esther Nartey and her family living in a run-down shed.
They had laborers and money for the supplies, and decided to surprise the family with a new home. They built a simple 10×8 structure with windows and a secure door in just a few days. Some might look at the structure and think it’s hardly an upgrade since it’s still a one-room living situation. However, based on the environment, Kofi and Esther wanted to be careful to fix the concerns that she had with her current structure (no locking doors, no window for ventilation, cracks in the patched walls that creepy crawlies could get into) without compromising her safety and visibility in the area to theft and unwanted attention. She was grateful to Kofi and his friends for quickly helping out her and her family.
Sustainability and Community Involvement
Kofi wanted this trip to be as sustainable as possible and one of his commitments was to invest into Ghanaian workers to fulfill the projects at the school. In the course of the four weeks that he was there, he hired 8 carpenters, 6 painters, 2 plumbers, 12 cleaners, 3 cooks, 2 electricians, 2 welders and 3 masons to complete the work at the school. Supporting local craftsman and businesses is essential to sustainable humanitarian work.
The importance of having local community support in any project is key to its long-term success, as well as the emotional stability it provides students to know that their community wants them to succeed. Kofi values the importance of the local community supporting their own youth — through sports, leadership opportunity, scholarships and awareness. In 2020, he was able to put on soccer and basketball clinics in the community and do a community-wide clean up of a local basketball court.
