Shanta Foundation’s collaborative, sustainable and proven approach to community development empowers entire villages in Myanmar (formerly Burma) to work their way out of poverty together.

Shanta was started in 2006 to support the planning and construction of a new primary school in one village.

Since then, programming has grown to include nine villages, three full-time Myanmar staff members, creating a multi-faceted approach to microfinance and community-directed projects in health, education, economic development and infrastructure reaching over 6,400 individuals.

Sustainability is essential to our bottom-up approach. We provide skills and leadership training that enables villages to maintain and continue their own progress.  Interest generated from village-run lending funds creates a sustainable means to finance community programs.

Shanta currently collaborates with nine villages to identify their development priorities and create and implement projects to improve life throughout the community.

Shanta supports programming in:

• Educating Children and Empowering Teachers: constructing preschool, primary and middle schools and providing training on Early Childhood Care and Development for parents and teachers; co-sponsoring high school and university students through scholarships to further their education.

• Rural Health Care and Safe Motherhood: creating affordable and accessible healthcare for villagers through our local healthcare worker model, which includes auxiliary nurse midwives and health educators.

• Increasing Economic Opportunities: establishing village-run loan funds to promote local business growth and economic development, as well as establishing pig farms starting with the neediest community members.

• Clean Water and Solar Lighting: Safeguarding and improving accessibility of water sources and providing solar lighting for homes.