Impact a Woman- Transform an Entire Village
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...
Terrace Farming for the Win
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...
Meet Francina
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...
Historic Cholera Crisis Strikes Zambia; Shanta and VAP Respond
In the midst of the worst Cholera outbreak in Zambian history, Shanta Foundation and FLC’s Village Aid Project will launch an ambitious, three-year, water and sanitation infrastructure project that...
Preschool Leads to Brighter Futures
Parents in Hti Kan Laung village lack the education and resources to nurture their children as much as they would like to. Their primary focus is providing meals and emergency care when the...
Meet the Branson’s
Jeff and Laura Branson inspire me. Laura is a retired nurse and Jeff is a retired property caretaker. Once or twice a year we meet, and they want to hear detailed updates on what is happening in...
Ma Ei Khaing’s Mobile Grocery
"The seller has arrived! Dry noodles, cheroot cigars, eggplant, tea leaves!” Every two days, her voice is heard throughout the community. Ma Ei Khaing, an entrepreneurial young woman from Ye Ka...
Insight Trip Participant Reflections
Shanta hosted 8 adventurous supporters on our Inaugural Zambian Insight Trip in September for 10 days, combining impactful time in our partner villages with tourism to some incredible sights,...
Menstruation is Not a Bad Word
Most community members, particularly women, in rural Myanmar villages lack adequate knowledge of family planning. A lack of effective child-care practices, difficulties obtaining healthcare services,...
Pig Farming Continues to Thrive in Myanmar Villages
Despite unstable conditions, travel and trade restrictions, and runaway inflation, our Pig Farm Project has achieved significant success due to Shanta’s long-term village partnerships and emphasis...
Myanmar’s Thadingyut “Festival of Lights”
Thadingyut Festival took place in Myanmar last week, bringing a sense of gratitude, unity, and celebration to a nation that has undergone tremendous turmoil in the past 3 years. The festival weaves...
Hope and Hopelessness in Siyowi Village
"Don't be afraid of the shadows. It only means there's a light nearby." - Amy Lee Sitting in the Dallas airport, just in from Zambia, I am anxiously waiting to board my flight home to...
A Tribute to Jeff Markel
A Remembrance Shanta lost a pioneering member of our community this year. Co-founder and former executive director, Mike Karpfen, shared a touching tribute honoring Jeff Markel’s life and...
Meet Khun Aung Sein
• How long have you worked with Muditar? What was your first role? I have been employed at Muditar since December 2015, which means I have been there for seven years and eight months. My initial...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
What Our Boarding School Students Have to Say
We just received a packet of letters from sponsored boarding school students and love reading about their experiences! All these children are financially supported by dedicated donors through a...
Zambian Partner Villages Identified!
After much research, baseline data collection, and engagement with a host of local leaders (elected and tribal) in Zambia, we have selected three villages to partner with; village launches will...
What Does ChatGBT Have to Say About Shanta
Chatbots? ChatGBT? We are hearing a lot about these technological advances in the news and most of us have interacted with them upon searching for customer service on the web. Basically, they are...
2023 Zambia Insight Trip
For all of you adventure seekers, we are taking our first Insight Trip to Zambia this September! This will be a true Zambian expedition, including nine days of travel mixing sightseeing, cultural...
International Women’s Day!
So many women have influenced our lives. Some are relatives; some are internationally famous for their tireless achievements toward an equitable world. We interviewed some of Shanta’s courageous...
More Pig Farming Success!
“Now I don’t need to take out loans at interest anymore. I don’t have to worry much about whether our money is for my children's education or farming, I can earn money from pig farming. At...
Teacher Housing High on the List
Early in the partnership with a new village, Shanta staff spend significant time discussing what projects the villagers think will make long-lasting poverty reduction for themselves. What are their...
Meet Chan Nyein Aung- Regional Manager of Pauk Region
How did you get involved with Muditar? When my previous work project ended, I discovered the Muditar vacancy announcement on the MIMU website and was interested in the job responsibilities. I...
Saving Grace of a Scholarship Fund
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...
An Update on Recent Tragic Events in Pauk
Due to recent military threats, members of several of our partner villages were forced to flee into the forest for one week at the end of November. These threats have taken place for the past six...
Zambia Expansion Update: Remembering The Main Thing
Two weeks ago, Shanta signed an MOU with the People’s Action Forum (PAF), a local, non-profit development organization in Zambia. This agreement establishes an informal partnership with the...
Women’s Leadership Success in Pauk
Khin Mar Myint, a 42-year-old woman with a 6th grade education, lives in Aung Si Thar village in Pauk Township. Her family's main business is farming ground nuts and chili, and she also owns a...
Passing the Bullets and Grenades Test: The Resiliency of Shanta Foundation’s Development Model
I’m not sure anyone understands project resiliency (or the lack thereof) until the bullets and grenades start flying. Recently, Shanta got a crash course in extreme resiliency when fighting broke...
Prioritizing the Library
Ohn Hmin village partnered with Shanta Foundation in 2019 and is situated in the Pauk township within the restricted military zone with minimal access to essential services. Nonetheless, with two...
MOU: Memorandum of Unequals
If #shiftthepower is to be more than the catchphrase du jour among progressive development professionals, we must reconsider how MOUs are developed and ratified among development partners. All too...
2021 Impact Report
We are eager to share the results of Shanta's hard work this year, in collaboration with Muditar, all of our village partners, and you, because without your support, none of this would be possible....
Flexibility “ADDs” to the Solution
Drought? Pandemic? Flooding? There is a lot to be said for a development model (i.e., solution to poverty) that can succeed under difficult, even disastrous, conditions. Given that disasters like...
What Does It Take to Graduate?
Over the course of a 6-year partnership with Shanta, villages create committees to manage the different projects and areas of interest they have chosen. This might be an education committee to...
All of ______ is Corrupt
Years ago, I was talking to a potential donor about a development project in Latin America. Before I could get a full sentence out, this person interrupted me and blurted out, “I won’t support...
Becoming a Village Nurse Midwife
Nang Thein Oat grew up in Pin Laung Township in Southern Shan State. She went to school through 10th grade but struggled to pass her state exams. Her family could not afford to continue her...
Shanta Remains Steadfast: Supporting Partner Villages During Challenging Times
This has been a very volatile time for Shanta Foundation’s partner villages and Myanmar staff. We have learned that the most important thing is to keep showing up. That doesn't mean that we show up...
Humble Roots, Big Dreams
Nang Ohn Kyi has humble roots and big dreams. She comes from a poor village where her family subsists on growing cheroot, wheat, and tea leaves. Nang Ohn Kyi is the first in her family to attend high...
The Toughest Decision of All
Choosing villages to partner with is a weighty decision made each year by our fantastic staff in Myanmar. Partnering with Shanta requires more than just picking villages that seem to have the most...
Thingyan Traditions
Thingyan is the most significant annual festival on the Myanmar calendar. Held over several days, it marks the end of the hot, dry season and the start of the New Year: the beginning of the Myanmar...
Paul Farmer: Pioneer in Social Justice
Shanta Foundation addresses inequalities in rural Myanmar by empowering villages to assess their own needs and fund their own solutions. Community banks, transparent committees, and training in new...
Snack Success!
“I’m excited to make my future plans happen. I feel that our village is lucky to have the community loan fund. I love it. I believe that I am also able to make my dreams happen,” U Htut Lay...
Empower a Woman, and You Change the World Forever!
"When you educate a girl, there is a ripple effect that goes beyond what you would get from a normal investment…When you educate a girl, you educate a village." --Sheryl WuDunn in "Half the...
Burning the Ashes: Civil War, Poverty and the Revictimization of the Poor
Myanmar is a tragedy. Already one of the poorest countries in the world and often ranked as the poorest country in Asia, the civil war that began after the February 1, 2021, coup has only worsened...
Education in the Form of Coffee
Wai Ti is 35 years old and has been married for 14 years with three children. She did not go to school as a child and thought it was too late for her to get an education. Little did she realize that...
Natural Fertilizer=Increased Yields!
“I am happy that I am able to produce these natural inputs very well. I feel that it’s worth to invest time to produce. Results are not only for me but also for my next generations. I am now...
Thanaka- A Cultural Adornment
For Shanta to achieve our goal of a community-led approach that results in a village being self-sufficient after six years, we must make sure we gain the villagers' trust. Therefore, it is vital that...
Can A Magical Engine Power Development?
“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.” Albert Einstein Yes, it can. I have been leading the Shanta Foundation for almost two years now, and I am still...
Education + Opportunity = Women’s Empowerment
20-Year-old Nan Khan Pin has participated in her village Self Help Group (SHG) since she was 18. Her education only went through 5th grade, and as the youngest member of the village group, she was...
Myanmar Culture: Respecting Partner Villages through Awareness of Norms
To do sustainable humanitarian work in Myanmar, as Shanta does, requires learning to respect cultural norms and acceptable behavior. This effort can make or break a relationship built on trust and...
Zambia Expansion Update
Greetings Shanta community! First, I want to wish you and yours an incredible holiday season filled with laughter, love, and the joy that comes from knowing that YOU are permanently eliminating...
Resiliency and Development Part II
Transformative Capacity Transformative capacity means having the ability to affect systemic change or create a positive enabling environment for people to work together to invest...
November 2021 Newsletter
Visit this link to read more about the impact of U Maung Boat's new business, as well as view the rest of our November Newsletter, which also contains pictures from our recent Zambia expansion...
Chocolate Fountains and Women’s Empowerment
Thoughts from Executive Director, Wade Griffith Ever been to a Golden Corral restaurant? For your sake, I hope not. Still, there is one fantastic attraction at these semi-seedy buffet joints. THE...
Resiliency and Development
Community-Led Development in the face of COVID19? The emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 posed an existential threat to thousands of international development programs. Organizations stopped operations...
Water for Aung Le!
Imagine walking a mile to retrieve water for your everyday use. It may require several trips a day to complete ordinary tasks like cooking, cleaning, animal care, and watering garden plants. These...
What I Am Fired Up About
While I am always enthusiastic about Shanta's work, I get truly enthused when I think about Shanta's future. On the cusp of expansion with a blueprint of the Village Partnership Model (VPM) in the...
No Longer Left Behind
Ma Khin Lay is a 37-year-old married woman living in Htee Lone village in Taunggyi Township. She has two children in the 5th and 7th grades. Ma Khin attended school up to grade 5, and her husband...
IMAGINE…Villagers Self-financing Their Paths out of Poverty. The Power of the Community Loan Fund
What makes Shanta unique in the humanitarian and community development world? Our unique development model has three pillars of sustainability that ensure a permanent (yes, permanent!) solution to...
Leading to a Better Vision
A Leader Is Born! U Lee Tan is a forty-year-old husband, father of two, and a farmer from Shanta’s partner village, Chaung Kaut. In 2015, when the partnership began, he was elected by his fellow...
A Personal View from Inside Myanmar
Written by a staff member in Myanmar: Military regime in Myanmar lasted from 1962 to 2011 and resumed again in 1st February 2021. The military detained the recently elected leaders of the National...
Myanmar Political Upheaval
By now, you may have heard about the political upheaval that took place January 31, 2021 in Myanmar. Of note, the military has staged a coup and prevented those elected in the November 2020 elections...
Nocrumbsleft and Teri Turner Support Shanta
We're excited that Teri Turner, a hugely popular Instagram food blogger and author of the best-selling cookbook, No Crumbs Left: Recipes for Everyday Food Made Marvelous, is encouraging her Friday...
COVID-19 Alert
While our partner villages have not yet had any Covid-19 cases, the travel restrictions and drought have severely impacted their livelihoods. Villagers could not get their crops to the markets this...
2019 Impact Report
Click here to read our 2019 Impact Report We are eager to share the results of Shanta's hard work this year, in collaboration with Muditar and all of our village partners and you, because without...
Shanta’s Model Empowers Villages during COVID-19
“My three sons are students and I’m worrying how can I support them to keep study this year. And because of I lost big amount of money in last season, I need to reduce farming size.”- Maung...
Taking time to do it the right way – how COVID-19 is changing our work in Myanmar
A lot has changed since my last blog post, shared as the real scale of COVID-19’s impact on our lives was just beginning to come into focus in the US and Myanmar. By mid-April our partner...
Shanta’s Response to the Coronavirus in Myanmar
A message from Laurie Meininger, Shanta's Executive Director, about our response to the coronavirus in...
Better Together – Shanta & Village Aid Project
As a brand new Durangoan I was excited to get an invitation to speak with a class at Fort Lewis College back in February. Dr. Andy Young, Assistant Professor for Physics and Engineering and Village...
The future is still bright
We know the world is feeling upside down right now, and everyone is facing a lot of uncertainty and fear. It is time for us all to take care of ourselves and one another. Together we are stronger and...
Fireworks Spark a Bright Future
Bwar Kyi and her husband live in Aung Lei village. They are subsistence farmers working the small plot of land they live on to grow onions, garlic, and potatoes. The amount of money they make from...
2018 Annual Report
Click here to read our 2018 Annual Report. A Letter From the Board of Directors A very warm hello to our Shanta supporters! 2018 was an exciting year, filled with many opportunities for...
What Did You Do On Your Summer Vacation?
This question is heard echoing in classrooms across the US this week as children and youth go back to school after a long break. Students share stories of camps, traveling, and outdoor adventures...
Aung Than’s Story: Becoming an Entrepreneur
In rural Myanmar, most villagers rely on their small vegetable farms for their income. This meager livelihood is dependent on weather conditions, market prices, and their ability to transport crops...
Vibrant Village Foundation Visits Myanmar
Dana Delaski, Vibrant Village Foundation, reflects on her visit to our partner villages in the Shan State and Pauk Township earlier this year. In her thoughtful blog post, Dana shares four key...
Celebrate clean water!
It's Water Festival in Myanmar! Happy Thingyan from all of us at Shanta and Muditar! Enjoy this short video from Nge Nge and Maw Kin on how clean, safe water is changing lives in one rural...
Happy International Women’s Day!
Happy International Women's Day! Traditionally, women have been under represented in rural Myanmar. The men made the decisions for what they thought was best for the entire village. When...
Growing Dreams With Single Origin Coffee
Wai Ti, of Pin Mi Kone village, shows us her young coffee plant in her bamboo shade house. While her coffee bean harvest may be a few years away, this dedicated entrepreneur is excited to take a...
Donor Feature: Why Advisory Board members, Arthur Cohen and Elizabeth Karcher, invest in Shanta . . .
Thirteen years ago Elizabeth and I went to Myanmar and spent one day visiting remote villages that hadn’t progressed in hundreds of years. We were moved by the generosity, kindness and work ethic...
Back to school in Pone Tan village
For many students here in the United States, it’s time to go back to school. The first day of the school year is always a fresh start full of newness. New notebooks with pages that haven’t been...
2017 Annual Report
As we look back on last year, we feel proud of the capacity we have built within our organization and for the many lives we have touched in Myanmar. We hope you enjoy reading about all...
Cornish’s Insights from the Field: Than Taung Water Project with VAP
Our partner village of Than Taung is a picturesque village located in a lush valley literally, at the end of the road. A long, winding, narrow dirt road connects this tiny village to the closest...
Vitamin Angels Partner with Shanta to Help Pregnant Mothers and Children Soar
Poverty and lack of access to nutritious foods is a barrier to health in rural Myanmar. The cuisine in the villages centers around rice. Protein consumption here is scarce, maybe only a couple times...
Midwife Saves Lives in Ga Naing Nge West Village
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...
Pigs for Prosperity
Our visit to Chaung Kaut village was incredibly inspiring. Most families have turned their pig farms into significant businesses and using their additional income for improving their houses (metal...
Building Blocks for a Better Life
In 2011 when Shanta first partnered with Ta Khae village, Nang Pawe spent her days working in the fields growing only chili and cabbage for her family to eat. Her family’s annual income was less...
Welcome to the Team, Seinne Lai
As Shanta grows in Myanmar, increasing both our number of staff and partner villages and preparing to expand into two new regions of the country, it was time to hire a Country Director to be in...
Healthier and Brighter Futures
Our yearly dental clinics really are life changing. In the region where Shanta works, it is not uncommon for adults to suffer significant tooth loss and painful gum infections. By the time they’re...
A Middle School in Khun Dong
In our partner village of Khun Dong, only one male has an education up to grade 11, and not one single female has an education beyond grade 4. Parents know the value of education, but have had to...
The Pa’O Women’s Group Finds Their Voice
In Naung Boat, Shanta has been challenged by a perceived lack of village interest in the partnership, specifically by women. We’ve struggled getting the minimum number of women on the Village...