Project Canaan.

I just got off of a really exciting phone call.

Steve and I had a call this morning with the Director of Development for Heart For Africa, a non-profit group that provides care and hope for the children of Swaziland, which is a kingdom inside of South Africa.

Why are care and hope so important to these kids? Well, because apparently the situation over in Swaziland is pretty abysmal. Check out these staggering facts:

- The country is being complete debilitated by HIV/AIDS. In fact, it has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the entire world, at 42.6%

- The adults are dying at a rate so quickly the children are being orphaned faster than they can manage.

- The average life expectancy of in Swaziland DROPPED TO AGE TWENTY NINE in 2010.

- That means there are 200,00 orphaned children in a country the size of New Jersey. 15,000 of these children are now the head of their households.

- And the most staggering fact was reported in a local Swaziland newspaper: "Without significant and immediate international intervention, there will be no adults living in Swaziland by the year 2020."

I cannot even begin to get my brain around this problem. Hope and care might have seemed like lofty "non-profit speak," but in light those numbers, hope and care might be a good place to start. Heart for Africa is doing some really exciting projects that begin to make it feel like we can actually get a handle on the problems.

Steve and I got connected with this group right after the acquisition of Steve's company, Zencoder. One of the early investors of the company is deeply involved with Heart for Africa, and made the suggestion that Zencoder consider donating some funds to help one of their ongoing projects. We said sure.

Enter Project Canaan.

So Steve and I have been wanting to get involved with some sort of charity group for a while. But I've actually really struggled with finding one that I could get behind. Not to go completely into a tangent, but it's been important to us to know that a group is solving problems holistically and looking at how to empower communities....not just give them subsidies or food. I know that might not sound super compassionate, but I think there is something very powerful about giving people the tools to create and built their own autonomy and economy in the world - and then in turn use that power to grow their community and community's wellbeing. I don't pretend to be an economist or world problem solver - but this distinction seems to be important. And you would not believe how hard it is to find groups that think this way.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

So when we caught wind of Project Canaan, I could not stop myself from falling into the rabbit hole. Full fledge. I spent like an hour watching all of their videos, and let little streams of tears fall for all of the sorrow and hope that is happening with Heart for Africa:

Projet Canaan is a 2,500 acre large-scale land development project. It's headed by some intelligent business-minded folks mixed with local Africans. The project provides a two pronged approach to the situation in Swaziland: creating a large-scale sustainable farm that works in tandem with an orphan home.

- Farming: Project Canaan is a giant farm where they grow crops like maize, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. And this allows for a few things. FOOD for starters. But also employment for the local community, training of valuable life skills, etc. And this isn't a tiny Old-Mac-Donald farm. ITS ENORMOUS. So that means there is a processing plant, where the food is then processed and exported for profit, which then goes back into the farm. 

- Children: Project Canaan is also a children's home. It becomes a safe haven for babies and orphans who don't have anywhere to go. They arrive at the project, and they now have a home, and schooling (on the property), and employment opportunities (on the farm//processing plants//etc), training opportunities (they have a creative center//manufacturing center//etc), health care (this was the medical center we donated...yay!), etc.

This got me so fired up. I am thrilled to see a group that is approaching a set of really complex social issues in a way that is holistic and sustainable. It's not just a children's home. It's a children's home connected to large-scale successful farming business, which then in turn funds the children's home.

If you have nine minutes, this video goes into all of the details of Project Canaan, and how they are addressing some of the problems facing Swaziland. I was amazing at how BIG their thinking is. TOTALLY INSPIRING:

Fall 2011 Project Canaan Update from Heart for Africa on Vimeo.

So our call this morning was exciting. We're chatting about their vision, and how Steve and I can roll up our sleeves and get involved in what they're doing. And I miiiiiiiiiight be looking at tickets right now to see if we can sneak in a trip to Swaziland before I start grad school.

If this gets you as jazzed as it did me, there's links all over this blog post  to learn more about them. And we're finding that they have LOTS of ways to get involved: from simple donations, to going out there to help. If you want more info, let me know and we can get all involved//excited together.

Thanks for letting me charity-geek all over you today,

-J