Cyberstreet
Contributions of Civil Society Organisations to the Well-Being of Families
Care for Life
Adress:
3850 E. Baseline Rd. Suite 114
Mesa, Arizona 85206
Contact person:
Ryan Nelson (chairman)
Contact e-mail:
linda@careforlife.org
Telephone:
480-529-5290
Homepage:
www.careforlife.org
Content:
CARE FOR LIFE
Mozambique, Africa
Care for Life is a global non-profit organization with a holistic approach to ending poverty in a sustainable way by preserving the family while encouraging and enabling the practice of self-reliance. Care for Life is not a handout or give-away organization, but one that believes in working with people to help them take charge of their own destiny, realize their full potential and create a culture of individual effort and responsibility.
Care for Life developed the Family Preservation Program as a comprehensive solution to profound poverty. Its emphasis at the individual, family and community level where sustainable behavior change is accomplished community-wide over a 32 month program. It is a comprehensive approach to building up self-reliant families through education and instruction in 8 areas of focus: Education, Health & Hygiene, Food Security & Nutrition, Sanitation, Income Generation, Home Improvement, Psycho-social Well-being, and Community Participation. Educational instruction used in our targeted communities are of two types – community classes using a curriculum that Care for Life developed and adult literacy programs. Community class titles includes: HIV/AIDS Prevention, Woman and Children’s Rights, Children Attending School, How to Build a Good House, Nutrition, Hygiene, etc…
Working with Care for Life staff, families set goals to help them become self-reliant. Goals could include; attending literacy class provided in the community, plant a family garden for better nutrition, build a latrine lined with bricks, treat drinking water for better health, start a family business with excess garden produce, burn or bury their garbage to keep pests away, attend community classes. Goals that are achieved are rewarded with home improvement materials, mosquito nets, bags of cement, and garden tools and seeds. Rewards earned are items that help the family to become healthy, safe, and self-reliant.
The Family Preservation Program is designed with an exit strategy: when the program ends, the community will have learned the skills necessary to continue their progress without dependence upon Care for Life.
Robust data is collected during the 32 month program and for 5 years after Care for Life disengages from direct involvement in a community. Fifty-two indicators that cover the 8 areas of focus are tracked for evaluation and progress. The Family Preservation Program’s 8 areas of focus align with the U.N. 2015 Millennium Development Goals. Strong correlations occur in eradicating poverty, education, gender equality and empowering women, child mortality, and maternal health.
Care for Life has been administering services in Mozambique, Africa for 13 years. Hundreds of thousands of individuals lives have been changed for the better through the Family Preservation Program at a small cost of $60/person/year.
Indicators Measured & Statical Progress (initial % to current %)
Families treat their drinking water 13% to 97%
Family members using a latrine 26% to 93%
Adults who can read and do basic math 59% to 71%
Sleeping under mosquito nets 49% to 98%
Tested for HIV 9% to 27%
Children attending school 47% to 76%
Plant a family garden 6% to 37%
Family have an income generation activity 51% to 84%
www.careforlife.org