Maria Fabiola Churuchumbi Sandoval lives in a small village in Ecuador where two or three families live together in one-room adobe houses. Each family has a plot of land that has been passed down as a heritage of their ancestors. Fabiola and her community members in the village cultivate the land for harvesting, using what they grow to feed their families. When they have extra, they sell it in local markets or exchange it with other families.

We have partnered with doTERRA International to benefit the earthquake-torn country of Nepal. Through this partnership, doTERRA is working with rural Nepal villages in conjunction with its Co-Impact SourcingTM initiative. In Nepal, rural villagers living in extreme poverty survive on less than $2 a day.

This partnership provides critical economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas where they are most needed and a better standard of living through improved access to clean water, education, and medical services. This work addresses many of the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development, including gender equality that serves to underscore the importance of this work.

CHOICE is helping communities all over the world to become independent of charity through leadership programs and economic development. CHOICE has officially incorporated The Institute of Self Reliant Agriculture into our program to become one united front. After two years of vetting and thoughtful deliberation we are all thrilled with our decision.

The Institute of Self Reliant Agriculture is a small NGO out of Washington with a great agriculture program that targets mostly the family level. Family gardens, nutrition and food security are critical components of their program.

The outpouring of generosity and concern for the people of Nepal after the April 25th 7.8 earthquake has truly been inspirational. Many people have benefited from the donations and the warm wishes, and we are grateful for all of them. This blog is a brief overview of the amazing work that CHOICE staff and volunteers have accomplished since the earthquake that destroyed so much of Nepal. For a more detailed update, join us at our Journeys Gala on September 25 at the Rail Event Center to meet Bishnu Adhikari, Nepal In-Country Director, and hear a personal account of the earthquake and the rebuilding to date.

KUDOS to team Bolivia for completing another eco-friendly Greenhouse Classroom! Each time a greenhouse is built, our team improves the technology and thrills local schools.

Mwenda Ngonyo is the 6^th born in a family of 9. Three brothers and six sisters. Her parents are both alive but very old and cannot support her education. Mwenda Ngonyo completed her primary education in the year 2013.  She was eligible to continue on to Secondary school, but unfortunately she could not pay her school fees. She was forced to leave school.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), education that is both relevant and purposeful has the power to transform lives.

Nepal can be divided into two primary groups of people in need, those living in the Kathmandu Valley and those living in the remote mountainous regions that are inaccessible by any means other than by foot or helicopter.

Today a massive 7.8 earthquake in Nepal, the worst in 80 years has reduced much of Kathmandu to rubble. In addition, there have been 43 aftershocks in the last 8 hours with more likely to come.

Jaede is 18 years old. She was born and raised in Utah, but she is Bolivian. When she was younger, she traveled to the small town of Villa Serrano in Bolivia where she became keenly aware of the need for a facility for the elderly, many of which are homeless.