Shanta Village Partners

06/03/2026

For Khai, our Global Program Manager, the Thingyan Water Festival used to mean days spent outside with neighbors, streets filled with laughter, and the whole country slowing down to celebrate the arrival of the new year in Myanmar.

But since the 2021 military coup, public life has shifted drastically. The sense of ease has been replaced with caution. And for those living far from home, like Khai, the distance feels even greater during this season.

Yet, the heart of Thingyan endures. It’s a reminder that while traditions may evolve and change shape, their true meaning remains intact.

Read Khai’s beautiful reflection on water, memory, and a new year far from home here: https://shantavillagepartners.org/thingyan-2/

05/28/2026

Why do farmers in places like rural Myanmar go hungry when they're farming the land every day?

Khun Soe Myint had abandoned soybeans years ago when prices fell. It wasn't worth the risk. Without access to affordable capital or training in soil management and record-keeping, most farmers here make decisions based on what they can survive, not what they could earn.

After joining Shanta's Livelihood & Farmer Resilience Program in Ham Phoe Pay village, he replanted soybeans across three seasons.

Through storms and setbacks, he harvested 685 kg and netted roughly $256 on $231 in costs. More importantly, he figured out that soybeans cost less to grow than corn and returned more. He never had the data before to know that.

Hunger doesn't end when someone hands a farmer food. It ends when a farmer has the knowledge, capital, and market access to build something that lasts.

Have you ever had to make a decision based on what you could survive rather than what you could build?

05/26/2026

Two years ago, Wade and the team made a hard call in Nachili, Zambia.

The community had committed to contributing labor, raising money, and paying monthly user fees to maintain their new water system. None of it was happening. So we stopped construction and walked away, leaving half the system unbuilt.

It wasn't easy. There were real costs already in the ground. But the whole point of this model is that communities own their water systems, not Shanta. A system people don't believe in, don't invest in, and don't manage isn't a water system. It's a liability.

For two years the team kept meeting with Nachili, kept talking about partnership and ownership and what it actually means to invest in your own future. Six months ago it clicked. The community organized, raised funds, paid their fees, and dug several kilometers of trenches themselves.

Wade's standing in front of the finished system in this video. That's what two years of not giving up on people looks like.

People's Action Forum

05/25/2026

Aubrey Peterson graduated last weekend with a BS in Engineering from Fort Lewis College and a Graduate Certificate in Global Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and then she did what Aubrey does - she got on a plane to Zambia.

She's been part of the Shanta team as Assistant Program Manager, and if you've been following along, you already know her story. She first came to Zambia as a student with the Village Aid Project, helped build clean water systems and a footbridge, and somewhere along the way decided this was the work she wanted to do with her life. Two degrees and a lot of hard work later, here she is, back in the field for the next 10 weeks.

We are so proud of her. Congratulations, Aubrey!

05/22/2026

There's a person behind every newsletter, every donation acknowledgment, every story that lands in your inbox from us. That's Margery Poitras, our Development Coordinator!

She spotted a Shanta job listing in the Durango Herald back in 2019 and the rest is history. These days she manages donations, writes acknowledgments, and takes raw stories from the field teams and shapes them into the updates that keep you connected to the work. Small org, big heart, and Margery is a huge reason that connection exists at all.

05/21/2026

104 households in Mpasu and Nachili villages now have piped water!

05/21/2026

The Mayor said it best: community members were already digging the trenches before anyone asked. That's ownership. Proud to partner with People's Action Forum on this work in Mpasu and Nachili!

LEADERS CONDUCT SPOT CHECK AHEAD OF LANDMARK WATER PROJECT
The top leadership in Mazabuka District conducted a spot check on Saturday, in Mpasu and Nachili Villages to assess the level of preparedness by the community and contractors ahead of the installation works for a water project.
District Commissioner, Oliver Mulomba, Mazabuka Mayor, Vincent Lilanda, Town Clerk’s representatives and heads of government department toured key sites earmarked for infrastructure installations for the water supply network.
The delegation was led on the tour by People’s Action Forum (PAF) Programme Manager, Janet Nyoni alongside field staff who took the officials through the scope and technical aspects of the project.
After the visit to the key sites, Mr Mulomba thanked PAF, SHANTA Village Partners and Village Aid Project (VAP) for facilitating the water project which is expected to end decades of water challenges in the two villages.
And His Worship the Mayor, Mr Lilanda observed that the communities in the two villages had taken ownership of the project by participating in digging the trenches for the pipelines.
He noted that the community participation was a clear indication that the water project will remain functional for many years.

05/20/2026

If you've ever felt overwhelmed trying to figure out where your donation will actually do something, this one's for you.

Wade and Jaipreet Kaur (All We Can, UK) talked through this exact question on a recent episode of RISE, our monthly podcast on global poverty and community-led development. We pulled the most useful questions from that conversation and put them in one place!

Swipe through, ask these of any organization you're considering. Ask them of us. We'll answer.

You can find RISE wherever you listen to podcasts, or at shantavillagepartners.org.

05/13/2026

"Before, I waited for one big sale and hoped for the best," he says. "Now income comes regularly. My family feels secure."

In 2018 Khun Chain used to farm in Aung Lel Village while managing a cycle of high-interest debt. He had exactly one pig.

Things shifted when his village organized a community bank and localized agricultural training.

Follow Khun Chain’s roadmap from high-interest debt to local entrepreneur here: https://shantavillagepartners.org/struggle-stability/

05/11/2026

The traditional NGO photo op is actively damaging to the communities it claims to help.

When organizations fly into a rural village to complete a project and get pictures for Facebook, they send an unethical message to local residents: You need an outsider to save you. That mindset strips people of their agency and guarantees long-term dependency.

True development requires stepping out of the frame. It means funding local leaders, getting them access to capital, and making sure they own the results.