holistic thinking. creating harmony.

The Free The Children team implements the Adopt a Village program in rural and marginalized areas in Kenya, China, Haiti, India, Sierra Leone, Ecuador and Nicaragua. Designed to meet the basic needs of developing communities and eliminate the obstacles preventing children from accessing education, Adopt a Village is made up of four pillars crucial to lifting communities from poverty: education, alternative income, health care, and water and sanitation.

Building a healthy community through the Adopt a Village model is like building the framework of a house. Each pillar provides crucial support, without which the whole thing would eventually crumble. The Adopt a Village four pillars for community development are all based on the idea that no problem and no solution stands alone.

WATER:
Free The Children helps provide communities in need with localized clean water sources and sanitation facilities. This helps to reduce the spread of waterborne diseases and rids children of their daily treks to collect water, freeing them to attend school.

HEALTH:
We recognize the link between providing health care and building strong, vibrant communities. Our health care projects include community gardens, basic medical supplies for health clinics, tree planting, health care workshops and sports equipment to promote physical fitness.

EDUCATION:
Education provides the highest return of any social investment in the developing world. Our education programs build schools, libraries and teacher accommodations; support teacher salaries; and provide schools with furniture, uniforms and basic supplies.

ALTERNATIVE INCOME:
Our alternative income projects empower adults, especially women, through skills training so they can find more profitable and rewarding work opportunities. These initiatives include women's empowerment groups, financial and business training, microcredit loans, vocational training.

adopt a village
at a glance

schools and school rooms have been built - which now teach over 55,000 children a day.

million people have been provided access to clean drinking water, health care and improved sanitation facilities thanks to our projects.

thousand women have been equipped to become economically self-sufficient.

Build a school overseas

Brick by Brick

Give a goat to a mama

Alternative Income

Clean water is a right

Water