World Neighbors works with indigenous organizations to bring 155 communities throughout Ecuador programs in reproductive health, sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, community capacity building and gender equity programs.
World Neighbors approach is unique – we do not give away food or material aid. Instead, we provide training so that people gain the skills and leadership to work together for change. We operate programs for an average of five to 10 years, and take pride that most of our experienced International Program staff and volunteers are local people from the countries in which they work. As World Neighbors moves to other areas of need, we leave behind a network of leaders with the skills to enable the community to undertake development initiatives on their own.
Our approach is simple. In cooperation with our global neighbors, we:
Select the areas where we work on the basis of need and opportunity.
Listen to what they have to say and what limits their success and establish a relationship of trust.
Help strengthen their capacity to identify, analyze and solve their own problems using locally available resources and the simplest tools to do the job.
Try new ideas on a small scale. Stay practical to generate early enthusiasm and success.
Help document the results and apply lessons learned to improve programs.
Reinforce their capacity to maintain and multiply results and ongoing problem-solving processes by forming new partnerships and by coordinating with additional villages and local organizations.
Widen program impact by documenting and sharing the results and processes with larger-scale organizations, villages, networks, coalitions and governments to influence policies and actions.