Hope For The Nations

Imagine these breaking headlines: “Worldwide poverty abolished” and “Quality of life improves across the planet.”
But what if we could stop imagining this wonderful news and make it happen? Organics 4 Orphans is an organization that promises just that. Dale and Linda Bolton, the hard-working people behind this cause have pinpointed direct strategies for improving the health and lifestyle of orphans in Africa and they not only believe we can demolish poverty—they can prove it.
“In 2004 my wife and I travelled to Malawi and were devastated to discover that there are 30 to 40 million orphans in Africa. We came to understand that not only did Africa have more orphans than you could build homes for but food security was an even bigger problem. One reason for this was that chemical fertilizers had gone from $10 a bag to almost $100 a bag, making it too expensive for people to buy. Kenya has the capacity to grow anything and they now import 80% of their food, with children usually getting the poorest quality and low-nutrient food such as corn meal or white rice.
We also understood that African families are happy to take in orphans if they can provide enough food for them and their families. Organics 4 Orphans’ solution is to teach communities how to grow high quality organic food so that everyone can be fed. We developed 5-day programs that teach communities how to make their own organic fertilizers and pesticides as well as save seeds. Our organization provides training, tools, fencing and watering cans to help ensure a steady supply of disease-fighting food for everyone.
In spring 2011 we are starting a 12-week mobile organic farming/natural medicine school so that we can eventually teach this in the 50 poorest countries of the world. Our form of agriculture is called bio-intensive, which can produce two to six times as much food per square foot—using very little water as well. That is one of the greatest advantages to bio-intensive gardening, as it enables us to grow the most amazing organic food in very dry areas.
Every day we are discovering more beneficial ways to enable the poorest people in the world—who are called “the Bottom Billion”—to create surplus for themselves.
 

This year marks the 6th anniversary of our involvement in Africa and two years since Organics 4 Orphans was created.

The first four years were spent building schools, orphanages and drilling wells. The generosity of African communities towards orphans is amazing; they readily open their homes to parentless children provided they can feed themselves. But most African communities have several things working against them. First, large companies introduced chemical fertilizers to Africa about 50 years ago. That was a short term boost to the average African whose small farm could grow corn.

Unfortunately two things happened; first, fertilizer went from ten dollars a bag to as high as one hundred dollars, which is more than the average two acre farmer could afford. Local small farmers have long forgotten how to grow crops without chemical fertilizers and so they basically run their farms till the soil will not grow anything then head to the large city slums. The second thing is that Africans got used to eating primarily corn meal which long term can ruin the immune system and make them vulnerable to any disease that comes along.
The other thing working against Africans is that escalating fertilizer prices worldwide effected grain prices that they now have to buy. The price of basic foods such as rice and beans have jumped significantly creating an even greater struggle.

In 2008 when we discovered Manor House Agricultural Center in west Kenya, an organic farming school, we immediately recognized a partnership opportunity. Manor House delivers organic farming education, using ingenious techniques to grow abundant, nutritious, low-cost food with all natural fertilizers and pesticides that they can make themselves. We now hire graduates of the school as Organic Agricultural Trainers (OATs) to share their knowledge with orphanages and community groups.

Our program reaches out to orphanages and the poorest communities to teach them how to grow their own high-nutrient food for as little as ten dollars a year per person. We now have our fifth trainer in Kenya and are reaching 10 areas this year through over 100 projects.

We’re very excited to have started this past May a yearlong study on the effects of diet change on disease prevention in Kenya. Canadian Naturopathic Doctor Elisa Noh came with Natural Dietary Consultant Marni Wasserman to Kenya to set up a study tracking 100 participants over a year as they switch to a high-nutrient diet. Anecdotally, people we who have changed their diet have reported a reduction of sickness by at least 50%. We look forward to confirming this potential at the completion of this study in 2011.

Organics 4 Orphans is expanding beyond Kenya through the efforts of our OATS on the ground. Wario Donne, from Ethiopia, has been trained in Kenya by Boaz Odour our Director, and is now initiating projects in his home country. We also have a few projects springing up in Uganda. As the news spreads that whole communities can achieve food security and diseases prevention, almost anywhere, for as little as $42 a month, we’re confident that Organics 4 Orphans will grow faster than any weed!
 

It Just Keeps Getting Better!

May 2009 marked the fifth trip to Africa for Dale and Linda Bolton since their work there began in 2004. Five years ago, this Thornhill couple first travelled to Malawi - one of the countries hardest hit by AIDS. They'd raised $8,000 to build an orphanage for Hope For The Nations through a house renovation. The experience was incredibly rewarding, but they came away wondering what more they could do to help the 30+ million orphans in Africa.
Shortly after that first trip, Linda discovered Natural Calm, a natural health product that relieved her sleep and muscle problems. The product was not available in Canada and so the Bolton’s became the sole Canadian distributors of Natural Calm health products. They have since seen rapid growth in their business and today, Natural Calm is distributed for the Bolton’s by Purity Life Products to over 1,500 stores across Canada.
Early in their business venture, Dale and Linda used all the business profits to build Hope for the Nations orphanages and schools. As they traveled to the project sites, however, they discovered an even more primary concern: nutrition. None of the orphanages were growing their own food, and when grain prices rose, their already tight budgets became unbearably strained.
An innovative solution soon presented itself. Dale and Linda discovered an organization in Kenya devoted to organic agricultural training. Manor House Agricultural Centre instructs locals in producing their own organic fertilizer and pesticides, creating more efficient garden beds and saving seeds. Their method of farming is low-cost, replenishes the soil, and requires little water. Even more exciting, the crops grown in this method are more nutritious and plentiful than those grown using industrial methods.
Starting in 2008, the Bolton's are hiring graduates from the two year program as community agricultural workers. These workers will train orphanages and their communities to grow their own food, sustainably and reliably. The Bolton's are calling this newest program under Hope for the Nations “Organics 4 Orphans”.
Recently, the Bolton's have discovered another exciting opportunity to support health in Africa. For the last 18 years, Anamed International has been researching the medicinal properties of indigenous African plants. Some of this organization's most inspiring discoveries even hold out a promise for reducing malaria and preventing the development of HIV into AIDS, both of which are crises in Africa. Anamed helps share their knowledge through week-long training workshops in Africa for health and community workers. The Bolton's are pleased to be supporting a volunteer Registered Nutritional Therapist from Canada - Shayna Grimwood - to participate in this workshop. Following the course, Shayna will spend several weeks training the Organics 4 Orphans community agricultural workers. In turn, these workers will help orphanages and their communities grow and prepare their own natural, local medicine.
In the span of five years, Dale and Linda have made life-changing connections with their partners, volunteers and donors. They feel their adventure has only begun, and with each successive trip, they can see their contribution towards the realization of Hope for the Nations' motto: Today's Orphans, Tomorrows Leaders.