Giving Life Through Ceramics in Peru
Saida is a ceramics artist living in Padrecocha, Peru. She did not make enough money to create intricate and beautiful...Read More
Microenterprise
Imagine the struggle of being a parent and not being able to feed your children, take them to the doctor or provide them with safe shelter. For these hardworking families, the burden of poverty, lack of resources and sickness often keeps them from reaching their greatest potential. Through Operation Blessing’s microenterprise and community development programs, families are becoming equipped for success through life skills training programs such as sewing, baking, jewelry-making and carpentry—as well as community farms and gardens, home construction projects, animal husbandry, small business loans and more!
FROM THE FIELD
More Microenterprise
Getting Bahamians Back on Their Feet
BAHAMAS – Over a month after Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas, recovery is still only beginning. But Operation Blessing has...Read More
Exceptional Woman Sends Love to Blind in Israel
ISRAEL – Seventy-five-year-old Karen from Virginia has accomplished many exceptional feats in her life in spite of—or maybe because of—being...Read More
Fresh Start for Domestic Violence Victim in El Salvador
After Iris made the decision to move herself and her children away from her violent partner, she had no way...Read More
How do community gardens work?
The scope and type of gardens depends on each community’s needs. In Kenya, families are taught how to cultivate drought-resistant crops that can be used to help feed their families. In places like Guatemala, villagers are learning how to build raised beds to grow and sell nutritious vegetables in spite of poor soil quality.
What sort of life skills training do you offer?
Operation Blessing equips individuals with marketable job skills through courses in sewing, baking, jewelry-making, cosmetology, carpentry and more. In some cases, OBI also provides individuals and groups with the necessary resources to jumpstart their own small businesses.
How do animal husbandry programs help families?
The gift of goats and chickens not only help families by providing a nutritious source of food (i.e. goat milk, eggs), but also through the raising and breeding of the animals, families can sell the offspring and use the income to purchase food and medicine, build safer homes and send their children to school.
MICROENTERPRISE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION
From building homes for vulnerable families to kick-starting businesses for single moms, Operation Blessing’s microenterprise projects are making a difference by:
Community gardens
Creating community gardens in Latin America where single mothers and others come to learn the basics of gardening and harvesting so they can support their families.
Building new homes
Building homes for children and families in need, whether they lost their homes to flooding, natural disaster or simply the weight of poverty.
Restoring livelihood
Distributing boats to victims of natural disasters whose primary income was fishing. Operation Blessing has helped restore the livelihoods of many, from hurricane victims in Latin America to Japanese fishermen devastated by the 2011 tsunami.
Life-skills training
Providing life-skills training for at-risk youth to help them learn a vocation and stay off of the streets where many fall prey to violence, drugs and gangs.
Training men and women to bake
Training men and women in the art of baking many varieties of bread, cookies and other treats, providing them with life skills to find a job or even strike out on their own with a microenterprise through Operation Blessing.
Providing supplies
Supporting families by equipping moms and dads with the tools they need to further their employment dreams, be it through sewing machines, supplies, tools and more.