100% of your tax-deductible donations will support community-based projects in Chiapas, Mexico.  Find out how you can make a gift that makes a difference! 

One Equal Heart Foundation is focusing our fundraising efforts in three areas:

1. Sustainable Agriculture and Child Nutrition

The Caretakers of the Earth Program (view slideshow) provides education, training and supplies for community volunteers in their work to support sustainable living among poor Tseltal families. The Program helps families produce their own food through organic cultivation techniques and small animal husbandry and install kitchen gardens to improve their health and nutrition. Volunteers teach families how to build composting latrines to improve sanitation and keep contaminants out of rivers and streams. Families also learn how to construct LORENA Stoves (view slideshow)  that use less firewood (reducing the number of trees cut down for fuel) and produce less smoke (improving the air quality of the home and reducing respiratory problems related to smoke inhalation). The Children's Nutrition Project (view slideshow) identifies malnourished children in targeted villages and teaches families how to make a nutritional supplement for their children from locally available ingredients. Volunteers also instruct families how to improve their health and nutrition by making the most of available land and resources in an environmentally responsible manner. 

2. Tseltal Maya Scholarship Fund

Donations provide work-study scholarships for Tseltal Maya students who wish to continue their studies while they serve their communities. Some are returning to formal education as adults. Others are studying at Mexican universities. Scholarships pay for tuition and books, transportation to and from school, room and board, and a stipend. Scholars work on completing degrees in business and accounting, law, education, psychology and sustainable development, while they work on projects related to organic coffee production, human rights, women's literacy and leadership, and bicultural education. Meet some of our scholars! (view slide show)

3. Community Leadership Training & Support

Throughout the year, volunteers receive continuing education and training to enhance and support their work as traditional judges, mediators, human rights advocates, midwives and health promoters, Caretakers of the Earth, women's literacy teachers, and community leaders. Donations directly support volunteers who encourage the nonviolent resolution of conflicts, improve family health and nutrition, ensure the full participation of women, and strengthen Tseltal culture and language.