Villages in Partnership Inc
Changing lives, one village at a time
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Malawi is one of the most deeply impoverished countries on earth: - Total population 19.7 million, including 1.3 million orphans; - 10.6% of the adult population is living with HIV/AIDS; - Nationally, the per-person annual gross income is $650; - Almost 50% of the population is moderately or severely underweight; - 85% live as subsistence farmers; - The average age of first-time mothers: 18 years; But these statistics can obscure as much as they reveal. Extreme poverty is more than just numbers; it is hopelessness and despair, living one bad harvest, one illness, one accident away from devastation and death. Although aid groups work in many parts of Malawi, the villages of the Sakata region in the southeast were struggling alone until partnering with VIP. There are a staggering number of orphans and child-led households, widespread hunger and poor nutrition, and desperate need for clean water, adequate medical care, and even rudimentary education.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Sakata Project, Zomba Malawi
Our method is to work with local development experts in Malawi to implement programs designed to simultaneously address the inter-connected web of root causes of extreme poverty: lack of access to clean water, food insecurity, poor health care, inadequate education, insufficient infrastructure, and lack of economic opportunities.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of water projects built
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Sakata Project, Zomba Malawi
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Totals reflect the number of Protected Water Sources (deep wells, boreholes, or communal taps) drilled or rehabilitated by VIP each year
Number of animals vaccinated
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Sakata Project, Zomba Malawi
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of chickens vaccinated against the Newcastle Disease
Number of students who receive scholarship funds and/or tuition assistance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Sakata Project, Zomba Malawi
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of secondary and university students from rural villages who received academic scholarships
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The goal of Villages in Partnership is to eradicate extreme poverty, beginning in the rural villages of Sakata in Malawi. Extreme poverty is poverty that leads to hopelessness. It is caused by a lack of resources in six critical needs of human development: food, water, education, medical care, infrastructure, and economic opportunity.
Without adequate resources in each of these areas, extreme poverty traps its victims in a vicious cycle that they cannot break out of on their own.VIP seeks to intervene simultaneously in each of these areas to bring about real and sustainable development.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
To achieve our mission, VIP works with villagers and local development experts to identify and prioritize needs, then empower local communities to be part of the solutions so that they are able to sustain development. Our process is straightforward and transparent:
- We meet with local leaders and village members to understand their needs, their assets, and their goals;
- We establish Village Implementation Committees (VICs)--made up of elected village members--to set priorities and evaluate projects;
- We mobilize support in the U.S. to provide resources and expertise;
- The entire village works with us to build a solution;
- The project is completed and the villagers take ownership of it;
- The project helps to lift the entire community.
The people of Malawi have the capacity, determination, and desire to improve their lives. What they lack are necessary critical resources, training, and capital. They need outside partners to come alongside them, to provide them with the resources and training necessary to lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
To access these needed resources, VIP has formed partnerships with “villages” in the U.S.: churches, universities, businesses, and families that can provide financial, technical, medical, and training support to address the needs articulated by our Malawi partners. We also raise support and awareness through fundraising events, including our signature annual Water Walk.
This approach has had a significant impact in Malawi. Where clean water is the priority, we help the villages bring in borehole-drilling crews. Where education is the priority, we build schools and seek scholarships. Where food and economic security are the priority we provide goats, organize savings co-ops, and offer training in agricultural and animal husbandry best practices.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
- Both 501(c)(3) in the U.S. and N.G.O. status in Malawi;
- A clear mission and shared values;
- Established U.S. funding sources;
- Partnerships with U.S. churches, universities, and businesses that can offer engineering, medical, and financial support to achieve our mission;
- Knowledgeable Malawian staff on-site, year-round, to build trust and collaboration with our partner villages;
- Established collaborative partnerships with 26 Malawi villages in the Sakata region, with community structures for oversite, ownership, and sustainability of projects;
- Partnerships with various Malawi government departments to sustain the development projects we establish. For example, clinics and schools we build are staffed by Malawi practitioners and teachers, paid by the Malawi government.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The seeds that co-founders Liz and Stephen Heinzel-Nelson planted during a year of living and learning in Malawi in 2008 have grown into what is now a vibrant, wide-ranging development organization, involving dozens of people working in partnership with churches, schools, businesses and community organizations to nurture enduring, life-changing relationships with villages in Malawi. In 2011, VIP incorporated and began operating as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Today we employ more than a dozen full-time Malawian staff members who oversee a range of year-round projects in each of the Six Critical Development Areas.
VIP has completed dozens of projects and programs, large and small, throughout the region of Sakata since 2008, including:
- 78 clean water sources dug or rehabilitated;
- 48 classrooms & teacher houses solarized with electricity;
- 823 farmers trained in sustainable agricultural practices & livestock management;
- 1,232 goats distributed to vulnerable families;
- 3,500+ students supported in preschool, primary, secondary, college, and vocational training;
- 28,788 patients cared for in rural medical clinics;
- $2 million+ invested in sustainable development projects
In 2008, our very first project was to rebuild a small clinic in Kalupe Village. In 2021, we will continue construction on the Khanda Health Center which will have an outpatient department, a maternity ward, and dental & eye units. In addition, we are in the beginning stages of developing a Learning/Demonstration Farm to teach sustainable agricultural practices and serve as a hub for our agricultural and livestock programs.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Villages in Partnership Inc
Board of directorsas of 04/19/2023
Robert Rhoad
Liz Heinzel-Nelson
Stephen Heinzel-Nelson
Eileen Gradwell
Tim Schuler
Randa Nelson
Thomas Marrero
Lucy Goeke
Chris Ebling
Tim Golden
David Shipman
Greg Herceg
Jackie Dyer
Gayle Anderson
Jennie Garst
Elizabeth Yates
Marissa Cano
David Specca
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data