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Central and South America and the Caribbean

Learning Tour groups have visited the Ecuadorian Amazon since 2005. We previously purchased and preserved 137 acres of threatened land adjacent to the Cuyanbeno Ecological Preserve. Currently we collaborate with native groups to support their efforts to preserve their culture and protect the forest. We have a long-time relationship with Delio, shaman of the Siona people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, who guides our Learning Tour groups, and Aurelio, lead shaman of the Cofan people. We are currently entering into a relationship with Waita Lodge, a new endeavor deep in the Cuyanbeno Ecological Reserve with a focus on empowering local Kichwa people as forest protectors. (photos from 2019 visit)

   In the Dominican Republic, NCP works with local groups to foster sustainable development in mountain communities. NCP's Tom Benevento is also consulting with groups in Mexico and with government officials in Jamaica related to climate-resilient food production and eco-friendly coffee farming, respectively.

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Africa

In South Sudan, the South Sudan Council of Churches and the Girlchild Education and Development Association are key program partners in Narus and Nimule, respectively, coordinating our grants for girls' education and women's development, and hosting our Learning Tours. GEDA has also hosted Solidarity Workers in Nimule. Our Second Step program enables girls who have completed high school to continue their studies in nearby Uganda; this initiative is funded by those who choose to support/sponsor a girl. NCP has also responded to the pleas of women in refugee camps with skills training, microloans and girls' education. Paskwale Ben and his New Community Forestry receive support from our If a Tree Falls... program for reforestation efforts in Nimule and surrounding areas. (Photos and stories from 2019 East Africa Learning Tour)

   In Rwanda and the DR Congo, NCP works through local partners to support girls' education, tailoring and microloan programs for women, and reforestation. We have also funded an initiative to train women to build wood-conserving cook stoves, both for their own use and to sell for income (photos here). In both countries, we have been supportive of Batwas (pygmy) communities that have been displaced from their forest homes. Efforts include tailoring workshops, chicken projects, Covid relief and land purchases. We visit all these communities on Learning Tours.

   NCP has been involved with the nonprofit Creative Solutions for the Environment in Malawi since 2019. We work with them to address climate impacts on agriculture, do reforestation, and empowering women and helping young women attend secondary school. We have also secured funding for CSE to launch a carbon farm initiative. One key program is our A Girl and A Bike campaign, providing bicycles and scholarships for high school girls 7-14 miles from school. We also raised funds in 2020 to build and furnish (beds, toilets, kitchens) two hostels for high school girls attending schools 30 and 50 miles from home.

   We have begun a partnership with the Tropical Conservation Centre in Nigeria to restore mangrove forests in the Niger Delta. This includes community education and involvement, promotion of wood-conserving stoves, and the development of alternative income sources to stem deforestation.

 

Asia

In Myanmar (Burma), NCP works through the Myanmar Baptist Convention to carry out women's development projects, reforestation and girls' education in the southwest delta. In the Palaung hill tribe area near Kalaw, we work with Saw Jimmy Zan, our trekking guide and collaborator, to support girls' education, women's development and reforestation. See stories and photos from our 2019 Learning Tour here.

   In Nepal, our partner is Shakti Samuha, a group comprised of former sex workers that helps other young women trying to recuperate from their time in this destructive industry. Shakti receives NCP grants for women and girls and hosts NCP Learning Tours.

 

United States

The Gwich'in people of Arctic Village, Alaska have hosted NCP Learning Tours since 2003. Participants learn about Gwich'in culture and current lifestyle, and about their reliance on the Porcupine Caribou Herd for food. The Gwich'in are the primary advocates for preventing oil drilling along the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as this is the birthing grounds for the caribou. Key contacts are Sarah James and Charlie and Marion Swaney. (photo album from 2018 Learning Tour)

   Since 2016, NCP has been in relationship with the Dine' (Navajo) of New Mexico through our partner, Lybrook Community Ministries. Our Learning Tours visit each summer, we join with the Dine' in advocacy campaigns (especially related to the extractive industries), and offer occasional support related to the Covid crisis as well as housing. (photo album a recent Learning Tour).

   NCP also collaborates with co-conspirators in and around our Sustainable Living Center in Harrisonburg, VA. These include James Madison University, Bridgewater College, Eastern Mennonite University, as well as offering gardening and composting workshops for local elementary schools. We also support Give Solar, which is putting solar panels on all Habitat for Humanity builds in the area. Up at our site in Starksboro, VT, we collaborate with municipal governments, 350.org, nearby colleges and local congregations to foster food and energy security and to educate and activate about climate change.     

   We have a special affiliation with Rising Locust Farm in Manheim, PA, regularly sharing ideas and support, and joining in each others' training workshops. Like us, they welcome interns, address sustainable food production and energy use, seek economic and social justice, and work to engage their local community. Check them out!

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