SPRING / SUMMER 2016

World Neighbors Board of Trustees Officers of the Board: Vlad Sambaiew, Board Chair Gruver, TX Tiffany Stevens, J.D., Vice Chair Brooklyn, NY Emily Estes, Secretary Hartford, CT Tommy Barrow, Treasurer Marietta, GA

Board Members: Carol Blackwood Oklahoma City, OK Susan Chambers, M.D. Oklahoma City, OK Mara Tshibaka Cichocki Tulsa, OK Edna Daniel, M.D. Oklahoma City, OK Mindy Roe Galoob Tulsa, OK Anthea George Bozeman, MT Suzette Grillot, Ph.D. Norman, OK Scott Killough, Ph.D. Edmond, OK Gordon Perkin, M.D. Seattle, WA Marla Persky Ridgefield, CT Nani Pybus, Ph.D., CRA Stillwater, OK Kemp Skokos, M.D. Little Rock, AR Marnie Taylor Oklahoma City, OK Christy Tharp, CPA Oklahoma City, OK

President and Chief Executive Officer Kate Schecter, Ph.D.

Inside: World Neighbors Celebrates 65 years Solar Power in Kenya Two Ears of Corn - Still Works in Indonesia Editorial: Haiti Can Change for the Better

Dear Neighbor,

Recently, I was invited to speak at two very impressive Rotary Clubs with longstanding ties to World Neighbors. The first was in downtown Oklahoma City, at the Rotary Club where our founder, Dr. John L Peters, was a member for many years. That same week I spoke at another club in Los Altos, California whose members have been supporting our work for decades. World Neighbors has a long and successful history of working with Rotary Clubs and other civic organizations around the world where programs and geographic goals are aligned. This collaborative approach is manifested through the many partnerships we develop both on a local level and on a global scale.

As with these Rotary talks, I was equally honored to present our work at the International Partners Workshop of the network called PROLINNOVA held in Senegal last month. World Neighbors has been working with the network since its inception in 1999. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, 21 countries have joined forces to support small scale farmers and to promote local innovation processes in agriculture and natural resource management. PROLINNOVA focuses on recognizing the dynamics of indigenous knowledge and helping farmers to adjust to change. As one of their recent newsletters states, “The essence of sustainability lies in the capacity to adapt.” These are essential thematic areas that World Neighbors focuses on, too.

All of these events and partnerships are the result of a basic principle that dates back to the original conception of World Neighbors—collaboration and knowledge sharing benefit everyone and will help improve the lives of our neighbors around the world. Actually, we have been sharing the knowledge and lessons learned from our work in 45 countries for 65 years through many different vehicles, including Neighbors. It is our sincere hope that as you read through the following articles about our current lessons learned, you will continue World Neighbors collaborative history by sharing what you learn with others.

Wishing everyone a wonderful summer!

All the best,

Kate Schecter, Ph.D. President and CEO May Ayers Milburn Chair

World Neighbors: Sixty-five and Counting! By Jim Morley

It all started on April 22, 1951. Dr. John L. Peters delivered a sermon, a call to action that motivated a congregation, a town and people across the nation. World Neighbors was the result. Today, its reach has extended to over 26 million people in the poorest rural parts of 45 countries around the globe. Based on a world view of neighbor helping neighbor and an understanding of the inherent capabilities of all people everywhere; World Neighbors continues to work alongside developing communities, with the people themselves determining what is most important to them. They are the drivers of their own development. They become problem-solvers, overcoming enormous obstacles they thought were insurmountable. By supporting and promoting long-term solutions and real sustainability over the past 65 years, World Neighbors staff, volunteers and loyal donors have taken Dr. Peters original vision and turned it into an enormously successful movement that should be celebrated. And at a recent special gathering where it all began, many key World Neighbors supporters did just that.

On the evening of April 28th, a special dinner was held at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. At the celebration the congregation’s current Senior Pastor, Dr. Bob Long, provided insights into this remarkable man, Dr. Peters. World Neighbors President and Chief Executive Officer, Kate Schecter spoke of World Neighbors today and its bright outlook into the future. Arriving from Indonesia, Regional Director for South East Asia, Edd Wright, spoke of our critical work in marginalized communities dealing with the effects of climate change and natural disaster mitigation, among others. Longtime volunteers and current board members of the organization, Dr. Susan Chambers and Carol Blackwood, concluded the festivities with their loving recognition of World Neighbors and those who have made it such a success. Those assembled from a large variety of backgrounds but with common interest in World Neighbors results-driven methodology had a great time reminiscing and engaging in meaningful conversations. A common theme at the celebration was both the proud recognition of great success and the important work that still lies ahead.

World Neighbors Founder, Dr. John L. Peters 1965

A great many people have contributed to the successful work of World Neighbors in the rural communities where the need is so great. Donors, staff, board members and volunteers, both domestically and abroad, have been critically important. To all of those who fall into these important categories but were unable to join in this celebration, thank you. With this past dedication and everyone’s future support, World Neighbors will undoubtedly be inspiring people and strengthening communities through Dr. Peter’s vision for 65 more years and beyond.

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Solar Power Spurs Community-Based Development in Kenya By Kate Schecter, Ph.D. and Chris Macoloo, Ph.D. World Neighbors Regional Director from Africa.

A version of this article originally appeared in CleanLeap.com on February 24, 2016. Main Image Credit: African Solar Designs

Can the developing world leapfrog over the use of fossil fuels and go straight to renewable energy sources? In Kenya, World Neighbors is helping communities do just that. Using solar powered technologies, these rural farmers are living healthier lives, creating efficiencies to reduce their hard physical labor and creating year-round food security. These innovations are also allowing more children in the communities to attend school as they are not needed as much for the daily labor on the farms. At the heart of these success are four solar-powered devices: Mobile Solar Water Pump This easy to move, wheelbarrow-style device incorporates solar panels to power water pumps. Although generally used for crop irrigation, World Neighbors partners are also utilizing the simple technology as a central piece of more extensive sustainable fish and vegetable production. Here’s how it works: • Farmers dig large plastic-lined ponds to retain precious rainwater. • Tilapia and other fish are deposited in the ponds. • The mobile solar pumps are used to bring water from the ponds, which contains nutrients from fish waste, to drip irrigation systems that water multiple crops, including kale. 2

• After replenishing the ponds by pumping rainwater from additional catchment tanks, farmers add the inedible parts of the vegetables to the water and in turn generate organic fish feed. Since it uses captured rainwater, solar power and organic waste, this scalable system has virtually no operating costs yet provides more than enough vegetables and fish for a village. The increased surplus of food and vegetables is sold in local markets with profits being used in a collective savings and credit program that provides working capital for additional fishponds, pumps, rainwater storage tanks, greenhouses, bee hives and many other agricultural activities.

Solar Incubators

The CooKit

Raising poultry requires a steady supply of chicks that need to be housed in incubators. In developing countries, unreliable electrical supplies make powering the incubators extremely difficult. Knowing that energy failures can wipe out a family’s entire investment, World Neighbors communities are utilizing solar panels and batteries so that incubation continues normally during power outages.

The CooKit is a solar powered cooker that reduces the annual demand for fuel wood by at least four times. While combating deforestation by drastically reducing a community’s need for wood, the CooKit also has many other benefits for rural Kenyans.

Solar Vegetable Drier Small-scale agriculture is completely dependent upon the weather. Understandably, the main focus is on how a lack of rainfall depresses food output and can lead to hunger and even starvation. But even in the good times, the rainy season can cause problems for farmers in developing countries.

• Without the need to gather firewood and tend a fire, solar cooking reduces labor, especially for women. A person can cook while at work, at the market, or tending crops and young girls can attend school instead of searching for firewood. • Solar-cooked foods retain vitamins, nutrients and their natural flavors: there is no smoky taste and the foods cook slowly in their own juices. Nutritious, and inexpensive traditional foods (beans, root crops and some grains), have been restored to family diets. • The smokeless cooking process reduces respiratory diseases and eye irritation. • In addition to cooking, it can pasteurize household drinking water, making it safe to drink. It is in everyone’s interest that, where practical, Africa and other developing regions leap over oil, coal and gas to generate electricity critical for sustained development. Those focused on the investments to create this energy infrastructure should also look to small-scale applications appropriate to the current economic needs of millions of people. These applications are not only cheap and clean. When part of a comprehensive community-based development strategy, they can play a crucial role in helping catalyze sustained economic and social change.

Two Ears of Corn Still Works In Indonesia By Pak Putra Suardika, World Neighbors Senior Program Associate for South East Asia

During Kenya’s rainy season, various types of green vegetables flood the market and prices drop sharply. What is good for buyers can be disastrous for small-scale producers. An effective solution is solar vegetable driers. These easy-to-use driers increase the shelf life of otherwise highly perishable commodities. This reduces food waste and the dried vegetables can be sold later for higher prices.

In January, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released “Save and Grow,” describing how small scale farmers can use innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly techniques to increase outputs while lowering costs. Roland Bunch (who worked for World Neighbors in the 1980’s and 90’s) described these techniques in Two Ears of Corn: A Guide to People-Centered Agricultural Improvement. This widely respected book, first published in 1982 and set to be rereleased later this year, continues to be a great resource for communities around the world interested in sustainable, community-centered economic development. 3

In Indonesia, World Neighbors is helping rural farmers utilize these simple techniques with great success. In East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, which is predominantly dry land farming, corn has become a major food source, but its production is often not enough to provide sufficient food security throughout the year. Corn’s successful cultivation is largely determined by the quality of seed. High-quality seeds, indicated by their growing power and vigor in the field (growing quickly and evenly), yield high production. Thus, a key to higher corn output in East Nusa Tenggara is a larger number of high-quality seeds. Working with local partners, World Neighbors trained farmers to use simple yet effective seed management techniques.

of moisture. Corn seeds are inserted into a glass or transparent plastic bottle until half full, then sealed and coated with candle wax around the cover to create an airtight seal. The seed bottles are then dried in the sun for six hours. The corn seeds have the proper moisture content if the inside of the bottle looks clean, with no dew or water spots. If there is any water inside the bottle, the moisture content is still high and the seeds need to be dried again. When all the corn seed is dry, it is put inside plastic jerry cans that have been thoroughly cleaned and dried, until the can is full and tightly closed. The jerry cans are then stored in a sheltered location, safely away from rain, sun, animals and other possible contaminants.

Farmers were trained on new techniques in determining the best corn kernels to use as seeds. Rather than their traditional technique of selecting all kernels which appeared to be fuller and shinier, East Nusa Tenggara farmers can now use five visual identifiers to eliminate seeds that are least likely to grow.

Using this process, farmers have doubled the number of productive corn seeds, from 40% to 80% of the total. The cost is minimal—bottles and jerry cans and staff for the initial training in the process of more efficiently choosing, drying and storing seeds. Those first trained in the process then start training others.

The groups were then shown how to take the sorted corn and dry them for two days to more quickly and easily release the seeds. The seeds are then immediately laid out on a floor and covered with a tarp to dry for two to three days, until the moisture content drops to 10-11%. This is the proper moisture count for planting.

The vast majority of the citizens in developing countries rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. The key to increased incomes is to increase the productivity of the agricultural sector. With a focus on both environmental and financial sustainability, there is a growing interest in low-cost and easily implemented and maintained innovation. A simple process, introduced to Indonesian farm communities, is further evidence of the value of the approaches described by Roland Bunch more than 30 years ago.

World Neighbors introduced an easy technique to estimate when seeds reach the proper percentage 4

difficult it is to make lasting change. We visited Haitian communities at many levels of development. During one of our visits, a community leader in charge of agriculture made a plea for a water pump: “If we just had a pump all our problems would be solved.” Kate Schecter, World Neighbors CEO, kindly explained to him and the other leaders that our group doesn’t give things away. This “confrontation” was initially hard to experience. I understood the point Kate was making about a hand up rather than a hand out. Yet I was deeply moved by this Haitian man’s desire to quickly solve problems and improve lives. This became a crucial “aha” moment for me and, I believe, others in our group. We were not in this person’s shoes, and never could be. Desperately poor people want help and want it yesterday. Talk of changes that will enable long-term self-sufficiency can sound empty when the immediate need is so acute. Yet the facts were the facts: a water pump would not solve all of this community’s problems. The local leaders eventually acknowledged this and recognized many more things had to be done before a water pump would actually achieve what they hoped it would.

Haiti Can Change for the Better By Susan Chambers, M.D. A version of this editorial was published in The Oklahoman on April 15, 2016.

I marvel when I travel in developing countries that life happens on the side of the road. As we swoosh by we glimpse women selling bananas, men on bicycles with huge loads of wood, families cooking over an open fire in their dirt front yard. We see young men bathing in a river, school kids in uniforms on their way to school, neighbors chatting, dogs, chickens and goats herded toward home. Beautiful faces and sometimes beautiful scenery accented with dilapidated buildings, homes made out of tin and roads littered with trash.

The following day we traveled to a community that had graduated from our assistance a few years ago. The community now operates without any outside support. What we found there was beyond amazing. They had acres of beautiful crops, a fishpond to generate additional income and a farmer field school to teach organic techniques. In our meeting with the leaders, they spoke of their successes in areas of health and education and empowering youth. They concluded their presentation to us with their vision: to help all 5,000 community members become self-sufficient. From what we saw, they had patiently put the pieces in place to achieve this.

Most visitors to developing countries don’t keep traveling very far down those roads. Most never take a right at a nondescript tree, a left at a rock along a bumpy, dusty piece of earth to get to the end of the road. But if you do, you will see something you missed on the first part of your journey: hope and dignity. I recently had the opportunity to travel with a small group to Haiti on a World Neighbors Journey. These excursions are always special. But this trip to Haiti was different. For the first time, I really witnessed just how 5

Commemorative Gifts Received February 1- May 31, 2016

IN MEMORY OF Rose Barth John Lunde Lois Crooks Phyllis Armstrong Jackie L. Jones John Younger Dr. Jim and Margaret Eskridge Mr. and Mrs. Robert Eskridge Dr. J. Richard Hershberger Dr. Russell Crain Mr. and Mrs. William Weitzel James Hartwell Holden Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Messenbaugh Mary Palmer Knox Mr. and Mrs. Carl Riggins

The international community committed billions to rebuilding Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Most of that has either been unspent or misspent. The failures have led many to throw up their hands. My week in Haiti visiting communities at various stages of development may not have refuted that story. But it did tell a different one.

IN HONOR OF

Many Haitians have in fact changed their lives for the better, by building on the skills and economic activities they have long possessed and practiced. And they can do much more with the patient and targeted assistance of development groups that invest small amounts of money in intelligent and creative ways. Haiti can be rebuilt. It is being rebuilt — slowly, carefully and one village at a time.

Burt Barth John Lunde

Change that ultimately changes the world cannot be a quick fix.

Dr. W. Henry Tucker Bi-Mart Pharmacy Staff Elizabeth Naylor

Charles and Carol Blackwood Harry Merson Harbour Winn Bill and Martha King Charles and Carol Blackwood Jim Morley Larry and Susan Whipple

Consider making a gift to the work of World Neighbors in loving memory of someone dear to you or in honor of that special someone.

Chambers is a current World Neighbors Trustee and a founding member of WOW! Work of Women.

Did you know? You can leave a legacy gift to World Neighbors without changing your will or trust. How? Through a beneficiary change form on any life insurance policy or a retirement plan like an IRA, 401(k) or 403(b). Simply list World Neighbors, or any other nonprofit, as one of the primary beneficiaries and what amount or percentage you are interested in gifting. You can also list charity(s) as contingent beneficiaries in the event that none of your primary beneficiaries were living at the time of your death. To learn more about this or to find out about other ways to make a legacy or planned gift, please contact Patrick Evans at 405-752-9700 or [email protected].

OUR MISSION World Neighbors inspires people and strengthens communities to find lasting solutions to hunger, poverty and disease and to promote a healthy environment P.O. Box 270058, Oklahoma City, OK 73137-0058 | 405.752.9700 | 1.800.242.6387 | wn.org WN3359 1-25-16