Heart for Africa

Hiv/aids has ravaged the country of eswatini and more than 200,000 children have been orphaned in its wake. Almost half of the country's population are orphans or vulnerable children. With over 160 children living on project canaan right now, Heart for Africa receives a new baby every two weeks. Many of our children arrive with severe malnutrition and suffer from abuse and neglect often leaving them with physical, intellectual and/or other developmental challenges. Providing a home, food, clothing, education and other care until they reach adulthood requires significant investment. Our commitment to each child is to provide them with a home until they're 18-years of age while providing them with the training, education and resources they need to secure employment.

Unemployment and poverty are two enormous challenges facing the people of eswatini. As part of our focus on poverty and education (which includes vocational training), we employ nearly 300 men and women from the areas around project canaan. More than 100 people work in khutsala artisans where they create authentic african handcrafts such as beadwork animals, home decor and christmas ornaments. This employment provides an opportunity for families to remain intact and helps swazis secure a sustainable income. In addition, 100% of the profits from the sale of these items go directly to supporting the children's homes. On average, each swazi working for project canaan cares for 13 other people, meaning that each person employed has a much greater economic impact on the communities surrounding project canaan.

Project canaan, Heart for Africa's 2,500-acre farm in estwatini, is an innovative initiative that brings together experience and technical support from around the world to grow food and provide employment for men and women. Our dairy provides milk and food for our children and staff, while our egg project provides nutritious eggs for the children and are delivered free of charge to thousands of orphans each week throughout the country. Due to the severe drought afflicting much of sub-saharan Africa we launched an aquaponics project focused on sustainable agriculture, while minimizing the use of water. Our water pipeline project is designed to provide water security to project canaan. We are building a pipeline that directs the flow of natural springs down a mountain onto our farm that will be integrated with our system of dams to provide water for both domestic and agricultural use.