Community Development International (CDI) helps people in the developing world improve their lives and rise out of poverty. Poverty is multidimensional: it includes a lack of access to healthcare, education, work, sanitation, as well as emotional aspects such as low self-esteem and rejection by society.
At CDI, we address multidimensional poverty with the integration of holistic development, a community approach, and indigenous empowerment to transform communities. Bringing these three components together with innovative, indigenous professionals, allows local communities to effectively bring an end to poverty in their village and district.
Jenifa Jimu
A farmer by occupation, Jenifa Jimu has seen the solar light provided by Solar Village for Quality Education project (SVQE) impact not just her four children’s academic performance, but her own productivity. The female bread winner from Chapuma Village in Madisi is now able to work in the evening on farming activities like maize shelling, seed grading and packaging. She also no longer worries about the financial strain of batteries or the fire hazard that candles posed to her house’s thatched roof.
Kelvin Chinguwo
Balancing his education and fish fillet business, Kelvin Chinguwo inspires others in his village as a model of resilience, hard work and determination. Kelvin’s dream of pursuing secondary education seemed impossible; when his mother couldn’t pay his school fees, Kelvin sought a way to help himself by joining the Village Savings and Loans (VSL)
group which operates under Opulence. “I joined to learn about business and seek assistance in growing it,” says Chinguwo. This successful entrepreneur increased his profits to support his family and pay his school fees, demonstrating to his community that obstacles can be overcome with the right mindset and a supportive community.
Monica Kapita
Monica Kapita, a headteacher at the Chimwendo Primary School in Madisi, Dowa District, has seen significant improvement in her students’ academic performance thanks to the Solar Village for Quality Education project. Solar energy in villages enables learners to study at night, improving academic performance and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to learn, dream and succeed.
Malita Banda
When Malita Banda became a beneficiary of the Solar Village for Quality Education project, this grandmother from Milimbu village shared the gift with her grandchildren, inviting them into her home for evening studies. “Children are our key to prosperity when afforded the right tools for education,” says Banda. Since she began sharing her solar-powered light, the academic performance of her grandchildren has significantly improved.
Holistic Development
Community Development International (CDI) doesn’t believe in cookie cutter problem solving. Unique contexts with complex challenges require holistic development efforts that are nuanced and applicable to each specific community. CDI ensures that the assets, capital, and resources raised are deployed using holistic strategies that are not temporary bandaids, but rather long-term, sustainable solutions. Holistic Development allows CDI to take a multi-pronged approach to projects within a community which leads to synergies that produce greater outcomes.
Community Approach
Communities are the backbone of any society that is healthy and growing. Community is where humans flourish. CDI approaches all of its development efforts with a community-based focus. That means that every asset, resource, and dollar raised through CDI goes to organizations that are focused on development at the community-wide level, thereby expanding and increasing the effectiveness of the efforts.
Indigenous Empowerment
Indigenous Empowerment is the linchpin of CDI’s development efforts. Any successful development depends on the buy-in of local communities, citizens, and leaders. CDI believes that local organizations are the experts in their local contexts, while CDI’s expertise relies on raising the assets, capital, and resources that local communities cannot raise on their own. Through Indigenous Empowerment, CDI partners with locally led organizations that raise up, equip, and empower local leaders. This brings people together in a community to solve local challenges through bottom/up leadership, which in turn not only leads to better solutions but also solutions that last.
Rural Community Self-Financed-Sports
The Rural Community Self-Financed-Sports project (RUCOS) fosters unity amongst villagers, encourages physical fitness and creates positive behavioral change by nurturing aspiring athletes. Eneya grew up in the rural village of Chakhaza in Madisi and dreamed of a future in sports. Recognizing his determination and passion, the project provided Eneya, along with other coaches, umpires, and players from different sporting disciplines, with training and resources, allowing him to pursue his goal of coaching netball at the national level.
People in under-resourced communities have incredible potential ready to be unleashed with the right resources deployed at the local level using the following four-step strategic process:
Step 1:
Identify innovative indigenous organizations to partner with CDI.
After initial identification, CDI works with local organizations to build relationships, create a foundation of trust, and discuss asset-based holistic development.
Step 2:
Raise the funds and assets necessary to develop a community.
CDI is a non-profit organization that accepts 100% tax-deductible donations from individuals and organizations focused on making a difference in impoverished countries.
Step 3:
Deploy the funds CDI raises in ways that work.
Our donors want to know their donations are making a difference, and CDI vets indigenous organizations who are ready, willing, and able to deploy the resources they receive in holistic, community-based ways.
Step 4:
Monitor the progress and effectiveness of the initiatives that receive CDI funds.
Indigenous Empowerment means we partner with local organizations that have earned our trust, and our monitoring and follow-up process ensures accountability in the deployment of CDI funds.
Because poverty is multidimensional, CDI focuses on several areas at the same time to enable families and communities to rise up out of poverty more quickly. Working with local leaders and our partners, CDI supports projects in many areas, including health, education, and economic opportunities.
- Health is foundational in allowing people to grow into their potential. If children are unable to go to school or adults are unable to work, they can’t work towards self-sufficiency. Health includes clean water, nutritious food, access to medical professionals, and training in hygiene and preventative illnesses.
- Education begins before birth. By surrounding the family with support, they can raise children that feel safe, loved, and are able to learn. Education includes preschool, elementary, secondary, vocational, literacy, and university training. Education is the way out of poverty for people of all ages.
- Economic growth is stifled because banks in many countries charge 30% interest on loans. This chokes the growth of small businesses. By supporting indigenous organizations that create microfinance groups with bottom/up leadership, members loan each other funds at interest rates closer to 5%. Indigenous lending allows for interest to be reinvested locally and leads to 93-98% repayment rates.
Impact at a Glance
And these efforts are bearing fruit. Here is a glimpse of the impact these efforts are making.
CDI supports incredible indigenous organizations doing development work around the globe, and you can be part of this life-changing work.
Donations from individuals and organizations make it possible to address poverty through a holistic approach. Your generosity could provide:
- Starter packs including seeds, seedlings, shovels and wheelbarrows as well as training additional families on permaculture
- Education for additional Village Saving and Loan groups with group smart phones (matching their own funding) to use the Dreamsave App
- Boreholes for clean water
- Vocational school education for at-risk young adults
- Compost toilets and hygiene & sanitation training
- Solar light kits in homes with children (matching their own funds) for quality education
If you are interested in supporting CDI financially, please mail checks to:
Community Development International, Inc.
Attn: Finance
13720 Roe Ave
Leawood, KS 66224
