Our Work

How Trees for Life International does what it does

Our work has a very long-term focus. We do not just feed hungry people or even just empower individuals to become more self-sufficient. We work toward shifting the entire paradigm so that people in the future will have more opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty.

In each community the process is unique to its situation and needs. But some elements are common:

1. Self-starting: A community or group approaches us for help with its project. The group takes the initiative.
2. Responsibility: Before starting to work, people have to understand the importance of responsibility. They—not anyone else—are responsible for getting themselves out of poverty. Others might help them, but they have to do 95% of the work. Their success or failure depends on themselves.
3. Formula for success: When people accept responsibility, we share the formula for success:

          a.   Believe strongly that you can do it.
          b.   Learn the formula—the laws—for what
                you want to accomplish.
          c.   Have the discipline to carry it through.

4. Focus on potential: In life we face problems and potential simultaneously. But when the focus is on problems, one cannot see the potential. So we ask people to focus on their vision for the community and the potential for making that vision a reality.
5. Education: We discuss with local people what they need to achieve their vision. A simple answer is: “Money.” But how can people without money get the resources they need? Soon people realize that the key is education.
6. Making connections: Trees for Life helps people make connections to tap the latent resources in their own community. This may mean seeking knowledge on farming practices from a nearby university, organizing fruit-tree grafting workshops, or setting up training for teachers or librarians. People with expertise are usually very willing to help.
7. Technology and Mass Communications: We use the tools of the modern world to serve people.  We help people acquire and use tools ranging from posters and books to computers and the internet to serve their communities and make an impact.
   
8. One teaches two: Each person or community that is helped pledges to pass on its experience, along with seeds or other materials to get started, to at least two others. This starts a chain reaction—a movement—that can spread to many other people and communities.
9. Creating models: When people set an example by following the process themselves, others come to them to learn the formulas. They become a model that others will follow.