GFA World’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
GFA World is committed to helping relieve poverty in Africa and Asia. Our poverty reduction strategy has been proven to be effective in thousands of lives. Along with other organizations, we’ve worked to help the “least of these.”
“Since 1990,” says the World Bank, “nearly 1.1 billion people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty.” It notes that “in areas ranging from child survival to primary school enrollment, the improvements to people’s lives have advanced with a momentum that few could have imagined when the World Bank was founded more than 70 years ago.”[1] The progress is encouraging but not enough. We can join together to see continued progress!
GFA World is taking steps to make big changes in some of the poorest areas of the world. Those steps may take the form of income-generating gifts, like a pair of chickens or goats, or they may be community gifts, like a water well or outdoor toilets. Through various, tangible means, we are helping local families and communities make large advances in poverty reduction.
GFA’s poverty reduction strategy includes providing educational programs in areas where these opportunities are lacking. The role of education in poverty reduction cannot be overstated; it is critical to progress against poverty.
GFA helps children and adults with educational programs in the following ways:
By offering literacy training for adults.
Literacy training is life-changing, especially for women. When a woman learns to read, she is less likely to be taken advantage of in the marketplace. She can help her children with schoolwork and is instantly qualified for higher-income jobs. She can read and understand contracts. Additionally, in our GFA programs, a woman learns basic math skills, which also opens up greater opportunities for income possibilities.
GFA programs provide education assistance for children.
Support for education may come in the form of tutoring, or it may be by gifting uniforms and school supplies. Our tutoring help occurs through our child sponsorship program. When you sponsor a child, they will receive ongoing assistance in schooling and in many other areas of their life. These education-focused programs allow children to attend and be successful in school instead of working as child laborers.
GFA offers training in specific skills that equips individuals to generate income.
Some of GFA’s most popular skills-training opportunities are in tailoring or candle making. When people learn these skills, they are able to start their own businesses or join with others in the same profession in an established business. These classes often come with a gift of a sewing machine or other supplies, which sets the recipient up for long-term success.
Mandeepa’s story is a beautiful example of the connection between education and poverty reduction, and how simply learning to read can have a significant impact.
Her father died early, and Mandeepa and her five siblings were raised by a struggling mother. None of the children were able to attend school, so at age 13, Mandeepa started to work as a household maid. Marriage was arranged for her, and she quickly had two children.
At age 16, she started attending a church in her community, where she received a Bible. She was frustrated because she was unable to read it, even though she longed to. Her husband couldn’t read either. They couldn’t even help their daughter with her schoolwork.
As 32-years-old, Mandeepa heard about a GFA-supported literacy class for women at her church. The teachers instructed her in the basics of how to read and write. After a year of instruction, Mandeepa could read her Bible—the one she had received 16 years earlier. She memorized John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia are some of the poorest areas in the world,[3] and GFA World’s poverty reduction strategy is working in these areas. Not only do we meet the tangible, physical needs of people, but we also seek to show them the love of God.
K.P. Yohannan, the founder of GFA World, summarizes our passion in this way, “Now God has given us the opportunity to show the world what He looks like through our mercy and compassion, which can be shown through something as simple as noticing and seeing these people who are without a safe, working toilet. We can be the face of Christ that people can see today. Helping those who are vulnerable and in need is not a burden or an obligation but an opportunity to be like Christ by entering into their pain and then choosing to do something about it.”[4]
We invite you to join us by supporting our poverty reduction projects. You may want to donate educational help to a child in need or literacy help to a woman who desires to improve her quality of life and provide for her family. Or maybe you have the means to give a community gift, like a clean water well or toilets. Your gift will make a lifelong difference to those in need.
Join with us in this great mission!
Learn more about Poverty Reduction Strategy[1] “Taking on Inequality.” World Bank Group. 2016. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/bebd3e0f-05ed-5c5f-9031-4764534449ae/content.
[2] Burton Mains, Karen. “Literacy: One of the great miracle cures.” GFA World. September 3, 2019. https://www.gfa.org/special-report/literacy-miracle-cure-illiteracy.
[3] The Diversity of Deprivations. United Nations Development Program. 2022. https://featured.undp.org/multidimensional-poverty/.
[4] Yohannan, KP. “Sharing God’s Heart for the Poor and Helpless. January 4, 2018. https://kpyohannan.org/2018/01/04/sharing-gods-heart-poor-helpless.