Limited space if available – have you registered yet? Visit the L&S site for more info. We have a new video – have you seen it?

SIFAT’s Learn & Serve staff are debuting a new youth event during the MLK, Jr., holiday weekend. On January. 16-18, 2010, we invite you to come experience 48: A Slum Experience.

Students and leaders will live in our urban slums for 48 hours, during which they will have to meet their basic human needs. You could go on another ski trip or have another lock-in…but we challenge you to do something different.

For more information, contact Jarred, griffinj@sifat.org or download this flier.

The dates for our 2009-2010 CARES events are now posted on our website. Visit www.sifat.org/cares to find out more information. Space is limited, so make your field trip plans now! The CARES program is an educational field trip for all age students, including public, private and home school groups (and scouts and church groups, too).

This fall’s CARES program is Around the World. Students have the opportunity to visit homes in our Global Village, where they learn about the country represented and participate in hands-on activities. From folk dancing in the Philippines to making tortillas in Guatemala, students (and their chaperones!) tour the world in just a few hours.

Quick Facts:

  • Cost: $15 (which includes the Hunger Banquet, a special lunch that brings the statistics of world hunger to life).
  • Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
  • Group size: maximum of 150 (multiple groups are scheduled each day)
  • Ages: 3rd-12th (recommended)

To book a CARES event, please contact cares@sifat.org.

People interested in participating in SIFAT’s community development training often cannot take part in our 10-week international Practicum. This spring, we are offering a two-week Field Study Course highlighting hunger and malnutrition. Kathy Bryson, our international training director, has written a letter below to those interested. At the bottom of this post, we have included some links to our training information on the SIFAT website.
Dear Friends,

Do you want to learn practical skills to address hunger and malnutrition in the developing world?  Come join us at SIFAT for two weeks (May 17- May 30) of intensive hands-on learning that will give you a tool-kit to address basic human needs. 

Learn roof-top gardening, build a simple solar cooker, make leaf concentrate to treat malnourished children, learn some simple technologies for clean water and sanitation, build fuel-efficient cookstoves, learn to preserve foods and “refrigerate” without electricity and much more…..At the same time you learn practical skills, your understanding of world hunger and community development issues will deepen through participatory activities.

Classes will be taught at SIFAT’s 176-acre rural International Training Campus outside of Lineville, Alabama (1.5 hours from Atlanta or Birmingham).  Some hands-on components will be in our simulated Global Village.     

SIFAT Trainers are experienced in international development and cross-cultural dynamics.  Additionally, we are partnering with several outstanding instructors for this training including Dr. Martin Price of ECHO, Dr. Larry Winiarski (Rocket Stove inventor), and Dave Kennedy, founder of Leaf for Life.

This field study is designed for grass-roots community workers, university students, missionaries, development organization workers, and those who want to learn how to make a difference in meeting the needs of a hungry world. This course was first developed with NIH grant funds through the Sparkman Center for Global Health and the University of Alabama in Birmingham,School of Public Health. 

Click here for additional information about this course, as well as a registration form, course flyer and course objectives.

Please e-mail me with any questions.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Kathy C. Bryson, MPH, MHS

International Training Director
SIFAT (Southern Institute for Appropriate Technology/Servants in Faith and Technology)
2944 County Road 113
Lineville, AL  36266
(256) 396-2015

brysonk@sifat.org

————-
Quick links:
You are invited to help the SIFAT staff celebrate our cofounders Ken and Sarah Corson’s 50th wedding anniversary at an informal cookout on August 16 at 10 a.m. Since leaving directly from their honeymoon to serve in Cuba, their marriage has been a legacy to missions, with almost 30 of their 50 years together given to SIFAT.
We would like to put together a scrapbook for Ken and Sarah with meaningful photographs and stories. Please bring your photo and/or story to include in this very special tribute to their marriage. If you cannot attend, please send your contribution to include in the scrapbook. Remember to include your names and when the photo was taken.
Ken and Sarah ask that anyone wanting to give a gift in their honor send it to SIFAT for the Sarah Trust Fund.
We hope you’ll join us at the lodge on SIFAT’s campus at 10.a.m. sharp for a special program, lunch and a wonderful time of celebrating their lives together. Please RSVP by August 1 by calling the SIFAT office (256.396.2015) or by e-mailing Marie (lanierm@sifat.org).