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.Â
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.  Â
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.Â
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 ————-
Quick links:
Short-term Mission Team Leaders: We have updated the team leader info page with new versions of some of the forms. To view this page, click here or go to www.sifat.org/tlinfo.html. The forms are at the bottom of the page. If you have questions, please contact us. For general information about SIFAT’s short-term mission teams, visit our team page. Room is still available for 2009 mission teams. If you are interested in leading a team from your church or being added to an existing team, contact Peggy Walker, walkerp@sifat.org. ![]() Merry Christmas from the SIFAT staff!We hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family. The SIFAT office will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will reopen on the 26th. —- —- Are you catching the Christmas sales and shopping online? Many stores donate a percentage of your purchase when you shop using GoodShop. Click here to learn more. Each purchase you make will allow you to donate to SIFAT without adding to your total! 2009 SIFAT CalendarsOur 2009 SIFAT Calendars are here! Order yours now! Each calendar features beautiful pictures from our projects in Bolivia and Ecuador. Inspiring verses and quotes accompany staggering statistics about world poverty, which SIFAT works to combat through our training and short-term mission teams. Fundraising Opportunity: We suggest you sell each calendar for $10. Your short-term missions team, Learn & Serve group or missions fund will receive $4 for each calendar you sell. SIFAT receives $6 – a $4 donation and printing fees. To order calendars, please contact Marie, lanierm@sifat.org. or call the SIFAT office. These 2009 Calendars make a great Christmas present. In today’s economy, every gift counts – so give a Christmas gift to your friends and family that they will enjoy, and one that also benefits SIFAT. Do you often turn to your computer to search about a topic in the news, a restaurant menu or maybe even a phone number you need? Now, using GoodSearch, you can search the Internet and raise money for SIFAT at the same time. For each search, GoodSearch donates one penny to SIFAT. One penny may not seem like much, but let’s do a little math to see what a few people can do. Each month, we mail approximately 2,200 SIFAT Journals. If each person used GoodSearch once a week for a month (4 times), SIFAT would receive $88. If everyone did this for an entire year, SIFAT would receive $1,056.–and that’s without ever increasing your monetary donations. 2200 x 4=$88 x 12 = $1056 = Sharing God’s Love in Practical Ways
Instead, by just donating a little of your time, for a search you are already doing, you have helped SIFAT. GoodSearch gets even better – you can also GoodShop. Many merchants donate a portion of your purchase to SIFAT, and by using GoodShop, you purchase directly from the company of your choice, but raise money for SIFAT in the process.
How do I do this? It’s simple. Visit www.goodsearch.com. Type in SIFAT in the box for the cause, then type your topic in the search box, just like similar search engines. To shop, just click on GoodShop. (or go to www.goodshop.com). GoodSearch lets you download toolbars for your Internet browser, letting you have the ability to quickly search for your topics.
The next time you are researching a mission trip to Bolivia or trying to find out how to construct a bamboo house in your backyard, go to www.goodsearch.com and find the answers to your questions, while raising money for SIFAT! This article appeared in the May issue of the SIFAT Journal. To download a copy of the SIFAT Journal, click here. |