about project vita
We will have succeeded when we no longer have a job.
We have an easy metric to measure our success - we are successful when organizations such as Project Vita are no longer needed. Our core mission is to teach people the skills they need to become self-sufficient and prosperous. We do not aim to provide perpetual assistance, which creates a cycle of dependency and stops development in the world's poorest societies. Instead, we focus on connecting professionals from the West with those in the developing world to share their knowledge to affect change. We believe that building this foundational knowledge is the only way to create permanent solutions.
Our philosophy is simple: we give people a hand-up, not a handout.
We believe in finding innovative solutions to complex problems by using cheap, locally sourced, and sustainable materials and by working with our local partners we can improve the living standards. However, to achieve a truly sustainable future, we need to rethink how we aid those living in poverty. Instead of focusing on expensive and time-consuming projects mired in bureaucracy, we spend our resources on smaller, viable, and environmentally sustainable solutions. We can achieve this by directly hiring local workers, providing income, and massively reducing overhead. In addition, we use only locally available materials to ensure local communities can duplicate our results. And we share the knowledge we have freely, so anyone interested can learn to improve the communitites around them.
Our mission is to change how charities operate.
Our unique approach helps encourage environmentally responsible development and a pathway to help people lift themselves out of poverty. We look to our three principles for every project to guide our approach.
Our Principles
Community Involvement
When a community requests assistance from Project Vita, we first form a team of local volunteers who will work alongside our European and American volunteers. We involve our local volunteers at every step, from planning to execution, to understand the process and replicate the results. We want to create a movement for our local and foreign volunteers to learn and improve the community.
Knowledge Sharing
Unequal access to information leads to unequal outcomes. Many in rural Mozambique do not have access to power or the internet, and therefore are unaware of modern building methods and innovative technologies. By combining our knowledge with traditional local building techniques, we work together to create solid, safe, and environmentally friendly homes, playgrounds, schools, and clinics.
Pride of Ownership
Giving people things for free may help in the short term, but it doesn't help people improve their lives. We require our local volunteers to work alongside our foreign volunteers, laboring and building their communities for all our projects. There is true dignity in hard work, and when our volunteers complete the project, they have the pride of knowing it was their labor that built their community, not the charity of others.