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What if your partnership model unintentionally silences the very people it’s meant to elevate? We sit down with Asia Blackwell, executive director of Maya Midwifery, to unpack how a well-intended collaboration in Guatemala drifted toward hierarchy by over-rewarding a few “standout” leaders while leaving many midwives underpowered. Asia lays out how they rebuilt trust with transparent systems, written agreements, and equitable pathways that spread training, decision-making, and visibility across the full team.

Together, we reframe accountability as shared responsibility rather than control. Asia explains the pivot from informal, relationship-only trust to clear MOUs, role boundaries, and simple verification tools that protect everyone—midwives, boards, and donors. We challenge Western assumptions about leadership and administration, recognizing that Indigenous midwives already lead in their communities without needing titles to validate influence. When governance confuses literacy with legitimacy or paperwork with power, it narrows who gets heard and who gets help.

Asia shares a vivid, Maya-inspired governance model built around the Ceiba, the sacred tree: midwives as the canopy, local admin as branches, the Guatemalan board as trunk, and US teams as roots. Donors become sun and water—vital, nourishing, and appropriately at a distance from day-to-day decisions. This design makes equity operational with feedback loops, shared metrics, and practical safeguards that honor local autonomy. The impact is palpable: midwives now present their own data, speak confidently in meetings, and describe renewed pride and energy at the birth center.

If you’re working in global health, philanthropy, or any cross-border partnership, you’ll find practical guidance here: listen widely, rotate opportunity, document commitments, and let culturally grounded structures lead. Subscribe for more conversations on equitable, community-led maternal health, and share this episode with a colleague who’s ready to rethink how power and accountability can truly work together.

____

Firmly Rooted - A new documentary on orphanage response - the right way!

To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/

or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org

__________

____

Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.

Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.

Give to a 25 year legacy - plant seeds of hope!

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

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Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

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A center for indigenous birthing practices grew out of an expatriate's dream and was realized as a thriving hub for Indigenous midwives in Guatemala. The ground shifted when a model of local ownership and global alliance collided with personal greed. Executive Director Asia Blackwell unpacks the full arc: early wins rooted in trust, warning signs revealed by governance training and a whistleblower policy, and the moment when cultural respect had to face corrupt realities, overcome personal threats, retaliation, forged elections, missing funds, and state-backed intimidation. After a democratic vote unseated entrenched leaders, a wave of retaliation brought lawsuits, threats, violence, and a dramatic raid with arrests of innocents. Trusted allies hadn't founded a nonprofit. They created a private society they owned, a structural flaw they leveraged for personal gain, through corruption. Rather than surrender, the midwives pivoted, formed a new association and reopened within weeks, keeping mobile clinics running with minimal interruption—proof of resilience under pressure.

The most powerful takeaway emerges from within Maya cosmology: leadership is a calling, and midwifery and administration are each their own gift. By separating clinical decision-making from administrative management—while keeping both local—the entire leadership and collaborative team aligned structure with values and protected what matters most: maternal and newborn health, Indigenous knowledge, and community sovereignty. Expect practical insights on equitable partnerships, accountable systems, language access in elections, and how to design governance that stands up to real-world stress. If this story moved you, subscribe, share with a friend who cares about global health and nonprofit governance, and leave a review to help others find the show.

____

Firmly Rooted - A new documentary on orphanage response - the right way!

To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/

or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org

__________

____

Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.

Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.

Give to a 25 year legacy - plant seeds of hope!

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

Send us a text

What happens when we stop viewing rural communities as problems to be fixed and start recognizing them as powerful agents of their own transformation? The answer unfolds beautifully in this eye-opening conversation with Aminata Kamara and Sheku Mohamed Gassimu Jr. from One Village Partners (OVP), a Sierra Leonean organization revolutionizing how sustainable development happens in remote communities.

"Communities are not like a white paper. They have knowledge of their lives. They have knowledge of what a thriving community looks like," explains Aminata, OVP's Country Director. This profound respect for local wisdom forms the foundation of their approach, which they describe through the powerful metaphor of a "sharpening stone" – not doing the work for communities, but enhancing capabilities that already exist.

Since 2010, OVP has partnered with 70 communities across Sierra Leone, impacting over 75,000 people through three interconnected programs that build local leadership, empower women economically, and enable communities to design and implement their own development solutions. Their methodology stands in stark contrast to traditional aid models, as they intentionally transfer decision-making power to community members at every step – from identifying needs through participatory assessments to collaboratively budgeting for solutions.

The conversation delves into the challenges of this approach, including the struggle to secure flexible funding from donors who often prefer predetermined outcomes over community-defined indicators of success. Yet the transformations they witness – women gaining stronger voices in household decisions, men embracing more equitable gender roles, and communities independently solving complex problems – confirm that true sustainability comes when people lead their own development journey.

Perhaps most impressive is how OVP practices internally what they preach externally, having transitioned to completely Sierra Leonean leadership while distributing power throughout their organization. As Sheku powerfully concludes, "When communities have the space, the platform to actually lead their own development, they are able to surmount the insurmountable."

Ready to rethink how sustainable change happens? Listen now and discover a model that trusts communities to write their own success stories.

____

Firmly Rooted - A new documentary on orphanage response - the right way!

To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/

or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org

__________

____

Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.

Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.

Give to a 25 year legacy - plant seeds of hope!

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

Send us a text

Dr. Hunter Farrell challenges everything you thought you knew about short-term missions with compelling insights drawn from his 30+ years of global mission experience and anthropological research. He reveals startling statistics about our mission economy: American Christians spend $3.5-5 billion annually sending 1.6 million people on short-term trips, yet often these efforts fall short of creating lasting change.

What's gone wrong? Farrell introduces the concept of "selfie missions" – our cultural shift from changing the world to changing ourselves. This individualistic approach positions Western Christians as saviors rather than companions, creating problematic power dynamics. Drawing from interviews with over 1,400 mission leaders across denominational lines, he offers a radical alternative: a "theology of companionship" centered around breaking bread together and embracing mutual vulnerability.

The most transformative insight comes through examining Jesus's own mission approach. Christ consistently engaged from a position of weakness, empowering those on society's margins by giving them agency rather than treating them as passive recipients of charity. This challenges our typical Western approach where we arrive with all the answers and resources, positioning ourselves at metaphorical "help desks" distributing solutions.

Farrell remains optimistic about short-term missions despite these critiques, seeing them as powerful "liminal spaces" where deep transformation can happen when approached correctly. The key lies in co-development – recognizing that true change requires mutual participation guided by the principle: "What you do for us without us is not for us." His powerful Congolese fable about Ngalula illustrates how communities already possess what they need for transformation.

Ready to reimagine mission work? Subscribe to hear our upcoming episode on child sponsorship models and how they're evolving to support sustainable community development.

____

Firmly Rooted - A new documentary on orphanage response - the right way!

To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/

or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org

__________

____

Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.

Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

Send us a text

The remarkable journey of an 11-year-old girl named Em demonstrates the life-changing power of cross-border collaboration in child protection. When Em was trafficked from her home in Liberia to Sierra Leone under false promises of education, she instead found herself forced into domestic labor and street selling. After becoming separated from her trafficker and lost on the streets, local authorities connected her with the Child Reintegration Center (CRC).

Through counseling sessions, CRC discovered Em wasn't from Sierra Leone at all, presenting a complex international challenge. What happened next showcases the extraordinary impact of professional networking in child welfare. George Kulanda from CRC and Prezton Gonkerwon Vaye from Red Meets Green had previously met at a child protection training workshop where they exchanged contact information. This connection became the crucial link in Em's rescue, demonstrating how seemingly small professional relationships can transform lives.

The multinational effort expanded to include multiple stakeholders across both countries, coordinating Em's safe transport to the border, completing necessary documentation, and arranging temporary placement while family tracing continued. In a touching development, Em's parents learned about their daughter's whereabouts and traveled to claim her, resulting in an emotional reunion filled with "joyful tears." Today, Em is back in school and dreams of becoming a doctor to serve her village community. Her mother now educates neighbors about trafficking risks, creating ripple effects of protection throughout their community.

This story reminds us that behind every trafficking statistic stands a child with dreams and potential. When organizations unite across borders, even the most complex cases find resolution. As Elena, the youth co-host wisely observed: "There's always light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to be resilient and willing to seek it." Subscribe now to hear more inspiring stories of hope and resilience on Optimistic Voices: A Child's View.

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

Send us a text

What does it really mean to empower people? Beyond buzzwords and good intentions lies a complex reality that social impact organizations grapple with daily. This conversation with researchers Dr. Thomas Crea and Dr. Sarah Neville dives deep into the messy, thought-provoking questions that challenge conventional thinking about empowerment.

The discussion takes us beyond simplistic notions of "teaching a man to fish" to examine whether we're creating the fishing holes people need to sustain themselves. As Dr. Crea points out, true empowerment begins when "communities recognize and define the issues affecting them" rather than having external definitions imposed. Yet the structures of international aid, academic research, and nonprofit funding often create barriers to this community-centered approach.

We explore the tension between research that feels extractive and communities' immediate needs for jobs, healthcare, and education. Both researchers share candid reflections on working across contexts from Sierra Leone to Chelsea, Massachusetts, revealing how power dynamics play out similarly whether internationally or locally. The conversation challenges Western individualism through Dr. Neville's observation that "nobody is a self-made person" and questions whether traditional metrics can capture what matters most in human flourishing.

Perhaps most provocatively, we question whether empowerment can be measured at all. Some of the most important outcomes—belonging, dignity, community connection—resist quantification but remain essential. As Dr. Neville notes, "We seem to want short-term, inexpensive solutions to have life-changing, transformative impact," yet meaningful change often requires longer-term investment and humility about what we can measure.

For anyone working in social impact, this episode offers no easy answers but something more valuable: a framework for asking better questions about power, measurement, and community voice. Whether you're a nonprofit leader, researcher, donor, or simply concerned about creating positive change, these reflections will challenge you to reconsider how we define success in social change work.

Listen now and join a conversation that might just transform how you think about empowerment in your own work and community.

____

Firmly Rooted - A new documentary on orphanage response - the right way!

To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/

or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org

__________

____

Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.

Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.

Give to a 25 year legacy - plant seeds of hope!

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

Send us a text

What happens when tragedy and opportunity collide in the life of a child? Dr. Aruna Stevens' story answers this question with breathtaking resilience and hope. Born just before Sierra Leone's devastating civil war, Aruna's childhood was shattered when his father was killed and his extended family of twenty separated. He experienced homelessness, hunger, and the daily struggle for survival in a community where healthcare was virtually non-existent—where people routinely died from treatable conditions simply because there were no doctors available.

The turning point came when the Child Rescue Centre welcomed young Aruna, providing stability and education for the first time in his life. Despite studying by candlelight and walking long distances to school, he persevered. This foundation eventually led him to graduate from Sierra Leone's only medical college and serve as chief medical director at Mercy Hospital for five years. Now pursuing a PhD in tropical medicine and infectious diseases at Tulane University, Dr. Stevens explains how his difficult past fuels his passion for creating sustainable healthcare solutions in his homeland.

Throughout our conversation, Dr. Stevens shares the motivation he finds in his two-year-old son, Godfrey, who remains in Sierra Leone while he completes his studies. His ultimate goal transcends personal achievement—he envisions transforming Mercy Hospital into a self-sufficient institution and establishing research teams to address neglected tropical diseases. "Begin every journey with an end in mind," he advises our listeners, emphasizing that true fulfillment comes from focusing on the broader impact of your work. Join us for this powerful reminder that how a child's journey ends isn't determined by how it begins, but by the decisions, support, and determination they find along the way. Listen now and discover how you might become part of someone else's journey toward hope.

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

Send us a text

What makes some children overcome unimaginable trauma while others struggle to recover? Is resilience something you're born with, or can it be cultivated? These questions drive our fascinating conversation with Dr. Nicole Wilke, author and Director of Research at Christian Alliance for Orphans.

Drawing from her extraordinary background—growing up in a family that fostered 70 children and personally experiencing severe health challenges as a teenager—Nicole brings professional expertise and lived experience to this critical topic. Her insights challenge conventional wisdom, revealing that resilience is less "bouncing back from" and more "growing through" adversity.

The heart of resilience, Nicole explains, lies in relationships. "When I'm weak, I can borrow from your strength," she shares, highlighting how humans were designed for interdependence rather than independence. This perspective transforms how we approach trauma recovery, shifting focus from individual grit to supportive connections. For children who've experienced separation, abuse or neglect, healing happens primarily through consistent, attuned relationships that communicate worth and belonging.

What's particularly striking is how science and faith align in understanding resilience. Nicole unpacks research showing that spirituality correlates with better recovery outcomes, while biblical principles like finding purpose in suffering parallel scientific concepts of post-traumatic growth. This intersection offers practical strategies for parents, social workers, and anyone walking alongside vulnerable children.

The conversation takes a powerful turn when addressing systems change, advocating for family-based solutions over institutional care and locally-driven approaches over external interventions. Nicole's three-step framework for making a difference—beginning with prayer, prioritizing self-care, and committing to long-term relationships—provides a roadmap for meaningful engagement.

Whether you're a parent, social worker, ministry leader, or simply someone who cares about vulnerable children, this episode will transform how you understand resilience and equip you with practical wisdom for fostering healing in your sphere of influence.

____

Firmly Rooted - A new documentary on orphanage response - the right way!

To view the released trailer and sizzle reel, go to https://firmlyrootedfilm.com/

or to https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org

__________

____

Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.

Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.

Give to a 25 year legacy - plant seeds of hope!

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org