Strategic Partnership between Choice Humanitarian and dōTERRA International Focuses on Rebuilding Nepal and Creating Economic Development Opportunities
Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) September 10, 2015 -- Utah-based international nonprofit CHOICE Humanitarian and doTERRA International, the world leader in the sourcing and distribution of singular-quality essential oils, are rolling out a new partnership to benefit the earthquake-torn country of Nepal.
Through this partnership, doTERRA is working with rural Nepal villages in conjunction with its Co-Impact Sourcing initiative. In Nepal, rural villagers living in extreme poverty survive on less than $2 a day. The doTERRA partnership provides critical economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas where they are most needed. It also provides a better standard of living through improved access to clean water, education and medical services. This work addresses many of the Millennium Development Goals, including gender equality.
Historically, Nepalese harvesters and farmers have been at the mercy of middlemen who may only buy a portion of their crops, and the farmers usually receive unpredictable and unfair compensation. With doTERRA Co-Impact Sourcing, producers receive long-term sourcing contracts, as well as fair and on-time payments impacting everyone along the value chain. This has already empowered hundreds of families to lift themselves out of extreme poverty and enabled them to afford food, school supplies and clothing.
“Through our Co-Impact Sourcing™ initiative, an estimated 1,075 jobs have already been created in Nepal,” said Tim Valentiner, director of strategic sourcing for doTERRA. “By 2017, we estimate 2,800 jobs will be supported, impacting more than 14,000 people.”
CHOICE Humanitarian is working with rural communities to ensure sustainable harvesting practices are understood and followed. Additionally, CHOICE Humanitarian will work with the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation on projects that focus on rebuilding Nepal following the CHOICE Humanitarian Leadership Model.
Since the April 25 and May 12, 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, relief support from the Healing Hands Foundation to CHOICE Humanitarian have included: $100,000 donation for immediate relief (blankets, tarps, hygiene kits) and food supplies, and an additional $293,000 donation to build 200 temporary homes, 15 tent schools, 500 tent classrooms, and repair 20 essential oil distilleries and build four new distilleries. “People have been finding shelter from the monsoons under tarps, living with cattle and doing whatever they can to survive. They are working to put the pieces back together, but have so little to work with. The loss is overwhelming, and our goal is to bring hope back to these areas that were so devastated,” said Emily Wright, executive vice president of leadership development at doTERRA International.
CHOICE Humanitarian is in the process of training village council members on accessing, determining and identifying sources of funding and support for their communities. “Village councils that have been trained responded to the earthquake in an inspiring way,” said Dr. James Mayfield, CHOICE Humanitarian co-founder. “They taught villagers to clean up, look forward and begin the process of reconstruction, even before governments arrived to help.”
“I applaud doTERRA for its commitment to international social good by empowering people, providing economic opportunities and teaching sustainable practices,” said CHOICE Humanitarian CEO Leah Barker. “The doTERRA team is dedicated to providing economic opportunities in remote areas, where they are usually limited and much needed. We are grateful to partner with such a committed and inspiring company.”
“Ultimately, if you want to change the world, you have to empower people,” said Wright. We are committed to providing economic opportunities to the rural areas and particularly women of Nepal, so they can help lift their families out of extreme poverty.”
About dōTERRA INTERNATIONAL, LLC
doTERRA® produces and distributes exceptionally high-quality CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils through more than a million independent distributors, also known as Wellness Advocates, around the world. doTERRA Co-Impact Sourcing™ provides local growers and distillers fair compensation for their efforts to create stronger local economies and a healthier, stable supply chain. In addition to a premium line of essential oils used by individuals and health-care professionals alike, the company also offers products that are naturally safe, purely effective, and infused with CPTG® essential oils, including personal care and spa products, nutritional supplements and healthy living products.
About CHOICE Humanitarian
CHOICE Humanitarian is a non-profit organization with more than 30 years’ experience working to end extreme poverty in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal and Peru. The non-profit partners with committed rural communities, where villagers live on less than $2 a day, to develop strong leadership, create economic opportunity and provide training through CHOICE’s native, in-country staff using the CHOICE Leadership Model. This method empowers villagers to a life of self-reliance and to create their own path out of extreme poverty.
McKay Brown, dōTERRA INTERNATIONAL, LLC, http://doterra.com, +1 801-753-8381, [email protected]
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