“If you are not interested in the community, the community will not be interested in you,” says Christelle Bossina, national director of NCM for Cote D’Ivoire.

“My kids were sick, always sick,” says Sylvane.

Sylvane lives in Kagazi, Burundi. A mother of several children, Sylvane recently spoke about the past health condition of her family and compared it to their health now. She and her children have been changed by an integrated project designed to their community thrive through economic and agricultural development.

The volunteers who regularly make the rounds between villages have a challenge set before them. They are visiting people to talk to them about HIV and AIDS, issues that will mean combatting a deeply-rooted stigma.

Ms. Ruth, a widow in Zambia, recently began cultivating a donated plot of land. She is new to farming, though, and wasn’t sure of the best way to care for her garden.