Make a Difference, One School at a Time

Footprints in Africa is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to aiding the people of Africa, in poverty-stricken communities, with necessities needed to maintain a standard quality of life.

We believe that a single action can make all the difference in the lives of others and that collective actions can greatly impact the world. Through advocacy and community outreach programs, projects, campaigns, and initiatives, we are committed to fostering support that brings about real change for the greater good of those in Africa.

“It was a no-brainer that we partner with Thrive for Good, seeing how their project, which is measurable and sustainable, aligns with our mission and vision. It just made sense to join forces to broaden our reach for those in Africa. We're committed to Going the Distance. Prayerfully, we can count on your support along the way."
- Tammy Darmel Moore, Founder, Footprints in Africa

Please help Footprints in Africa support the creation of Life Gardens and the power of nutrition to change the lives of children. Life Garden programs at schools prevent disease, stunting and improve school attendance. Your impact goes further when excited students take their gardening skills home and develop kitchen gardens for their families.

The expansion of Life Gardens into 12 Schools in Western Kenya will support students and educators to create and maintain Life Gardens that reduce the school’s food costs, increase nutrition and health for students and school administration and provide a source of revenue generation for students to purchase school supplies.   Help transform the lives of over 1,500 students and teachers in need.

Your donation makes a lasting impact!

With knowledge, simple tools, and starter seeds, people who can't afford to buy healthy food can grow their own - almost anywhere in the world. It costs approximately $15 per person to produce nutrient-dense, life-giving foods and proven natural medicines and provide a sustainable source of potential income generation.

You will receive a tax receipt from Thrive for Good for your contribution

Hidden hunger is everywhere.

The single biggest health challenge today is unequal access to nutrition. 2 billion people - including 1 in 3 children - aren't getting enough micronutrients to reach their full potential and fight disease.

It shows up in wealthy countries where packaged and fast foods are cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables.

It happens mostly in poor countries, where the first priority is to get food in bellies, and "nutrition" means meal after meal of processed, white grains and corn. Because even among farming families in the world’s poorest countries, people aren’t growing nutrient-dense foods.

But developing brains and bodies are hungry for micronutrients. Without real nutrition, children never get a fair chance. They can't thrive and their immunity isn't strong enough to fight infection.  In fact, 45% of deaths in children under the age of 5 are related to poor nutrition.

Hidden hunger keeps people from improving their own lives. It causes kids to miss school. It keeps adults from work when they're chronically ill. And it orphans too many children. The diseases caused by hidden hunger cost the poor too much to treat if they have access to healthcare at all. And the burden of disease from hidden hunger keeps the best work of charities from making enough impact. Because nutrition is a basic need and only when it's met can people thrive.

The Solution

Until now, a nourishing, whole foods diet has seemed out of reach for the poor. That's because we've come to see food as a cost and healthy food as a luxury.

But through Life Gardens, communities including prisons, schools, HIV groups and churches are able to grow health. Thrive trains and equips people to grow an abundance of healthy, organic, disease-fighting foods and medicinal plants.

These projects are called Life Gardens because growing health is the first step to a thriving life.

It's based on the best organic growing methods, nutritional research and an education-first approach.

About Thrive for Good

Thrive is a worldwide not-for-profit based in Canada operating out of Kenya putting nutritional security - not just food security - in the hands of the poor so they can improve their lives.

Thrive empowers the poor to be self-sufficient, starting with nutrition. When people can take health into their own hands, they have new dignity and pride. Nutritional-security also gives them hope for a better future without the constant burden of disease.

The hunger for nutrition is universal. Access is not. Life Gardens are growing health where it’s needed most. Founders, Dale and Linda Bolton, realized the need to grow health in Malawi in 2004. It was at an orphanage they had helped build. The children were loved, protected, educated and immunized. But with all the costs, there was only enough to feed them a diet of ugali - the equivalent of white cornmeal. They could never thrive and fight life-threatening diseases on such limited nutrients. Yet all around the orphanage was uncultivated land and the perfect conditions for growing. With the right knowledge and simple tools, Dale and Linda knew that the orphanage could grow life-giving, disease-fighting food without the limitation of cost. The founders set out to find a way and created a not-for-profit, then called Organics 4 Orphans. Getting their hands in the soil in Africa and learning from local bio-tensive agriculture experts, they developed research-based methods for growing the most nutritious foods, organically - almost anywhere at the lowest cost. They layered in a model for holistic health that includes in-depth education on nutrition, cultivation and the use of natural medicinal plants.

Today, Thrive provides an innovative agriculture, nutrition and health curriculum, led by talented educators in the communities they serve. Thrive has developed partnerships with schools and prisons to establish Life Gardens, increase health outcomes and provide training that participants can use to support themselves, their families, and their communities to sustain health.

Vision & Mission

By 2025, Thrive will empower 1 million people in the developing world to lead healthy and sustainable lives by training them to grow nutritious and income-generating whole foods.

When people have everything they need to grow healthy, disease-fighting foods, they have the foundation for reaching their fullest potential.