Awakening Love, Kindling Compassion,
& Saving Lives. Literally.
Empowering Women
To care for children, we must first support their caregivers. HHI brings critical knowledge about early childhood development and this leads to new attitudes and actions.
Caregivers trained by HHI report:
- Greater awareness of child health, development and nutrition
- More frequent, meaningful and gentle interactions with their children
- Greatly improved hygiene, sanitation
Nurturing Children
Hands to Hearts International focuses on the first three years of life, the most critical years for human development, when we establish a sense of trust and belonging, acquire language, and build the foundation for a lifetime of health and learning — or not.
Hands to Hearts International participants report that their children:
- Live. Orphanages often see babies die for unexplained reasons. In the months after HHI's training, however, orphanage directors report that "no babies have died."
- Are happier, calmer and more bonded to their caregivers
- Demonstrate earlier and greater language development
- Show improved health and greater weight gain
Honoring Local Wisdom
Every culture has its own stories, games, songs and dance. Hands to Hearts International Trainers are members of their communities, fluent in their own culture.
Hands to Hearts International trainings:
- Use local tools to connect new information to everyday actions caregivers can take to promote children’s health and development
- Use local stories, songs and drama to teach every lesson
- Involve babies and children in the trainings themselves, allowing caregivers to learn and practice skills like baby massage with their own babies
Transforming Communities
Hands to Hearts International trainings are designed to spread through entire communities. The knowledge is valuable, the actions are tangible, and the lessons are easy to share.
WHERE WE MAKE AN IMPACT:
- Communities in extremely remote areas that lack basic services
- Places where women who have never seen the inside of a school
- Migrant populations and other traveling communities
- Communities resettling after decades of war
Healing Our World
Hands to Hearts International is based on love. By awakening love in some of the world’s most compromised environments, we are weaving a stronger, more compassionate social fabric for women, children and our world.
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY:
"When applied at scale Hands to Hearts International is cheaper than providing only one vitamin A supplement to a child."
Victor Aguayo, UNICEF
Investing in early childhood development is the most cost-effective strategy to break the cycle of inter-generational poverty. It creates social cohesion and builds human capitol. (World Bank, 2011)
Watch HHI In Action
See Hands to Hearts in action and hear from the women whose lives we have changed.