Mozambique 2026

Our expedition took us through four communities at different stages of
Care For Life’s Family Preservation Program. In Mafambisse, families
were preparing to graduate after three years of building skills,
strengthening relationships, and developing the confidence to continue
their progress independently. In Mutua 3, where the program is just
beginning, we saw the journey ahead. The contrast was powerful: it
offered a glimpse of how gradual, family-led progress can transform an
entire community. ASEA-funded projects were also moving forward. In
Mutua 3, Brand Partners worked alongside local contractors to build the
foundation and flooring of a new machessa—a gathering space that will
support education, leadership meetings, literacy classes, and programs
for children.

The most meaningful part of the expedition was connecting with families
and seeing their progress firsthand. Care For Life’s goal is ultimately
to work itself out of a job—empowering communities to sustain their own
success.

Ecuador 2025

Two groups of volunteers journeyed to the heart of the Imbabura Province
in Ecuador to witness the life-changing ripple effects of the Advancing
Life Foundation’s work. These 2025 expeditions focused on the Inta Kara
Advancing Life Center, a hub of opportunity, resilience, and hope that
our foundation helped to open in 2021 to support local families and turn
knowledge into thriving businesses.

Volunteers met face-to-face with graduates of the center’s training
programs—each one building a life around new skills, new confidence, and
new dreams. Through courses in gastronomy, welding, cosmetology,
marketing, and occupational safety, the center is equipping Ecuadorians
with tools not only for survival, but for success

Zambia 2024

In July, two groups of volunteers traveled to Zambia to serve
marginalized communities in and around Lusaka. Sixty percent of the
population lives in poverty, with limited access to quality education,
employment opportunities, and high rates of child marriage contributing
to the cycle of poverty. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country
results in a median age of 16.8 years. The volunteers partnered with
Mothers Without Borders, an organization that provides quality
education, food support for children, and assistance to women
entrepreneurs.

During their time in Zambia, the volunteers served the most vulnerable
in the greater Lusaka area by providing meals, installing playground
equipment, purchasing handmade items, playing with children, and sharing
their love. The spirit of Ubuntu was evident in every interaction.

Navajo Nations 2022

In late August eight expeditioners, braved the intense heat of Arizona
to build two of four hoop houses donated to the Navajo Nations. These
hoop houses will provide fresh produce to families and communities where
there aren’t grocery stores near by to have access to nutritious food.
Families do not have the funds to pay for the gas required to drive the
hour or hour and half to the grocery store and they don’t have
electricity to be able to store food in a refrigerator. Having the
ability to grow fresh produce allows them to not only improve their
diets and gain better health but can become an economic resource to sell
the surplus.

Expeditioners cleared the soil in the hoop house of rocks, weeds and
leveled the ground. Footings were poured, metal struts were installed,
walls were built and fabric was stretched across the structure. Raised
beds were built and filled with soil, to provide each hoop house with
the proper start to grow food. During the week of service, and cultural
exchanges the bonds of friendship and trust was formed and hearts were
opened as they began to build understanding and respect for one another.

Expeditioners

Ecuador 2020

To start this expedition, volunteers first learned about the Cambodian
growing cycle, with hot and wet weather most of the year, followed by an
extremely dry season. Plants such as cauliflower, green onion, and bok
choy were chosen for their versatility, nutrition, and inclusion in a
variety of different meals within local Cambodian culture. After
understanding the need for gardens, the volunteers then helped dig and
plant several gardens for locals. The main purpose was to make clean
drinking water available to the local residents, people who live under the
constant risk of water-borne illnesses. And while volunteers weren’t
digging the wells themselves, the work they did was in support of the
effort. (Well construction is reserved for the locals; the Foundation pays
their salaries for installing the wells so that they will know how to
maintain them for the long term.) Most of the Advancing Life volunteers
arrived with infant-care supplies to donate, and they assembled kits for a
local medical clinic located in a remote village, where 80 babies are born
on average each month. The mothers who can’t afford to deliver there—the
$15 medical bill is too high for most—are in dire need of supplies for
their babies. The kits provided cloth diapers, receiving blankets, hats,
and more for the newest little ones. Volunteers also visited a medical
clinic, where they met patients who had become ill from drinking
contaminated water. On one particular morning, the first group of
expeditioners happened upon a unique opportunity to serve. They were able
to help a family move (not just their belongings, but their actual house)!
The family had gone from a studio-sized apartment made of tin sheets and
lumber to a newly built two-story, cement home.

Ecuador 2018

On the second year of expeditions to Ecuador, the trip included 46
participants and 40 hours of construction time, all of which were
dedicated to one dream-fueling project. The participants ranged in age
from 14 to 67 and had countless opportunities to interact with those
living in the region, 44 percent of which depend solely on agriculture.
The expedition team’s main tasks supported construction of the workshop,
which would be used to teach auto-mechanical skills. The team spent four
to five hours a day constructing brick walls, digging drainage trenches,
pouring sidewalks, and completing the perimeter fence. Other tasks
included preparing roof panels, moving boulders to make way for trenches,
and pushing bricks up steep hills. This year’s expedition brought the
project to 20 percent completion. The people of the Intag region were also
present and actively helping with the construction. Everyone, from high
school students to mothers with babies on their backs, came out to do
their part. Their participation in the construction proved vital as it
helped the community build a bond with the school and realize that the
Inta-Kara Advancing Life Center will be for everyone seeking education,
not just those considered privileged.

Ecuador 2016

During the first expedition, the team was able to build four water
cisterns, 12 outdoor stoves, and eight chicken coops, while offering
English classes for 40 single mothers. ASEA Founder Tyler Norton was in
attendance on that trip and shared a personal message of inspiration with
the people of the community. Since that time, 120 families and more than
770 people have directly benefited from donations and services provided
through the ASEA® Advancing Life® Foundation. The main road into the
community—a dirt path five years ago—is now paved with concrete. The tin
roofs of the community buildings have been upgraded to concrete. Diets
lacking vegetables and protein now include eggs, nopal cactus, garden
vegetables, chicken, and lamb. In the English classes that ASEA taught on
their original expedition, 12 of the 40 original students have since
finished high school, six have gone onto university studies, and two have
been working at businesses in the city. One of the women from this
community went to Peru in December of 2021 for the women’s empowerment
conference sponsored by CHOICE Humanitarian. She was one of the speakers
and shared how she developed her community and lifted them out of extreme
poverty. Because she has seen the effects on her village, she is now an
example for other women and empowers them to change their lives. In
addition, two neighboring communities, San Antonio and La Salamanca, have
seen the village’s changes and committed to doing the same thing. Now,
those two communities are following along the same path as La Rincon. The
Foundation’s presence and dedication to this village has a rippling effect
in the region where they visited.