Global Health

Finding Your Superpower

Rachel Castor, Wellness Advocate and founder of Soulvivors Foundation of Hope, was concerned about rising suicide rates, school shootings, and children who are experiencing higher levels of anxiety and depression. She asked herself, What can I do? Rachel then formed the “Mom Squad” with other concerned mothers and began working on the Emotional Super Powers program (ESP).

Emotional Super Powers helps teach children how to recognize, respect, and respond to the power of emotions. It includes an ESP book, which is a tool that parents, caregivers, teachers, and others can use to connect with children. For every book that’s purchased, another book is donated. The donated ESP programs have gone to a variety of organizations, such as schools, prisons, foster programs, orphanages, and public libraries.

With help from the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation®, Rachel has started donating ESP kits to Utah grade schools. With matching funds, 116 Emotional Super Powers programs have been distributed so far. Denece Kitto, a second-grade teacher at a Title I school in Provo, Utah, saw grades improve dramatically after implementing the ESP program in her classroom. Denece recently became the new principal at San Juan Reservation School. Needs on the reservation are tremendous, so 64 ESP programs were delivered in 2020, with 20 of them being delivered to the Navajo Nation School on the reservation.

Looking forward, America’s Kids Belong and the Hope to Belong initiative are working with the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation to implement a tutorial using the Emotional Super Powers program for families interested in fostering.

A Shelter for the Shunned

Sam lost both of his parents when he was only six years old. Suddenly homeless and parentless, he was forced to survive on the streets of Kambala, Uganda. At one point, Sam had to sleep in an abandoned taxi. He was alone, without the physical and emotional support every child needs.

That all changed when he found sanctuary at the Little Denmark shelter. The shelter is in the Lira District of Uganda and currently cares for 50 homeless people who have leprosy or polio. Many who find themselves alienated from society discover relief, protection, and care at this shelter.

In February 2020, Lisbeth Bach Sørensen—Wellness Advocate and founder of the Lisacare Assocation—learned the Little Denmark shelter was in desperate need of repair. With the support of Diamond leaders Ben and Jess Stride, Lisabeth worked with the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation® to raise money for the shelter, together raising $12,453.55. With the matched funds, the shelter’s leaky roof was fixed, new toilets were installed, and a water tank was added.

These repairs and additions allow the shelter to continue helping people get the care and education they need to lead more successful and comfortable lives, including Sam, who—twenty years after losing his parents—has moved out of the shelter and is employed.

The dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation is proud to support shelters that make such an incredible difference in so many lives.

Healthy Mothers, Happy Babies

Imagine if you or someone you love died in childbirth because the hospital was unaffordable. While this might be hard to imagine for some, it’s a terrifying reality for many women in Haiti. Due to insufficient services and resources, Haitian women die in childbirth at a higher rate than anywhere else in the western hemisphere.

This is why dōTERRA Wellness Advocate Jennifer Gallardo started MamaBaby Haiti, an organization that provides a safe place for Haitian women to receive compassionate and attentive care from skilled midwives. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic and following closure of Dominican Republic borders has made things even more difficult for expectant mothers and for everyone in Haiti, as food is more expensive, and jobs are scarcer.

Now more than ever, MamaBaby Haiti has been working tirelessly to support the brave women of Haiti, who are doing their best to bring healthy babies into the world. Thanks to a grant from the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation®, MamaBaby Haiti brought some much-needed resources to their birthing centers. Previously, they were using a dilapidated 1999 truck as an “ambulance” for the birthing center, as it was the best they could get their hands on. The dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation grant provided funding for an updated mobile clinic vehicle and ambulance to transport expecting mothers. The birthing center was also in desperate need for a generator to provide adequate power.

dōTERRA proudly facilitated these updates for MamaBaby Haiti, an organization that’s literally saving lives with their work. For women who are expected to deliver their babies during a pandemic—in a country where resources are limited—having necessities such as an ambulance, proper power, and caring midwives can make all the difference.

On the Border

As of November 2019, 12,000 individuals were waiting to be processed at the Mexico–United States Border in Tijuana. A humanitarian crisis arose, and these people endured lives of homelessness, unsafe shelters, and unstable environments.

To combat this crisis, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation enlisted the help of Wellness Advocates in the San Diego and Tijuana areas to provide 72-Hour Emergency Relief Hygiene Kits and MamaBaby Kits to the most vulnerable.

Heather Bickel Stevenson and many others helped the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation to distribute 1,500 emergency relief kits and 100 MamaBaby Kits to shelters in both Tijuana and San Diego. With Heather’s help, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation was also able to provide doTERRA On Guard®, doTERRA Breathe®, and other products to short-term shelters in San Diego.