Our Goals

Aiming for Lives Free of Poverty

The goals of the Tenderfeet organization are centered on addressing the short-term and long-term needs of children and vulnerable adults living in conditions of severe poverty. These needs are pervasive and extreme in the slums.

In practice, meeting short-term needs means alleviating and preventing acute suffering caused by such problems as medical issues, hunger, losing shelter, and abuse of all kinds.

Addressing long-term needs includes preventing and reducing illiteracy, prostitution, drug and alcohol addiction, early pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, child abandonment, and thuggery.

Short-term and long-term problems are strongly interrelated.

The long-term problems are a direct cause of the short-term problems. For instance, an illiterate adult (and his or her children) is much more likely to live in extreme poverty because the adult has no employable skills. Another example is an addicted, underage mother has a higher possibility of being an abusive parent.

On the other hand, a child growing up in a sustained environment with the short-term problems can grow up to be an adult susceptible to long-term dangers. For example, a child that grows up day after day hungry and abused may become an angry adult that turns to crime.

For this reason, Tenderfeet’s goals include both short-term and long-term components.  The approach we take for meeting these goals is based on developing a strong educational foundation provided in a nurturing environment.