Every week, TPP will feature one of our incredible #Changemakers–individuals who are making a big difference in their communities and the world. Read on to learn about their work to create a kinder, more compassionate world for all.
The force that moves me is compassion,” said Gelli, a TPP changemaker whose sanctuary—which, in part, rescues domestic animals who were abandoned because their owners feared they could carry the coronavirus--was awarded funding by TPP’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund. “I cannot see any living thing suffering. I cannot. I’m not able to pass by if I see someone or an animal suffering.
For the 180 children and 10 staff members who constitute Bome Primary School in Bamenda in the North West Region of Cameroon, going to the bathroom safely and privately is a luxury. As they do not have access to safe and private toilets, for the past 5 years, they instead have had to rely on an old, open dilapidated tent next to their school.
She only had enough food left to feed her family for one week. This 35-year-old widowed woman, let’s call her Amara, and her family live in Dharavi, India. You may know Dharavi—it was the slum featured in the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.” This woman lost her husband due to alcoholism a few years back, and since then she has had full responsibility for the caregiving and support of her three children.
Ghosh knew he had the opportunity to use his specialized knowledge to help the communities he had worked with for so long. His ingenious plan? Using the WHO’s gold standard recipe, he created his own hand sanitizer by mobilizing the youth in the Kolkata slums to help him.
Cavanaugh Bell has spent the last two years giving back to his community of Gaithersburg, Maryland, a significant amount of time for anyone, but even more so when you consider his age--which is 7. You read that right. Bell first began leading a host of care pack initiatives to help the homeless in his community when he was just 5 years old.
But then, once again, the unthinkable happened—a pandemic swept through the nation, with California being one of the hardest hit states. All of a sudden, Lowrey was thrust again into emergency mode. “[Our family, friends, and neighbors] have survived the nightmare of the fire and had just gotten back to work. They were finally feeling hopeful again … and then COVID-19 happened. We are now hit with a second disaster before we have recovered from the first.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, Sam Suchin knew he had to do something. “In the past few weeks, people all over the world have started to brainstorm creative solutions to keep people safe during the outbreak,” says Suchin. “Hope3D has joined the movement.” Enter Project Shield: a project which aims to crowdsource 3D printed face shields for healthcare workers.
As the founder of AFFORDABLE, a software-based nonprofit dedicated to reducing barriers to healthcare access, Warren Campbell, a TPP changemaker, realized COVID-19 could be a potential health hazard in the US as early as February. Then, something unexpected happened that hit close to home: the grandparents of one of his developers were on the Queen Diamond cruise ship when COVID-19 was identified.
When you’re at the United Nations and a Minister of Education requests your advice, you know you must be doing something right. But it took Danielle De La Fuente, founder of the Amal Alliance, a lot of hard work and dedication to get to that moment.
With such sensational stories bombarding our hearts and minds, it is easy to succumb to fear—or, worse, apathy. But at The Pollination Project, we strive to provide an antidote to apathy by uplifting the voices of those changemakers who are making a positive difference in the world—changemakers like Mr. Dickson Oketch