How do you identify your individual greatness? Although this can be discovered on one’s own, at TPP, we believe inner transformation is best discovered through communal experience with others. Recognizing the beauty and power in someone else mirrors the power that lies within us. This powerful cycle is a boundless act that never stops going. Read how the grantee projects below spread and encourage positive perception and group transformation.
UFH – Alice Mini-Habitable Planet Workshop
UFH – Alice Mini-Habitable Planet Workshop, located in Alice, Eastern Cape province, South Africa, is an annual six-month engagement program with the secondary and high school learners. The main aim of this initiative is to inspire pupils to develop a strong affinity for STEMI: science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation subjects, ultimately leading to them to careers in the science field.
Wandile Emmanuel Maya, who started implementing this initiative in this area three years ago, started off by organizing a group of six university students to run the project with and over the years has been working with various groups of students which he all get them trained to become science club facilitators. Following a series of weekly engagements for a six months period, a five days long workshop, which culminates the program for the year, is hosted for the learners wherein pupils are hosted at the University of Fort Hare.
The aim of the said week-long workshop is to tell the learners the amazing habitable planet narrative and what makes it special from all other planets known to date by man. This workshop is an integral part of our program as it has proven to be a paradigm shift to learners’ understanding of their planet and environment making them more aware of their surroundings where they live.
The grant will, thus be used to fund our activities during this workshop, which vary from transportation costs, catering costs, field excursion, and communication costs as well as paying for promotional material for the learners and facilitators. Furthermore, the racial imbalance and poor performance of black students in institutions of learning in South Africa necessitated the inception and implementation of this project coupled with Wandile’s passion for education.
The Inverters Foundation – Take A Step
Take A Step is a business and skill acquisition program targeted at empowering youth with valuable and marketable skills to help them recognize their own greatness. The project works with underserved youth and individuals of the Ketu community. Take A Step provides tangible skills that help solve the problem of youth unemployment, leading to financial independence. With this grant, over 100 young individuals will have access to training materials, training opportunities led by experts, and internship opportunities.
The project lead, Afonrinwo Babatunde Adedeji, shares, “Seeing the level of poverty, lawlessness and crime commitment in my community, I was inspired to work on this project because I know this project solves a lot of problems faced by the young and older people within my community.”
Beautiful Givers Inc Of Antelope Valley – Operation Beautiful Baby
Beautiful Givers Inc strives to impact issues concerning homelessness and vastly low- income populations in dire need of services to increase financial stability. Beautiful Givers Inc has created an empowerment-focus program for our youth and lower income demographic, by increasing access to common necessities to motivate and promote upward mobility. This approach consists of multiple services to include free baby showers, hair cuts, prom closets, hygiene items, and food services to prepare individuals to strive for success in their journey. We change the uniform of the individuals we serve externally when we demonstrate how to look professional, and impact the individuals internally when we give the tools necessary to learn how to become more confident within oneself. This program will not only impact the homeless, and vastly low-income individuals, but families and future generations to come.
As a member of the community that we serve, our motto – “Giving those that have fallen down a chance to get back up again” – encompass compassion and advocacy for individuals that need our help the most. This means that we shall support individuals who strive for success that need assistance meeting their goals, and provide resources to promote a more supportive community.
(A1) Allen Laurenson-Reed – Foe Laynz Auto Shop
Allen Laurenson-Reed grew up around his grandfather’s towing company, watching his uncle work on his car – along with others – in the garage. In high school, he began taking automotive classes, learning the mechanics of how the machines work and how businesses operate. It is his goal to help people in his community save funds – and the feeling of disappointment when being overcharged or inappropriately served by other providers – by having is community start taking care of their vehicles.
“Simple, safety-controlled education about car maintenance will not only save customers money, but it will also reduce their vehicles impacts on our roads and environment. Our mission is to open up multiple auto shops that provide basic education to customers on their vehicle’s maintenance while offering affordable pricing.”
Chisom Okoye, Chinenye Ugwu – Helping Babies And Mums Breathe
Helping Babies and Mums Breathe is an initiative of Children Solace Support Organization designed to reduce maternal and newborn deaths through knowledge and skill acquisition among health workers and birth attendants in Nigeria. Coordinated by Chisom Okoye, Children Solace Support Organization provides health advocacy services to women and children, workshops for caregivers/health workers and educational support for underprivileged children, thereby expanding opportunities for children to reach their full potentials.
Through this grant, Chisom Okoye and Chinenye Ugwu will train health workers and birth attendants across birth centres on optimal delivery care, early maternal/newborn referrals and measures to help babies breathe immediately after birth in low resource centres. These practices will not only reduce maternal and infant mortality but will help to build strong foundations for positive health outcomes in children.
Raphia Noumbissi, Abiba Namen – Improving Adherence To Antiretroviral Through Support Groups
SHAHICA, INC is a charitable organization with a mission to empower others in Cameroon so that they can make informed decisions regarding their health in order to minimize hardship and unnecessary death. Our project, Improving Adherence to Antiretroviral through Support Groups, will serve as a model demonstrating that HIV is a chronic disease with treatment options. We expect to instill hope in others which will result in more widespread testing and identification of the disease. We are confident that the 40 initial attendees will be able to build capacity and reach 200 other people living with HIV in Foumban and the surrounding area.
Blessings Kanyangale – Rumphi Bicycle Operations HIV/AIDS And Sexual Harassment
“I got the idea to embarked on HIV/ AIDS awareness project one day when I was picked by one of the bicycles taxi operators who openly celebrated his sexual encounters with multiple female customers especially during the night. Upon further enquiries, I later on realized that this bicycle taxi operator had limited knowledge of HIV and AIDS.” Blessings Kanyangale quickly realized that there were many more operators that were offering their services with sex whenever female clients were willing to pay in kind. She got interested in the issue and went on to find out more information from other bicycles taxi operators, where the findings were not different and a majority of the operators were engaging in this behavior.
Considering the fact that this practice was so common, there is also a greater potential that such bicycle operators may sexually harass female clients. This is where this particular project’s passion was born from. This project will help mainly in raising awareness to this group of people – male taxi drivers. It will help in reducing the incidence rate around the urban area of Rumphi. Lastly it will help in promoting new self-testing, resulting in individuals who are HIV+ getting on ART.
