There are moments in life when our problems feel bigger than our wins. TPP grantees understand that the answer is not hoping the situation disappears, but to hold less faith in the problem and more appreciation in the communities that make life worth living for. This week’s TPP grantees empower their communities with knowledge and group experiences to transform their circumstances into new realities.
Rameshwar Fundipalle & Amol Umbarje – Transforming The Cottage School Into Digital School
Rameshwar Fundipalle’s project “Transforming the Cottage School into Digital School” is an initiative to educate and ensure quality education to children of small and poor farmers. The goals of this work include improving the quality of education, securing the future of the students, and increasing the reach of digitalization to those children who haven’t even seen computers or IT devices. This will lead to a significant impact on the current quality of education provided in the cottage school, an initiative taken by a dedicated and highly educated youth, serving for the betterment of the children of the underprivileged section.
The long term objective of the project is to alleviate poverty through the means of quality education through which a student can pull out his family from poverty by securing an economically sound position in society through quality education. Furthermore, handling and accessing computers and digital devices will boost the confidence and curiosity of the students. Apart from this, the digital classroom will help teachers to reduce their workload and will increase the participation of students in the teaching-learning method meaningfully.
Eco Soul Hostel
At this time of emerging climate crisis, it is vital that we have strong, hopeful visions of what a sustainable lifestyle can look like. We are creating a social enterprise community hostel in London where people who share values of kindness, social change, sustainability and an inner well-being connect and inspire each other.
As a 100% not-for-profit, we will give away our surplus as micro-grants for grassroots projects in a similar way to The Pollination Project. Our 80-bed hub will welcome over 10,000 people each year, with speakers, workshops and vegan communal meals around a long table each evening. We have 25 non-profit partners, a potential building identified and are now looking for the final social investors to enable us to launch the project.
Jill, Twany, Maxine, Tim – North Omaha Transplant Garden
The North Omaha Transplant Garden is located in the middle of Omaha’s inner city. Individuals gather unwanted plant divisions, grow them to full-sized plants, and then transplanting them in yards within the inner city limits. Studies have shown landscaping can reduce crime by 7-20%. Not only does it beautify neighborhoods, however it offers people a reason to walk outside. Walk in a space where they get to know each other. It helps transform a block into a neighborhood.
Ariana Deng – Global Pitch Competition – Project Bring It Home
Homelessness is an issue affecting many communities around the world – the Bay Area in California, USA being a core place of the problem. As locals of the San Francisco area, Ariana Deng, Anna Sun, and Sophia Xing, began Project Bring it Home to inspire their community while also increasing awareness on the growing epidemic. Project Bring it Home has three target audiences: homeless adults, homeless children, and their community. Each target audience has designated individually planned events, workshops, and activities in hopes of creating a better state of living for homeless individuals. Some of these activities, which will be carried out with funding, including mock interviews, public speaking workshops, a homeless simulation, and children’s movie night.
Deng, Sun, and Xing have all participated in an event in which they passed out blankets and food to the homeless, where they directly encountered individuals struggling with this problem. They notice every year that the homeless population continues to increase and there are not many organizations in their hometown working to bring career tips and engaging activities that can change the situation of this group. As a result, they created Project Bring it Home in an effort to reduce the issue of homelessness and transform the lives of many.
Joy Xu – STREAM Syndicate: Toronto Talks
Toronto Talks is a unique initiative established to unite the community to advocate for environmental conservation. Hosted by STREAM Syndicate, this one-of-a-kind project promotes the integration of STEM, arts and humanities to youths of all ages. When asking most youths about their most engaging learning experiences, almost all students reflect back on their field trips where they could apply their knowledge to exercise their practical skills.
Ultimately, this is what makes STREAM truly stand above the rest–by providing opportunities for the community’s growth in interdisciplinary learning, students gain insight with practical, hands-on experiences through this series and adopt a green mindset. The diverse range of subjects covered by this initiative brings the community together on issues that affect us all.
NorCal Resist – Know Your Rights For Immigrant Communities
We, NorCal Resist, provide immigrant-focused Know Your Rights trainings, for free, to communities that are feeling nervous and threatened in the current political climate.
ICE routinely uses coercion, deception and intimidation to incriminate and detain their targets, gain access to homes and vehicles, and more. Being able to assert your rights in these situations is your first line of defense against these tactics. Our Know Your Rights trainings cover the basics of safely navigating encounters with ICE and law enforcement, including:
Your rights and how to assert them, how to navigate encounters with ICE/law enforcement, what to do if ICE comes to your door, and resources available in our community to keep families together!
Ogole Oscar & Angwec Conny – Construction Of Protected Hand Dug Borehole
In Canomonanino Village, Northern Uganda, Ogole Oscar and Angwec Conny are constructing a hand dug borehole with the intent of increasing access to safe water and basic sanitation. The low level of water coverage in Bala Sub-County is seen from the suffering women and children who spend time outside of school finding and collecting water. Coupled with the high prevalence of waterborne related illnesses, Oscar knew that something had to be done.
Construction of Protected Hand Dug Borehole seeks to mobilize stakeholders and the community, conduct WASH training sessions for community members who will then provide security and safety of the water source, carry out a hydrological survey, procure equipment, and ultimately engage community members in digging the well and installing the pump. Quarterly review meetings will be held to check on the pump performance and implement any improvements. Additionally, for further community engagement, visits will be carried out by Bala Youth Forum and other stakeholders to identify gaps that can be locally fixed.
