Every day The Pollination Project provides at least one small grant to a community led project around the world. Below are 14 of the latest projects we have been privileged enough to support. Just reading through the names of these project should give you a sense of what they’re all about: ‘empowering’, ‘tutoring’, ‘healing’, ‘dialogue’.
These are extraordinary efforts and to us each of these 14 projects represent incredible individuals and communities who have a vision for the future of this planet that they are choosing to put into practice.
But time and time again we hear from our grantees that from their perspective they’re just doing what anyone else would and that they’re simply called to do their work. We hear from them how connected they feel to their communities, how much their work means to them, and how satisfying it is to know you’re doing what you can to make a difference. For us that’s a reminder that we all have the chance to change the world and that we all have a chance to do extraordinary things. Read on for some inspiration!
Duncan Ahigika, Joan Atuhaire, Debor- Music for Cure
Duncan Ahigika believes in the power of music. After witnessing well intentioned health outreach fall short of its goals for many years, he was inspired to create an alternative approach to disseminate this knowledge. And that’s why Duncan and Joan created the Music for Cure, a community engagement project that addresses widespread needs through music, dance, and drama, project in Namaliga Village, Uganda. Together, they carry out therapeutic music training to youth and children with in the community and schools while providing a safe space to access information on various health issues, such as HIV, malaria, and domestic violence.
Vanessa Fleury – Carl’s Village: After-School Tutoring and Support Services
Carl’s Village provides after school tutoring for students aged 6-15 years who are at high-risk for expulsion or dropout in the small town of Grand-Goâve, Haiti. The compounding effects of poverty and a high illiteracy rate (61%), leaves many of Grand-Goâve’s children lacking academic support. The cornerstone of the initiative is a tutoring program that provides educational support to struggling students. As Vanessa Fleury and her team equip students with the tools and resources to graduate high school, they are preparing these bright young minds to be the generation that restores hope and builds a stronger, more resilient Grand-Goâve. Carl’s Village is in memory of Vanessa’s grandfather, a pillar of Grand-Goâve who passed away in 2015. He led numerous community development initiatives and working with community leaders to identify and create innovative solutions to needs. Vanessa shares that, “He inspired me to to become a fellow change maker.”
Nurul Kabir – Oniruddah Bangladesh
As the brother of a person with intellectual disabilities, Nurul Kabir was discriminated throughout his childhood. Now he’s ready to change the story for generations to come. Nuril’s work brings together young people with and without disabilities through the use of sports. He will use football to run a non-competitive tournament to promote solidarity amongst the community. Nurul believes that sport will open a window for accepting the differences that lie within us all.
Advocates for Change, Rubelyn Yap and Lina – Know Your Status! A Health Advocacy Campaign
Rubelyn Yap has been working in Ghana for the last ten years as a community mobilizer with various organizations. An avid believer in creating action, she has started the Know Your Status! A Health Advocacy Campaign in the rural region of Upper West, Ghana. As fewer non-governmental organizations and government agencies go to remote areas to sensitize the community on various health topics, Rubelyn saw a need. She is working to get the individuals in far communities the access to community-based health planning services, including free HIV testing and Hepatitis C vaccinations. Rubelyn and her team believe that by bridging the gap of health efficiency and accessibility, people will be able to live with the dignity that they deserve.
Violet Akello Sikana – Clean Our Water
Under the lead of Violet Sikana, Clean Our Water is a program that is implemented in Busia County, Kenya to enhance the hygiene and sanitation of the communities. She was inspired to do this work, which includes sustainably cleaning underground springs, as a result of the increasing number of water related diseases, which affects all aspects of people’s lives.
Rukararwe Women Riders Association – Empowering Women for Greater Heights
Empowering Women for Greater Heights is a project run by a group of ten female volunteers in Rukararwe village, Bushenyi District, Uganda. The project’s main goal is to promote women’s participation and inclusion in governance, social, political, and economic spheres of life. The project is needed to address gender inequality, cultural and traditional prejudices, and apathy in governance and development processes. It will offer women a platform to build self esteem and capacity in various activities, including leadership and management and issues of gender, power, and feminism.
Akhonya Development CBO – Kongoni Community Library
Kongoni Community Library is located Kakamega County, Western Kenya, where the poverty level is one of the highest in the country. The community is facing various health issues and schools are not well equipped with learning materials. Kongoni Community Library gives hope to the community as a sanctuary and safe space. It acts as a neutralizer between the students who attend well equipped private schools and those in less equipped public schools.
Nyamjoh Mettabel – Fighting Urban Youth Unemployment and Pollution in Bamenda
Miss Nyamjoh Mettabel is a dynamic youth leader and a strong activist in the fight against climate change, youth unemployment, and food insecurity. Through this grant she will provide training and support to 15 unemployed youth on waste management and on sustainable organic vegetable and fruit gardening as a means of increased nutritional value and income generation. The urban youth will be trained and provided with the basic tools to establish and manage group gardens plots.
G-Computer Systems & Telecommunication – Students Voice in Identifying Internships
G-Computer Systems & Telecommunication is a center located in Kabale, Southwestern Uganda that affords students opportunities to apply academic learning to practical experiences and components of many academic programs, thus building the opportunity for their futures. A grant from The Pollination Project will help provide free services to students, including training in website development, database management, internet networking, computer security, computer servicing, and hardware and software management.
Samson Andunga Wakoli – Bokoli Sesbania Afforestation Project (BOSAP)
Bokoli Sesbania Afforestation Project (BOSAP) is a community initiative founded and coordinated by Project Management Specialist Samson Andunga Wakoli. It aims to reduce the rampant deforestation of forests through the provision of fast growing and easy to manage alternative trees for domestic use. This work will happen through the provision of seeds, training, technical support, and incubation of Sesbania Sesban trees to community members in Bokoli Location, Western Kenya.
Shikaadabu Alliance Team – Usafi na Gumzo Mtaani (Enviroment Conservation and Dialogue)
Usafi na Gumzo Mtaani (Enviroment Conservation and Dialogue) project at Shikaadabu in Mombasa, Kenya uplifts community health and wellness by collecting household waste. Together they identify organic waste and recycle it into organic manure, which is then supplied to local farmers. This project not only tackles diseases in the community that stem from poor waste management, but also gives farmers a sustainable ecologically sound source of fertilizer for their crops.
Odunayo Aliu – Bramble
Odunayo Aliu is the visionary behind Bramble; a project that creates alternative learning spaces for children in rural parts of Nigeria. The spaces are designed to help children find their passion for learning through play and use of creative resources. Bramble’s newest program – Shift Classroom – is a pilot project that targets children in the most marginalized part Ibadan. The children in this community don’t have primary caregivers, have not been enrolled in school, or have dropped out as a result of poverty or lack of interest. Bramble uses a self-learning curriculum, which involves project-based approach and focuses on life skills, arts, and communication. The goal is to bring out creativity and critical thinking in every child. Through the project, children who used to be on the street will have access to education and also have the tools to speak up against abuse and for their rights.
Doreen, Nantambi, Cissy, Annet – Empowering Single Vulnerable Mothers
Amanya Doreen started her project, Empowering Single Vulnerable Mothers, in Masindi District, Uganda to empower these women with employment and thus improve their economic status and level of independence. Inspired by these mother’s desire and commitment to work, however falling short in the job market, Doreen began growing chia seeds as a way to invite these women into employment. The grant from The Pollination Project will help Doreen and the women with whom she work grow their sustainable, community oriented work.
Alana C. Brown – The Safe Sisters Circle’s Healing Project
The Safe Sisters Circle’s Healing Project, developed by The Safe Sisters Circle’s founder Alana C. Brown, Esq. and facilitated by Elizabeth Johnson, LGPC, provides a 10-week session of culturally sensitive, trauma-based intimate partner abuse therapy groups and healing circles for Black women survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual abuse living in the underserved communities of Washington DC’s Wards 7 and 8. The Healing Project’s goal is to confront and heal the trauma and barriers faced by Black women survivors on their self-defined path to recovery. The project will also work with the survivors to discuss strategies and solutions regarding how to engage in healthy and safe relationships.
