Most people reading this article probably have fairly easy access to nutritious food. Most of the people we funded this week at The Pollination Project don't. This week we helped seed community and school gardens in Uganda, Cameroon, and St. Louis Missouri. These projects provide local residents with not just access to healthy food, but the tools to grow their own food, and even more importantly, maintain ownership of their own food sources. Congratulations to our 7 grantees this week who are making the world, and their communities a better place for us all.
A Community Garden in Kasese, Uganda. Masereka Solomon's project, Improving the Learning Potential of Children in Primary School, is helping to provide essential nutrition to children at the Kasese Humanist Primary School in Uganda. Throughout 2015, Masereka and several colleagues will help educators and students at the school build their own vegetable garden. The garden will not only provide children with the food they need to stay focused and engaged throughout the school day, but students will also gain the knowledge they need to start their own gardens at home.
Organic Produce in Ebase-Bajoh, Cameroon. Kwangene Princely is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Community Development and Environmental Restoration (CENCUDER) in Cameroon. In CENCUDER's newest project, the Economic Empowerment of Vulnerable Women Through Sustainable Agriculture, Kwangene is helping 20 widows and single mothers in Ebase-Bajoh village challenge gender stereotypes that limit women to low-income jobs. Through the project, Kwangene will help participants provide for their families by giving them the training and material resources they need to grow organic produce for sale in local markets.
Job Skills Training in Shreveport, Louisiana. Carla Buntyn's organization Compassion For Lives, focuses on workforce development for homeless individuals, people who been incarcerated, and "at-risk" youth in Shreveport. Their newest initiative, Reintegration for Compassion, Carla and her team of volunteers are offering a course designed to help participants find jobs, create resumes, and learn successful interview techniques. Program participants have open access to a computer lab where they can learn computer skill and search for jobs online. Over the course of the next year, Carla's program will help nearly 50 people re-integrate into their community.
Nutritional Education in Rural Anyacoto, Uganda. Over the past few decades as sugary sodas have become more common in Uganda's rural countryside, there has been an unprecedented increase in rates of diet-related disease and illness. Through his project, Anyacoto People for Natural Life (APENALI), Weja Nick is helping rural Anyacoto residents make informed decisions about their diets and overall health. Over the next 12 months, Weja will provide locals with nutritional education, as well as training them to make tasty alternatives from locally grown, organic produce.
Empowering Young Girls in Northern St. Louis, Missouri. Paulna Valbrun is the founder of Old North Rockin' Girls, an after-school program designed to empower young girls in St. Louis' low-income neighborhoods. Old North Rockin' Girls provides young girls a safe space where they can learn about nutrition, improve their academic performance, and express themselves through the arts. Paulna is currently leading 30 girls, ages 8-14, in an effort to revitalize and beautify their neighborhoods by building mini-vegetable gardens and planting flowers in areas affected by urban decay.
U.S. and Ugandan Educators Meet in Katale, Uganda. Emily Deering is the organizer of this year's Collaborative Development Conference in Katale, Uganda. Working in collaboration with Pangea Educational Development (PED) in Uganda, Emily's efforts will bring educators from Uganda and the U.S. together so they can exchange best practices and solutions to common classroom problems. Following the conference, participants will return to their respective schools equipped with the tools they need to provide their students and communities with new opportunities for growth.
Vegan Billboards in Los Angeles, California. Karen Fiorito is a vegan activist and artist working to educate the public about the intersections between meat consumption, the environment, and human health. In her project, Meat is Murder on the Environment: A Billboard Series Targeting Animal Eaters, Karen is designing a series of billboards for posting in high traffic areas of Los Angeles. Billboards will cover a wide range of contemporary problems associated with meat production, including water use and drought, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and diet and disease.
Do you know someone who would be a great candidate for one of our daily grants? We welcome grant applications from anyone, anywhere, at any time!