My name is Daw Aye Li. I am 32 years old and live with my husband and two children in Na Mat village in Myanmar. We live with my parents. Our village is located in the western part of Lashio District and is a long walking distance, 18 miles, from the nearest town. A STORY OF MY VILLAGE: Before this year, everyone was limited to planting a single annual crop, corn, during the rainy season and vegetables at home. We didn’t have an irrigation system so were dependent on the rain. Often there wasn’t enough rain water to grow vegetables...[ Read More ]

Claudia Aju participated in a Women's Justice Initiative (WJI) sponsored Women’s Rights Education Program. Claudia isn't pictured here for security reasons. This is her story: WJI taught me about violence and the law that protects against it. I didn’t know what violence was until WJI talked to us about it in the training workshops. When it was explained what violence against women was and the different forms in which violence is committed, I finally realized that it was what I suffered from in my marriage. My husband treated like an animal and because I was so afraid of him, I endured everything...[ Read More ]

Perpetual is a mentor at Vanessa Grant Girls School in Kenya, who herself was mentored by Dandelion Africa since grade 7 in their Girls for Leaders program supported solely by Pangea Giving grants.   Perpetual Mahojha Awino, now 16, attends the Vanessa Grant Girls School with a full scholarship from Education For All Children. She achieved this honor by passing her national KCPE examination with a very good grade, scoring 343 marks out of the 500 possible. Perpetual comes from a very humble background. Her father was laid off from work and her mother is a housewife. Her siblings struggle to...[ Read More ]

Martinus, who is 14 years old now, lost both parents at only two years of age. She was adopted by her paternal uncle. It is unknown why and how she became hard of hearing. Prior to her uncle finding our grant partner Tanzania Deaf Child (TADEC) in 2014, she was attending a school for children with normal hearing where she was not doing well academically or socially. At TADEC, she got the help she needed; her hearing was assessed, she was fitted with a hearing aid in one ear. Martinus is very happy now and her school performance has dramatically...[ Read More ]

The East Africa Leadership Forum (EALF) composed of current and former Pangea grantees held their second annual meeting in Bujumbura, Burundi in mid-July, 2017. It was hosted by Pangea Grant Partner, Francoise Nibizi of SaCoDe. The following is a brief overview of what took place. The group started by reviewing their progress since they first met in June of 2016. It’s apparent from the report prepared by Wendo of Dandelion Africa that all of the participants had learned a lot from each other and have greatly benefitted from their ongoing mutual exchanges. Here are some examples:  TADEC visited SaCode to learn...[ Read More ]

Last month Pangea member Therese Caouette hosted a lively and informative update on Myanmar for 20 Pangea members and friends. Two featured speakers from Myanmar provided firsthand descriptions of the current political and social context in the country. Pwint Htun came to the US in the eighties, studied electrical engineering and telecommunications. She has pioneered and been the architect for Myanmar’s digital financial services industry which has brought a large percentage of the rural poor out of isolation.  Pwint reported that 83% of households at this time have access to cell phones and can transfer money cutting out the middle-man....[ Read More ]

Please join us for a morning with Margaret Ikiara of CIFORD, Kenya EMPOWERING WOMEN &  GIRLS IN RURAL KENYA When: May 20th, 10:30am - noon Where: Ballard NW Senior Center, 5429 32nd Avenue NW, Seattle What:  Program with Light Brunch     Margaret Ikiara is the Founder and Executive Director of CIFORD (Community Initiatives for Rural Development), a Pangea Giving partner since 2012 in a semi-arid region of Kenya. With degrees in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, she has guided CIFORD since 2002 and instituted a broad range of programs to address rural poverty and women's rights. She will be talking with...[ Read More ]

One of the axioms for creating change that has stuck with me over the years is 'light many fires.' That is just what Pangea does when it finds great leaders and dedicated community organizations - we give them the spark to move their work forward. Pangea's small grants which fund what communities think is important have often demonstrated program value which draws in other funders. While some large international NGOs spend very large amounts of money scaling up what they believe are transformative ideas. Some work, and many do not. At Pangea, we believe if we provide a spark to get good ideas...[ Read More ]

This was my third trip with Pangea to Cambodia and I was again humbled by the warmth and hospitality of the Cambodian people. On this trip, there were four other Pangea travelers: Allan Paulson, Mary Williamson, Audrey Shiffman and Mari Loria. It was their first Pangea trip to Cambodia so I felt like the old hand.              ~Catherine Roth To view photos from the Cambodia 2017 Site Visits During this visit we were able to meet with other NGO foundations that have extensive experience and the ability to give large grants. Their insights were educational and helpful. Throughout our visit, we...[ Read More ]

We are pleased to welcome Wesen Kifetew as Pangea’s new half-time Program and Operations Coordinator! She began work on April 10. Wesen was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and came to the US in 1996, living first in Virginia. She graduated with a BA  in International Studies and Complex Emergencies from George Mason University and went on to get a graduate degree in Global Health from Emory University. Wesen moved to Seattle in 2008 and is prepared to call Seattle home though she is still getting used to the weather. Most of Wesen’s experience has been in the field of...[ Read More ]