Did you know that the people who will suffer most from climate change in the coming decades are the ones who have done the least to cause it? It’s widely acknowledged[1] that the effects will be felt most severely by vulnerable populations in what is known as the Global South—non-industrialized countries near or south of the equator. Pangea’s partners are found in those countries, and they are already suffering—from longer periods of extreme heat, from more frequent and longer droughts, from unpredictable rains and extreme storms, from crippling floods. On March 17, nearly 50 Pangea members and friends gathered to...[ Read More ]

Bio-Gardening Innovations or BIOGI has been a Pangea Giving partner since 2013. BIOGI works with small farmers to promote the adoption of sustainable agriculture methods including agroforestry, permaculture, and biodiversity conservation. As part of our recent educational event, Climate Change in the Global South, we debuted a video made in partnership with BIOGI to highlight their work and the role they play to help small farmers in Western Kenya secure their livelihoods and adapt to the changing climate. Enjoy!

Last month, we received this message from our colleague, Suyheang Kry, Executive Director of Women Peace Makers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I am writing to share with you our newly produced video entitled “Art for Peace” which showcases workshop and the exhibition of “Hear, Listen. Look, See. Touch, Feel.” that we held in collaboration with our friends at Japan-based Peace Mask Project last year. It was an extraordinary chance for us to bring our local Facilitative Listening Design (FLD) approach together with art to explore synergies and opportunities. Through this work, we have learnt a great deal of how to...[ Read More ]

Sarah* is one of a dozen children in her family in Namagera village, Jinja district, Uganda. At 16 years old, she dropped out of school because her family lacked funds and the government-aided free secondary school was too far away from her house to walk. When a local organization announced a scholarship program in her village, she promptly interviewed and impressively landed the scholarship. However, six months into the scholarship program, Sarah became pregnant and dropped out of school. After having the baby, Sarah could not re-enroll in secondary school because she had no one to care for her child...[ Read More ]

Until I was invited to participate in Community Advocates Program, I didn’t communicate with anyone, much less have any leadership, considering we women barely have the chance to participate in meetings or any public spaces. It was difficult for me to speak up or express my opinion, as I was afraid others would tell me that I was wrong, but little by little I began to change. And now I’m no longer afraid to express myself. I’ve learned how I can share information with my community so that more women can become leaders and make decisions in the community. This...[ Read More ]

Hilda is 19 years old and is the second of nine children. She is from the Las Ventanas community, which is located about 16 miles by dirt road from the municipal seat and location of the closest secondary school. To travel from her home to the municipal seat, Hilda must hitch a ride in the back of a truck. Even hitching a ride is no simple endeavor - Hilda must walk four and a half miles to a place called Tres Cruces to wait and hope another truck arrived soon. When Hilda completed primary school, her family told her that...[ Read More ]

My long-held dream of visiting East Africa – and more importantly, meeting and learning about the people who live there – came to fruition during a recent Pangea Giving site visit. For 3 weeks our team of four immersed ourselves in the social, environmental, cultural and economic realities of rural life in Kenya, Uganda and Burundi. I returned home profoundly impacted and humbled. A few examples: Who would have the courage to build a desperately needed maternity center in a rural village with no access to a reliable water source? Under the leadership of Wendo Aszed, Dandelion Africa is months...[ Read More ]

I have been working with Pangea Giving for six months now. I was attracted to the organization because of the mission and model – the commitments to listening to local leaders and communities; to sticking with partners for multiple years; and to educating our members on the issues in the countries where we work and the complexities of international grant giving. For the last six months, I have been motivated by my own belief in these ideas. Yet, those commitments are abstract and in talking about Pangea to prospective members, friends, and others, I felt like I wasn’t able to...[ Read More ]

One of the strategies that Women Peace Makers uses to address gender-based violence throughout Cambodia is conducting trainings in gender sensitive mediation. These programs include community gender talks and other creative approaches that inspire open and reflective discussion of women’s rights and preventing gender-based violence. Chhim Sopharavy participated in the gender sensitive mediation trainings. Throughout my daily life, I have seen and let myself believe that domestic violence is normal in couple life. Yet, after my engagement with WPM’s activities on gender sensitive mediation, I began to change my perspective that it is not acceptable anymore, and it must be...[ Read More ]

Growing up with a profound disability in an economically impoverished environment is hard, very hard. Only 5% of deaf children attend school in Tanzania. There are no pre-school or kindergarten programs that accept deaf children. Most deaf child who do go to school start at 7-10 years old and finish their primary grades when they are 16-22. Often children are thrown off the bus or out of shops because of the stigma against the deaf. Tanzania Deaf Child (TADEC) was founded in 2008 by a group of deaf mothers led by Sarah Nsenga, now the executive director. The deaf mothers...[ Read More ]