Stories of Change

Ibrahim’s Story – Tanzania

Ibrahim was born in December 2008, the fifth child of his parents. When his father died, his mother remarried and went to live with her new husband leaving Ibrahim and his siblings in their home in the care of his then 15-year old brother. After Ibrahim’s mother died from complications related to childbirth, their maternal grandmother began to take care of the orphaned children. Life was very hard for them. To make matters even more challenging, Ibrahim is deaf. TADEC identified Ibrahim in 2014. Ibrahim was enrolled in TADEC’s hands-on Family Empowerment Program. Volunteers visited him at home as part...Read More

Daw Aye Li’s Story – Myanmar

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’s story – Guatemala

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’s Story – Kenya

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’ Story – Tanzania

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

Linet’s Story – Kenya

LINET comes from a rural community outside Nakuru (in central Kenya) called Athinai Village where traditionally, girls education is not supported. The residents of her community were resettled by the government with only minimal resources following post-election violence in 2007.  She is the youngest of six children and has been raised by her father. Her father, even though he has a poor-paying job, has done all he can to support her education. Thanks to the Girls for Leaders program offered by Dandelion Africa in 2014 and 2015,  a program wholly supported by Pangea Giving, Linet is one of 25 girls...Read More

Sawmill’s Story – Kenya

SAWMILL, comes from a small cooperative farm in a village near Luanda (NW corner of Kenya)  that is served by our partner organization, BIOGI (Bio Intensive Gardening Innovations). Sawmill is married and with his wife is supporting a young family. Because of BIOGI’s  comprehensive perma-culture community farm-training programs and demonstration gardens, he and his wife have increased the fertility and productivity of their farm. Before BIOGI’s program to restore depleted agricultural lands, Sawmill was struggling to  support his family locally and considered moving to a larger city many hours away to make ends meet, which would have meant long periods...Read More

Margaret’s Story – Kenya

MARGARET  is a guardian of six young children in a small rural village outside of Meru, Kenya who has struggled for years to provide food and basics. When she received a water tank, made possible by a Pangea Giving grant to CIFORD Kenya, things started improve. Margaret is using rainwater collected in the tank to irrigate her gardens more efficiently. This, in turn, has resulted in much larger food yields for her and the children. She is also selling surplus vegetables from her garden to neighbors which helps her meet other basic needs for the children. CIFORD Kenya works for...Read More

N.O.’s Story – Burundi

My name is N. O; I am from Lycée Communal de Bubanza and I am in form 9 (middle school).  Before I started using the Agateka pads, provided by SaCoDe to manage my menstruation, I could not afford to buy the disposal sanitary pads (Kotex). The only thing I could get was a piece of an old Kitenge which is a piece of cloth and very often  I was feeling a sting in my private parts and I could not attend school which means that I missed several school days each month, and failed in exams. Since I started using...Read More

Ms Sa Nawn’s Story – Myanmar

Ms Sa Nawn, the 55 year old mother of a son and two daughters, lives with her family in a small rural community in Myanmar. Previously, she had to go 22 miles from her village to a town to buy supplies. After she participated in a Pangea-supported project that gave her the needed skills and knowledge, she opened a small shop. Sa Nawn now provides herself and others in her village such essentials as cooking oil, candles, coffee, soap, shampoo and snacks. She can sell her soap and shampoo for less because they are made locally. Furthermore, the soap and...Read More