2024 Development Grant Recipients

For projects:

• promoting literacy and supporting academic studies,
• that build or provide classrooms, libraries or general learning facilities for disadvantaged women/children, 
• that provide training designed to lead to economic and social empowerment for women and girls.  

Educating Women & Girls Worldwide - $4,000

Sponsored by Renuka Matthews

Kiwimbi Prep for Success

Busia, Kenya

Nominated by: FAUSA

Each year, the Kiwimbi Prep for Success program equips 265 8th grade students from three primary schools in rural Western Kenya with essential foundational skills in Math and English that are crucial for excelling in the national exams that determine the quality of high school they can attend. Kiwimbi provides teaching assistants to the schools in order to improve the student-teacher ratio and tailors the instruction to each student’s current level of learning. Books, desks, and other teaching materials are made available that otherwise would be absent. Nutritious lunches are provided which bolster energy levels and keep the children at school. (Normally, the children would walk home several miles for lunch and might not return.)

In rural Kenyan schools fewer than 5% of students achieve passing grades on the national exams.

Kiwimbi’s Prep For Success program has raised that pass rate to over 60%, enabling the students to attend higher quality secondary schools. 

Kiwimbi International respectfully requests a grant of $4,000 to support this noble cause, now in its 11th year of success, to empower disadvantaged children in their pursuit of a quality education and to greatly expand their long-term prospects for success in life.

Hope for Education - $4,000

sponsored by Michele Hendrikse DuBois in memory of her parents Joan and Denis DuBois

Tewa Women United: A’Gin Healthy Sexuality and Body Sovereignty - Braided Curriculum Project

Española, New Mexico USA

Nominated by: FAUSA

Located in the ancestral Tewa homelands of Northern New Mexico, Tewa Women United (TWU) is a multicultural and multiracial organization founded and led by

Native women. The name “Tewa Women United” comes from the Tewa words "wi don gi mu" which can be translated as “we are one” in mind, heart, and in the spirit of love for all. This money will go directly to implementing the culturally congruent and newly revised Weaving Courage curriculum for middle/ high school students, addressing issues of healthy decision making, consent, gender-based violence prevention, and suicide prevention. There are few culturally responsive and congruent prevention curricula that have been created by Indigenous peoples for Indigenous peoples. To have one rooted in the values of Tewa people increases impact. TWU has a proven track record of creation and implementation of this curriculum and others for the past 9 years. They have impacted over 400 Native students with this curriculum. Healthy relations are based on self-worth and relationship dynamics with shared power and control. TWU, along with their community, is working to create a comprehensive health education curriculum that addresses their youth and aims to teach, learn and empower us all as a community.

The Coughlan Family Education Grant - $4,000

in recognition of the generosity of the Coughlan Family

Stop the Shop: Help Teens Embrace Sustainable Fashion

Hamburg, Germany

Nominated by: AWC Hamburg

How do you convince teenagers that they don’t need more clothes? At Hanseatic Help, a new workshop will teach teens about the devastating environmental impacts of “fast fashion” and empower them with solutions. Buying unnecessary, cheap (often synthetic), trendy items is now deeply ingrained in our culture. But 90% of modern clothes are thrown away, and the rapid cycle of clothing production contributes to one-tenth of global carbon emissions, a substantial depletion of water resources, and landfill overflow. Hanseatic Help, a nonprofit that collects used clothing and distributes it to more than 150 charities, sees the impact of “fast fashion” in its overflowing 2,300 m2 warehouse. This grant money will subsidize the salary of a Sustainability Team employee to develop and conduct two-hour workshops. An estimated 200 students will participate, who will be confronted with the problem and be inspired with practical tips (e.g. upcycling, clothing swap parties, and sustainable buying.) The teens will be instrumental in influencing their friends and family members to adopt sustainable habits. By instilling eco-conscious habits in young people, we can cultivate a generation that not only understands the urgency of mitigating textile waste but actively contributes to a more sustainable and environmentally healthy future.

For Projects: 

• that fall within any of the FAWCO focus areas with which we align our Development Grants i.e., Education, Environment, Health or Human Rights.
• that recognize club’s local charities often overlooked on the world stage, 
• that take place in the nominating club's home country.

Close to Home I - $4,000

sponsored in part by donations to the  “From the Heart” program

Generation Z ~ Arrivals

Florence, Italy

Nominated by: AILO Florence

Nosotras is a help center in Florence for immigrant and refugee women in precarious situations, with 25 years of experience. The immigrants' children can eventually be brought to Italy legally in a program of family inclusion. Nosotras has examined the condition of these young people and find that they face great difficulties: disorientation, culture-shock, racial and religious discrimination, language and scholastic challenges and even homesickness. Nosotras will provide the children with a program of coaching for empowerment, successful integration and well-being. It also involves the families, schools and educators and will combat isolation which together with poverty and discrimination leads young girls to abandon school. They will target improvement of their soft skills, language comprehension and self-esteem. All aspects of their new life in Italy will be discussed and cultural differences embraced. 15 youngsters, mainly girls, from 14 to 18, will be coached from October 2024 to May 2025. The experience of similar courses for adults gives Nosotras confidence that this strategy is successful for both immigrants and local residents.

Close to Home II - $4,000

sponsored by The FAWCO Foundation

Butterfly Breather

Scotland, UK

Nominated by: AWC Scotland

This is a unique project founded on a desire to enhance the experience and improve the health outcomes for people living with neurological and long-term disabling health conditions, such as MS, stroke, and those recovering from chemotherapy. 

The $4,000 grant will support this innovative work through the development and production of custom fitted oxygen therapy masks made from flexible silicon material. These masks are connected to tubes inside a pressurized chamber supplying oxygen. Individuals can sit inside the chamber for up to two hours, therefore the mask needs to be both effective and comfortable. 

Current masks are adapted from industrial masks which are heavy, poorly designed, painful, and difficult to use. The Butterfly Breather mask will improve the overall experience and the health benefits of oxygen treatment by decreasing oxygen leakage and improving the fit and comfort of the mask. 

To achieve our goal, Compass needs to purchase a specialist silicon 3D printer and materials to print these masks.

For projects:

• which contribute to supporting environmental action,
• that help mitigate climate change, 
• aimed at restoring the health of our planet.

For the Health of Our Planet - $4,000

sponsored in part by AIWC Cologne

Caribbean Coral Restoration: Love for the Sea

Bocas del Toro, Panama

Nominated by: AIWC Cologne

The coral reefs determine the future of our planet—including the production of 60% of the oxygen we breathe. “Caribbean Coral Restoration Center is a cultivator and guardian of flourishing ocean eco-systems assisting in the recovery of existing natural coral reefs in the Bocas del Toro archipelago. CCRC's Love for the Sea project has a legacy of recovering coral reefs and fish habitats resulting in sustained economic empowerment and improved health to local Ngäbe communities.” - The Lewis Pugh Foundation.

The indigenous community of Panama has traditionally depended on vibrant ocean environments for their food and livelihood. They face grave threats to their health and economic stability due to declining marine eco-systems. 

The DG will fund the purchase of three storage batteries to increase solar power. The batteries will amplify CCRC's energy output by 20% and provide continuous energy to their coral protection and propagation seed-bank facility. In turn, more resilient coral will be raised and introduced to the reef system, helping to restore the health of the local eco-system and rehabilitate fisheries which provide food and economic opportunities to members of the Ngäbe community. 

CCRC's Love for the Sea safeguards the reef, strengthens the community, and serves the planet.

For Projects: 

• providing medical treatment, diagnostic services, preventive care or medical counseling.
• that include but are not limited to cancer, HIV/AIDS, communicable, non-communicable and environmental diseases, substance abuse, life-improving surgeries, mental issues, the critically ill, the disabled, the aged, medical transport, special needs and maternal health for mothers and children.

Critical Health Concerns - $4,000

sponsored by the FAWCO Foundation

Diabetes Medication 4 All

Lebanon

Nominated by: AWC Lebanon

Lebanon and its people have suffered greatly since the October 2019 Revolution, the August 2020 port blast, and now the threat of war. The economic collapse, coupled with government inefficiency, has created a dangerous situation for Lebanon’s vulnerable populations. Diabetes Medication 4 All addresses the life-threatening condition that diabetic patients face today. If their medications are available, the cost is out of reach for many due to loss of income, lack of health coverage, and the inability to withdraw money from the bank.

This DG will impact approximately 1500 people, directly and indirectly, by providing funds for

•       Medical treatment for those patients in need of diabetes medications.
•       Diagnostic services through screenings in underserved neighborhoods.
•       Preventative care through educational awareness sessions while conducting screenings to promote healthy     lifestyles and prevent diabetes complications.

DiaLeb seeks to serve all those residing in Lebanon, regardless of religion or nationality, who have diabetes or family members with diabetes. Living with diabetes is costly. DiaLeb believes that education about diabetes as well as access to diabetes medication is a human right. Through our large network of professionals and physicians, we have developed experience concerning patients’ needs and how to address them efficiently.

For projects:

• providing vocational training, teaching practical skills, promoting social entrepreneurial initiatives for at-risk/marginalized population groups,
• addressing the critical problems of violence, food and shelter, healthcare, education, poverty, advocacy, human trafficking, prostitution, refugees, including all those impacted by economic, political or other forced migration,
• promoting cultural understanding  

FAUSA Effecting Change for Women and Children at Risk - $4,000

Keep the Lights On at Haitian Birth Center

Cap Haitien, Haiti

Nominated by: AWC Hamburg

During the nights at the Cap Haitien Birth Center in Haiti, women often find themselves giving birth in the dark when the municipal power grid fails and fuel for generators is scarce. Midwives use headlamps, which works fine until something goes wrong (such as hemorrhage, eclampsia, or birth asphyxia). Then the reality of darkness sets in, endangering the lives of mother and baby. This clinic is the third built by MamaBaby Haiti, a nonprofit that provides skilled midwifery care FREE for all clients and is successfully lowering the astronomical maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Haiti. 

To ensure stability for patients and employees, MamaBaby has raised enough funds to purchase solar panels, and this grant would pay for system parts and installation, ensuring electricity is always available in emergencies. Having dependable access to the clinic’s full resources – lights, medical equipment, refrigeration and communication – guarantees safer care for the 1,000 babies born there every year and during the clinic's 8,000 prenatal and postnatal appointments. Compassionate care leads to healthier women and babies; stable families; and safer, more robust communities – vital in the fight against poverty in Haiti. Ensuring safe childbirth is fundamental to a woman’s human right for health and well-being. 

Breaking the Cycle- $4,000

sponsored by the FAWCO Foundation

Empowering Abused Women and Their Children: All Inclusive Support

Lebanon

Nominated by: AWC Lebanon

Domestic abuse represents a tremendous problem in Lebanon where gender inequality is blatant, honor crimes are prevalent, and marital rape and child marriage remain legal. The legal gaps within the judicial framework, coupled with lack of resources to effectively assist survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV), only leave the victims with very few options.

Home of Tenderness (Beit El Hanane) seeks to efficiently advocate for and empower women and girls, GBV survivors, for their ultimate well-being and for the higher benefit of society through its holistic approach. With its outstanding multidisciplinary team, our project, Empowering Survivors, focuses on tackling this major problem by providing free short/medium term shelter and transitional living services in a secure and nurturing environment, through psychosocial rehabilitation, personal/medical care, advocacy, legal services, education, capacity building, for their successful reintegration into society.

The Development Grant will assist us in our efforts to stop the cycle of violence by using the funds to provide the beneficiaries with

•       psychological and psychiatric counseling
•       education and job training workshops
•       food, clothing, and personal items 

The grant will enable us to broaden our reach, thus caring for 25 more GBV survivors in Lebanon.