![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Milton-Lo\u0301pez-Tarabochia_LEARN-1.jpg\")
Photo: Handrez Garc\u00eda<\/small> <\/p>\n Photo: Handrez Garc\u00eda<\/small> <\/p>\n
“Chaikuni” means “spirit of the forest” in Shipibo-Konibo, an Indigenous language spoken in the Peruvian Amazon. The Chaikuni are the guards of the rainforest\u2014people like Milton L\u00f3pez Tarabochia.<\/p>\n
Milton protects the communities and natural wonders within the Peruvian Amazon as the Communications Coordinator for Instituto Chaikuni<\/a>, and as part of the Indigenous cosmovision.<\/p>\n A three-time Climate Action Fund<\/a> member, Milton and the Instituto Chaikuni team live up to their namesake by fostering environmental stewardship and Indigenous rights in close partnership with Native leaders, Indigenous youth, and local farmers. Whether they\u2019re leading a permaculture training or developing a short film series<\/a> featuring Indigenous women, reciprocity between human and natural communities is at the heart of Instituto Chaikuni\u2019s work. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Amazon is vital for our health and survival, and Indigenous knowledge can help us protect it and use it in a sustainable way for a better quality of life,\u201d Milton said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Despite recent successes including a new regenerative agriculture workshop series and expanded permaculture training facilities, life on the front lines of protecting our planet isn\u2019t easy. In the past few years alone, Milton has experienced unexpected shifts in the Amazon\u2019s once predictable climate patterns, seen biodiversity decline, and watched as hectares of pristine rainforest were cut down\u2014all at the expense of the Indigenous communities Instituto Chaikuni works to protect. Nonetheless, Milton remains hopeful for the future of our home. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is titanic work trying to change the world,\u201d he said, reflecting on a career that has introduced him to groups and individuals that produced structural changes. \u201cThose real cases are the ones that keep me standing in the fight for a fairer and greener world.\u201d <\/p>\n Help Milton protect our home. <\/a><\/p>\n For 18 years, Alma Bowen worked as a 911 Emergency Service Dispatcher in Sonoma County, California. On the first night of the 2017 Tubbs fire\u2014which killed 22 people and scorched thousands of acres, homes, and businesses\u2014Alma was working the night shift. <\/p>\n Over the phone that night, she heard what it sounds like when communities are unprepared for disasters. She spoke with two migrant workers who needed to escape from the fire but didn\u2019t know the address of the vineyard where they worked because they couldn\u2019t read English. Alma tried to figure out their location based on letters they could recognize. But by the time she did, it was too late. The men had to flee, and she couldn\u2019t send help. <\/p>\n \u201cI really realized that first responders cannot possibly help everyone.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So she took this momentary feeling of helplessness<\/a> and turned it into a mission. Alma founded Nuestra Comunidad<\/a> to ensure no community member has to think about anything except their safety during disasters.<\/p>\n The nonprofit shares disaster information, distributes \u201cgo-kits\u201d packed with evacuation essentials, and provides rent abatement in the aftermath of destructive wildfires. <\/p>\n And Alma is determined to reach people in her community who fear being too visible if they ask for help or need information in a language other than English. Many Latino residents don\u2019t even call for information or emergency assistance because they fear deportation. <\/p>\n \u201cMy position comes from 20 years behind the scenes learning where the holes are,\u201d Alma said. \u201cNow, we can help plug them.\u201d <\/p>\n Help Alma prepare Californians for the next disaster.<\/a><\/p>\n Mrs. Najah is a grandmother. She can proudly name all 19 of her grandchildren. And if she traces the family line back to her own grandparents, she remembers how they lived off of the oranges, olives, grapes, and figs they planted. <\/p>\n But in 1948, they were among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forced from their homes during the Arab-Israeli war.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the people left their houses, they closed the door and took the keys with them, thinking they would return,\u201d Mrs. Najah said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey thought it would be days\u2014the days became 70 years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n From Block J of the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Mrs. Najah saw the conflict over the land. She witnessed how the 14-year blockade Israel and Egypt imposed on Hamas-controlled Gaza limits Palestinians\u2019 movement, stifles the flow of goods, and causes billions of dollars in economic losses.<\/p>\n And now, she\u2019s watching COVID-19 strain what\u2019s left of the struggling economy\u2014but she\u2019s also cooking.<\/p>\n As the Executive Director of the Women\u2019s Programs Center-Rafah, Mrs. Najah manages a seven-woman team of cooks. In her kitchen<\/a>, they make hearty meals of chicken and rice with pine nuts mixed in and limes for garnish.<\/p>\n With two-thirds<\/a> of Gazans already struggling to get food regularly and unemployment at 45%, the pandemic and the 11-day war between Hamas and Israel in May 2021 made it even tougher for families to make a meal.<\/p>\n So Mrs. Najah serves anyone who needs to eat\u2014cancer patients, people with disabilities, children\u2014not only the refugees that make up most<\/a> of Gaza\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Since the project started through Rebuilding Alliance<\/a> in 2020, her kitchen has fed thousands of people.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I go to a house, I ask the woman who lives there what she prepared for lunch,\u201d Mrs. Najah said. \u201cAnd I feel joy when I give her a good, hot meal after she says she did not prepare anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Help Mrs. Najah provide more meals.<\/a><\/p>\n Jacqueline Audige always says she has six children. Five have left the house\u2014her youngest son is now in college. Her sixth child is Aumazo Inc.<\/a>, a nonprofit organization working against the forces that pushed her out of school.<\/p>\n The village where Jacqueline grew up in Cameroon didn\u2019t have a high school, so she had no choice but to attend a school in the city, away from her home and family. Eventually, she ran out of money and was faced with offering sexual favors to afford school supplies or dropping out. <\/p>\n Jacqueline dropped out.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my motivation: to give back and prevent any other girls dropping out because of financial issues and being coerced into sex,” she said.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n After immigrating to the US with her husband and children in 1991, Jacqueline was eventually able to get her high school diploma. And a bachelor\u2019s degree. And a master\u2019s degree. During a trip back to Cameroon more than a decade later, Jacqueline saw that level of education was still out of reach for many girls in her childhood village. <\/p>\n Without access to a private toilet and sanitary products\u2014and with the stigma surrounding menstruation\u2014many girls were forced to stay at home. Some had to repeat middle school classes two or three times. The vast majority weren\u2019t even making it to high school.<\/p>\n Moved by the challenges girls continued to face and unwilling to let history repeat itself, Jacqueline talked with the students to understand their needs and started the nonprofit Aumazo. From supplying period pads to coordinating a local peer-to-peer tutoring program, Aumazo gives girls more chances to complete their education and build brighter futures than Jacqueline had.<\/p>\n Before Aumazo\u2019s tutoring program started, only 25% of middle school girls enrolled in the program passed their high school entrance exam. After its first year, that number climbed to 45%. <\/p>\n In 2021, 100% of girls in the program passed. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to understand that there is a big need out there, and it doesn\u2019t take much to make a difference,\u201d Jacqueline said. \u201cI\u2019m running the organization on shoestrings, but those shoestrings have a lot of value, a lot of weight.\u201d<\/p>\n Help Jacqueline make a difference for students.<\/a><\/p>\n Rima Yacoub\u2019s jiu-jitsu skills have earned her gold medals and gratifying moments around the globe. She\u2019s a woman and professional athlete living in Jordan\u2014two things that don\u2019t always play well together.<\/p>\n \u201cA girl, refugee, or Jordanian alike looking for physical activity in Jordan will face male-only gyms, fields that have never hosted women\u2019s games, and a lack of programming and teams that they can join,\u201d Rima explained.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This lack of opportunity and access adds to the challenges girls and women face as they build their lives in Amman, Jordan\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n As Jordan Programs Director for Reclaim Childhood, Inc.<\/a>, an organization run by women for women, Rima works to open doors and fields. Reclaim Childhood creates safe and inclusive spaces for underserved girls in Jordan\u2014many of whom are refugees\u2014and uses sport to develop their confidence, leadership, and teamwork skills. <\/p>\n Reclaim Childhood staff members focus on helping girls form friendships across different national, economic, and religious backgrounds. And they help girls build their self-esteem and integrate into local communities.<\/p>\n \u201cReclaim Childhood gets girls out of the house and onto the field, providing a safe space to play, learn, and build community,\u201d Rima said. <\/p>\n She wants them to know there is more to life than they thought\u2014and then have the chance to go out and get it.<\/p>\n \u201cI always dreamt of being an Olympian,\u201d Rima said. And as she trains for another jiu-jitsu match, she teaches the girls she works with that: \u201cThere is no expiration date to childhood dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Help Rima encourage girls to find their path through sports.<\/a><\/p>\nFeatured Photo: Forest landscape restoration in Northern Ethiopia<\/span> by WeForest<\/a><\/small>\n2. Alma is patching holes in emergency response.<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Alma-Bowen_-1.jpg\")
Photo: Nuestra Comunidad<\/small><\/p>\n3. Mrs. Najah is feeding her community.<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Mrs.-Najah_LEARN-1.jpg\")
Photo: Rebuilding Alliance<\/small> <\/p>\n4. Jacqueline is keeping girls in school.<\/h3>\n
![\"Jacqueline](\"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Jacqueline-Audige_LEARN-1.jpg\")
Photo: Jacqueline Audige<\/small> <\/p>\n5. Rima is building a team.<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rima-Yacoub_LEARN-1.jpg\")
Photo: Jaron Johns<\/small> <\/p>\n