GlobalGiving Project of the Month Club

This month, we're supporting a project from Kudvumisa Foundation that is helping families turn local skills and resources into sources of income, creating more room for choices about food, schooling, health care, and the future.

In the communities where Kudvumisa Foundation works, earning an income isn't simply a matter of finding a job or bringing something to market. There is little local economy to participate in, many families don't have access to enough land for subsistence farming, and larger markets can be hundreds of kilometers away. Transportation costs alone can make selling goods elsewhere unrealistic.

And yet, there are skills, knowledge, and resources already present. Kudvumisa Foundation starts there.

The organization works with community members to identify skills and natural resources that could reach markets beyond the local area, then helps build the connections and infrastructure needed to get them there. Participants also receive business and skills training to help them manage and grow what they earn.

So far, more than 150 families have participated in programs drawing on sewing skills and locally available resources such as marula nuts and moringa.

Their crawfish initiative connects community members who fish crawfish to local restaurants. Their Marula Oil production (made from the Native Marula plant) is sold in stores across Eswatini and now into the States. For supporters abroad, their U.S. e-shop remains open, giving customers around the world a vital way to buy directly: www.dvumisacreative.com 

The work isn't about bringing an entirely new livelihood into a community. It's about creating pathways for what people already know, grow, make, and do to carry greater economic possibility.

And income can open choices that extend far beyond a single sale.

It can mean being able to pay school costs or buy better-quality food. It can help cover health care, clothing, or livestock. It can be reinvested into a small business or into improvements at home. Over time, families have more ability to decide for themselves what they need and where their resources should go.

That's what makes this month's project about more than income alone. In a place where geography, transportation costs, and limited economic infrastructure can narrow people's options, access to a market can widen them again.

Daran Rehmeyer, Director of the Kudvumisa Foundation, shared this upon learning of their selection as this month's featured project: 

“We are extremely proud of our staff that make our outreaches a success. Our selection validates their hard work and commitment. This grant will enable us to expand participation to include even more families and caregivers. This is what it means to be truly alive and not just existing: having a real impact in the lives of those you serve!”

Project of the Month Club support will help Kudvumisa Foundation continue identifying local opportunities, developing connections to outside markets, and providing the training and infrastructure families need to participate in them.

Sometimes possibility doesn't need to be brought in from somewhere else. Sometimes it's already there, in a skill, a seed, a tree, or a person's own knowledge of what they can do.

It just needs a path to travel.

Thank you for helping create more of those paths.

Until next time,

Yami + Raghuvendra

Some of the most important work of rebuilding begins before anything looks rebuilt.

This month, we're supporting Teaching for Peace, a project from BARISI CANLANDIRMA YARDIMLASMA VE DAYANISMA DERNEGI that is helping Syrian teachers build the skills and confidence to create safer, more supportive classrooms for children affected by years of conflict—because peace grows where we water it. 

Peace can also grow in a classroom, with a teacher helping a child feel safe enough to learn. A student learns how to work through a conflict on the playground instead of letting it grow. And a school becomes a place where children can feel safe, supported, and connected.

After fifteen years of war, Syria's education system is facing enormous challenges. 

Thousands of schools have been destroyed, millions of children have been displaced, and many teachers have had little access to the professional or emotional support they need to navigate classrooms shaped by trauma. Teachers are often left to manage aggression, bullying, tension, and emotional distress with few tools to help.

Teaching for Peace will provide educators with hands-on training in peace education, conflict resolution, empathy, and psychosocial support. After completing the training, teachers will bring what they've learned back to their schools through peace projects that bring students, parents, and communities together through art, dialogue, and other creative activities.

The idea is simple but powerful: when teachers have the support to create peaceful classrooms, that learning can spread far beyond the classroom itself. Students can carry new ways of communicating and resolving conflict into their homes and communities, while trained teachers continue sharing peacebuilding skills with those around them.

Fayez AlAli, CEO of BARISI CANLANDIRMA YARDIMLASMA VE DAYANISMA DERNEGI, shared:

“We are deeply honored to have our project selected as GlobalGiving’s Project of the Month. This recognition means a great deal to our team and to the teachers and communities we serve across Syria. To every Club member, thank you for believing in locally led change and for helping us continue rebuilding peace through education.” 

The support from Project of the Month Club members will help expand the Teaching for Peace project and reach more Syrian teachers with practical skills in peace education, psychosocial support, and conflict resolution.

As Fayez put it, “Our work goes beyond meeting immediate needs—we help create spaces where people can listen to one another, rebuild trust, and choose dialogue over division.”

Thank you for continuing to invest in locally led work that supports people not only through today's challenges, but in building the foundations for a more peaceful future.