Announcing Greenheart’s Spring 2023 Global Impact Grant Winners
Greenheart believes in connecting people and planet through fair trade, personal development, environmentalism, and volunteerism. Our cultural exchange programs help create global leaders by building mutual understanding and fostering diplomacy. And Greenheart encourages our alumni to give back to their communities through our Global Impact Grant.
A Greenheart Global Impact Grant is a financial award of up to $2,000 given to exemplary members of the Greenheart community. It provides current participants and alumni with the opportunity to create, improve, or maintain a community-focused project abroad or at home. As the Greenheart alumni network continues to expand, more and more of our participants are working towards an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and peaceful world.
Congratulations to our Spring 2023 Awardees:
- Maliha Maliha // Pakistan
- David Thomas // Jamaica
- John Dewald // USA
- Jeison Diaz Hernández // Colombia
Maliha Maliha of Pakistan (High School Exchange student with Greenheart 2016-17), wins for her “Climate Advocacy: Empowering Youth for a Sustainable Future” project
Maliha is from Pakistan and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Institute of Management Sciences Peshawar. She writes, “Throughout my academic journey, I have been actively engaged with several prominent welfare organizations in Pakistan, thus gaining extensive hands-on experience in various areas, including youth development, community emergency response, women empowerment, and other community service projects. I find myself being highly committed towards working on new ideas, leading impactful projects, and contributing to community development programs.”
Her Project:
Maliha’s project, “Climate Advocacy: Empowering Youth for a Sustainable Future,” will be a three-day camp to raise awareness among young people about the impact of climate change and equip them with the tools and knowledge to make positive changes in their communities. The camp will consist of multiple educational sessions focused on climate change and practical activities that allow participants to take action and make a tangible impact in their communities. This will include things like tree planting drives, where participants will learn about the importance of trees in mitigating the effects of climate change and work together to plant trees in their local area. The hope is that through this project, we can inspire and empower young people to take meaningful action to combat climate change and work towards a sustainable future.
David Thomas of Jamaica (Summer Work Travel participant with Greenheart 2019), wins for his “Bucknor Community Internet and Home Work Centre” project
David Thomas is a climate change advocate and youth ambassador from Jamaica. He is a recent graduate from the University of the West Indies Mona with a Master of Science degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Statistics. David was selected to attend Greenheart’s Global Leaders Conference in 2019 in Washington DC, and went on to attend the Global Goals Summit (GGS) in Kula Lumpur Malaysia and was selected as a Global Goals Ambassador (GGA) for Jamaica where he was awarded for the best idea for Sustainable Development Goals action. In 2021, he was also chosen as the delegate to represent Jamaican at the youth4climate conference. He is also a researcher for the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council, and members of several organizations focused on environmental protection
His Project:
The Bucknor Community Internet and Homework Center is aimed at providing internet services to members of the local community. Given the challenges faced by residents over the last few years, this project will offer free internet service, free computer literacy classes, and also training sessions on building resume. This project will not only provide a place for children to use the free internet, but it will as act as a study area where students can access educational material and complete homework assignments. The Internet and homework center will also provide residents with the opportunity to search for employment and build their resume.
John Dewald of the United States (TEFL participant with Greenheart Travel 2017), wins for his “Clean Water for Jardim Gramacho” project
President and cofounder of the NGO Full Belly Brasil, John Dewald initially went to Brazil on a Fulbright Grant to teach English at the Federal University of Ouro Preto after earning a Greenheart TEFL degree in Leon, Nicaragua in 2017. John has spent the last four years living in Brazil, and his NGO has provided hundreds of thousands of meals to families in need as well as providing water decontamination systems to vulnerable families. John graduated with a degree in literature from Claremont McKenna and is an aspiring novelist. He also leads international service/adventure programs. A scuba diver and sky diver, John has a passion for learning languages and helping others.
His Project:
John’s project will install a system to capture and purify rainwater to provide families living in Jardim Gramacho with access to safe water. Jardim Gramacho is home to over 13,000 people and is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. It started as a squatter community in what was once the largest open-air dump in Latin America, Jardim. When the dump was closed in 2012, most of the people living there lost their jobs. And people still illegally dump their waste there, so the people who call Jardim Gramacho home are living in an unregulated dump. Water contamination is a major problem. Many families there do not have access to clean water and they use contaminated water to clean, bathe, cook, and drink. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are directly linked to the transmission of disease. “The rainwater capturing and purifying system we are proposing to install is similar to smaller-scale systems that our NGO, Full Belly Brasil, has successfully installed in rural communities in Bahia. We hope that this grant can be the start of the solution for this area.”
Jeison Fabián Díaz Hernández of Colombia (Summer Work Travel participant with Greenheart 2017), wins for his “GraphoGame: Teaching Kids Early Literacy Skills” project
Jeison is currently living in Finland, working as a Colombian language teacher while completing a European master’s in Clinical Linguistics and a master’s program in teaching Spanish as a foreign language. He completed his Bachelor of Education in English as a foreign language at the Universidad Industrial de Santander in Bucaramanga in 2018, graduating with distinction. Jeison’s been teaching since he was 18 years old and he is passionate about languages, cultures, traveling, basketball, singing, and teaching. In 2021, he was granted an Erasmus Mundus scholarship that allowed him to study in three different countries and universities. “From my experiences, I have developed a strong interest in contributing to social change and education in my Latin-American communities. My internship at GraphoGame earlier this year also confirmed my motivation to make a social impact in this world, which is what I want to dedicate my life to. I truly believe that the satisfaction of being part of your students’ learning process is priceless; that is why I became a teacher.”
His Project:
Jeison’s project aims at providing children with an education technology tool to help teach them how to read. GraphoGame is a literacy game that teaches children basic reading skills. It was developed to support children with dyslexia, but neurotypical kids benefit from it as well. The project aims at helping approximately 400 preschoolers and primary students in Colombia who are learning how to read or who struggle at reading.
Congratulations! We can’t wait to see how their projects progress.
Got a project in mind? Earn up to $2,000 for an opportunity to create, improve, or maintain a community-focused project abroad or at home. Follow Greenheart on Facebook and Instagram to see when the next application window opens.
Click here if you’d like to donate to help Greenheart fund the Global Impact Grant program.
Thank you!