Grant #45

Donkeys for Development

December 23, 2013

Eliot Chisango is using donkey power to transform lives and bring sustainable living to South Africa.

Eliot Chisango is a change maker.

Born in Zimbabwe and educated in Johannesburg, his personal mission is clear: “To help people in rural South Africa out of poverty by creating jobs and cleaning up communities through recycling initiatives.” Obviously, our AWB team was more than happy to throw a little fairy dust his way.

After identifying the lack of an effective waste disposal and recycling system in Senwabarwana, a small community in deep rural Limpopo province of South Africa, Eliot called on his studies in Environmental Management, and experience working with the P.E.A.C.E Foundation, to mastermind an unlikely solution: donkey carts.

While some of the waste collection will be completed using the Municipal system, not all areas of the rural community can be reached. Donkey carts provide access to areas the Municipality will not service, strengthening the recycling buy-back initiative and creating jobs.

So far, Eliot and the P.E.A.C.E. Foundation have helped a cooperative of women improve their working conditions, by transitioning an unprotected dumpsite to an operation with water, electricity and the essential machinery. With this AWB grant, they are also able to purchase a donkey cart and provide trash bins labeled “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle from Trash to Cash.”

To learn more about Eliot, watch this short video, and to connect with the P.E.A.C.E Foundation, you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Category: Animals, Community, Environment, Sanitation

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT AWESOMENESS!

After 11+ years, we’re signing off and closing applications for good. We’ve supported 571 projects with $571,000 in grant dollars. We’re so proud to have celebrated such incredible work. Please visit https://www.awesomefoundation.org/ for more information on other AWESOME chapters! And thanks for sharing so much awesomeness with us.

Cheers,
Team Awesome Without Borders