home

"Our featured Everyday Changemakers are volunteers who were approached by nearby villagers asking for help to fix their contaminated water well. This group voluntarily led a Safe Drinking Water project to retrofit the well, finding the expertise and funds needed and with an outside investment of only $1,600 completed the project ahead of schedule in December 2021. This group is part of the CII initiative in Buchanan, Liberia. Their community building spirit and passion towards positively developing the community’s poor infrastructure is the very reason they were selected as an “Everyday Changemaker”. Hundreds in their community are now experiencing fresh, safe drinking water. CII members are now viewed and thought of as leaders in their community. A motley crew, a mix of participants from different professions Ma Hawa owning a provisions and dry goods shop, Otis Kuopar and David Tamba are concrete block makers and distributors, Edith Zeon selling beautiful colorful bowls, and Joecephus Boegbah, Abraham Kinjones, Teete Harris selling a variety of goods from their shops. All wonderfully driven, ambitious and rising above the ordinary. Their community impact efforts will continue as they demonstrate the omni-present power of social change that resides in everyday people, everywhere. No outsiders or programs are needed to lead this change. Outsiders can instead support such efforts of mutuality. Many other Community Independence Initiative participants in Liberia are now also forming groups driving needed change,  “peer driven change” models of success. See all projects from Liberia on the Mutuality Platform."

"Dried fish businesswoman, baker, community leader, emergent proximate leader, Theresa is our featured incredible Everyday Changemaker. This year she joined with seven other women to start a bakery they will call “Bread for All”. One of the members owns a piece of land she is donating for the bakery. They have pooled their savings and have already started the construction of their bakery. They are seeking additional outside donors as well. Within their small city, Buchanan Liberia, they do not have a bakery owned by a Liberian, so they want to be the first. This bakery is much needed, and she explained that when the Ghanaian owned bakery’s bread machine is broken, residents must drive 2 ½ hours to purchase bread from the capital city of Monrovia. Amongst her many talents besides baking bread, she aspires to “teach other younger women how to bake bread and dry fish". Initially,  Theresa started with a small fish stall that also sold some of her baked goods. Part of CII Liberia, she got a $100 investment which allowed her to increase her sales by 400%. Knowing she would now be able to feed her children, that sense of personal independence led Theresa to take a leadership role in developing the bakery. She is paying CII’s investment forward by helping others. Globally, Theresa is just one example of an Everyday Changemaker. Change does not have to be run by a nonprofit. There are billions globally who when embedded in a supportive peer environment, prosper, grow, and thus have a broader positive impact in their community. Theresa is beyond doubt, one of our Everyday Changemakers. Read about the Community Independence Initiative global demonstrations, part of a new emerging field of social change called “peer driven change”."

"Everyday Changemaker Leticia is our featured Everyday Changemaker. Her community building spirit and passion for teaching the art of knitting has already changed the lives of 18 young women. She has thus been awarded the status of an Everyday Changemaker. She is a valued community builder and a voice for positive change in her community. “Her knitting business has empowered and still empowers young women and girls” says Immaculate Cyizakora liaison officer from Kisoro, Uganda. “She believes in creating a community that practices inclusion for all. Her goal is to afford the girls and youth the opportunities and sense of independence to live and exist as a contributing member of society”. Empowering girls and the youths with skills and knowledge to create their own livelihood is her mission in life. Secondly, Leticia is a bright spot in her community. She is a respected small businesswoman, her business Maranatha Enterprise sells clothing she designed. She also sells secondhand shoes and scholastic materials. She is currently enrolled in the Community Independence Initiative. After a $100 investment back in August 2021, in a few months she saw business revenue gains of 47%. Initially her take home pay was $84 per month which then jumped up to $124 after the investment. Today we salute you Leticia as one of our impactful Everyday Changemakers. CII is a “peer driven change” model that presents this approach as the gold standard of how funders should fund, directly to these amazing self-help initiatives, who in turn will then help others. That process can scale globally, peer to peer. #peerdrivenchange #everydaychangemaker #selfhelp #residentdriven #mutuality #community #uganda"

"Everyday Changemaker Rufus Logan a physician assistant from Buchanan, Liberia is a prime example of a proximate leader, Everyday Changemaker. He started the Fairground Hospital Community Project and now delivers health care to 1,000-1,500 patients a month. His dreams are not for himself but "wants to see a healthy community". He deeply cares about his community and their health. His clinic is not for profit, he treats patients based on their health needs rather than profiting from them. Many patients he sees are very poor. We, as an audience applaud him near and far, for his caring spirit, his deep love for his community. He envisions/dreams of expansion, wanting to add an annex for children and pregnant women. See him on CII's mutuality platform, CII Liberia. Rufus is part of Community Independence Initiative   a field catalyst, global demonstrations of how to directly fund projects to these everyday change makers and a new peer driven change paradigm, changing how we can positively impact the war on poverty. Everyday people millions/billions of people globally, who do things that positively impacts their community, positively impacts their own lives, who do things not for recognition/awards, but do things because they strive for a better life for themselves or their community. Everyday change makers, true role models for their community and the world. Local actors who show people how to act, how to do, breaking down negative stereotypes that they do not have capacity, breaking down erroneous preconceived ideas of those in poverty as "takers". #peerdrivenchange #everydaychangemaker #selfhelp #residentdriven #mutuality #community #liberia"

"Merab is our featured amazing Everyday Changemaker. She not only owns one of the women owned businesses in Uganda, but more importantly she cares tremendously about the welfare of the members of her community especially the elderly and children. She donates many handmade articles of clothing (also designed by her), food and supplies to them. Impacting her community and being a beacon of light is one of the major reasons Merab was awarded the status of an “Everyday Changemaker”. She is held in high esteem in her community and has organically developed into the role of a proximate leader and a community builder (which is innate by nature) whose input is helping change the ecosystem of Kisoro, a farming region in Uganda. Merab was also chosen as one of our “Everyday Changemakers” because she personally trains many young people in her region, in her profession of tailoring and sewing. She personally uplifts the youth so they can create their livelihood and be a contributing member of their community. She envisions creating a much-needed training center in the not-so-distant future. Not only is Merab an everyday changemaker, but she is also one of our bright spots in the Community Independence Initiative’s support of a new emerging field of social change, peer driven change. Her woman owned retail shop, T & M Duty Shop is a role model for women -- that they too can succeed, that they too can own a business and be a powerful voice in their community. #peerdrivenchange #everydaychangemaker #selfhelp #residentdriven #mutuality #community"

"Everyday Changemaker James Habimana, father of six, is our featured Changemaker from Kisoro, a rural region in Uganda. In this Covid-19 crisis, when people have lost work, James provided job opportunities and much needed income to well over 20 youth and adults in his village. He was awarded the distinction as an Everyday Changemaker, because his inner strength and sheer determination are an inspiration for others, and he continues providing income for other’s basic needs of food and shelter. James was also selected as an Everyday Changemaker because he is continually thinking of ways to try and engage the youth in his village. Education is very important to him, donating money to help other community members fund their children’s school costs. He also hired many youth to help collect local raw materials for his handmade beehives. He is one of the leading apiarist (bee farmer), and has a farm James Family Foundation which is featured on the Mutuality Platform. During this period, millions of people are being pushed into more severe poverty due to the economic contraction that is occurring. James and others like him are stepping up to help one another. James is part of the Community Independence Initiative partnering with Up with Africa, and is a global demonstration of “peer driven change” in Uganda. #peerdrivenchange #everydaychangemaker #selfhelp #residentdriven #mutuality #community"

"Everyday Changemaker Otis Kuopar is highly esteemed because of his significant impacts on his community, helping to lead an effort to bring safe drinking water to hundreds of members in his community as well as creating jobs for young people. He along with 7 other highly valued CII community members helped to raise funds and retrofit an existing well that will now bring safe drinking water to his community. Personally, he has grown immensely after his engagement with CII as he transformed into more of a civil servant continually striving to improve his community. Only 25% of Liberians have access to clean water, because of this 3,000 Liberians die each year. Not only is Otis viewed as a pillar in his community, he is also an exceptional businessman. His business Kuopar’s Construction Product and Services revenue grew 368%, after a $100 investment from CII (in April 2020) increasing his monthly take home pay from $370 a month to an astonishing $1700 a month. His business is so successful he is creating jobs for many of the youth in his city. He wants his business to expand more, to give more youth opportunities for employment. Otis is part of the Community Independence Initiative in Liberia. CII, a “peer driven change” approach, is now in 10 countries Liberia, Uganda, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya Philippines, Columbia, Mexico,  and circling back to the US. #peerdrivenchange #everydaychangemaker #selfhelp #residentdriven #mutuality #community #liberia"

"Elijah D.F. Kplawere our talented father of four, is our featured Everyday Changemaker because as he has grown his business he has begun to create new jobs for young people and has trained others in the community giving them access to the internet. With just a small investment of $100 from the Community Independence Initiative (a peer driven change model which has components of self-initiative, mutuality and investment), Elijah’s Fundamentals of Computer Technology business grew 3951% from $7.00 a month to $147.00 a month. Amazingly, he was able to pull himself out of severe poverty with his engagement with CII Liberia (1.3 million people live in severe poverty making less than $1.90 a day in Liberia with a pop. 5 million). Elijah is highly skilled with computer operations, hardware repair, graphic designing, software installation, and has a tremendous amount of computer knowledge that he wants to share with his community. The second major reason he is our true everyday changemaker is his willingness to help others that do not know how to use a computer. This propelled him to the top of Everyday Changemakers, highlights CII’s philosophy of peer-to-peer learning and is central to CII’s core values. Most of the families in Liberia do not have computers or smart phones. His aspirations of helping his community advance to the 21st century, increasing his community’s computer literacy is a tall order, when Liberia has an overall literacy rate of 48.3%. His dreams of a more computer literate country, brands him as a thought leader in his community as well. Elijah’s drive, motivation, determination is truly admired. He continually has high goals aiming to expand his business's locations, improve in-house equipment, and ultimately providing educational and employment opportunities for all."

"FEATURED EVERYDAY CHANGEMAKER Tamba David has a concrete block business, Heavy Weight Block Factory. He is leading by example and has not only created his amazing concrete block business which employs many in his community, but more importantly was part of a community project to bring safe drinking water to his community. This safe drinking water project impacted at least 250+ members in his village community. His utter impact on his community and being a global example of capacity and agency is one of the valued reasons he is no doubt, one of our Everyday Changemakers. In spite of Covid and the currency devaluation in Liberia in 2020, he was able to grow his business profit by 606% from $35 to $247 a month with just a $100 investment from the Community Independence Initiative ( a peer driven change model composed of self-initiative, mutuality and investments). He was able to support not only his family/extended family but was able to employ many people in his community. Tamba’s drive, determination, self-motivation, sets him apart from many. He is a bright spot and is viewed as a cornerstone in his community. He is helping CII breakdown negative stereotypes of those in poverty as incapable. His entrepreneurial spirit thrives wanting to one day own the biggest concrete block factory in Liberia. Today we salute you Tamba David."

"Everyday Changemaker Godfrey is our featured Everyday Changemaker who was chosen by our coordinators/liaisons from the Kisoro region in Uganda. Godfrey is an incredible, impactful, kind spirited, Changemaker who donated honey to at least 30 community members to help them with different health issues, believing honey can potentially cure certain ailments. Because of this, Godfrey is highly regarded in his community and without question viewed as an “Everyday Changemaker”. Income/money does not deter him or influence his decision to give, giving to others and wanting to help create a healthier community is his main driver. Godfrey is a farmer who also is an apiarist (bee farmer) who believes in the medicinal properties that honey holds. This is what drove him to be an apiarist. For thousands of years honey has been highly thought of as liquid gold. Worldwide and in Uganda, honey is viewed as a natural and more organic way to treat different issues. Medicinally honey is used for bacterial infections, sore throats, coughs and wounds. Secondly, Godfrey enjoys the status of being an expert in bee farming. His expertise motivates him to share his knowledge with others, train others, and has ultimately inspired others to start bee farms. Wanting to share his knowledge freely, impacting the livelihood of others in his community also bestowed onto him the status of everyday changemaker. Godfrey a participant of Community Independence Initiative CII (a peer driven change model ) has a business Mgahinga Farming and Apiculture which can be seen in Up with Africa’s Mutuality Platform. Godfrey’s status in his community, his model farming practices, and highly respected Apiculture business, awards him the honor of an Everyday Changemaker globally."