61 Days of RainMakers & ChangeMakers
A few reflections + what to expect going forward from RainMakers & ChangeMakers
The end of a project, the beginning of a network…
It’s been a week since I completed the RainMakers & ChangeMakers art and storytelling project! Did you miss me?
This post is part reflection, part preview of “what’s next”. I hope you’ll read both!
Over the sixty-one days of the “Small Art, Big Heart” series, I had the honor of highlighting 35 organizations, all doing incredible, transformative work in Africa in the areas of poverty relief, climate change mitigation, food security, education, and lots of art!
Did you have a favorite article? Which person or organization did you find the most fascinating? Have you made any new connections as a result of reading RainMakers & ChangeMakers?
If You Read Nothing Else, Read This…!
While the 61-day project has come to end, there’s more content to come so stay tuned!
I plan to post here 2 to 3 times per month, digging deeper into the stories of the thirty-five organizations I highlighted during the 61-day project. You can look forward to updates on each organization, art and stories highlighting the team members and people served by each organization, interviews with RainMakers, and likely a few new ChangeMaker interviews in partnership with other organizations.
Become a RainMaker by subscribing, donating or purchasing merch!
Upgrade to a paid Substack subscription for $5 per month or $50 per year. Your subscription dollars will be pooled to seed a RainMaker Fund. You’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that your $5 is having a REAL impact on the ground in Africa (I’m covering Substack & Stripe fees so 100% of your donation goes directly to these organizations). Once we reach the equivalent of 70 monthly paid subscribers (we have 4 as of this writing!), we can start distributing $10 per month to each of the 35 organizations.
My goal is to get to this magic subscription number of 70 by September 1st. Regular monthly support is not only a meaningful way to recognize the incredible work of these ChangeMakers but it also helps each of them know that someone is paying attention and has their back. Stay tuned for a “$10 Impact Story” post where each organization will share what they intend to do with $10 per month.
Here’s our first! From MC Dawn of Agape Hope for Kibera School in Kibera Slums, Nairobi, Kenya who will use his $10 per month to feed two families of five children each.
Or, make a one-time donation to the Fund using my “Buy Me A Coffee” site:
Or, purchase the RainMakers & ChangeMakers poster on my RainMaker Design Etsy site, notecards (to come!), or Mini-Zine series (stay tuned!). The unframed poster is available for purchase in three different sizes and three different finishes on my Etsy store. Net proceeds from every poster sale ($10) will be added to the RainMaker Fund.
A Few Reflections…
I’ve had a week to rest, reflect, but also talk to some of the people that I interviewed. Here are some of my reflections and theirs!
This was a passion project. As such, there were no goals really… just two hopes that I articulated early on. I think they were achieved!
Hope One: Celebrate and elevate awareness
I wanted to use my drawing and writing skills, however amateur and unhoned, to celebrate the work of the amazing people I had come to know working in the area of poverty relief, climate change mitigation, and ultimately, art and education. In doing so, I wanted to bring more attention to the lives and work of all of these amazing humans. They weren’t getting their fair share of the social media limelight. And, their stories weren’t being told. Here’s what I said early on in my introduction to this series:
My hope through this concerted and intensive effort is to elevate awareness of all of the unsung heroes making significant changes in the lives of others, whose stories go unwritten and whose faces are never seen in social media or elsewhere.
It was a lofty hope, but I believe it worked. My Facebook, Instagram and Substack feeds (and even LinkedIn when I was brave enough) were full of faces and stories unfamiliar to most of my family, friends, and their friends. Not only did my network see these faces and get a taste of their stories, but the next concentric circle outside of my circle - friends of friends - saw the posts through shares, tags, and comments.
Hope Two: Create a visual directory of ChangeMakers
In my first reflection piece on June 4th, I realized that by combining portraits and stories on Substack, I was creating a directory of ChangeMakers. Those who were interviewed would have their very own article to share with others interested in their work.
What is materializing before my eyes is a visual map of a large network of interrelated humans whose reach and impact goes much further than I ever imagined!
I learned about everyone I interviewed as I went through the 61 days. That is, I had only planned the first dozen or so people to interview and relied upon recommendations from other people to complete the 61 days. People like
, , Antoinette , and were an incredible resource to help me fill out the full 61 days. I could not have done it without them!To see the directory organized by country, click here for the ChangeMaker Directory. And, for the list of posts in order from most recent to oldest, click here for the Archive.
Unexpected Outcomes: Collaboration, Connections, Networks
There were a few unexpected tangible outcomes. Not only was a Directory created, but the beginnings of a larger connected network of ChangeMakers started to take shape. ChangeMakers interviewed one day started to pay attention to who came after them (and before them). People began to make connections and have conversations. Sometimes, I noticed similarities between two organizations and connected them.
Take for instance, Nakivale Young Talent Community and Future Within CBO in Kibera Slums, Kenya. Both provide youth arts education. Introductions were made, a few zoom meetings held, and they and are working on a grant together to implement a cross-cultural art and storytelling project.
Initial Feedback from Interviewees
I’ve reached out to all interviewees to obtain their feedback on the project, asking them questions such as: did they make any new connections, did they like the story, did they have any feedback for how I could have done better? How did it make them feel to be interviewed and drawn? Also, what could they do with $10 a month?
I’m still gathering feedback on the project from interviewees, but here are a few of the responses so far…
From Calvin Juma of Future Within CBO in Kibera Slums, Nairobi, Kenya
I want to take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude for your unwavering support towards compiling stories from different people making change and working for a better world. However, I must admit that through your interviews, I have gained new friendships with fellow African people who have inspired me to continue working for a better world. It's with great pleasure to be able to know you and the project you're carrying out with Akon of Nakivale Young talent. I really hope our collaboration will be more successful as we continue learning and sharing ideas and skills with each other. I was so overwhelmed with joy to see how you exactly drew my portrait, it came out clearly and beautifully sketched. In fact, the drawing inspired even our artistic kids with a good rating from them.
And, from Deborah Aluka of Teso Advanced Permaculture Association in Uganda:
I am just delighted and greatly honoured to participate. This came as a surprise to me and it has downed into my spirit that "no matter what little thing you do here on earth whole heartedly, many eyes are seeing and appreciating your work and you will be greatly rewarded by God." As a result of participating in this series, the connection or friends made so far is You "Emilly" because I had other connections and friends already like Steve Jones and as we continue bonding our relationship I believe many people will be drawn near and for them to also participate in the next phase if possible. - Deborah Aluka, TAPA, Uganda
What Makes A ChangeMaker…?
When I had just a few days left to go in the project, I started to take note of a pattern forming. Every ChangeMaker I interviewed seemed to exhibit a similar set of traits that you would expect of a community leader or social entrepreneur. They were:
passionate about their cause
solution-driven
action-oriented
natural leaders with a capacity to organize and mobilize others
They also exhibited other attributes and behaviors which separated them from the rest of the crowd. They exhibited:
a high degree of empathy
a strong compulsion to serve
an unmatched level of generosity, cooperation and collaboration
a selflessness that prioritizes others and community needs before their own
They also brought a level of humanity and compassion to their work that inspires others to emulate them. They all expressed an inability to NOT turn a blind away. They were compelled to do something about the problem, to find a solution. Many of them lose sleep, are up late or up early, trying to figure out a way to improve the lives of others. They will undertake even the smallest of actions even if its just to mitigate negative impacts of larger problems or ameliorate intolerable conditions impacting the quality of life of people, families, and communities in the present.
I’ve learned over the last few months that there is a name for this particular set of qualities. It’s called…
Ubuntu, “I Am Because We Are”
This week, I took my sons to New York City to see the film “The Spirit of Ubuntu” with
International, Antoinette , and . It became clear to me after watching the documentary that all of the ChangeMakers I interviewed are putting Ubuntu into practice, just like the ten organizations highlighted in the documentary. For more on the meaning behind the word and the concept of “I Am Because We Are” check out this informative and inspiring post from Ubuntu International. Subscribe to them if you haven’t already so you can learn more about what they are doing to build their own Empowerment Fund!
After all of this reflection, I am still left with one question. Why? That is, what influenced the ChangeMakers I interviewed to become who they are? It wasn’t always clear. Some people said they learned it from their parents. Others said they went through so much they can’t imagine not doing anything to prevent others from going through the same pain. Maybe it comes down to the age-old question: How much of who we are is nature versus nurture? What do you think?
Thank you for staying with me for 61 days!
Thank you all for subscribing, reading, and sharing the art and stories of these amazing individuals. Many of you who have subscribed were interviewed! Your friends and supporters subscribed as well! Some of your supporters are now Paid Subscribers! As a result, this Substack publication reached 100 subscribers just a few days after the end of the project. What a feeling!
A final (for now!) note to the ChangeMakers…
To all of you who were part of this project, I hope you can FEEL the appreciation that everyone has for your consistent and passionate efforts to transform the lives of people, families, and communities around you.
YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE! AND, WE SEE YOU!
Love this 🥰🥰🥰
Thank you so much for all that you do bringing the Spirit of Ubuntu to the world! We are stronger together! <3