Michele Pellissier donated $1,000 on January 5, 2024
$175 for Corn Mill to support Mind2Love Secular Orphanage in Liberia
$180 to Nepal to provide warm clothes to Dalit families in the Kathmandu slums. Wool socks and lon-sleeve wool shirts were provided to 25 people.
$95 to buy abortion pills for women in Morocco, where abortion is illegal. Funds were given to Ibtissame Lachgar, leader of M.A.L.I. pictured above. Pills, poster and project need are also described above. Her THANK YOU photo is below
$100 for Meera, an Adivasi (tribal) girl studying at Blossom Academy in Kerala, India.
She says, “I'm a 17 years old girl, from a tribal background in Wayanad. My dad abandoned the family when I was very young. I live with my mother, grandmother, my mother's younger sister and her husband, my uncle, two older brothers, and one younger sister. My grandfather had cancer, and everyone in my family works as daily laborers to cover our family expenses and his treatment costs. I had to spend a lot of time taking care of him. So I missed many classes and I didn't develop good study skills.
After joining Blossom Academy, my Malayalam reading and writing have improved. Now, I can read and write Malayalam without anyone's help, and a bit of English too!
$175 to teach the Zai farming method to rural women in Chad. The method uses compost and termites to re-fertilize barren soil.
$100 to South Sound Street Medics in Tacoma, Washington state. They are an indigenous-led mutual aid group that provides health services, food and clothing, to homeless people, and Indian reservations. Part of the donation was cash and part was in t-shirts pictured below that they will distribute to Tribal Youth.
$75 food for Mozambique Humanist Survivors (victims of Al-Shabab terrorism) money buys rice, beans, vegetables, oil
$100 to Kumar, a tribal student at Blossom Academy in Kerala, India. His father committed suicide due to alcoholism.
He says, “I come from Palakkad district, and my village is Attapadi. I am a tribal student, and my mother tongue is our tribal language. I can also speak Tamil, (the language of Tamil Nadu). I had difficulty reading and writing Malayalam when I joined Blossom Academy, but I am overcoming these challenges gradually.
In my family, I have one younger sister and my mother. My father committed suicide due to alcoholism, and there were frequent quarrels with my mother. This led to a tragic incident when, during a drunken quarrel, he beat my mother with a firewood, she lost her consciousness, he thought she died, and so hanged himself on a tree. Now, my mother works as a helper at a kindergarten.
Now is is the happiest time in my life. I appreciate Blossom Academy for providing me with the opportunity to study far away from my village. My previous school wasn't suitable - even though I spent 11 years there I didn't learn much. I never received support, everybody was discouraging me. 121 students were studying in my class, there were 4 Dalit students and the rest were tribals. I wasted 11 years there.
I am lucky to join Blossom Academy because they taught me to read and write. I am also learning English. I love being here. It was my dream. I love the teachers here. I never feel any discrimination here. I am always getting encouragement here at Blossom. In the future, I love agriculture. My father was a good farmer and I still I have memories of farming with him.”
Total - $1,000