Thyago Ohana

As a travel enthusiast, my exposure to contrasting realities around the world made me develop a strong sense of accountability for bringing about positive impact to less fortunate communities - especially in developing countries.

This is why in the last half a decade, I started to combine tourism with opportunities to interact and support some local communities, families and especially children.

After having run privately-funded efforts in Kenya, Ethiopia and Seychelles, I felt motivated to take one step further and run funding campaigns among family, friends and colleagues to support such initiatives.

Pasua, Tanzania - since 2019

In 2019, prior to a planned private trip to Tanzania, I identified a target need in the region and started a campaign aimed at raising funds to maintain a children's center for orphans and vulnerable children for a whole year (2020). The campaign surpassed its initial target and evolved into a development program, which is now a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) in Tanzania.

The campaign remains open and welcomes donations under this GoFundMe page. Its target has been adjusted to cover the operational costs for 2022.

Key achievements of the projects so far:

• Covered the operating costs of the children's center for two consecutive years
• Delivered more than 3 tons of grains as food supply
• Created 4 full-time jobs for locals
• Increased the number of children cared for at the center from 50 to 95 (2019 vs 2020/21)
• Guaranteed a zero school dropout since project start (vs ~50% p.a. until 2019)
• Supported 42 children transition to the primary school system
• Provided basic health insurance coverage to all enrolled children
• Renovated the children's center infrastructure including façade and interior
• Improved teaching methods by acquiring a whiteboard, handicrafts materials and a television
• Installed trash cans in the center
• Integrated dental hygiene in the center's daily routine
• Introduced fruits to the center's regular meal plans

The project also supported the community to mitigate the impact of the pandemic with:

• 1 ton of food and 500 soap bars to the community
• Installation of multiple hand hygiene stations (water bucket + soap) around the village
• Increasing awareness on proper hand hygiene provided to locals by the center's staff
• Re-commissioning of old sewing machines for local face masks productions.

All funds collected and spent in the campaign have been documented and invoices can be found in this shared folder.

* as of 18.02.2022

Sal Island, Cape Verde - 2018

In 2018, I held my first fundraising for charity campaign. 100% of the funds were invested in the welfare of a group of 68 children in the community of Santa Maria in the Island of Cape Verde.

I spent a week in Cape Verde, where I personally met the children who depend on the support of the group of volunteers "Castelos do Sal", and thanks to the donations collected, we managed to deliver 5 weeks of food supply for the children, a unique piece of clothing for each one of them as well as 50 children's books to build their library.

The campaign was held online. Details of the campaign including all updates and final report can be found in the GoFundMe campaign page. All funds collected and spent in the campaign have been documented and invoices can be found in this shared folder.