The Uyo Crop Processing Machines and the GlobalGiving Accelator Program- My personal experience.

I remember in my secondary school days, we were asked to write an essay on ” where there is a will, there is a way”. Everyone wanted to earn a mark, we will go out of the way to look for a captivating story in order to be recognised by our English teacher and get rewarded. The experience I had during the GlobalGiving fund raising for the Uyo Crop Processing Machines reminded me of this essay topic.
Permit me to provide a background of this Uyo project; I volunteered as a partner of SI4DEV in February,2018. Just a month after, my contract job with a Non Governmental Organization ended and it was a major blow to me. At first, I was discouraged as I wanted to integrate my work with SI4DEV activities to drive a positive change. However, my strong-willed spirit kept me motivated to look inward and identify local problems that needs solution. I always believe that the essence of life is to bring solution to a problem and to not create problem.
I discovered a pressing need in the community where I reside; farmers were trekking a distance to process their crops, elderly women sit for hours removing palm fruits from the bunch and use stones to break palm kernels. On one occasion, the cassava I cultivated from my farm to be processed was returned half-dried because the local press use in extracting water from it had a lot of villagers waiting to use it. I asked myself, “how do I contribute in alleviating the income situation of this community?”
The announcement of the Small American Grant to support local community project was the first opportunity, working with the Uyo team and the SI4DEV Program Manager, Nkem Akintoso, we wrote a proposal aimed at helping 100 local farmers in Uyo with crop processing machines. Sadly, the proposal was not considered by ASG and I was abit worried because the village head had already donated a parcel of land to support the crop processing machines project.
However, on 26th May, 2018, the Co-founder of Spring Development Initiative, Nkem, announced that the board members have considered the Uyo Crop Processing Machine for the Global Giving Challenge. Wow! I call that a Miracle…finally the villagers were going to see a change in their community!!
The project received overwhelming support from SI4DEV partners, Spring Development Initiative and supporters. Over 70 Unique individual donors raised $14,011 exceeding an upgraded target of $14,000(initial target was $10,000). Also, Spring Development Initiative, the U.S Affiliate of SI4DEV graduated from the GlobalGiving Accelerator with Bonus and secured a permanent place as a partner of GlobalGiving. Indeed where there is a will, there is surely a way..( I need my secondary teacher to score this essay 🙂
I am grateful to SI4DEV for the opportunity of volunteering as a partner. Strategy and Innovation for Development Development Initiative is more than an organization, this is a springboard for success.