Just over a week ago, TPRF’s recent partner, The Adventure Project (TAP), initiated a unique approach to solving the problem of hunger in East Africa by helping farmers to become not only self-sufficient but also profitable. Impossible? Only if you don’t know about the power of ordinary people joining together with imagination and passion and whatever contributions they can make.

Fast becoming renowned for their energetic and imaginative approach to serious problems, TAP teamed up with Kickstart, a non-profit that specializes in developing the technology to end poverty. Kickstart has developed an irrigation pump that can be purchased by African farmers for only US$60.00 and can enable them to irrigate their crops, grow healthier plants, and vastly increase their yield.

Inspired and challenged by a blog post by Bill Gates, TAP started the ball rolling to enlist people to help subsistence farmers in several steps: First, the One-to-1000 project set a goal of finding at least 1,000 people in one week who would create a page on About.me and write about why they want to help. They exceeded that goal

Second, they looked for other foundations to become sponsors to help them reach their goal of raising $60,000 to provide irrigation pumps to 1,000 farmers in East Africa. TPRF was one of the first to become a sponsor with a grant of $10,000 to get the project going.

Third, they initiated a huge outreach to their own supporters, those supporters’ friends, and friends of friends to contribute towards the $60,000 goal.

One-to-1000 demonstrates how the efforts of people working together with energy and vision can turn an impossible situation into one of realistic hope and possibility.

Read more about it on the Huffington Post in an article by Nicole Skibola.

Penninah proudly stands with her children (Faith, Dan, and Kennedy) on their small farm in rural Kenya. A Kickstart irrigation pump empowers widowed Penninah to feed her family, earn an income from the surplus, and send her children to school. When asked what the Kickstart pump means to her, Penninah simply said, "It is a miracle."   Photos courtesy of The Adventure Project