JOALI Sustainability Fund Reveals Five Grant Recipients

As part of the JOALI brand’s commitment to protecting local communities and environments via sustainable practices, regenerative travel, and responsible tourism, the JOALI Sustainability Fund has announced five grant recipients. The sustainability fund, which was incepted earlier in the year will support locally led projects in Raa Atoll that showcase sustainability and have the potential of creating everlasting impacts on their respective communities.

After carefully evaluating the large number of applications received, the JOALI Sustainability Fund has selected five projects that demonstrated their planned efforts across the four focus areas: safeguarding the planet, fostering wellbeing, creating platforms for women, and nurturing ethical consumption. A total of USD $15,000 will be granted under the fund to fund these meaningful initiatives.

The grant recipients of the JOALI Sustainability Fund are:
Rasmaadhoo School – Green for a Healthier Life
JOALI will aid the school to fund its project in creating a hydroponic vegetable garden to address the scarcity of nutrient foods and vegetables available in the community. As part of this project, the school will also distribute seeds and plants to community members to promote additional farming and develop a separate compost-making unit that supports cultivation outside of hydroponics.

Ungoofaaru School – Inclusive Education
With a nearly 500-student body, Ungoofaaru School is one of the oldest and largest schools in the Maldives. JOALI will assist the school in building its Special Needs (SEN) Program, which is in dire need of classroom materials and resources to create a more conducive learning environment for students with special needs.

The scope of the project also extends to formulating strategies and practices that cater to the diverse needs of all students including those with varying cultural and linguistic backgrounds and providing a safe and inclusive atmosphere that is better equipped to develop their academic, social, and personal skills to become productive members of society.

Hulhudhuffaaru School – Fostering the Youth
JOALI will extend support to the school for students to acquire a new skill – embroidery & stitching. After undergoing special training, students will have the necessary skills to create hand-woven cloth bags and more, which can be sold within the island community. This will allow them to generate an additional source of income for their families and in the long term help them kick start their own businesses.

Ungoofaaru Regional Hospital – Dental Radiovisiography
As a tertiary care hospital located in the region, Ungoofaaru Regional Hospital serves a third of the local population with a full suite of inpatient, outpatient and community-based healthcare services. Adhering to its ethos to improve the health of local communities and steward the resources entrusted to them, JOALI will procure a digital radiography system for the hospital.
 This system will be capable of generating higher-resolution images, streamlining faster communication between doctor and patient. Moreover, the images can also be stored in digital format for future follow-up procedures and promptly retrieved as well.

Dhuvaafaru Zuvaanunge Jammiyya – Joy of Empowering Women by Farming
Deemed one of the active NGOs in the area and an important development contributor to the island, the Dhuvaafaru Zuvaanunge Jamiyya will use the funding to expand its work further and promote environmental and socio-economic growth within the community. Their project proposed the introduction of a less labour-intensive, hydroponic system to grow crops. The cultivated vegetables will be sold to local markets and the profit split between the household and NGO to reinvest in widening the agricultural sector.

The project also features providing training and conducting awareness sessions to community members to educate them on nutrition and the importance of a balanced diet via home gardening and self-sustenance. The nursery will also double as a laboratory to test new technologies and to germinate the seeds. Likewise, this project is also expected to create income-earning opportunities for women, equipping them with economic incentives and education on self-sustainability and nutrition.

“Ever since our arrival in the Maldives, we have woven every aspect of our culture and strategy around the promise of ‘responsible luxury’, taking ownership of and managing our own impact on the environment while promoting ecological resilience. We are extremely proud of the meaningful changes we have been able to create during our journey and look forward to continuing the important work which includes supporting local projects such as the ones we’ve chosen to fund,” remarked Esin Güral Agrat, Founder of JOALI.