Olutosin Ruth, Nigeria
Tosin empowers women and girls who are victims of domestic violence and come from poor communities by teaching them in the art of changing trash into treasure. She has 3 years of work experience in this area. Her project is based in rural riverside area in Lagos State, Nigeria. In January 2014 she received an award for her work from the governor of the state. You can watch Tosin's Dream Speech here
Soni SR, India
Soni's project 'Genderless' envisions a society where everybody can enjoy life, irrespective of their gender without any discrimination. Her pilot project, a mind changing summer camp intended to create a platform for children where they learn theatre skills and later this will be used as a tool for mindset shift. You can watch Soni's Dream Speech here
George K Thomas, Kerala, India
George was a victim of a road accident in 2005 and because of this is a wheel-chair user. George wants to change the stereotype mind-set that has incapacitated wheel chair user’s in India to always be dependable. His Project Freedom on wheels wants to see a wheel chair friendly India and wheelchair users who are India friendly. He envisions an India in which wheelchair users live economically, physically and mentally independent and empowered. You can watch George's Dream Speech here
Thomas Sarko, 26, Liberia
Thomas Sarko started a Literary Café for high school students to be able to express themselves free of violence. This project focuses on teaching dialogue as an alternative to the tendency of Liberian youth who chooses violence over peaceful means to resolve issues. Having seen the problems facing post war Liberia, he dreams of freeing the society from violence. You can watch Thomas' Dream Speech here
Harriet Kamashanyu, Uganda
Harriet’s organisation Rhythm of Life (ROL) supports sex workers in the red light area of Kabalagala – Kampala, Uganda.
Rhythm of Life’s aim is to end the stigmatization and social exclusion of sex workers in Kampala and wants to end the cycle of mother-to-daughter prostitution. They have created a sponsorship program to support the daughters in education and professional healthcare training. Most importantly, through several economic empowerment initiatives, the women will eventually be able to independently support their daughters through school. Learn more about Harriet's inspiring work a rhythmOfLife
You can watch Harriet's Dream Speech here
Chipo Chikomo, Zimbabwe
Woman to Woman Prison Project by Chipo Chikomo reduces re-offending rate of crime through skills training of female prison inmates to enhance their social and economic status ensuring that the dignity of female prisoners in Zimbabwe is preserved. She trains prisoners various skills like design, tailoring and also marketing so they are able to sustain themselves once they come out or prison. You can watch Chipo's Dream Speech here
Tiffany Brar, Kerala, India
Tiffany became blind six months after birth and due to her blindness she faced many challenges. These however have not only made her strong, they also provided the required motivation to support her blind peers. Tiffany runs a Mobile Blind School Project named Jyothirgamaya that teaches Braille and mobility skills. The concept was initiated by Vidyavrikshah, an organization In Chennai. You can watch Tiffany's Dream Speech here
Noeline Kirabo, Uganda
Noeline's project KYUSA offers quality alternative education to school drop outs aged 18 – 25 years. Noeline does this by giving them training and by providing access to free online resources and correspondence courses. You can watch Noelines Dream Speech here.
John Peter, India
John is a social worker and has been working in the developmental sector for the past 9 years. His project “Yurt on Wheels” addresses nomadic and marginalized communities in Pondicherry, especially to bring education to children. He provides education, livelihood training and advocacy for the Narikuravar tribe in Pondicherry. You can watch John's Dream Speech here.
Lorena Acula, Philippines
Being totally blind, Lorena has gone through the difficulty of travelling long distances to attend school. Lorena's project is a residential home that is called “Future Vision”. The goal of this project is to give a safe and supportive homely environment for blind children where they are trained and develop a vision for themselves and live independent lives. You can see Lorena's Dream Speech here
Tousif Ahmed, India
Tousif’s project, Keerhi Kutira, motivates blind youth who have the potential to develop into competent and independent individuals. Tousif links blind youth to quality education opportunities in their chosen fields of interests. The goal is that in the long run every trainee becomes a respected and contributing member in society. You can watch Tousif's Dream Speech here
Stephen Ojungo Onyang, Kenya
Steven is running Hope Restoration Centre, an organization in Kisumu West District, Kenya which offers psycho social support services to HIV/AIDS orphaned children. He recently launched the first Albert Schweizer School in Kisumu where his students are equipped to become self-confident, proactive, assertive and happy. You can watch Stephen's Dream Speech here
Poppie Anggreiny, Indonesia
Poppie project includes a pilot school called " Tarsius Dream School". She offers different learning approach to engage drop out children who actually lost interest in regular school system, due to various reasons. She gives them the opportunity to learn with fun, to realize their dreams, to become critical thinkers and to become responsible youth. You can watch Poppie's Dream Speech here.
Bashiru Adamu, Nigeria
Bashiru runs a project named "Dream Again". He gives the prisoners educational training that enhances their confidence which leads to a mindset shift and once out of prison they become an asset to society. Ultimately, reducing crime in our society. You can watch Bashiru's Dream Speech here
Mulenga Kaluba, Zambia
Mulenga's project; Limability Zambia, empowers visually and physically impaired people in his community. To achieve this, he provides training in meat processing, livestock management, biogas production and organic farming. Mulenga has overcome several challenges in life; as a result of an accident, he lost one leg and he has lost most of his vision. With his positive energy and a large amount of passion, he is able to empower many marginalized members in the Zambian Society. You can watch Mulenga's Dream Speech here
Olufunbi Falayi, Nigeria
Olufunbi promotes entrepreneurship as a tool to reduce the rate of unemployment amongst university graduates in Nigeria. His project, passion incubator is created to guide participants from practical training, skill development to business start-up. The main objective of the project is to inspire those keen on entrepreneurship to take the initiative to become job creators. You can watch Funbi's Dream Speech here
Jyotshnarani, Odisha, India
Jyotshnarani was a victim of domestic violence. Her project "Janamangal" (Transforming life of Tribal Women) works with tribal families and women who are affected by domestic violence in the Nilagiri Block in Balasore district of Odisha state, India. Women are trained in the production of herbal medicine. They also learn how to develop leadership skills that help them to become more independent. You can watch Jyothsna's Dream Speech here
Nyasha Edlight, Zimbabwe
Nyasha's project "Impala Breeze" uses a community approach to empower school drop outs to become selfreliant. She provides expertise in the production of detergents and trains entrepreneurial skills to school drop-outs so that they become empowered to start their own micro projects. She has been involved in a community development organisation for the last four years with the vision of empowering marginalized women and youths in both urban and rural areas of Zimbabwe. You can watch Nyasha's Dream Speech here.
Santhosh MM, Kerala, India
Santhosh MM belongs to the Mullakkuruma community, one of the seven tribal communities in Wayanad district of Kerala. He started 'Pest Friendly Farm'. The farm trains tribal farmers traditional agricultural practices which will ensure food security and which are eco-friendly. You can watch Santhosh' Dream Speech (in Malayalam) here
Thuktan Yeshay, India
Thuktan's project “Greenhouse School” is established to improve the quality of life for people who live in Spiti valley. His project is a combination of a greenhouse for vegetable production and a school for education. During winter time, Spiti valley is completely sealed off from the rest of the world due to snow and ice. The project helps to solve the problems faced by the community to have fresh vegetables in wintertime, it also promotes education, health and employment opportunities for unemployed youth. You can watch Thuktan's Dream Speech here
Tomasz Kozakiewicz, Poland
Tomasz gave up his corporate job and came to India to become an ethical social change maker. Tomasz's project, named "kanthari plus", reaches out to kanthari graduates in order to catalyse social change at the grass root level. kanthari plus engages the graduates to be active members in the kanthari alumni program and promotes their projects through documentary films. Also bringing in volunteers and experts to break barriers and last but not least, provide sustainable funding. You can watch Thomas' Dream Speech here