Sawa means “together” in Arabic
Sawa is a tool that was born from the friendship of Andrew Basta of Egypt, Christin Andrew of the US and Gabriel Falco of Argentina in 2016. While watching the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, we felt we just could not stand by and do nothing. On the contrary, we felt that we had to do whatever we could, together with local people who have the heart to rebuild their own nations.
How do we work?
We believe that local community leaders best identify and address the felt needs of their communities. The resources and challenges of any community cannot be perceived accurately by an outsider. The clues toward a solution are often subtle. But the dreamers who want to change their world can often be lonely and overwhelmed. We seek to form friendships with people who think big and act locally. Over time, we observe what values we have in common and discover how we can work together. Each partnership Sawa fosters is unique. Community leaders in Africa and the Arab world are invited to present a project proposal to the Sawa board for review. This proposal may request funding, training, and/or volunteers with certain skills. The Sawa team tries its best to match the opportunities for service with willing donors, capable trainers, and handy volunteers to support both on-going long term development work and emergency relief work.
Scope of our Service
Optimizing the usefulness of our team’s language and cultural knowledge, we currently serve in Africa and the Arab World. Since 2017, we have connected with local protagonists in Yemen, Syria, Mauritania and other nations of the Arab world and Africa to serve side by side in multiple food and medication distributions, teacher and professional training events, water installation projects, school facility improvements, and scholarships for poor children and youth to access education.
Mogadishu Project
In May of 2020, Sawa Foundation partnered with RAHO-SOMALIA to help provide support to an IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp in Mogadishu that had been without aid since 2019. At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, this community faced even more challenges due to mandates that restricted their movement. Heads of households had no way to find work in order to earn a living for their families. Many children were limited to 2 meals a day, while adults had only 1.
Sawa Foundation provided funds for a total of 10 families that met certain criteria based on their vulnerability. (Ex: female headed households, elderly led households faced with illness or permanent disability, families with disabled children, level of food insecurity, etc.) These funds were used to purchase rice, flour, oil, pasta and milk powder to help sustain these families.
“I am happy and will never forget the generous food assistance given to my family by Sawa Foundation and its project partner RAHO-SOMALIA during this difficult time.”