13 Years of illuminAid!
illuminAid turns 13 this year! We are honored and humbled to have worked with an incredible array of amazing organizations around the world, working to help reduce poverty and improve the quality of lives in remote, disconnected communities. Below, we reflect on the opportunities of the past as we continue to towards more global technological developments!
Our 1st Project!
In April of 2008, we partnered with the American Institutes for Research in Port-au-Prince, Haiti where we used radio technology to focus on promoting basic education.
First Trip to Africa!
Our next project brought us across the globe all the way to Juba, South Sudan. This was our first project in Africa where we introduced media players for the schools within the Nuba Mountains, since the radio education stations couldn't reach the residents. This was the first deployment of a portable media player ever in conjunction with interactive radio instruction. This was a huge step forward in making information more accessible for remote populations!
New Decade, New Continent - Asia 2010!
illuminAid and Bangladesh Open University (BOU) partnered to help BOU improve their audio techniques to increase video performance and clarity. We also worked together to utilize community resources by purchasing more local products.
30,600 Miles
That’s about how many miles our team traveled in 2012. We travelled near and far to communities around the globe. From Panama to India we brought behavior change through video education to populations in brimming cities and remote rural villages.
Talk about an amazing view! The people of Kathmandu, Nepal showing us their beautiful country
2012 Project Locations
Tole, Panama
Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India
Lucknow, India
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Kathmandu, Nepal
Delhi, India
Tansen, Palpa, Nepal
Washington, D.C.
Tole, Panama
Shooting videos in Muzaffarpur, India
Video screening in a classroom in Lucknow, India
Kathmandu, Nepal
Shooting in Tansen, Palpa, Nepal
Africa in Photos
After spending the majority of 2012 in countries around Asia, in 2013 our partners brought us to Mozambique, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. Here are some photos from our travels and some of the amazing people we met along the way!
Screening in Rwanda for a video about proper nutrition
Shooting videos in Mozambique
2014
2014 was a diverse year for us here at illuminAid as we travelled to 3 different continents! We assisted communities with positive behavior change in a multitude of different sectors. From family planning, proper nutrition, and teaching communities about proper sanitation and hygiene practices, we kept our hands and calendars filled!
Above and below are photos of the small city of Shire, Ethiopia, where we assisted in improving positive health behavior in households and how these changes can positively impact their community
West African Ebola Outbreak
The West African Ebola outbreak was deemed to be the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. Ranging from 2014-2016, weak surveillance systems and poor public health infrastructure caused increased difficulties to counteract spreading and containment of the deadly virus. With the outbreak starting in Guinea, our team travelled to Guinea’s capital of Conakry to teach positive health habits to prevent the catching and spread of Ebola. We travelled to other regions in Guinea too and also travelled to Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Ethiopia, and Liberia to help curb the spread of Ebola. From 2015-2016 Ebola prevention, health and sanitation, as well as proper latrine use were at the center of most of our projects. Here are some photos of our health related projects we conducted on the ground in Africa during the epidemic.
2017 and 2018: From Southern Europe to Southern Africa and a whole lot of projects in between, in 2017 and 2018 we travelled to eight countries and conducted nine workshops on an abundance of different topics. From agricultural improvements, maternal health, family planning, malaria prevention, civic engagement, and basic education, we travelled thousands of miles to meeting new people, discovering new places and cultures, while at the same time creating a positive change alongside community members! Here are some photos from our travels!
Schoolchildren in Tanzania creating videos on basic education
Working with UNICEF and CRS in the capital city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to promote hygiene, sanitation, and many other disciplines
We travelled to Papua New Guinea to help with combatting the spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Partnering with World Vision, we went to Daru Island, the epidemic hot-spot with the highest rate of community transmission in the world. This project empowered the local team on how to use video education to combat the spread of this infectious disease
Our Most Recent Projects
Due to COVID-19, we have not been able to participate in international projects since 2019. We travelled throughout Africa in 2019 empowering communities in disciplines ranging from maternal nutrition, agriculture, dietary diversity, women’s empowerment, as well as hygiene and sanitation. Here are some photos from our travels across Africa!
Lodwar, Kenya
Above and left are photos from our video making within Kenya. This particular video the people of Lodwar created focused on dietary diversity and agriculture
For our first project of 2019, illuminAid worked with World Vision in Bamako, Mali, a west African country. illuminAid trained World Vision staff how to create videos that documented the success of the new water towers, bore holes and latrines that World Vision installed last year. These new improvements will bring better sanitation and health to the schoolchildren and local community. The photos from Mali are below
2021 and Beyond
With 13 years, hundreds of thousands of miles travelled and hours spent working with communities around the globe, the illuminAid team has found their way into some of the most remote communities across the globe to help bring positive behavior change through the power of video education and community engagement. Watching the success of our partners for over a decade has been a rewarding and invaluable experience. Our illuminAid team is looking forward to continuing making the world a more equitable place- starting back up with our next project this upcoming May in Liberia!