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The Sumba Foundation

In 2015, Austin, Kim, and I stayed at the Nihiwatu resort in Sumba and fell in love with all that this foundation supports. Please read a little more about how the foundation began and some of its highlights.

The founders, Claude and Petra Graves, first developed a hotel resort, called Nihiwatu. In the early years of the development of Nihiwatu (1988 to 1994), Claude and Petra Graves lived much the same as the villagers around them did. They didn’t have running water, electricity, or clinics to go to if they were sick. They each contracted malaria dozens of times, experiencing firsthand the debilitating disease.

Claude and Petra committed to finding solutions to these core issues their neighbors were struggling with: no access to water, poor health, widespread malaria, malnutrition, no health facilities within a day’s walk, and minimal education.

The vehicle they would use to fulfill the needs of the community was Nihiwatu. Claude and Petra started by getting their guests involved in helping them help the community around the resort.

In 2001 they met Sean Downs, who was a guest at Nihiwatu. He was at a stage in his life where he was looking for something more meaningful, and he found it in Sumba. After reading Claude’s 20-year Sumba Foundation business plan, which outlined the many projects, how and when they would be initiated and their cost, Sean offered his help.

Soon after, the Sumba Foundation was established as a private, non-profit, non-governmental organization under the section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. The goal of the foundation? To help ease the burdens of poverty the Sumbanese communities were living under.

With the hotel guests’ involvement, miracles started to happen. Their support was and still is instrumental to the success of the Sumba Foundation. Guest donations went directly to funding specific projects, and the donors often became personally involved in their projects. Knowing they were helping added value to their stay at Nihiwatu.

Nihiwatu’s role, in the joint mission to alleviate poverty in the region, was to be the economic engine of the Island. Hundreds of jobs were created in and outside of the resort. Without that employment there would have been no hope of lifting the community out of the harsh conditions they were living under.

The Sumba Foundation and Nihiwatu model, that of a non-profit working side by side with a for-profit business, each with its own role to play in poverty reduction, was recognized in 2007 when the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) awarded Nihiwatu the Tourism for Tomorrow Award, the “Oscars” of all travel awards.

Some of the highlights of Sumba Foundation:

The Building of 4 Health Clinics
93% Reduction of Malaria in the Core Area
400 Children's Lives Saved Through Direct Intervention
400,000+ Patients Have Received Medical Treatment
12,000 Mosquito Nets Distributed
50,000 Malaria Cases Treated
27,000 People Now Have Access to Clean Water
260 Water Stations and 65 Water Wells Working and Added
2,600 Children Receive School Lunch 3 Days a Week

Awakami

In 2018, Austin visited Peru with a few of her closest friends and was struck by all the beautiful gifts the women and children were working on. Here is a little overview, history, and projects of the Awamaki foundation.

OVERVIEW

Awamaki creates lasting impact in the remote mountains of Peru by helping rural Andean women’s associations launch successful small businesses creating authentic, high-quality products and experiences. Awamaki invests in women’s skills, connects them to market access and supports their leadership so they can increase their income and transform their communities. Awamaki is comprised of a Peruvian asociación civil and a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working closely together to empower women’s associations, connect them to markets and enable them to lead their communities out of poverty. Though a non-profit, Awamaki uses market strategies to accomplish its charitable goals of increasing women’s income and business leadership.

OUR HISTORY

Awamaki was formed in early 2009 to support a cooperative of 10 women weavers from Patacancha, a rural Quechua community in the Andes of Peru. Awamaki’s founders, Kennedy Leavens, from the U.S., and Miguel Galdo, from Peru, had worked together at Awamaki’s predecessor organization with the weaving cooperative for two years. When the predecessor organization floundered and finally collapsed, Miguel and Kennedy formed Awamaki to continue their work with the weavers. The organization grew rapidly to include programs in health and education, as well as other artisan cooperatives and a sustainable tourism program. In 2011, Awamaki spun its health program off into an independent sister organization, and made the strategic decision to focus on income improvement and market access through fair trade artisan cooperatives and sustainable tourism.

PROJECTS

We aim to help women’s cooperatives learn to start and run their own businesses. We do this through our programs in women’s artisanal cooperatives and sustainable tourism.

ARTISANAL COOPERATIVES
- We partner with cooperatives of rural Andean women to provide training and market access. The objective of our efforts is to provide women with a reliable source of income so they can increase their families’ quality of life and well-being. Our partner cooperatives weave, knit, spin and sew. We offer training in quality control, product development and technical skills improvement. In our training, we teach color combination, natural dyes methods and weaving to measurement to weavers. Fiber selection and spinning yarn to specified weights to spinners. Stitching and reading patterns to knitters. Sewing, garment pattern-making and design to seamstresses.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
- Sustainable Tourism includes a homestay association, a Spanish teachers’ cooperative, and market access for both. It also includes community cultural tourism excursions to visit Awamaki’s weaving cooperatives where products can be purchased directly. Our Sustainable Tourism projects lead meaningful cultural experiences for tourists and promote appreciation of Andean traditions and ways of life. We operate a store in Ollantaytambo to sell products to tourists. We sell in the United States through our online store, trunk shows and partner retailers.