The last 6 months have been all about action. And we’re not done yet.

This year, the global community entered a new phase of development with the launch of the SDGs. At Kupona, we’ve wasted no time leaping into action to affect the changes needed to empower people and communities living in poverty in Tanzania.

Your support is saving lives

In January, we hosted a Google+ Hangout with our friends at Girls’ Globe and Dr. Brenda D’mello of CCBRT, discussing the contrasting expectations and birth experiences of mothers in the U.S. and Tanzania. In February, we reported just a few of the improvements our teammates are now seeing in Dar es Salaam labor & delivery wards, as they deliver the high quality maternal healthcare the women of Tanzania need and deserve. In June, our cocktail reception raised over $16,000 to ensure that this incredible work can continue.

We’re part of a global community

In the last six months we’ve been privileged to connect with clinicians, advocates, youth leaders, healthcare workers, policy makers, fundraisers, philanthropists, and thought leaders, and even Muppets at the Unite for Sight conference in New Haven, Moms+ Social Good in New York City, and the Women Deliver 2016 in Copenhagen. These gatherings not only exposed us to inspiring discussions, but they also unlocked real opportunities to build new partnerships and engage with Kupona’s friends and supporters, both old and new.

We’re shining a light on a silent tragedy

With support from our friends at Johnson & Johnson, we co-hosted our first Twitter chat on International Day to End Obstetric Fistula with CCBRT, UNFPA and Fistula Foundation, making over 3.8 million impressions and sharing our vision of a world without fistula. On the same day, we launched the Drawing Out Obstetric Fistula Exhibition at the New York University Kimmel Center, shining a spotlight on the experiences of women living with and recovering from obstetric fistula. On May 25th we hosted a reception and private viewing of the collection that brought together clinicians, philanthropists, development professionals, advocates, business leaders, artists and students, all united under one cause: a commitment to the empowerment of women and girls.

But we’re not done yet.

We’re excited to announce that the Drawing Out Obstetric Fistula exhibition, originally scheduled to close on July 4th, has been extended until December 31st, 2016. We’ve been thrilled by the response to this project, and we couldn’t let it close just yet. Thanks to our friends at Johnson & Johnson, the UNFPA-led Campaign to End Fistula, Fistula Foundation, and New York University for their continued support. You can visit this powerful collection on the 6th floor of the NYU Kimmel Center.

The exhibition is a beautiful reminder that there is dignity and value in every person’s story. Not only does the artist capture the transformative power of a successful surgery, but also the inherent stigma-busting power of a woman who is unafraid to tell her story as someone living with or having lived with a fistula.

~Zack Langway, Kupona supporter

We’re also looking forward to participating in side events and meetings during UN General Assembly week in September, and to raising even more funds for expectant mothers and their newborns in Tanzania at our inaugural event to benefit Kupona Foundation in Saratoga Springs, NY: A Night for Health & Hope.

This is what makes the hard work worth it

The 2015 Kupona Foundation Annual Report is now available. These are the stories of individual lives changed, figures that depict the scale of our collective impact, and testimonies from members of our community, encapsulating a year where we embraced opportunities to unlock potential like never before.

You are the driving force that makes this progress possible. Thank you for standing with us to empower people and communities living in poverty in Tanzania to realize their full potential.