We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Miss Rizwana a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Miss , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Teenage years are a time when we truly want to fit in. We adapt everything about ourselves to make ourselves blend in, and I was no different. Due to the amount of coursework, midterms, finals, and financial obligations, we hardly have time to enjoy our youth while we are at college or university. However, as we mature, we manage to endure that unstable lifestyle for 4 to 8 years for a degree!
Right now, all we know about becoming an adult is that we need to work and pay our debts, taxes, and bills. While many of us are attempting to first find ourselves, some people jump the ship by getting married. We are never really ready for the realities of adulthood; I know I wasn’t, and that plunged me into a protracted period of introspection.
I was aware that I wasn’t only here to work and pay the bills. When I stumbled into merging with the environment, I was looking for the meaning of my existence. The sound of water eased my soul, and everything about nature made me feel like I belonged there. Trees and birds made me feel much better.
My friends and I came up with the notion of connecting people to nature as therapy after realizing that I wasn’t the only one who was wondering why I was here. Nature, however, had other ideas for us. Because to Covid and lockdown, we were unable to take advantage of this chance. Instead, we assisted charity in Africa virtually by instructing them on how to grow local crops. Over time, we came to the realization that our true passion is to provide education, training, and empowerment to neglected and disadvantaged people.
The SOL Foundation was founded when we learned the meaning of our life after witnessing young children as young as 5 years old working and participating in the planning process in those villages.
We came to the realization that, while most people throughout the world go without even one nutritious meal, we had the chance to receive an education and become self-sufficient.
We know we are the only hope the children in those communities have for a better future whenever we are discouraged, worn out, or tired and look at their faces and remember our purpose of life!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Restoring Humanity While Saving Lives
The SOL Foundations is working globally to transform and empower lives of millions of individuals that are part of the underprivileged and underserved communities.
These communities are at large made of individuals that come from poverty and slums, women that come from abused homes, runaway youths, disability individuals, and orphans.
This segment of population is always overlooked and/or hidden from the public domain as they are usually “outcasted” and never given opportunity to get education, chance to learn various skills, and never given the chance to proved themselves.
We are working closely with them to provide education and empower them through local agroforesrty, agriculture, and entrepreneurship.
Learn more about the people we empower, where we work, the scope of the global poverty challenge, and the solutions guiding our impact to understand how your support transforms lives.
Billions of people are impacted by the worldwide water crisis
Today, one in ten people lack access to clean water. Because we believe in the power of water, we give every day to try to alter this. Access to clean water and sanitation can swiftly transform issues into opportunities, giving people more time for work and school and promoting better health for families, women, and children around the world, moreover, access to plant own food.
By reducing the financial hurdles that prevent those in need from having access to safe water, we will continue to unleash more cash than is now set aside to assist address the worldwide water problem.
We’ve changed the lives of many people by providing them access to safe water, education, plantation and providing entrepreneurial opportunities
Join us, and together we can change millions more lives
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’ve learned that kindness goes a long way when one is working internationally for a nonprofit. Respect, empathy, and self-humbling are required. Since everyone has a unique perspective derived from their varied experiences, there is no such thing as a “perfect” person. In the end, we are all flawed human beings.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
One of my parents’ greatest contributions in my life was their refusal to make a distinction between my male siblings and myself. Education, no matter if you are a man or a woman, is something that can never be taken away, they always told us. Education is something that will give us hope, no matter where we go or end up in the world.
I didn’t understand what they meant when I was a college student, but as an adult, I have encountered numerous men and women whose parents had separated them from their siblings based on their gender. Nowadays, the majority of women are dependent on their fathers, brothers, or male offspring.
Unfortunately, this is something I have seen in Africa, Asia, the UK, Canada, and the USA, regardless of ethnicity or race!
I’ll never be able to express my gratitude to my parents for pushing me and making sure that we were all educated and independent adults and to be a role model citizens.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.the-sol-foundation.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesol_foundation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesolfoundationorg
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesolfoundation
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_solf_org
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCReEOrM58AIFTFRUf3mllPQ
- Other: https://linktr.ee/thesolfoundation
Image Credits
These images belong to The SOL Foundation and its partners planting, education, training, and working hard making hand made products from recycled products.
