The Friends Project is a grassroots effort created by photojournalist and traveler Kris Dreessen that helps people in developing communities complete projects they believe will make long-lasting and tangible differences in their lives. We are dedicated to empowering people to follow through on their good ideas and share their stories.

In the United States, $50 may get you dinner for two. In many places, like Las Minitas, Nicaragua, $50 pays for half a year of attending high school. We use our small grants for initiatives that communities believe will ripple out over a lifetime and generations: education, skills for jobs and communication, self-sufficiency and economic sustainability.

We are currently raising money for college and high school scholarships for four teens in Las Minitas. Two students attend college. It costs $1,200 per student per year. We are asking them to contribute half. We are also raising $200 to send two teens to high school.

Students study while also helping their family farm coffee and other small crops on the mountain, and bus or walk to classes. Our Nicaraguan friends who have earned degrees with our scholarships are teachers, nurses and even an English teacher in our elementary school.

Our first project was in Nueva Esperanza, a remote Amazon community in Peru that struggles with malaria, sanitation and healthcare. With just $300, we installed screens on houses to protect families from malaria-carrying mosquitoes, started a safe drinking-water program, and provided materials to build the village’s first latrine.

Since then, we have provided resources to help community members in other areas develop sustainable and eco-friendly businesses, provide opportunities through specialized training and scholarships, and education.

We have completed successful projects in Peru, Nicaragua and Zambia. We also successfully funded a scholarship to a young Masai man, Julius Sarawua, to the Koiyaki Guiding School in Kenya to fullfil his dream of being a safari guide. He assists his village’s conservation efforts while doing so.

As the founder and a photojournalist, I take you with me on the journey, sharing photos and my blog on Instagram. Find us @wandering.kris.