Powering the Movement Podcast - Episode 3: Alain Nteff
Episode 3: Alain Nteff
Texting to Save Mothers' and Babies' Lives in Cameroon
In Cameroon, something as simple as a text message can mean the difference between life or death during a pregnancy. That’s why Alain Nteff, 27, started GiftedMom, a social enterprise that connects 200,000 expecting mothers to medical care and information through a text message service, mobile app, and more. Alain explains why GiftedMom can make a world of difference, especially in poor, rural regions where the nearest hospital is hours away.
Take Action
Can you imagine risking your life to have a child? For millions of women and girls there is no other option. Globally, 800 women a day die from pregnancy and childbirth — and teenage girls are most vulnerable. Without safe access to contraception, too many are unable to plan their futures, and choose if or when to get pregnant. This cannot go on. Call on world leaders to fund UNFPA Supplies, the world's leading provider of family planning services.
More Episodes
Episode 1: Nashin Mahtani
Saving the World’s Fastest Sinking City
Nashin Mahtani, 28, created a crowd-sourced map that can save lives during extreme weather events in Jakarta. Her organization PetaBencana.id, which shares and verifies crucial information to users in Indonesia’s rapidly urbanizing mega-city, also known as the “fastest sinking” city in the world. We join Nashin on the ground, where she shows us the links between climate change, poverty, and how her organization leverages social media and community to save lives.
Episode 2: Priya Prakash
Preventing Disease in India, One School Kid at a Time
Priya Prakash, 28, struggled with her own health issues as a young person. This inspired her to start HealthSetGo, an organization bringing quality health care, checkups, and hygiene tips to India’s children where they are — in their schools. In a country with extremely high rates of cancer, diabetes, and obesity, HealthSetGo is the first opportunity many kids have to see a doctor, making it key to diagnosing and preventing diseases across India.
Episode 4: Haroon Yasin
How Video Games Are Helping Kids Stay in School in Pakistan
Growing up in Pakistan, Haroon Yasin, 27, felt like a stranger in classrooms. And in Islamabad’s slums, where inequality and poverty are widespread, he saw children who feel the same way today. So he founded Orenda, a company that takes the national curriculum and converts it into an engaging app called Taleemabad, bringing education — a basic human right — to 130,000 kids who might not have traditional opportunities to learn.
Episode 5: Luisa Bonin
Helping Brazil’s Entrepreneurs Support Their Families
Brazil has 45 million micro-entrepreneurs — business owners operating outside the formal economy. Enter Luisa Bonin, 29, the co-founder of Tamo Junto, which means “We Are Together.” Her organization offers practical and engaging resources to micro-entrepreneurs, especially women of color, and connects them to resources that help them formalize their businesses, find economic growth, and, as a result, support their families in some of the country’s poorest areas.