promoting the value of giving to our community
Mission and Vision
The mission of One Dream Foundation has remained the same since its founding in March 2007 by Betty Phiri Chibwe and Oliver Chibwe.: to “promote the value of giving to humanity”. This approach is intended to produce such breakthrough work and giving in health, poverty, education, social and access to technology in developing countries globally.
Who We Are
Betty & Oliver Chibwe were born and raised in Zambia, Africa. We were both privileged to get great higher education; Oliver majored in Information Technology, CEO/Founder of Krysto Drym Inc, Co-Partner/Founder of Eco Papyrus and Betty majored in Social Science, CEO/Founder of VuVu Stone Collection.
Why One Dream Foundation
Growing up with single parents was not easy. Despite us having great higher education, our parents were poor and struggled to provide for our basic needs including school products. For example, when my father passed away, mother and I together with my siblings moved from the city to the village where the closest elementary school was about 16 miles away. One day, in my first grade, I was walking back from school with friends and we decided to stop by the river to cool off. On our way to the village that evening, I realized I had lost my pencil. I was so afraid to face my mother because I knew how much she would whip me. It was such a relief when the next morning on my way to school I found that pencil by the riverbank.
When we moved to the United States of America, I noticed that the Dollar stores here sold 20 pencils for One dollar. This was very exciting to me. With our minimal income, we decided to begin buying pencils and sending those to rural schools in Zambia. As time went by and our income improved, we started adding pens, books, toothbrushes & toothpaste, underwear, socks and used clothes plus more.
As the boxes became bigger and shipping became expensive, we started talking on how we could maximize our efforts. We agreed we could build a school – Oliver said not just a school but an Ivy League University in Zambia, Africa.
So many friends and family have died along the way and one that stands out the most is when my young sister carried her sick baby on her back to take her to the nearest health center, which was over 20 miles away. The baby had diarrhea and by the time she reached the clinic, the baby had died on her back already and she was not even aware. I met Dr. Mathew German, a medical doctor (friends of ours) just about the time I received the bad funeral news. I shared that with him and he suggested we start sending medical help to clinics in Zambia, Africa. We decided we could add the hospital to our “building the Ivy League University” project. Not just a hospital but a research medical center, considering people are still dying from so many curable diseases i.e. malaria.
The Project
We decided to make this project official by registering it with the State of Missouri as One Dream Foundation. We believe that everyone deserves at least a chance to dream; even it’s just one dream. This is a nonprofit foundation with the main focus of helping humanity around the world. Our 501c3 is in progress.
While we have continued doing our shipping of basic school & medical supplies as some of our short term goals, we’ve gone ahead and purchased land for our long term goal – building the University, Green/Solar Hospital & Research Center. This is about 130 Hectares or 325 Acres of land and it is located in Mumbwa District – Central Province, about 140 km (85 miles) from the capital city Lusaka, Zambia.
We have two architects, a land surveyor, graphic and marketing team currently working on this long-term project. We are the possibilty.
Now, as at our founding, we work to identify and resolve some of the world’s most pressing problems in developing countries. Yet, while our mission has not changed, the world around us has, and we and our work must change with it, and are doing so.
One Dream Foundation is governed by the Board of Trustees which consists of no fewer than 12 members, with the Foundation’s president serving as an ex-officio member. The Board of Trustees is generally responsible for overseeing the Foundation’s program and grant making strategy; budgets, expenditures and appropriation policies and guidelines; and investment strategies, allocations and performance. The Board of Trustees performs its duties through committees that include, but are not limited to: the Executive Committee, Investment Committee, Budget and Compensation Committee and Audit Committee and Trusteeship Committee as described in the Foundation’s Bylaws.
Leadership & Board of Trustees
For more information about One Dream Foundation visit www.onedreamfoundation.com
Tax Deduction Information:
Your donations to One Dream Foundation are tax deductible. We are 501(c)3 charitable organization.