In 2011, siblings, Matt, Zach and Emily Graves participated in a volunteer mission to Mossuril, Mozambique, one of the poorest regions in Africa. Their experiences fostered a strong connection with this impoverished community and furthered a commitment to making a difference. In their various volunteer roles, whether it was building a puppet theatre to promote malaria and aids awareness, digging a
trench for a community garden, or building the first community oven, it became evident that the growth and development of the community was severely hindered by a profound lack of basic hand tools. How can one of the poorest communities in Africa possibly rise from poverty without access to the necessary tools needed to do so? It was this realization that empowered them, as well as lifelong friend Vikram Mechanda, to subsequently develop “Tools With Impact”, a charitable initiative aimed at providing greatly needed building and farming tools to the community that touched the brothers so deeply. Their vision was to create awareness of Mossuril’s need in their home community, by collecting tool and cash donations to be shipped to Mozambique. These tools would then be used to establish tool-lending libraries abroad to ensure the most effective and fair distribution of the tools. In order to overcome the obstacles of distribution in Africa, the team communicated with a Mozambican non-profit community agency, “The Teran Foundation”, and its founder, Lisa St. Aubin de Téran, agreed to oversee the set-up and management of the tool-lending libraries in Mossuril. They were motivated by the enthusiasm of others willing to help this cause overseas and realized that the same support could also be found within their home community. With the desire to inspire other students to take part in this project, they have successfully formed a diverse student run club, located at Merivale High School, that has attracted many members. Tools With Impact meets on a weekly basis and devises innovative plans to go about collecting tool donations and funds for shipping costs. These have included community tool-drives, solicitation of business donations, and raising media awareness. To date, the club’s projects have reached out to thousands of community members. We feel it is critical for the “Tools With Impact” club to embrace a team and family atmosphere. Given that other members of the club have not experienced the Mossuril community first-hand, Matt and Zach have striven to share their experiences and raise awareness for the potential of the club. Tools With Impact as a whole is proud to have witnessed members exhibiting a passion and enthusiasm for the project that was never anticipated. Tools With Impact’s ultimate vision is to inspire the creation of many tool-lending libraries internationally, thus supporting the growth and development of some of the poorest communities in the world.
