Friends of Mona Foundation Georgia

07/30/2026

07/13/2026

Before Sumitra came to Barli Institute, her future felt like it had already been decided. After passing her 9th standard exam, financial constraints took her to a tiles factory where she worked for four years. None of this was because she lacked ability. She lacked access.

A Barli graduate she met along the way changed that. Sumitra enrolled in Barli's six-month residential program, and from the beginning, the people around her noticed something — not just her capacity to learn, but the seriousness with which she applied herself to everything in front of her.

When she graduated, she wanted to start tailoring. But her family needed to sell its crop first before they could afford a sewing machine. So Sumitra walked into tailoring shops in town and asked to practice on spare machines. Without pay or any guarantee of what would come next, she decided her future was worth moving toward.

One shopkeeper said yes. She has shown up every day since.
"I may not have everything I need today, but I have the courage to keep trying. If I stop, my dreams will stop too. So I choose to move forward, one stitch at a time."

Sumitra is one of 157 women who completed Barli's program in 2025. Together, those women went on to educate 4,710 others — carrying solar cooking skills, organic farming knowledge, and the kind of conviction that Sumitra captures in one sentence back into the communities they came from.

That is what over twenty years of partnership between Mona Foundation and Barli Institute has helped build — not a program, but a compounding body of knowledge carried by women who return home equipped and determined.

Next week, we’re sharing our trip to Programme for Children in Sierra Leone this past June — a different community, the same thread.

Subscribe to Mona's newsletter to follow what our partners are building: monafoundation.org/subscribe

07/08/2026

This July, we want to introduce you to something that rarely makes the climate headlines: a group of young women in rural Madhya Pradesh, India, who are quietly building the kind of climate resilience that no infrastructure project can replicate — one village at a time, through six months of residential training at Barli Development Institute for Rural Women.

Barli has been Mona Foundation's partner since 2004. For over forty years, it has been working with young women from rural and tribal villages across Central India — many of whom arrive with little or no formal education — and equipping them with the practical knowledge to uplift their own lives and strengthen their communities from within.

What that looks like this summer, as El Niño disrupts monsoons and cooking gas shortages add hours to women's already full days, is particularly striking.

Barli graduates return home trained in solar cooking — from simple solar box cookers for daily household meals to more advanced devices that cook quickly and cleanly without firewood or LPG. They carry organic farming knowledge designed to protect soil health and strengthen food security over the long term. And through Barli's newest curriculum work, they bring agricultural education back into their villages specifically to engage the men making farming decisions — because lasting change, Barli has always understood, must move through entire communities.

In 2025, 157 women completed Barli's program. Together, they went on to educate 4,710 others.

This month, we're covering the communities on the frontlines of climate change that are not waiting for solutions to arrive. The education that makes adaptation possible, built from the inside out.

We will be sharing their stories throughout July. Follow along and subscribe to Mona's newsletter to stay close to what our partners are building: monafoundation.org/subscribe

07/03/2026

As we celebrate the Fourth of July this weekend, it's worth asking: What helps build a strong community?

One answer begins closer to home than we often think.

When parents have the confidence, knowledge, and support to advocate for their children, they don't just strengthen their own families—they help create communities where every child has greater opportunities to thrive.

That's what our partners at Parent University in Savannah, Georgia has been doing for years. By investing in parents, the program helps cultivate informed, engaged leaders whose influence extends far beyond their own households.

Strong communities aren't built in a single day. They're built over time—through families who choose to learn, lead, and invest in one another.

That's the kind of generational change Mona's partners make possible every day.

This holiday weekend, we're reflecting on the people and partnerships helping build stronger communities for generations to come.

🌎 Subscribe to Mona's newsletter to read more stories of community-led education creating lasting change. monafoundation.org/subscribe

06/04/2026

One of the most exciting parts of surpassing our Move4Mona goal is imagining the futures it will help unlock.

Futures like Alexandra's.

Alexandra grew up in a rural Indigenous community in Sololá, Guatemala, where girls' education is too often constrained by poverty, gender expectations, and scarce school resources. But at MAIA Impact School, she developed not only strong academic skills, but also the confidence, leadership, and critical thinking that are helping her turn her aspirations into reality.

Last year, she placed third in Guatemala's National Science Olympiad with an innovative project that combined renewable energy science with Indigenous cultural identity—demonstrating how local knowledge and global innovation can work hand in hand.

Her story is a powerful reminder that talent exists everywhere. What changes lives is access to opportunity, supportive educators, and communities that invest in young people's potential.

As we celebrate exceeding our Move4Mona goal, we're celebrating the possibilities that education helps unlock—not just for one student, but for entire communities.

💙 Want more stories like Alexandra's delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe to Mona's newsletter and stay connected to the students, educators, and grassroots leaders creating change around the world.

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05/29/2026

When one child gains access to education, families grow stronger, communities gain opportunity, and future generations inherit new possibilities.

That’s the heart of Move4Mona.

Together, we’re working to help 270 children access education before May 31 — and every step, donation, and share helps move us closer.

Join us in creating lasting change:
Donate at monafoundation.org/move4mona