Are you passionate about an issue somewhere in the world where you want to make a difference, but you don't have the money to make it happen?
2026 Awards List
Below is the list of GoMakeADifference's 2026 winners
Over $40,000 is being awarded to 25 teams of UWC students, celebrating GoMakeADifference's 25th year. 118 applications were submitted this year, offering innovative ideas from students across the UWC network as to how they hope to make a difference.
The quality of applications was very high, with so many well thought through plans, which clearly laid out the project concept, proposed timescales and budgets. Applications were assessed against specific criteria, which measure personal development, community impact, and alignment with the UWC mission.
Thank you to everyone who applied.
| Project Title | Project Leader(s) | College(s) | Project Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Title: Chhote Kadam | Project Leader(s): Ishanvi Kochhar | College: UWC Mahindra College | Project Location: Delhi, India | Description: Chhote Kadam aims to teach underprivileged kids simple, at home practices for health and safety, using low cost material. |
| Project Title: Amazzi For Life | Project Leader(s): Kayla Esther Mpanga & Lin Jing-Hua | College: UWC South East Asia & UWC Thailand | Project Location: Gayaza, Uganda | Description: Assembles water pumps and filters to provide safe drinking water in rural schools vulnerable to waterborne diseases. |
| Project Title: Destigmatisation: Mental Health Awareness for Mozambican Youth | Project Leader(s): Walney Manjate | College: UWC Atlantic | Project Location: Maputo, Mozambique | Description: Interactive workshops in Maputo secondary schools that challenge the stigma “Africans don’t suffer from depression,” with the goal to provide adolescents mental health education. |
| Project Title: Tech-Empower Nepal | Project Leader(s): Niranjan Kumar Sharma | College: UWC Mahindra College | Project Location: Nepal | Description: Scaling the Kachorwa Hub in Parsa district, which has computers with AI/Robotics curriculum while launching a new mobile digital literacy center in Sarlahi district. |
| Project Title: DALAW-LUNTI | Project Leader(s): Seira Louis M. Garcera | College: UWC Maastricht | Project Location: Iloilo, Philippines | Description: Debate and Argumentation for Local Awareness on Waste-Leaders Uniting Nature Through tree-planting and waste management Initiatives. |
| Project Title: Restoring Hope | Project Leader(s): Haftom | College: UWC ISAK Japan | Project Location: Tigray, Ethiopia | Description: A trauma-informed program supporting displaced girls to heal psychologically and re-engage with education after conflict. |
| Project Title: Girls To Lead | Project Leader(s): Thao Phuong (Vivienne) Nguyen | College: UWC Costa Rica | Project Location: Costa Rica & Vietnam | Description: Encouraging disadvantaged girls to develop self-confidence and leadership skills. |
| Project Title: EcoJiko | Project Leader(s): Purity Kamene Kyalo | College: Li Po Chun UWC | Project Location: Makueni, Kenya | Description: Training students how to convert school waste to eco-friendly briquettes to reduce deforestation, pollution, and charcoal dependence. |
| Project Title: The Resilience Thread | Project Leader(s): Nkanyiso Gama & Paul Wali | College: Waterford Kamhlaba UWC | Project Location: HhoHho Mbabane, Eswatini | Description: Empowering adolescent GBV survivors through resilience workshops and sustainable sewing skills to promote healing and economic independence. |
| Project Title: Miyana | Project Leader(s): Carla Lopez | College: UWC Mahindra College | Project Location: Monterrey, Mexico | Description: Designing low-cost adaptive utensils to support people with Parkinson's disease. |
| Project Title: Stitching Futures | Project Leader(s): Bernard Joseph Kicheleri, Elizabeth Nelson Boniface & Thomas Nicolas Roussos | College: UWC East Africa | Project Location: Morogoro, Tanzania | Description: The goal is to improve school attendance and youth empowerment in the Mahenge district by training out-of-school youth in tailoring. |
| Project Title: Digital Inclusion & Protection for Seniors (DIPS) | Project Leader(s): Arjun Jaya Vejayan & Mon Myat Noe Zay | College: UWC Dilijan | Project Location: Malaysia & Myanmar | Description: Weekly in-person digital literacy & scam protection workshops to equip seniors with crucial digital skills and form life-long peer support groups. |
| Project Title: Loktantra Lab | Project Leader(s): David Khanal | College: UWC Maastricht | Project Location: Lalitpur, Nepal | Description: Loktantra Lab is a hands-on civic education project empowering Nepali youth to actively engage in democracy, governance, and policymaking. |
| Project Title: LXT: YACHAY CH'AMA | Project Leader(s): Gabriela Olinda Pizarro Arteaga | College: UWC Changshu China | Project Location: Peru | Description: Entrepreneurship UWC movement that identifies and empowers Peru's indigenous (Quechua/Aymara) youth to build ventures rooted in their cultural heritage. |
| Project Title: Groundguard | Project Leader(s): Çağan Okur | College: UWC in Mostar | Project Location: Konya, Turkey | Description: Low cost multi sensor sinkhole early warning system combined with farmer training on sustainable groundwater use and awareness sessions. |
| Project Title: Let's Clean The City Initiative | Project Leader(s): Iyanuoluwa Jegede | College: UWC Atlantic | Project Location: Ilesa, Nigeria | Description: Dedicated to educating people on waste management to enhance a sustainable environment. |
| Project Title: The Woodpecker | Project Leader(s): Yunran He | College: UWC-USA | Project Location: Montezuma, USA | Description: Implementing a drone-based fire detection network to protect Trout Springs forests while training communities in sensor technology. |
| Project Title: STOP THE BITE | Project Leader(s): Tenzin Choekyi | College: UWC Robert Bosch College | Project Location: India | Description: A youth-led community project reducing dengue through mosquito control, and preventive action in Tibetan settlements during monsoon season. |
| Project Title: GREENER KITEEZI CAMPAIGN | Project Leader(s): Alice Judith Kefeeza Birungi | College: UWC ISAK Japan | Project Location: Wakiso, Uganda | Description: Empowering Kiteezi residents to transform landfill waste into charcoal briquettes. |
| Project Title: YoungEd | Project Leader(s): Veronika | College: UWC Maastricht | Project Location: Ukraine | Description: Empowerment program for Ukrainian beginning teachers from rural/frontline communities including workshops, peer support, mentoring from experienced colleagues and offline networking. |
| Project Title: Second Harvest | Project Leader(s): Kwame Mureithi | College: UWC Changshu China | Project Location: Nairobi, Kenya | Description: Combating donor fatigue by using a Solar-powered dehydrator to preserve produce and generate income. |
| Project Title: Jhingiyahi Common Ground | Project Leader(s): Manish Kumar Kushwaha | College: UWC Changshu China | Project Location: Madhesh, Nepal | Description: The project aims to construct a communal resting shade with a hand pump to foster interaction and dialogue between Hindu and Muslim communities. |
| Project Title: Doko ko Sahara | Project Leader(s): Abhigya Dangol & Kavin Agrawal | College: UWC Mahindra College | Project Location: Bhaktapur, Nepal | Description: Preventative ergonomic initiative reducing health strain among pregnant and postpartum women in Bhaktapur’s brick kilns. |
| Project Title: Mental Health, Creativity & Community Engagement In Togo | Project Leader(s): Gracia Yawa Atchrimi, Esso-Houna Alexandrine Amana & Essotolom Tchoude | College: Pearson College UWC, UWC-USA & UWC Red Cross Nordic | Project Location: Kara, Toga | Description: Leadership and mental health awareness addressed by young UWC students for the youth in northern Togo. |
| Project Title: Her Craft, Her Art | Project Leader(s): Raziq Akhlaqi & Amina Taheri | College: UWC East Africa & UWC Atlantic | Project Location: Herat, Afghanistan | Description: Community-based initiative empowering women to transform handicraft skills into sustainable livelihoods and self-determined futures. |
Testimonials
The seeds of that thought were planted in me through my GoMakeADifference project.
— Rabir Mir (AC03), School Building in Pakistan