The members of Project Earth, a new UT organization, plan to find a way to help stop global poverty. Founder Gezime Ismaili, a junior seeking a PhD in Economics, is eager to see exactly how UT can make a “stronger impact” on global issues.
Born in Kosovo, Ismaili has always been sensitive to the issue of poverty and says that upon coming to college, she wasn’t too busy doing school work and was ready to get her hands dirty.
“This is a great environment to learn and make mistakes,” Ismaili said. “I really believe in my heart that UT needs this.”
Project Earth’s first and foremost mission is to raise awareness, according to Ismaili. “We are the future.”
The group hopes to act as a “student-based non-profit,” working with professional poverty-relief organizations, moving from project to project, start to finish, and providing a link from UT to the war on global poverty.
Gezime hopes that this will also open
up the opportunity for internships abroad so that members can physically see the effects of their efforts.
The group’s first campaign, “GO 4 H20,” is an effort to raise $5,000 for the water filtration straws that will be distributed to children in Africa and Haiti.
Each straw costs about ten dollars, lasting approximately one year.
“5,000 children die per day due to water
related problems,” Ismaili said. “If we reach our goal, we can give 500 children clean water for a whole year.”
When asked if she seriously believed she could raise $5,000 before the end of the semester, Ismaili was very confident.
“We’re aiming high so that even if we don’t reach our goal, we’ll still have he
lped as many children as we can.” Ismaili’s confidence is also founded upon the passion of her team.
“This isn’t about me and when I look at them, I can see that they really care about this issue and that they’re ready to get started asap,” said Ismaili.
If you are interested in joining Project Earth, meetings are being held on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Vaughn Lobby.
Gezime Ismaili can be contacted atand 727-688-3554 by phone.