Wabowan Nimiwin Inc.
Village Blanket
People take care of people. Give what you can, your gift warms a village.
What is Village Blanket?
Village Blanket is a new Canadian non-profit being launched as a part of the Odenaansan Project. The name comes from the practice of a blanket dance at powwows where money is raised on a single dance for someone in need in the community. This is one example of the deep Indigenous value and tradition of gifting found amongst earth-based cultures. In these cultures, gifting is not charity, it is a sacred responsibility rooted in the belief that people take care of people: reciprocity. Among the Anishinaabe, it is believed that, “In this way, we care for the people because we are all one and it is our responsibility to care for all living things in our territory”.
Thus, Village Blanket is one way Odenaansan is helping address the huge gap between what we have in North America (and almost everywhere else). It is a way of beginning to restore balance and demonstrating how people take care of people. This is the heart of Village Blanket.
In a time of global insecurity and overlapping crises, The Odenaansan Project stands as a story of quiet, lived hope. After the water tanks were installed in Agereger, the clan elder Odolon, said, “This showed us that something was possible.” The project is not built on grand promises, but on proof that when people act together, even in small ways, meaningful change can take root. Odenaansan reflects a simple truth shared across cultures: “If we all do a little, we can do a lot” as the then 12 year old Lauren Best once said.
Odenaansan
Odenaansan’s work in Africa includes planning meetings, rural community visits, and grassroots initiatives in Uganda and Kenya, with sustained engagement in Agereger village in eastern Uganda. For more than five years, this work was personally funded by Kevin often through borrowed money and that was covering travel, community gatherings, transportation, cross-border coordination, and many necessary but unseen operational costs.
Kevin carried Odenaansan Africa largely on his own, not because he had excess financial capacity, but because once he learned that women and children in Agereger walk up to two hours each way to access basic needs, he felt compelled to act.
From the outset, this work was never intended to depend on personal sacrifice. The ICD approach was designed with a built-in mechanism to support non-profit activities through the unified utility model. The financial structure anticipates that approximately three percent of capital raised for sustainable infrastructure projects such as those planned in communities like Parry Sound would be allocated to Odenaansan through commissions paid by funding providers.
These funds were intended to cover early-stage community development costs such as seeds, initial livestock, basic tools, and local coordination that are required before larger development projects can begin, but are not funded through infrastructure or investment financing. This early-stage work enables communities to participate meaningfully in long-term development.
Kevin was optimistic about how quickly the first ICD projects could be finalized and begin generating this funding stream. Delays in closing the initial deal meant that this mechanism has not yet become active. At the same time, the needs within Agereger have remained immediate and visible.
During his visit to Agereger, Kevin was welcomed generously by the community and gained a clearer understanding of how limited the resources are in rural village settings. He also recognized that, until the ICD funding mechanism is operational, external support is required to cover these early-stage costs.
In Agereger, the community has demonstrated strong commitment and willingness to contribute labour, time, and locally available resources to the partnership with Odenaansan. What the community lacks are the small but necessary inputs that make participation possible.
Because of the delay in activating the ICD funding mechanism and because the need is immediate, the Village Blanket initiative was created. Its purpose is to allow Odenaansan’s growing community of supporters to help cover early-stage community development costs so that progress can continue while long-term systems are being finalized.
Village Blanket is intended as a temporary and targeted support mechanism. It enables development activities to begin and continue now, without replacing the long-term ICD funding model.
The Birth of Village Blanket
Village Blanket is being introduced as a non-profit fundraising initiative as part of The Odenaansan Project, it is a sister entity to Odenaansan Dakonaan Inc. (which is, with community, developing community owned sustainable infrastructure).
Village Blanket takes its name from the cultural practice of honouring and protecting others with a blanket, an act shared by many Indigenous communities. A blanket symbolizes safety, dignity, warmth, and belonging. When a child is cold, you wrap them. Village Blanket is also the way of wrapping around Odenaansan, so that Odenaansan can continue wrapping around the people it serves.
The “Buy Me A Soda” Campaign
The Village Blanket is launching with the Buy Me a Soda Campaign, inspired by a Ugandan gesture of honour offering someone a soda as a sign of respect, welcome, and connection like our colleague Peter said, “Buy me a soda so I can live like you for a moment.” The campaign is not about the soda itself; it is about enabling those with privilege, or those willing to participate, to contribute to the development of under-resourced communities.
Funds raised through the Buy Me a Soda Campaign will support Odenaansan’s non-profit activities: growing food, livestock rearing, youth skills development, and other community development initiatives within our capacity. This work complements ongoing efforts to build a unified, sustainable infrastructure in Agereger village, where Kevin Best was honored with the responsibility of a community elder. In this role, he recognized the urgent need for resources to incubate, initiate, and accelerate projects like these.
The campaign will also support the launch of an Indigenous-led social “fair trade” enterprise, helping local producers of tea, coffee, herbs, and spices process and bring their crops to market offering an alternative to the dominant corporate system that currently limits their opportunities.
Our immediate requirement is $3,000 per month equivalent to 30 donors giving $100 each. This will allow us to continue initiatives like Farm Forward and East Africa IndigenEX. While we ask you to “buy me a soda,” even this modest contribution can bring real sustenance to people in East Africa and make a tangible difference in their daily lives.
Call to Action
Village Blanket now invites people everywhere to join this Indigenous circle of gifting. Give what you can, give with heart, and give because someone needs… just like a blanket warms a family, your gift warms a village. Through Village Blanket, people take care of people and together, we keep the work alive.