During Iris Ferwerda her work in the slums of Brazil, she realized that being able to help others is a luxury not everyone has. People fight to make ends meet & the capability to raise their voice or to change the community disappears. The more she spoke with people, she realized that ideas were present but the support that enables locals to make ends meet and help others was not. It awakened the thought: they don’t need our help but our support. Iris designed a concept that enables locals to help their communities in the global south with support from the western world. 

The first design of the concept was done out of the knowledge Iris gained during working and writing her graduation thesis at War Child Holland & working in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro for a non-profit organisation. With the basic concept on her mind Iris talked, pitched and brainstormed with her network to finalize the concept. She decided that the concept should combine two goals in one. First of all to support local initiatives but also to put the spotlight on unknown stories about the global south. The name was easy to decide: AWE. The name of her grandmother who always had an eye for the individual & at the same time the English word for being amazed which you automatically are if you look at all the individuals stuck in inhumane situations.Then the letters where split & AWE became About World Engagement because that sums up the whole mission of AWE. We bring the best of both worlds together.