Working with the Grassroots

Grassroot communities are by definition, are a group of people who work together through organised local networks or community organisations to create a voice or an action for issues or common interest that matter to them most. There are many ways to describe or define “a community”. Essentially a community is a group of people who shares something in common. Its commonality can be a place where people live, work or play. We can also define a community by people’s common identity, affinity or affiliation.

All of us experience challenges. For those who are marginalised, they are people who are often unheard and powerless to exert or influence change for themselves and for the people around them. Therefore, their challenges can be a lot more significant. Many who are marginalised are also those who struggle to find access to critical social resources such as education and health services, housing, income, leisure activities and work. Examples of marginalised Communities are the refugees, the stateless, indigenous people and the urban poor who lack equal access to opportunities and resources.

Akar Umbi basically mean grassroot. We chose grassroot as our name because we want to work with communities ground up. We want to make an impact by building communities based on their strength, helping to address its challenges and supporting them to realise their own ideals, their goals and their capacities.