In November 2017, Shayma Al- Sabah was sitting at home when the world was hit by the news of another devastating earthquake. Thankfully, Kuwait was largely unaffected, but Shayma was shaken by the devastation in the rest of the world and wanted to find a way to support the relief efforts.

She spent a couple of hours trying to find the right charity or organization and realized that the information that could help her make an informed decision or choice was very lacking. When she came up with nothing, a spark was ignited and she thought she might be able to do something about it.

Shayma is definitely not a techie, nor was she bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, but she attended a talk at Sirdab Lab which ended with her signing up for a bootcamp at Coded. This bootcamp was for people who had an idea they were passionate about. And she really just wanted to create a platform that would help people give back to their community in Kuwait.

At University, Shayma read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. She had never even considered designing an app. She had also never been passionate about a job or project as she felt towards Give. But it seems that at that moment in 2017 all the stars were aligned and her education, temperament and ideas fell into place to birth a worthy goal.

After she was done with the bootcamp she decided to register as a non-profit and take the first concrete step in the right direction. And in May of 2019 she released Give. And since then she has been working with her team of developers to tweak and improve the service.

The Give platform itself, is not a charity, nor is it a payment gateway, instead it is a single point where any donor can head, find a cause they would like to donate to and do it right then and there. The app is available for both iOS and Android users.

Of course, interested donors can also directly use the website from any browser, which stresses the importance of accessibility when it comes to the Give platform. Shayma was quick to point out that the Give platform is not an alternative to the charities themselves, who were already doing a great job at collecting donations, instead it is an extra option for donors and anyone interested to give back, but simply didn’t know where to go.

So far, there are thirteen charities using the app. All of them are officially recognized and registered charity organizations. Shayma explained that Give can only host legitimate projects. She also believes that transparency is paramount and because of this reason, Shayma doesn’t charge the charities anything. Instead, donors are charged a nominal flat amount with every donation to cover the cost of running the operation.

The app was designed to be easy and intuitive to use. You don’t even have to register if you don’t want to, you will still be able to donate anonymously, safely and securely. It is easy to directly tap on Charities to go to the one you are looking for. Alternatively, you can look at all of the open projects. From there you can filter by category or country and see a list of the projects that are available for donation.

Shayma wants users to be able to have as much information so they could not only understand where their money is going to be spent, but she also wants to be able to share data and photos after the project has been completed. In Shayma’s mind, this arrives as an added layer of transparency.

One of Shayma’s proudest achievements is a solar powered water well that was built in a village in Mauritania. The project was completely funded by Give donors and completed by Direct Aid. The full report is available on the website which people can easily find and view.

Once you have chosen a cause, just click through to use your Debit or Credit card to make a payment. All proceeds go directly to the charity and it literally takes seconds to be done. Give is a very sleek and modern solution to a very important issue. Shayma explained that the older generation in Kuwait are already loyal to their charities, she just wanted to provide them with an extra outlet in order to be able to make donations, but mostly she wants to be able to reach the younger generations and non-Arabic speaking expats who might find an app easier to use that is more congruent with their digital lifestyle.

Give could not have been born at a better moment. With the Coronavirus pandemic still raging though the globe, many of us have the privilege to shelter at home while the underprivileged need more resources than ever before. The nature of Give’s work meant they could continue working and collaborate digitally, but they noticed an influx of individuals directly contacting them to ask for financial assistance. Using their platform they were able to find and share the proper channels for registration for aid with the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Shayma also noticed a shift in what donors were looking for too. “There is a lot of interest in local projects to help people in Kuwait. As such, we have created a section to help “Affected Families & Workers” in Kuwait. The charities offer meal boxes, rent assistance, provision of ACs and fridges and sponsorship of families in need.

As expected, there was a big jump in donations during Ramadan. Due to the cyclical nature of donations, it usually drops again in the Summer. We were proud to see a collaboration between the UNHCR and a local Kuwaiti charity “Tanmeia” added to the platform and thankfully because of the generosity of donors, all four phases of the “Rohingya Relief” campaign were complete (providing shelter, clean water, education and sanitation to refugees in Bangladesh),” she explained.

And it is not just about giving money or tangible support. Shayma feels heartened and encouraged when she hears about grass-roots initiatives and volunteers stepping up to offer assistance. She explains, “That’s the true nature of Kuwait – we are stronger and better together. COVID has been divisive, but it has also brought us together. It’s scary when I think about the lasting impact of this crisis and the uncertainty of the future, but one way I try to cope is to focus on the here and now and what I can do to improve myself and my surroundings.

In that vein, we are working on improving Give and creating features which will help incorporate donating into our everyday lives, so that it is not just something we do during Ramadan. We are also working on elevating transparency in cooperation with the charities to show the impact of donations. So, I don’t think we’ll be doing anything differently but it has strengthened our resolve to keep going and to find a way to make Give sustainable in the long run.”

This is only the beginning of a long journey for Give, as Shayma wants to keep improving the app and adding features and tools to help people give to the causes they care about. Because what is life, if you can’t give back to the world?

For more information, visit the Give website at give.org.kw and follow @give.kwt on Instagram.