A Tribute to Brenda Lowe

 

Brenda Lowe, 2006, East Africa. 

In July 2026, we marked an incredible 20 years of support for the Kahama region of Tanzania. Brenda Lowe is a co-founder and the driving force behind The One Person Project. And I’m sure everyone who knows Brenda will agree that she is a powerful force indeed!

As a fellow co-founder, I’ve helped share The One Person Project’s story through articles, blog posts and Facebook. While Brenda is often mentioned as the familiar face of TOPP, we’ve rarely paused to celebrate the woman herself - and her ability to harness the compassion of friends and strangers alike to bring positive change to the lives of some of the most disadvantaged people in the world.

When Brenda lost her mother to cancer in 2004, she held on to her mom’s advice: follow your dreams, because you never know what lies ahead in life.

Brenda turned her grief into a resolve to pursue two dreams: to challenge herself physically and to make a difference. The following year, she completed a triathlon as a tribute to her mother’s life. During long training runs and swims, she also began shaping plans for what would become The One Person Project.

In 2006, Brenda travelled to Rwanda and Tanzania on a World Vision sponsor trip. Each volunteer was asked to find sponsors for two children. True to form, she found sponsors for 18, a number that eventually grew to 60, drawn mainly from her friends, family and contacts in the Okanagan and beyond. She asked that all the children be from the same area so that she and other volunteers could visit them, bringing letters and gifts from their sponsors.

The Okanagan sponsors met regularly at Brenda’s home, building friendships and a shared commitment to the children and their communities. Those gatherings laid the foundation for Brenda and her fellow co-founders to establish the Friends of Kahama Society, known as The One Person Project, to support more children and families in Tanzania’s Kahama District.

Over the past 20 years, our small grassroots organization has helped bring lasting change to children and families in Kahama. We’ve funded the construction and operation of Simon’s Children’s Centre, supported the construction and expansion of Royal Academy Boarding School, and funded schooling, tutoring and vocational training. We’ve supported healthcare and teacher training, established food programs and income-generating projects for women, and shipped six containers of donated supplies and equipment for the hospital, schools, local organizations and families. From clean water and secure accommodation to education and opportunities to earn a living, our supporters have helped meet immediate needs while opening doors to greater independence.

And there is so much more: the goat program, bicycles to help HIV outreach workers reach surrounding villages, and support for families and organizations in Muhanga, Rwanda, through the friendships and contacts Brenda made on her first World Vision trip.

All this has been made possible by the dedication of many committee members and volunteers in Canada and East Africa over the past two decades. But without Brenda’s vision and determination, The One Person Project would never have existed - or endured.

There have been a staggering 17 self-funded TOPP volunteer trips so far, not counting Brenda’s first World Vision trip. If you’ve been on one, chances are Brenda planned and booked your travel and accommodation. She will also have arranged the amazing visits and activities that rounded off your time in East Africa once the volunteer work in Kahama was done.

She has been the chief volunteer at every event, including putting together videos for our annual galas to show supporters the impact of their donations and involvement. They bring me to tears every time - and I’m sure our November 7th 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Summerland Legion will be no exception!

If you are unable to join us at the event, do take a moment to raise a glass and toast a remarkable woman who has created an opportunity for one community to make a real difference in the lives of people in another, halfway around the world.

Her mother, Arlene, would be proud.