More about Pilgrim
Projects
View Latest Newsletter
Support our work
Latest Photos/Videos
Media Kit
FAQs

Links
Newsletter Sign-up
Pilgrim on Facebook
Pilgrim on Youtube

About Us

Pilgrim Relief Society is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of indigenous people in remote places around the world. Since its establishment in 2001, the organization has developed projects for various remote communities including the Ju!hoansi Bushmen of the Kalahari, the Bambute pygmies and Lugbara tribe of Central Africa, the Kiai tribe of Vanuatu, the Inuit community of the north pole and the Inca community of South America.

Mission

To improve the quality of life of remote communities around the world who are struggling with poverty, disease, isolation and oppression. To provide these with humanitarian support and create awareness of their physical, social and political circumstances to the public.

Pilgrim Relief Society contributes in different avenues:

Aid distribution - Distribution of clothing, blankets, emergency food supplies, sanitary products and communication devices.

Construction of necessary facilities - Installing Water Systems, building clinics, schools and other.

Medical services - Providing access to medical personnel and medicines by transporting those in need to the closest clinic or by facilitating the visit of health professionals.

Education - Providing information on good agricultural practices, disease treatment and prevention, and on how to use the provided resources and facilities.

Why we do it

History

In 1996 Capetown University student Sebastian Tirtirau traveled deep into the Kalahari Desert to visit the Bushman (San) community. The purpose of his visit was a cultural research assessment, however by the end of the visit the essence of his discovery was an unspoken cry for help.

Sebastian returned to the Kalahari offering basic humanitarian support to the San villages. As these villages began to know and trust the young visionary, a relationship of trust and friendship began to form. Two years after his first visit into the Kalahari, Sebastian Tirtirau became the first white man ever to be adopted by the bushmen as one of their own.

Every consecutive visit in the Kalahari involved installing solar powered water systems, medical care, donating food and clothing and building much needed facilities. Thus one initial encounter with the San of the Kalahari ultimately gave birth to a mission for the remote tribes of the world. From the Bambuti Pigmies of the Congo jungle to the Inca villages of the Amazon, Pilgrim Relief Society is dedicated to the service and cause of remote tribes around the world.

In 2001 Pilgrim Society For Education and Relief of Poverty was founded as a non-profit charitable organization with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. At present Pilgrim Relief Society is present in 5 continents with projects in Namibia, D.R.Congo, North Pole, Vanuatu, South America, Romania and Australia.