Creativity has the power to make the world better. But most people seem to ignore it when it comes to solving problems, relying on well-trodden solutions instead. We wanted to show that a combination of positivity and original thinking can go far, and scoured the world to find stories that showcased how real people are using creativity to solve their real world problems. In this first story we introduce Alcindo, a 43 year-old Cape Verdean construction worker, who had the brilliant idea of turning the rubbish he saw washing up on the sands of his native Sal Island, into the most beautiful gym you’ll ever see.

We kept the execution simple and emotional. A short and beautifuly shot, unbranded documentary film that tells Alcindo’s story in his own words, combined with a simple website that adds depth to the project and allows people to support him in different ways.

The results were fantastic. We achieved the reach we were looking for and secured a continuous source of income through brand partnerships:

We made a partnership with Futah - a beach towel brand that introduced a new model called Santa Maria (Alcindo's local beach in Cape Verde) and where a percentage of the sales of each towel reverts to Alcindo to help him keep the beaches clean and his gym in shape.

We made a partnership with Kalorias - Fitness Club to provide Alcindo a Personal Training qualification, which allows him to train better and be a Personal Trainer in his community.

But Alcindo had a dream - "Football was my favourite sport... but now it's a bit late. I'm 43." So, we managed to get a partnership with the Portuguese National Football Team that helped Alcindo's dream come true, by bringing him from Cape Verde to Portugal to watch an official match, to meet the Portuguese and Cape-Verdean professional players, to visit the Football City in Lisbon and fulfill a lifelong dream.

Numbers so far below:

Coverage: 26

Reach: 73.2m

Coverage views: 411k

Video views: 2.5m

Video shares: 12k

Rather than using paid media, this project was created with the intention of using PR, Social and Word of Mouth to reach its objectives, which were twofold: create awareness of Alcindo’s brilliant idea and, subsequently, gather financial support to maintain and improve his gym and aid him in achieving a personal training qualification so he could better help the local community.

1 – allow media owners to own the content, therefore guaranteeing their willingness and support in sharing it. As long as, within the article or film, there was a link back to tuddret.org – where people could help Alcindo in different ways, from donations to sponsorship opportunities – media owners were allowed to tweak the edit, add their own titles, etc.

2 – target media owners in 3 specific areas that our content touched on. a.) tabloids that focus on human interest stories and have a mass audience, b.) specialized publications that cover sports, health and wellbeing, c.) publications that focus on ecology and recycling.

As a result we achieved mass reach and awareness, as well as a more focus audience who we knew would have an extra incentive to help Alcindo.

This is the first project of TudDret.org, a non-profit online creative social platform born to support and tell real stories, of real people using optimism and creative thinking in an effort to improve their lives and the lives of the ones around them – one problem at a time, one story at a time. It was inspired by Tud Dret (it’s all good) a Cape Verdean creole expression (spoken language in the Cape Verde islands) and philosophy of life that combines creativity with positivity and has allowed a small country in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to push through difficult times with a perennial smile on the face of its people.