Coala Pay, an SCF-funded project by anthropologist Melyn McKay, is a public aid funding marketplace and weather oracle built on Stellar to accelerate humanitarian aid delivery in regions like Somalia. The platform enables organizations to manage programs and payments through private marketplaces while a weather oracle allows preemptive crisis response funding in under 24 hours.
The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) is spotlighting Coala Pay, founded by Melyn McKay, an anthropologist with 15 years of experience in the aid sector. Coala Pay leverages Stellar's blockchain to create a public aid funding marketplace and weather oracle designed to address critical challenges in humanitarian aid delivery. Drawing from her experience managing aid operations in South Sudan before the 2013 civil war, McKay recognized the need for better financial infrastructure in underserved regions. The platform enables organizations to manage programs and payments through private marketplaces, ensuring funds from large donors reach grassroots aid groups and local communities. A key innovation is the weather oracle targeting flooding and drought in Somalia, allowing local humanitarian organizations to preemptively fund crisis response activities in less than 24 hours—a process that previously took months. McKay chose Stellar specifically for its foundation's commitment to real-world solutions and financial inclusion for underbanked populations.
