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UCLA at Angkor Thom While in Cambodia in 2005, we met a group of children being taken care of by the monks near Temple Bayon in Angkor Thom just north of Siem Reap, and they eventually became the inspiration to start Global Colors.It was only fitting that our first project was to go back and thank them. |
Bonfil Orphanage Just outside Cancun, Mexico, there is a small orphanage called "Casa Hogar Esperanza". This "House of Hope and Faith" is run by Asencio and Esther Mancilla who started this home nearly 20 years ago when someone left an infant on their doorstep. |
Back to School Inspired by Jeff Scott, our Cambodian Back to school program was able to expand to become a resounding success. 120 children are now in school, families are becoming self-sustaining, and we were lucky enough to facilitate it. |
Loscarasucias Children's Home Global Colors board member Joy Haynes went to Argentina and while there decided to do a little Guerrilla Aid. In a short amount of time she met every immediate need of a children's home outside of Buenos Aires. |
Women Fuelwood Carriers Just outside of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, there are women who hike roughly 18 miles a day collecting wood to be sold in the market. The weight of the packs they carry can be up to 70 lbs. - close to the weight of some of the women - and they do it all for about $2. |
Development in Gardening We partnered with an amazing organization, Development in Gardening (DIG), to create vegetable gardens next to hospitals in Africa.We worked at Hospital Fann in Dakar, Senegal, and created something so unique it brought First Lady Laura Bush to visit. |
Cows for the Maasai After the September 11 attacks, the very poor people of the Maasai banded together and raised enough money to buy fourteen cows - their most prized possession -to give as a gift to America to help us heal. We decided to go over and thank them by repaying the gesture... |
CAA Envirotrade Creative Artists Agency (CAA) selected Global Colors to launch their International Volunteer Vacation Program, having us take CAA employees to Mozambique and South Africa for a reforestation and outreach project. |
Jeff Scott We were contacted by the friends and family of Jeff Scott to see if we could do any sort of project in his memory, and so we set out to get to know the man Jeff had become, and create a project work in his honor. |
| Women Fuelwood Carriers |
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Just outside of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, there are women who hike roughly 18 miles a day collecting wood to be sold in the market. The weight of the packs they carry can be up to 70 lbs. - close to the weight of some of the women
We heard about these women and decided that in order to help them, we first had to go to Ethiopia to work alongside them. So we did. How can you decide the best way to provide assistance, if you don't understand the struggle?
We found and joined the women and offered to buy their packs for the day so we could understand their daily journey. We were met with understandable confusion at first -- why would anyone willingly pay to carry this wood? Then gratitude appeared on their faces when they realized our intentions. Some of them were very young, roughly 9 years old, while some had been working for 30-40 years. They all had families to support, and for many, they were the only source of income. All seemed to enjoy our company as we walked together, and we began to learn each of their stories along the way. Amara - one of the more talkative young ladies - started carrying wood after her sister died 18 years ago, and her family relies heavily on her earnings to survive. Through our interpreter she asked us what America was like, and how we had liked school (she has never been).  She told us that only one of her friends had ever even been to school, and that she had left to carry wood in what would be the equivalent of the 5th grade. She stopped for a minute and looked in our eyes and said, “I want to go to school.” This is something you rarely hear from someone nearly 30 years old - and also something that you can never forget. As we continued walking we noticed that our group had grown. More and more kids joined us, and apparently they were fascinated with why men would be carrying the wood rather than the women. Our translator explained that even though some customs in Ethiopia have progressed, carrying wood was considered a ‘woman’s job,' as it was part of taking care of the home.  This was clear (and very frustrating to us) as able-bodied men would walk by and laugh at us while calling us women. In the end it was hard to notice though, as hearing applause from the women as we walked by made us realize that they appreciated our efforts to bring awareness to their daily struggle. Trying to convey how difficult it was would be a lesson in futility. The sprigs of wood and bark dig into your back - the weight of the packs shift continuously as you try to keep your balance while sliding in the mud - and all you can do is  focus on the ground to keep yourself from falling. By the end of the day this proved to be a daunting experience. When we ended our journey at the market, we couldn’t find the words to express what we had just been through. Knowing that women do this daily and that other people rely on them to complete this back-breaking work, was too much for us. All we could do was thank them and promise that we would report their story. They smiled and continued on. We want to create something that we are extremely excited about, but we need some help. After carrying the wood we realized a few things... 1. We can't change the economic situation in Ethiopia, and the fact that these women have to carry wood. However, we can try and make it more tolerable for them. 2. We also realized that carrying the wood wasn't the worst thing about the situation, but the fact that it kept the women from an education, and we have a solution!! 3. We'd like to develop a pack that the women can use to strap the wood to - one with a heavy-duty pad to protect their back, padded straps to protect their shoulders, and a pocket for a Walkman or an MP3 Player. 4. We will coordinate with a group in Addis, the Former Women Fuelwood Carriers, so that the women can go and get their packs and update their walkman or ipod with educational materials... ie, books on tape, English lessons, music - anything to make their experience a bit more tolerable, and to give them a basic education. We are looking for a group to help us develop and make this pack, as well as a lead with Apple, Sony, or a group like Berlitz to help with the education portion of it. Any ideas, help, or connections would be greatly appreciated. GalleryThis project contains one gallery with 14 images -- click on the image to view that gallery.
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