Our Partners

The COMO Foundation supports local non-profit organisations that have both experience and vision in grassroots development. Rather than grantees, they are partners, sharing our collaborative approach to help the women and girls of each community. 

There are no geographical limitations. To date, we have worked with partner organisations in the Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Guatemala, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. 

The companies within the COMO Group also pursue community outreach activities in their local areas, including Bhutan, London, the Turks and Caicos, Indonesia, the Maldives and Thailand.

To find out more about some of our partners:

• Clinic Cafe Timor, East Timor

  Clinic Café Timor is a rural health service operated by Cooperativa Café Timor, an organic coffee farmer’s cooperative of 20,000 member families in Timor Leste (East Timor). The cooperative markets, processes, transports and exports the Timorese coffee grown by their members under fair trade conditions.

  Clinic Café Timor maintains a network of eight fully operational clinics and 24 mobile clinics, providing free primary health care to the coffee farmers and their communities in the remote mountain coffee growing districts.

  The COMO Foundation, partnering with the Singaporean charity organisation MILK (Mainly I Love Kids), is supporting the Clinic’s maternal and child health programme. Timor Leste has one of the highest child and infant mortality rates in the world, and this programme will not only provide much-needed medical services to women and children, but also promote village-based community health education.

  For more information about MILK, visit www.milk.org.sg

• Conserve, India

  Conserve is an environmental organisation working in some of the poorest slums of New Delhi, India. Working to reduce poverty and the environmental degradation of slum living, Conserve’s signature programme involves recycling waste polythene bags. Piloted in 2002 and refined over the years with the help of industrial and fashion designers, Conserve developed an alternative recycling process that converts abundantly and freely available waste plastic bags into a “renewed” material that they call HRP – Handmade Recycled Plastic. This material is then used to make a wide range of products with great market appeal. A patent stands filed for the technology developed to produce the HRP. This process of recycling is far more environmentally- and energy-friendly than the conventional plastic recycling process through re-pelletisation.

  Conserve recruits directly from the slums to run the entire process of production, from collecting and washing the plastic bags to conversion to HRP to fabrication of product involves the urban poor recruited from these slums, especially women. These steps are particularly conducive for recruiting uneducated women as it uses existent everyday skills. The opportunity for income generation and skill development provided by Conserve has allowed many of these women to support their families and break the cycle of poverty.

  Conserve also conducts workshops to upgrade these women from collectors to producers. This enables the existing members to earn more money, and also allows new members to join the organization. To this end, the COMO Foundation has funded skill development workshops teaching pattern reading, cutting, stitching, and fabric painting.

  Conserve has created a custom pouch for a set of travel-sized COMO Shambhala skincare products from the Purify line, available soon in COMO Shambhala website.

  To find out more about Conserve, please visit www.conserveindia.org

• Dwaraka, India

  Dwaraka (Development of Weavers and Rural Artisans in Kalamkari Art) is a non-profit organization working in and around the villages of Sri. Kalahasthi, India. Working with women artisans, Dwaraka nurtures their talent in Kalamkari art, a form of handpainting using natural vegetable dyes and twigs sharpened into “kalams” or quill like pens. Hand painted Kalamkari art is done on fabric using natural vegetable dyes.

  Dwaraka is the only co-operative effort and platform keeping this traditional art alive. Without Dwaraka’s initiatives, Kalamkari art would have faded into obscurity. By working with the women to apply their art to marketable goods, Dwaraka not only preserves this stunningly beautiful artform, but also provides incomes to these women. The result is self-reliant communities with prospects of a sustainable economy, and empowered women with true social recognition.

  The COMO Foundation is supporting Dwaraka through funding key business development personnel within their support organisation, so that the women can produce products at price points that afford them the luxury of creativity and craftsmanship.

  The COMO Foundation and COMO Shambhala are also very pleased to offer a Goodwill Gift set that combines the beauty of kalamkari art with the pleasure of INVIGORATE, COMO Shambhala’s signature scent. The Goodwill Gift set includes a generously sized raw silk travel pouch with a kalamkari border, filled with four 54ml bottles of Invigorate Shower Gel, Shampoo, Conditioner and Body Lotion.  Click here for product details.

  To find out more about Dwaraka, please visit http://www.dwarakaonline.com

• Esperanza International, Dominican Republic

  Founded in 1995, Esperanza International is a micro-lending organisation in the Dominican Republic.

  Esperanza encourages entrepreneurship and collective responsibility among those who do not have the collateral to qualify for traditional bank loans. Through community ‘Banks of Hope’, groups of women agree to work together and support each other in their businesses and other aspects of community life. They are collectively responsible for the loan that their group members undertake.

  To support these women, Esperanza supplements its micro-lending efforts with education, vocational training, healthcare and an integrated network of social services. As the women’s incomes increase, they reinvest their profits in their businesses and also improve their families’ nutrition, education, and housing.

  The COMO Foundation is pleased to support Esperanza’s efforts in expanding its current micro-lending programme in the community of Los Guaricanos. The Los Guaricanos Holistic Development Project will feature two new community banks, bolstering the community’s economy by generating income, creating new jobs and business linkages, and strengthening the community’s local market.

  Esperanza has also nominated a COMO Foundation Anniversary Entrepreneur in 2008, Chely Perez.

  To learn more about Esperanza International, visit www.esperanza.org

• Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas De Guatemala, Guatemala

  Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas de Guatemala began in 1988 as a way to help indigenous women artisans earn a stable income with their traditional skill of back strap weaving. Founder Jane Mintz, an experienced social worker and weaver herself, was working with women living in poverty after surviving decades of civil war in Guatemala. Mintz quickly observed that their weaving was a chance for them to earn an income whilst working from home, and began to help these skilled artisans succeed and preserve their culture through access to a Fair Trade global marketplace.

  Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas de Guatemala works to improve the quality of life of the weavers and their families by offering assistance in the areas that the weavers deem most valuable. More than a hundred women weave for the Foundation in four different villages in the Guatemalan Highlands, and the Foundation is also beginning to work with artisans of pine needle basketry, another indigenous craft.

  The COMO Foundation has funded three workshops in Basketry, Colour and Design, and Natural Dyes. These workshops will train the women in new processes, reclaim and disseminate traditional knowledge, and to create new designs that will ultimately be appealing in the international marketplace.

  To find out more about the Fundacio Tradiciones Mayas de Guatemala, visit www.mayatraditions.com

• Gentle Fund, Vietnam

  Despite its apparently booming economy, poverty still plagues Vietnam. 24.9% of its population  lives below  the  poverty  line,  earning  less  than USD 1  per  day  (World  Bank,  2005). School drop-out rates  and  crime levels are high.

  The Gentle Fund seeks to address this situation amongst a particularly vulnerable group: orphans. Many children in orphanages do have parents, but are “given up” because their families cannot afford their upkeep. The children stay in these orphanages till their late teens. These children may be considered “lucky” in that they often have primary and secondary education provided as part of their orphanage stay. Given the young age at which they left to fend for themselves with no family or social network, however, they remain a vulnerable group.

  The COMO Foundation assisted the Gentle Fund in building the Dien Vien Learning Centre in Hue, Vietnam. Such a centre differs from a traditional library, which is often run as a place of quiet study. The learning centre incorporates a library with a multimedia centre and a full programme of tutoring and mentoring including academic  and  vocational  training, vocational skills, personal care training, and social skills training.

  To find out more about the Gentle Fund, please visit www.gentlefund.org

• Hua Dan, China

  Based in Beijing, China, Hua Dan was founded in 2004. The organisation, employs inspirational arts-based projects among China’s female migrant workers to empower them with personal, social and economic skills. Hua Dan’s Life Skills programme emphasises seven key skill-sets: self-awareness and valuing oneself, confidence, communication and self expression, teamwork, creativity, leadership and conflict resolution.

  Participatory theatre workshops encourage the workers to ‘think out of the box’ about their future and the world around them. Through creative and experiential learning in these workshops, participants explore their own behavioural change, ‘practicing’ how to respond to the ‘reality’ of various situations.

  The COMO Foundation is proud to support launch the Hua Dan Facilitator Training Project and Migrant Women Life Skills Training programme. These related programmes not only reach out to the women from the migrant worker community, but also selectively trains them to be Hua Dan facilitators and project managers.

  These facilitators and project managers, who in turn conduct workshops for more women.

  For more information about Hua Dan, visit www.hua-dan.org

• Kala Raksha, India

  Kala Raksha is an artisanal community based in Kutch, India. This cooperative currently provides incomes to over 600 women artisans.

  Although art preservation and income generation are the bases of the organisation’s work, comprehensive community development is never far behind. Kala Raksha organises Preventative Health Care and Basic Education Programmes for its artisans.

  The Foundation is proud to support Kala Raksha in an ambitious venture to develop the Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya, a design school for working traditional artisans. The curriculum will provide knowledge and skills that can be directly applied to the artisan’s own art to enable innovation appropriate to contemporary markets. In this way, artisans will not merely provide the workmanship in traditional craft, but be an active participant in its growth.

  Since working artisans (especially women) cannot leave their homes for long periods of time, and because the artisans are scattered throughout the villages, the curriculum is designed as a series of workshops in a residential local setting. The COMO Foundation has funded the construction and outfitting of the Women’s Dormitory, endowed scholarships for needy women artisans who would otherwise not be able to attend the course and helped launch an internship program for recent graduates.

  To find out more about Kala Raksha, visit www.kala-raksha.org

• Little Sisters Fund, Nepal

  Since 1998, the Little Sisters Fund has provided scholarships and mentoring programs for motivated girls living in extreme poverty in South Asia.

  When the Fund first approached The COMO Foundation, its first Little Sisters in Nepal were graduating (about 18 years old); some were entering tertiary and vocational education; others were looking for work.

  Together with the COMO Foundation, the Fund launched a new program called “Bahinis on Board” (Bahini is “Little Sister” in Nepalese). The programme helps girls make the critical transition from school to the workforce through mentorship.

  School-leaving Little Sisters now participate in a two-year internship on the Bahini Fund’s board, directly paired with a Board Member. She learns about budgeting, corporate governance and policy-making.

  Provided with impressive training in non-profit management, it is hoped these life skills will supply each Little Sister with considerable opportunity for future employment.

  The COMO Foundation has since expanded the programe to cater to the growing number of school-leavers, and endowed scholarships for young girls.

  To find out more about the Little Sister Fund, visit www.littlesistersfund.org

• Lua Nova, Brazil

  Lua Nova was established by a Brazilian psychologist, Raquel Barros, to combat the social exclusion of adolescent mothers by providing them with health care, counselling and professional training. By combining income generation with social work, Lua Nova aims to bring these young mothers back into society.

  Lua Nova helps the women realise their ability to juggle mothering with a job. In the 2006, Lua Nova scored a significant victory as the National Secretary on Drugs chose to dessiminate Lua Nova’s model of assistance to young mothers across the country. The impact of this change will be felt in 5600 cities in Brazil.

  A cornerstone of Lua Nova’s success has been the emphasis on sustainable income-generation. Participants not only earn a livelihood, but also their self-esteem and sense of responsibility. Arte Criando (Art Creating) is one such income generation project. The women design, develop, produce and sell beautiful dolls that are full of character. The COMO Foundation has supported Arte Criandowith funds to upgrade its machines, improve its website and develop its marketing.

  Taking the success of Arte Criando one step further, the Foundation is in its second collaboration with Lua Nova in the Brindes da Lua (Gifts of the Moon) project. Brindes da Lua is nascent social enterprise committed to establishing  the conditions for economic independence and sustainability of young people. While the gift production operations of Brindes da Lua will bring in revenue needed to cover costs, the skill development and multiplier effect of young entrepreneurial role models and training will have a much deeper impact on the community.

  To find out more about Lua Nova, visit www.luanova.org.br. (Language options under “Idioma” on the right hand column).

• Maya Organic, India

  Maya, an Indian development organization, was initiated in 1989 with the primary focus of eradicating child labor. Maya initially focused on enrolling children into the formal school system and working with parents to facilitate an enabling and supportive environment. Over time, Maya realized that while direct relief measures are necessary, a long-term and effective solution to child labour is only possible by addressing the systemic causes of poverty.

  Maya Organic is a programme of Maya that has evolved from these experiences. It addresses livelihood issues by providing employment to independent workers’ cooperatives in the fields of garment-making, lacware, and construction.

  The COMO Foundation has supported the Garment division of Maya Organic, which employs 170 women who create clothes, accessories, bags and homewares. The Foundation has funded a series of training programmes train in business skills, production, development and quality control.

  To find out more about Maya Organic, visit http://www.mayaorganic.com/

• One HEART, China

  An estimated 2.8 million people live in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of southwest China. For Tibetan women, pregnancy and childbirth are especially risky. A very weak rural health care system, is exacerbated by a lack of any tradition of birth attendants or midwives. As a result, maternal and perinatal mortality rates in Tibet are among the highest in the world. One in ten Tibetan babies die within their first month.

  One HEART (Health, Education, and Research in Tibet) works to remedy this situation through midwife training to local physicians and by preparing women and their families for impending births. Working in Tibet since 1998, the organisation’s work has focused on Medor Gonkar County. In 2006, 90% of women in the county were assisted during childbirth by an attendant trained by One HEART, only one woman in the county died in childbirth and the county’s infant mortality rate was cut by half. According to the data collected at the Maternal Child Health Hospital in Lhasa, there were no maternal deaths in 2008 in the countries where One HEART operates.

  The COMO Foundation is supporting One HEART's PAVOT (Pregnancy and Village Outreach Tibet) programme. Established in 2004, this community-level maternal and newborn health programme delivers basic health education, skills and essential resources directly to rural pregnant women and their families. PAVOT relies on a cadre of dedicated community members, both doctors and laypersons, to reach the women in remote rural communities. Beneficiaries learn about prenatal care, nutrition, birth planning, sanitary labor and delivery, recognition of danger signs of the mother and her baby, prevention of maternal hemorrhage, and good newborn care.  They are also taught hands-on life saving skills such as uterine massage for the prevention of maternal hemorrhage and resuscitation of the newborn who is not breathing. Finally, they are given essential life saving resources, such as prenatal vitamins and iron, clean delivery kits, and newborn hats and blankets.

  To find out more about One HEART, please visit www.onehearttibet.org

• Pattanarak Foundation, Thailand

  “Pattanarak” stems from two Thai words meaning “development and conservation,” which accurately describe the Pattanarak Foundation’s commitment to work with rural populations living near and in critical conservation areas along the Thai national borders (Thai/Myanmar and Thai/Lao borders). Pattanarak forms long-term partnerships with these rural populations to support socio-economic development, improved health status, and natural resource preservation.

  The COMO Foundation began a relationship with Pattanarak in 2004, by facilitating a one-off donation from a fund-raiser held at the Metropolitan Bangkok.  Since then, the Foundations have collaborated on a project to teach cotton production to rural women and girls in the north eastern region of Thailand next to Lao border.

  Through technical training and study tours, the project strengthens the weaving capacity of women and girls while providing seed money for cotton production through a savings group. The culture of cotton weaving is an old one in the area, but was rapidly being lost with increased urbanisation. This project therefore begins by involving the elderly women in the communities to pass on weaving culture to the new generation, while demonstrating to younger women that weaving can be a source of regular income. The COMO Foundation co-funded this project with the German Embassy in Thailand.

  To find out more about the Pattanarak Foundation, visit www.pattanarak.or.th

• Rebuild Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka

  On 26th December 2004, a brutal 9.0 earthquake unleashed devastating tsunamis on coastal areas throughout the Indian Ocean region, killing an estimated 300,000 people and leaving at least another million homeless.

  Although the emergency is over, recovery will take years. In many coastal villages, the tidal wave wreaked total destruction on buildings, roads and infrastructure such as electricity and water.
   
  Rebuild Sri Lanka, a local non-governmental organization, works with the COMO Foundation to help the citizens of the Habaraduwa region in Sri Lanka rebuild their homes, reclaim their livelihoods and revive their communities.

  Two projects are complete: an orphan care program and women’s-assistance programme for women widowed in the tragedy to set up businesses in sewing, lace and coir-rope making.

  The Foundation has also enabled Rebuild Sri Lanka to establish a Community Development Centre in Habaraduwa. Habaraduwa is situated near the Koggala Free Trade Zone, and job opportunities are available for properly trained candidates.

  The Centre already serves children and adults attending English classes. In keeping with its commitment to address local needs, the Centre lab holds special English classes for factory workers, at the request of nearby factories from the free trade zone. Sewing and computer classes, skills relevant to employers in the free trade zone are also offered.

  The Centre also conducts “eye and ear” camps to help villagers receive spectacles and hearing aids. The equipment are supplied by Sri Lankan doctors living overseas, while doctors from Colombo help to fit these aids to each recipient.

  To find out more about Rebuild Sri Lanka, visit www.rebuildsrilanka.org

• SEWA, India

  93% of India's labour force work informally, through their own labour, or own small businesses. As self-employed workers. they do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organised sector. Of the female labour force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganised sector.

  Established in 1971, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) organises and equips women to accomplish sustainable self reliance, including work security, income security, food security and social security (at least health care, child care and shelter).

  In 2001, the state of Gujarat experienced a devastating earthquake that shattered the lives of more than 80,000 SEWA members. SEWA helped create local employment, develop tools and equipment libraries, and strengthen agriculture and livestock activities. It has also provided financial services and social security, including insurance, to thousands of households. All of these initiatives were implemented through village development committees led by women.

  The COMO Foundation is helping SEWA to complete these activities, including land leveling to increase the farm and building water bunds to prevent water from flowing away and hence increasing the fertility of the land.

  SEWA has also nominated a women's entrepreneurial group recipient of the COMO Foundation Anniversary Entrepreneur Award in 2008, Ambaji Swashrayee Mandal.

• Shem Women's Group, China

  Shem is a women's group dedicated to empowering Tibetan women and their communities by running development workshops for the educated women in the community. Each participant is trained to design, implement, and manage sustainable grassroots development projects that will successfully alleviate the problems that their communities face. Once a project proposal is written, Shem secures funding for the project, and the participant is in charge of implementing and evaluating the project.

  Projects successfully implemented by the women include providing books to rural schools, installing solar cookers to remote communities, collecting and distributing clothing and building bridges and greenhouses.

  Although Shem’s most tangible work is evident in the way it meets basic needs such as water, fuel, electricity, and health care, Shem’s project managers—young, educated Tibetan women—also present villagers with positive female role models. The work of these young women raises confidence in women’s abilities and encourages villagers to value women’s education.

  To find out more about the Shem Women’s Group, visit www.shemgroup.org

• Thea, Philippines

  THEA was founded by Marie de la Soudiere, a clinical social worker, in 1987. Her aim? To train women from the poorest areas of Manila’s Penafrancia barrio by establishing a sewing cooperative that produces cotton nightgowns and children’s clothing.

  To date, THEA has helped over 40 families move out of squats into houses on their own plot of land. The organisation has also created a community fund, establishing day care centres, disbursing scholarships for children, and assisting with prescription medicine.

  The COMO Foundation supported THEA by creating a capsule resort wear collection, equipping an education centre for the members’ children, and providing equipment and training for their Villa Fatima production centre.

  COMO Hotels and Resorts sells THEA’s products in its resort boutiques. This includes resortwear – a capsule collection created in collaboration with THEA and Club 21, the fashion retail arm of the COMO Group.

• Thien Chi Centre, Vietnam

  The Thien Chi Centre operates in the Duc Linh & Tanh Linh districts of Binh Thuan, Vietnam. Targeting the poorest 100 households of each  village community, Thien Chi works to reduce poverty reduction by strengthening the agricultural and economic capacities of the local authorities and community.

  The Centre provides customised economic and technical support to each family unit to maximise their income via agriculture or the rearing of livestock. Where necessary, a small amount of credit is also provided to assist the household to vaccinate their animals or feed them well.

  Many of the families with which Thien Chi works do not have a male head of household present. These men may have abandoned the family or moved away from  the village to find work. With the women as sole breadwinners, assistance to increase their income makes a huge difference.

  The COMO Foundation is honoured to fund the Thien Chi Centre’s efforts in poverty reduction through micro-credit and technical assistance.

  For more information about Thien Chi, visit www.thienchi.org

• Qallariy – Casa de Acogida Mantay, Peru

  Based in Cusco, Peru, the Asociación ‘Qallariy’ (meaning ‘to start’ in Quechua) runs the Casa de Acogida Mantay  (meaning ‘Mothers’ Sheltering Home’ in Quecha). Since 2000, Mantay has given a home and family to young mothers ranging from ages 12-17, all of whom have been sexually abused by male relatives or friends.

  Mantay provides a safe environment for these adolescent mothers to recover and rebuild their lives, while bonding with and nurturing their children. In addition to the necessities of food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and therapy, Mantay educates the young mothers, equipping them with employable skills.

  Once the mothers turn 18 years old, they “graduate” from the group shelter. Mantay, however, continues to support them by providing a drop-off crèche that cares for their children. With the assurance that their children are in safe hands, these mothers can enter the workforce with greater confidence.

  To date, Mantay has helped approximately 134 women and children have a better future. The COMO Foundation assists Mantay with its operating budget.