Current Partners

• Conserve, India

  Conserve is an environmental organisation working to reduce poverty and the environmental degradation in some of the poorest slums of New Delhi, India. Piloted in 2002, Conserve’s signature programme involves recycling 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. 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. Collecting and washing the plastic bags to conversion to HRP to fabrication of product involves the urban poor recruited from these slums, especially women. 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.
  
  The COMO Foundation is also supporting the establishment of the Conserve Clinic – a free medical clinic for Conserve employees and their families who would otherwise have extremely limited access to healthcare. Apart from providing employees with regular checkups and emergency care services, the clinic will also run public health workshops to improve the long-term health of employees.
  
  To find out more about the Conserve, India, visit www.conserveindia.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 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 has recently started working with artisans of pine needle basketry, another indigenous craft.
  The COMO Foundation has funded a series of workshops in Colour, Design and Product Development for the artisans. These train the women in new processes, reclaim and disseminate traditional knowledge, and create new designs that will ultimately be appealing in the international marketplace.

  The COMO Foundation has continued to support FTM, and is currently funding a series of workshops for leaders of the six communities that FTM works with, and a second series of the highly successful design and product development workshops. These programmes aim to build on the leaders knowledge of design techniques, and reach out to more artisans.
  
  To find out more about Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas de Guatemala, visit www.mayatraditions.com.

• Hua Dan, China
  Founded in 2004 and based in Beijing, China, Hua Dan conducts 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.
  
  Since 2008, The COMO Foundation has supported programmes such as the Hua Dan Facilitator Training Project and the Migrant Women Life Skills Training Scheme, to reach out to women from the migrant worker community and train them to be Hua Dan facilitators and projects managers.
  
  COMO Foundation is currently supporting another series of capacity building programmes, the Migrant Training and Employment Scheme, which will train local Chinese women to become participatory arts teachers, skilled performers, workshop facilitators and visionary leaders and managers at Hua Dan. It is hoped that equipping more women with these skills will help bring the Hua Dan model to other communities in China and elsewhere.
  
  To find out more about Hua Dan, visit www.hua-dan.org.
• Kala Raksha, India
  Kala Raksha is an artisan community based in Kutch, India. This cooperative currently provides incomes to over 600 women artisans.
  
  Although art preservation and income generation are the basis 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, provided 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. 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 programme to cater to the growing number of school-leavers, and endowed scholarships for young girls. Most recently, the Foundation has supported the establishment of the Nepali Teacher Training Institute (NTTI). NTTI aims to be a transformative programme of teacher training, which introduces teachers to best teaching practices and new teaching methods. This type of training is much needed in Nepal where only one fifth of Nepal’s primary teacher’s have received training (UNESCO). Concentrating on the schools that Little Sisters attend, NTTI hopes to create a momentum of positive change at the school level.
  
  Tp find out more abour Little Sisters Fund, visit www.littlesistersfund.org.
• Oxlajuj B’atz’, Guatemala

  Oxlajuj B’atz’, is an women’s education project serving indigenous women weavers and artisans from 15 groups scattered throughout rural Guatemala. Founded in 2004 as a project of the United Weaver’s Association, Oxlajuj B’atz offers skilled artisans who otherwise would have few resources available, the opportunity to work at their craft.
  
  The COMO Foundation funded Oxlajuj B’atz’’s Sewing Instruction and Sewing Machine Micro-Credit Project. Through a microcredit loan arrangement, sewing machines were distributed to the women so they could sew their own goods for their families, and offer their sewing services to nearby weaving organisations.
  
  To improve income generation, COMO Foundation has since funded intermediate and advanced sewing classes. Since most of the women have never had the ability to go to school and cannot read or write, they have very few income opportunities available to them. With their new sewing knowledge and loans, women have the skills and resources to earn a sustainable income for their families as well as preserve the heritage of their craft.
  
  Most recently, the COMO Foundation is supporting the creation of a fair-trade “tienda” (shop) in Panajachel, Guatemala, to showcase all the products made by Oxlajuj B’atz’s artisans.
  
  To find out about Oxlajuj B’atz’, visit www.oxlajujbatz.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.  The Foundations then collaborated to teach cotton production and start up a weaving enterprise for rural women and girls in the North Eastern region of Thailand next to Lao border. Through technical training and study tours, the cotton production project strengthened the weaving capacity of women and girls so they could use weaving as a form of income generation.
  
  COMO Foundation has since funded a programme to help Pattanarak form a cotton weaving social enterprise and cooperative amongst the women, to ensure that they continue to benefit from cotton weaving. The weaving cooperative provides business advice to weavers as well as training programmes in product and packaging development. The Pattanerak Selling Centre, the centerpiece of the cooperative, will act as a market and knowledge sharing centre, so that weavers can come up with new products for clients and better understand their buyers.
  
  To find out more about Pattanarak Foundation, visit www.pattanarak.or.th.
• Qallariy – Casa de Acogida Mantay
  Based in Cusco, Peru, the Asociación ‘Qallariy’ (meaning ‘to start’ in Quechua) runs the Casa de Acogida Mantay  (meaning ‘Mothers’ Sheltering Home’ in Quechua). 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.
  
  To find out more about Qallariy – Casa de Acogida Mantay, visit www.mantay.org.
• 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

• Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), Rwanda

  Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), Rwanda, seeks to address an extremely common, yet largely ignored reason that girls are frequently absent from school and work in developing countries – the lack of access to affordable sanitary pads for menstruation. Missing up to 50 days of work and school a year, girls and women in this setting are forced to turn to rags, bark and even mud when they menstruate. Apart from affecting education and work opportunities for women, in combination with a lack of clean and accessible water supply, these methods are often unhygienic and potentially harmful to health.
  
  Founded in 2008 in order to confront this problem, SHE is developing a women-led franchise model to manufacture and distribute affordable, high quality and eco-friendly sanitary pads for women and girls across Rwanda. SHE’s business model uses existing networks, such as women’s organisations, to set up women led franchises which sell the pads, as well as contribute to public health education on the issue.
  
  By tackling the stigma and lack of access to sanitary pads in this way, SHE, together with its enterprise owners, hope to challenge the status quo of menstruation for women and girls in Rwanda, and in turn, significantly improve their physical and economic wellbeing.
  
  The COMO Foundation supports the operating budget of SHE, as they launch their business model in Rwanda.
  
  To find out more about Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), visit www.sheinnovates.com.

• SolarAid, Malawi

  SolarAid, founded in 2006, challenges the lack of access to electricity in the developing world by setting up franchises that bring clean, affordable power in the form of solar energy.
  
  For many of the rural poor in Malawi,  going to bed or using a kerosene lantern are the only options after the sun goes down. The lanterns are polluting and potentially dangerous to children in the household. 
  
  SolarAid Malawi brings solar lanterns, mobile phone and battery chargers to villages in Northern Malawi via women-owned franchises to provide affordable, energy saving power to rural households. Relying largely on subsistence farming, these families have limited income and business opportunities. Targeting the women in these communities, SolarAid’s solar franchise model generates income for these women while solar lighting has a substantial knock-on impact on household income through savings on kerosene and batteries.
  
  The COMO Foundation, in partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, supports the ‘Sunny Money’ Solar franchise programme, which provides training for female entrepreneurs to become successful solar franchisers in their communities.
  
  To find out more about SolarAid Malawi, visit www.solaraid.org.