Some of the projects that will be covered and visited by The Colombian Connection Project include:
What can we learn from Colombia on education?:Escuela Nueva means "new school" in Spanish and, since 1975, Escuela Nueva educational programs have been making schools and schooling a new enterprise. Escuela Nueva is child-centred, community-based education led by teachers who are facilitators for active, participatory and cooperative learning. Additional information: http://www.volvamos.org
Indigenous peoples and their fight to protect biodiversity: The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rises abruptly from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and just 42km inland the snow-capped peaks reach an altitude of 5,775m. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is also sacred to the 30,000 indigenous people, from four main ethnic groups, that still inhabit the region and practice centuries-old traditions. The indigenous people of the ‘Heart of the World’ invite international donors to participate in establishing a Special Indigenous Fund of US$15 million, to guarantee their cultural survival and the conservation of strategic ecosystems and water resources in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Additional information: http://www.corazondelmundo.org
Goals for a Better Life : Born out of a necessity, out of the desire to make the difference, Colombianitos is a non-profit organization whose main objective is to help children victims of the armed conflict in Colombia. Additional information: http://www.colombianitos.org/default.html
Greener Flowers: Long before many industries jumped aboard the “going green” trend, Asocolflores, the Colombian flower growers’ trade association, quietly began to positively change the environmental and social practices of flower farms through a rigorous farm certification program called Florverde. Additional information: http://www.asocolflores.org
A truly sustainable coffee sector: In 1927, a group of growers got together to form a guild to help each other. The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia is a nonprofit and nonpolitical cooperative that tries to stabilize the market for Colombian coffee and undertakes research, social assistance and promotion programs on behalf of the small, independent farmers. The Federation’s social programs help to improve the standard of living for the more than four million Colombians (almost 15% of the population) that depend upon coffee for their livelihood. Additional information: http://juanvaldez.com
