The GES Jinja project is being carried out in an organization called CESEF and activities began in July 2010, under this project, we want to show the community that change can be brought about in society even by the local population, its all about reorganizing them, making use of the community assets as well as using a community/group/association as the best avenue for change We believe that a community of individuals united by a shared passion is the most powerful avenue ...

Chapter 2: Think Different Be Creative We knew that the transition from conventional to innovative projects depended on our people. Fortunately, we ensured that our association had a combination of both creative and performer entrepreneurs to create and implement our projects. Our latest innovative project "Sustainable ECO-Roofs" was the brainchild of one of our creative entrepreneurs. It began as a simple idea taken from the study "Global Cooling: Increasing World-wide Urban Albedo to Offset CO2" of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University ...

I wanted to talk a little bit about the significance and history of the traditional techniques and designs that Y’abal uses and the implications of an organization like Y’abal. Traje, traditional Mayan clothing, is intricately embroidered huipiles (blouses) and colorfully woven skirts traditionally woven and worn primarily by women. Traje is worn almost exclusively by women---there has actually been an increase in the number of women who wear traje throughout the 20th century and a sharp decrease in the number of ...

Check out the origins of Y'abal Handicrafts: Y'abal Handicrafts Story

Chapter 2: Think different Don't follow the safe path Five years ago when we founded “Talento & Emprendimiento”, we used to organize conventional social projects; such as sporting events, vocational conferences and volunteer work in schools and hospitals in the city of Arequipa (south of Peru). Years passed and we continued organizing similar projects. Two conferences of vocational guidance were organized in 2007 & 2008 and we couldn't managed to fill even half of the auditorium. Also, the other projects began to decline. ...

Buenas! As a starting off point, my name is Alyssa, and in the past year I’ve started working  with Y’abal  Handicrafts, an artisan organization in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Y’abal  works with and  supports women’s weaving groups and through an earned income  handicraft project, provides self-  sustainable cooperatives with national and  international markets for their products. We work under fair trade conditions ensuring that the women weavers are earning a  livable wage,  a very important proposition in a country where 70% of people ...

A woman smartly dressed in a gomesi (Ugandan traditional wear) walked into our yard asked whether my mother was around, she was promoting a women’s group which had just started, it was more of an insurance scheme for members to  compensate them the expenses they incur incase of death of a relative or friend. The members of this group go ahead and help the affected person in doing the labour work involved during burial. So all members in this group indirectly ...

Chapter 1: Project description Creating ECO-Communities and improving the quality of life, one roof at a time. Sustainable ECO-Roofs aims to reduce global warming while improving the quality of life in poor areas of Peru. To achieve these goals, we create ECO-Communtites through youth voluntary work and community collaboration. The development of ECO-Communities involves a variety of environmentally sustainable practices such as painting the roofs of white, planting trees and giving ECO-Sustainable training to the members of the community. This seemingly simple idea has dramatic ...

Presentation A year has passed since my friend, the  founder of Sustainable Eco-Roofs (hereafter TS by its Spanish acronym) had the vision of ´painting Peru white´. Spending a year spearheading this vision has given me fresh insights which i would like to share as a GES blogger. Lessons from a challenging first year contains 6 chapters. The first chapter describes the project and the benefits that emerged for the environment and the respective communities we served. In the remaining five chapters, I ...