How This Adventure Began
The Global Cocoa Project is the outgrowth of a highly successful chocolate tasting fundraiser that was hosted in New York on Valentine’s Day 2009 by the Global Giving Circle. $4,500 was raised from $25 donations and given to the California-based nonprofit, Project Hope & Fairness (PH&F).
Within several months of the Global Giving Circle’s donation, scales were purchased and installed in the villages of Abekro, Pezoan, and Broguhe. Scales are significant because farmers are often cheated by middlemen who bring their rigged scales to the villages. In Broguhe a well was built which returned between 7-21 hours a week to women who would typically spend between 1-3 hours fetching water. As a result of the hours that were freed up by the well, a women’s cooperative was established and some female villagers are now producing crops of their own like rice and cassava for sale. This was an incredibly positive and unanticipated outcome of the well donation.
To see a video of the event and two video shorts (under 2 minutes) about the building of the well and the impact that the scales have had on the villagers’ lives, click here.