Updates - Page 4 of 4 - Community Cloud Forest Conservation

migratory bird coloring book, coming soon

August 13, 2016September 11, 2016 by Rob Cahill Comment Closed

As an addition to our tool chest in Artful Eyes, CCFC is pleased to announce that before October 25th, we will be printing a coloring book of migratory birds. CCFC’s artist in residence, Savannah Aldrich, has been hard at work preparing a nine page coloring book of wood warblers. The species selected in this coloring book are all species that either winter in Guatemala’s central highlands or spend a significant time here in fall or spring as a migration stop over.

This beautiful coloring book will be both didactic and fun. Students will learn a lot about warblers and their plumage and they will get a chance to produce something beautiful. The book will serve both as a coloring book for kids and as a template for CCFC’s WALC participants to do embroidery of the representations of these beautiful birds.

(photo: Savannah Aldrich, Artist in Residence, behind her, a print of Keith Hansen’s “One Hundred And One Migratory Birds,” commissioned by the US Fish and Wildlife Foundation.)

CCFC thanks Artist in Residence, Savannah Aldrich, for her amazing work. Her gifts and talents in art will be multiplied by the number of schools, students, WALC participants and others that will use her coloring book.

^{Savannah Aldrich at work. Photo by Sidney Madsen}

Upcoming

August 10, 2016September 2, 2016 by Rob Cahill Comment Closed

October 25, 2016 marks the first day of the 2016 — 2017 WALC cycle. We are currently finishing our follow up with our 2015-2016 scholarship recipients. Our current cycle is ending with 229 scholarships given. We are looking forward to another great year.

Our building is taking shape. Our hope is that by October 25, we will be able to use the 1,628 square feet of finished building (the tail of the new building) to house and serve meals to our new group of WALC participants.

Thanks to your support CCFC continues to offer life transforming educational opportunities to young women from villages along the edge of the cloud forests of Guatemala’s central highlands.

Below: getting it under roof for October 25.

new name for a great program

August 31, 2015September 1, 2016 by Rob Cahill Comment Closed

CCFC’s leadership training program for young women is getting a new name and a new friend. In order to better reflect the nature of our program, what was known as CALT is now WALC. WALC (pronounced walk) stands for “Women in Agroecology Leadership for Conservation.” The content of this successful program remains the same but the name better communicates the focus of the program. We at CCFC have seen the difference a 25-day leadership workshop can make in the lives of young Q’eqchi’ Maya women and the difference a work study scholarship can make in helping these young women follow their dream of an education that for many is simply out of reach.

WALC and Dining For Women

August 15, 2015September 2, 2016 by Rob Cahill Comment Closed

August 2015 —
Good news WALC supporters. Standing right beside you as you support this work is WALC’s newest friend: Dining for Women. Dining For Women (also known as DFW) is a giving circle that funds grassroots programs that benefit women around the globe. DFW is a fantastic organization and we highly recommend that you find a local chapter and join. For years CCFC has had the dream of offering its 25-day leadership training workshop and subsequent scholarship to 153 young women annually. Thanks to each of you, in 2015 we were able to accept more students than ever before, with 100 actively enrolled in the program from 2014. Thanks to each of you for sponsoring a scholarship through your $150 contributions. Were it not for your support and contributions, we would never have reached 100! We still fell 53 young women short of our overall goal of 153 in 2014.

Enter: Dining For Women. For 2015 and 2016, CCFC’s WALC program will enjoy the financial support of Dining For Women which will be enable us to offer an additional 80 scholarships each year. As the dust settles from a busy fall and we tally up the names of those who have successfully finished the 25 day workshop and meet the qualifications, we are please to announce that our total for 2015 is 229 scholarships earmarked for distribution during the 2016 school year.

To celebrate CCFC’s new partnership with DFW, friends of CCFC produced this six minute video. Please take a look: CCFC / DFW video clip . Feel free to share this video link with others.)

Liceo Javier Reforestation Project

July 6, 2011September 6, 2016 by Community Cloud Forest Conservation Comment Closed

CCFC, in partnership with the senior class of Liceo Javier de la Verapaz, San Juan Chamelco undertook a major reforestation project with the village schools of San Pablo Xucaneb, Coban. The village of San Pablo is located at the foot of the Xucaneb mountain. The Resplendent Quetzal, a near-threatened species and Guatemala’s national bird, can still be found in the cloud forests of the mountain. San Pablo Xucaneb is also high priority work area for CCFC programs such as Artful Eyes, Kids and Birds, and the scholarship program.

69 students from Xucaneb secondary and 10 students from Liceo Javier de la Verapaz on a tree planting day. © 2011 Rob Cahill, San Pablo Xucaneb, Coban, AV

Planting trees captures the imagination of children. © 2009 Rob Cahill, Semesche', Carcha', Alta Verapaz — Planting trees captures the imagination of children. © 2009 Rob Cahill, Semesche’, Carcha’, Alta Verapaz

As a part of their senior project, 10 senior students from Liceo Javier made several visits to the village of Xucaneb. With guidance from CCFC, the students defined and mapped areas for reforestation. Students then met with village leaders and private landowners to agree upon a plan for reforestation. On July 6, CCFC provided 500 seedlings for the first installment in this project. Students from Liceo Javier worked with local students to plant target tree species.

When finished, this reforestation and stream bank restoration project will cover 8.629 acres. In terms of overall environmental impact, maybe it is a drop in the bucket, but it’s a start. This project is also another opportunity for CCFC to reach the teachers and the youth of this village and to advocate for the long-term appreciation and protection of the cloud forest.