There are all types of worldwide charities, so you can choose one that will pair well with your chosen field. There are environmentally based organizations, human rights, work with animals, social enterprises and so many more. When you imagine where you would like to be of aid in our world, you can then pursue the option that best suit you. You will have to look at yourself and see what your strengths are and how you can help. This will be important information that you should include in your resume. 

Once you get to the place of working with this foundation, you will then be able to show your potential employer that you care about our world and making a difference. You are demonstrating that you can take action when action needs to be taken! Worldwide charities are making excellent initiatives and as part of a team like that, you will be able to show where you can function well on a team. These are all important attributes, for any job you may be applying for. 

Undertaking volunteer work, in particular, is exhibiting that you have the drive and motivation to do something you care about, even if it is not for material gain. This is something that an employer wants to see. To have the ability to stick to something, even when it is difficult, because you want to make a difference is a person that just about anyone would want to represent or be a part of their company. Involvement in worldwide charities is an indication that you have heart and that you are part of assisting our world, not just talking about it.

All in all, there are so many qualities that those who work within worldwide charities hold. To recap, there is a dedication to aiding a cause that benefits the field of work you are applying for, you must examine your strength and abilities, realizing and appreciating where your attributes are on a team,  that you believe one person can make a difference and that you are willing to do your part and create a better world. These qualities amongst holding strong to your beliefs, self-confidence, compassion, and kind-heartedness are all virtues and behavior traits that employers are looking for. Individuals that can show their values and characteristics emanate natural strength and self-leadership tendencies.  Working amongst others that are involved with worldwide charities, will definitely give you more ideas, as well!

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Hello to our beautiful Red Road supporters!

It’s been a while since we last checked in. As the world has been so crazy, we have been focused on what we can do to be sustainable in these times: Improving facilities, our product line, and taking care of our staff.

We had to shut the school down when Cambodia requested it of us, so the past few months, we’ve been focusing on improving the farm, volunteer quarters, and getting our moringa skincare line perfected. 

To be honest, it was a bit of a welcomed break, since we have been going nonstop for the past 6 1/2 years!  We’ve had classes every day for the past five years, and it was nice to take some time for maintenance and work on becoming organically sustainable. 

Without the salary of our teachers, we were able to make enough money in sales of moringa, bamboo straws, homemade mango chutney, upcycled glass, and bottle bricks to support our on-site caretaker, Bong Da. He just got two one-month-old ostriches for the farm, so exciting, so cute!

These last few months allowed us to see how close to sustainability we are.

We have created this 3-step skincare line with moringa, 100% pure honey, galangal and turmeric! It consists of:

-A creamy moringa, turmeric cleanser 
-A detox and glow scrub 
-And then of course our 100% pure Moringa oil serum.

All the ingredients are grown on-site with help from our volunteers and local farmers, and it’s so incredible to see what happens to your skin when you don’t use chemicals on it.

Our customers in Cambodia absolutely love the 3-step skincare line, and I’ve seen the skin of our customers, as well as my own skin completely improve! Fine lines diminished, blackheads disappearing, and a beautiful natural glow! We have even gotten in contact with a Danish skincare clinic who is now going to test out our products on scandinavian skin. We are so excited about these new products! It’s such a pleasure to be providing this to our friends and customers!

As of now, we need support from our donors to start up small group tutoring classes and get our products abroad.

We are SO excited about our new product line, for every $150 donated, we would like to send our donors the three-step Moringa skincare line.

We are so grateful to all of you and are very excited about all these beautiful initiatives to be fully self-sustaining!! We are almost there!!! To receive the skincare line, please email Garrett@theredroadfoundation.org with a screen shot of your donation receipt or just reply to this email. 
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IN THE FUTURE

We have some great news about our future projects:
Before the pandemic happened, we had professors from Montana State University out to see our projects to check out collaboration possibilities for this and future years. The dean has approved a certified leadership class in collaboration with the Red Road Foundation!

We also had a professor from Brown University coming who runs a leadership in experiential learning project that supports-get this- Women running experiential learning projects for sustainability and leadership in Southeast Asia!! I know, it’s too perfect!

Furthermore, we have a new collaboration with The Leap UK, who are gap year experts and are going to be collaborating with us, as well! We have six students booked through them for January to come out and do our internship program!

Last but not least, we have a group of students from a private school in Saudi Arabia who are interested in joining us for our one of a kind expedition next year!

The post New Skincare Line, Retreat’s, & Partnerships appeared first on The Red Road Foundation.

I apologize for that.Things have been progressing and we have been very busy! We had a Danish company reach out to us and enter us in a competition that we won and got a freshwater bore well dug, onsite! We can now get water year-round and experiment with new types of farming (aquaponics and hydroponics) that can grow some vegetables that are very hard to grow in this area. Many of our students are very excited to learn about this, as they come from farming families. Also, we had another Danish company reach out to us called Canopy LAB they have an amazing online learning platform with classes in Environmental Leadership, Human Rights, Sustainable Development, Women’s Empowerment, etc.. We have just partnered with them and have an amazing American volunteer with two master’s degrees, coming out to train our teachers in it and implement this into our curriculum! On top of that, a third organization reached out to us, ACE Cambodia a clean-cooking/off-grid energy company. They are coming out to start a solar-powered battery lamp library at our school and to give a presentation on sustainability, renewable energies & clean cooking.

We just got an amazing new board member named Iain Rae, from England. He is helping us develop our new internship program. This is very exciting! It will be the bread and butter project that leading us to full self-sustainability. Our trips will fully fund our school and pay for the eco-construction workshops for locals in the community. What we are doing is starting an internship program for college students to come get credits for Leadership in Sustainable Development and Personal Development. As we have successfully hosted over 700 interns and volunteers, we have decided to make an official curriculum. We have continuously received amazing letters from past volunteers who vouch that working with our program has transformed the way they view themselves and their abilities in our world. This inspired us to bridge the gap between western and eastern ways of life and bring people together in symbiotic relationships.

Click below for High-Resolution Print File

 I am currently in the US recruiting students but more specifically, meeting with department directors at the major Universities between Montana and Austin, to develop a few partnerships for curriculum and project collaboration with our programs. We are working at a grassroots level and blazing the trail for some innovative ways of handling trash and free education, we are a perfect model to have students get involved in implementing new ideas and experiential learning. We are interested in having faculty-led programs that have a long-term affiliation with our school. We have U of M and MSU interested! MSU is developing a Leadership Minor and has expressed interest in pursuing a partnership that incorporates The Red Road Foundation in the curriculum! It is very exciting! I am currently in Colorado and meeting with Universities working on this full time, I often have some financial worries in getting this off the ground. When I came out here, I was wondering how I would be able to afford hotels and renting a car, etc.. It was basically impossible for me, but I had faith that if it was meant to be then my needs would be met. I called my friend, Halladay, which most of you know because she plays music for most of our fundraisers and wrote “Just a Little Love” as a tribute to The Red Road. Before I could even tell her that I was planning on coming to the States and visiting Universities between Montana and Austin, she told me that she had finally finished up her 1960’s bus after two years of working on it and that she was going to take it on tour during the exact time frame and on the exact same route that I was considering for our recruiting trip. BOOM! The Universe provided. So now, we are here on the road. Here are some photos from our trip!

If you are able, any donations will help us to keep everything rolling. We are so close to being self-sustainable! Soon we will not rely on donations at all, but as for now, this is our final push and we need your help! Funds currently go to:

1. Keeping our school running ($800 per month)
2. Finishing the new intern quarters ($1000)
3. Printing/meeting room/transportation costs at the Universities ($500).

Link to Donate Now

Thank for being a crucial part of our journey and thanks for your interest and support! If you know anyone who could benefit from a perspective and priority shift in life, please check out our Educational Retreat.

With Love and Gratitude,

The RRF Family

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Of course, there are geographical differences that affect how strong you may feel this. It is in its purest form when you get to the rural countryside. It definitely doesn’t take long to get into the countryside from a metropolitan area… Sometimes you simply drive a few minutes from the city and see yourself surrounded by rice fields or mangoes. When you get there, there is something so genuine and pure about the way the villagers go about life. Even in the smaller cities you can still feel it in all day to day errands and stops at shops and at the market. It is a contagious, joyous, accepting nonchalance. It is a refreshment from the hustle and bustle of western civilization. This is why in the major cities, it is not the same. The big cities are highly influenced by western civilization, culture and some societal pressures. Many Cambodian people who live in the city have been pushed into one-room shacks to build multimillion-dollar buildings. For this reason, some jaded ways of viewing the world are creeping into the city. Though not everyone has been swept away by all the changes… There is still a multitude of gems and genuine smiles at every corner.

So, when you submerge yourself in this culture, you are able to learn more about the art of happiness. Rural Cambodians live for the day. It is apparent that they work hard, rest hard, party hard and spend a lot of time with the people they love. Every interaction is looked upon with the spice of curiosity and the simple innocence of experiencing a new situation for the first time. How wonderful would western people feel if they were able to live with this perspective? It is a gift for our consciousness! To have the opportunity to emerge in a place where people simply do not stress the small stuff, they innocently laugh off any stress or sense of urgency, don’t spend countless hours of time asking why, when something bad happens they just move forward and accept. These teachings are so simple, but sometimes they cannot be fully understood unless you can see them in action.

When we are able to incorporate these viewpoints into the way we live our day to day life, we can feel joy much easier. It is easy to believe these concepts, but it is far harder to adjust your mindset in the day to day affairs. In so many instances, people may believe that they live like this until they see others who are truly living this way. Even spending one afternoon, sitting in the rural countryside and having a picnic on someone’s bamboo table will help you to relax into the joy of being that s living underneath all of the expectations, perceived urgency, fear and stress. They will teach you that Joy is not something to reach for or find, it is something that we can feel in each moment if we can learn to let go and unlearn the mindset that we were raised amongst.

From the times, countless times, I’ve been broken down on the side of the road with a mechanical motor issue, I have always been picked up by a local, taken to the nearest mechanic, given mango with chilli and charged a few dollars if that! And many of these cases, they have actually driven out to my broken vehicle and fixed it there on-site for less than five dollars. I will be sitting with their family, having a laugh and watching the kids and animals in the field. Honestly, some of my favourite memories have happened while waiting for my motorbike to get fixed. Cambodian people have taught me so much about being present, not stressing the small stuff and being generous. We all know that life has its ups and downs and things go sour, but why do we spend so much time asking, “why me?”.” We all have our struggles, we are all human and wasting our time on thoughts like “why?” or “how?”, is not making us any more content. There are no reasons for any of it besides the fact that we are all on a personal journey of spiritual growth in our lives and learning to have a bit more compassion, the innocence of experiencing a fresh moment, humility and gratitude could take us far on the road to peace! So, if you are curious about new perspectives that bring a newfound feeling of simple Joy, come visit Cambodia! Rent a motorbike and go into the country! When you return from an adventure there are beautiful hotels with modern-day luxuries for a fraction of western prices! When you get back to your beautiful hotel room at the end of the day, you will have far deeper gratitude for things like hot running water. Life is all about perspective… How do you frame yours?

The post Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life appeared first on The Red Road Foundation.

Protein: 2 grams

Vitamin B6: 19% of the RDA

Vitamin C: 12% of the RDA

Iron: 11% of the RDA

Riboflavin (B2): 11% of the RDA

Vitamin A (from beta-carotene): 9% of the RDA

Magnesium: 8% of the RDA

Click Here for the full article.

The post All About Moringa appeared first on The Red Road Foundation.

Currently in the US we have our Moringa powder for sale. If you’re not familiar with this incredible superfood, it is quite the miracle plant, in fact they call it the miracle tree which is native to India. It can be ingested or apply topically with coconut oil. It is an incredible remedy for digestion problems, skin health, all your daily vitamins that amino acids, Great for skin and nails, energy boosting and immune boosting! If you have not tried any of our organic Moringa powder, please look into trying it out! We see incredible results with this product And all proceeds go to running the school. They come in very cute glass containers and I excellent Holiday presents. (Please contact us if interested in products more info: CLICK HERE)

We are collaborating with an organization called plastic free Cambodia to make posters in the Khmer language that we will be putting up in the village, they are also hosting a workshop at our school for the kids and their parents about the dangers of burning plastic trash and letting a disintegrate into the fields where we grow crops. If I had several very passionate and loving volunteers come out and share their construction skills, teaching skills, sports classes and music circles.

We have a care-taking family that has been working with us for two years and does an excellent job with helping our volunteers, maintaining the farm, picking the kids up from the school, pumping the water and helping with general overall overseeing of the project. This year they got a bonus, there is a portion of our land that we have signed over to them, and we are supporting them to start beekeeping there. This will give them an opportunity to grow and make some additional income additional to what the Red Road can provide. They are excited to learn the new skill set and feeling very proud that they will have it to pass down to their children. They do not own any land at this time, they simply live on site at our school and take care of everything. This new opportunity and bonus that they have received for their hard work the past two years has meant more to them than we can describe in words.

Thank you for your continued support.

The post Sustainable Free Education Center Update appeared first on The Red Road Foundation.

Finally!!! The Red Road Foundation‘s drinking glasses are available for the first time in the United State. These glasses are being sold exclusively at Bellingham Public Market by TERRA Organic & Natural Foods. By purchasing them, you support the sustainability of our Free Education Center and join us in our mission to support the Khmer people- as they as they rise from the ashes of genocide- to revive the light of their culture, artistry, and education. So, raise those glasses! Cheers to being the change!

Garrett Ginjah

The post New Products for Sustainability and Project Funds appeared first on The Red Road Foundation.

We recently had a Recycling and Sustainability Workshop with three other schools! The kids were able to speak with other students about what they have been learning in school about environmental awareness. We had the Ministry of Environment out to make a speech and did many activities that were based around recycling, It was a wonderful learning experience for all who were there!

Bong Da, Our On Site Caretaker and Our Recycled Glass Vases

Bong Da and Our Volunteers Sanding Glasses

Recycled Glass Products for SaleAll Proceeds Go to Running Our Community Development Project

Finished Recycled Building Project!!

July 16, 2016                  Today at School!

Recycled Plastic Trash Building Project

We are building a weatherproof work-space and storage unit for our glass productions. We have been getting villagers on board to help make plastic bottle bricks (plastic bottles filled with plastic garbage). Many have been helping and cleaning their living spaces to make the bricks. We paid them 100 riel per brick and it motivated many! We handed out flyers and have held classes on the importance of proper waste management. We teach about trash polluting water, burning plastic polluting air and the dangers of eating animals that have been eating plastic waste, thrown around the fields.

It was wonderful to have so many people come together to help, with trash clean ups and brick making. We are truly making a statement in the village and encouraging others to use the techniques.

New Books and Lice Protection\Prevention with Rachel Sutherland!! Our Educational Director has visited to bring new resources, teaching methods, songs and learning games! The kids were so happy to see her again!

Art Classes

Studying Hard!

Our Recycled Glass Productions

We bought reusable cups that the students can use when food carts come by the school. We are teaching about reducing the amount of plastic waste we are creating.

Our Vegetable Garden

Mentor Day! We have three speakers come and give a presentation on the importance or learning English, empowering ideas for the future and Human\Animal Rights! We were full beyond capacity!!

We had a class on how to make baskets, drink holders and pouches, from recycled plastic bags.

Thank you, Svenja Burgwinkel !

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The post Current Projects and Activities appeared first on The Red Road Foundation.

While working with a charity organization, you and your team may decide that the best possible future for it is to become sustainable. When you know all the hard work that goes behind raising funds and keeping staff consistent, it may seem like the only way to truly make long-term goals happen. Well your right. Based on my research and the few companies that actually create social and economic sustainability all have one thing in common. They invest in the locals and their ideas to get them to a place where they can work and profits can go into sustaining the project. This will involve you supporting local business that is capable of succeeding in the area. As the business you set up for your charity organization begins to make profits, it goes directly into running current programs within the charity organization. It is then that the charitable organization can exist without the dependence on fundraising efforts and when you leave will remain sustainable.

The first thing you will want to examine is the resources in the area of your charity or organization. The number one resource is people with small businesses, then look at problems that you can help solve. Are there things that could be recycled, do people have much extra time on their hands to make craft products, is there something you could grow or raise at the project site that would be able to thrive? It is important to see what types of things that locals are making, maybe even enable and empower family businesses by exporting or marketing overseas for them. The fee or percentage you charge for that service, will be able to help fund your charity organization. As you also, empower local small businesses, it will be clear to see, that as you grow, they grow and vice-versa. When you raise the quality of life for those around the project, you raise the livelihood of the charity organization.

Next important thing to consider is production. You will be able to employ local people and increase trade knowledge in your area which is powerful. Having local people on your team who are working to aid the project is very important for sustainability. To be adopted into a community as a project for the people and by the people is very impressive and will gain high regard among locals.
Another thing to look at is what is easy to assemble and what is not. You may not be able to easily acquire certain things for packaging or refining products. You will need to look at if it is more lucrative to sell raw products or to create a product on site. This will depend on your market base and where you foresee your clientele being the greatest.  There are so many options and opportunities for how you can advance your charity organization to being self-sustainable.

With all things considered, whichever direction your new business takes, will need to be one that is the lowest cost to the organization and can empower and employ local people. We always need to remember that all is interconnected. When looking at the area your charity organization exists within, you will be able to brainstorm what assets and resources are available. Start small and let it grow naturally. By doing this you will allow the business idea to grow and morph into the most beneficial to the charity organization and those who live near and around it.

Take a look at what new projects we have going! Also please reach out, I’m always happy to help and collaborate!

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Our first contact was with a friend, Pon, who is working in foster care here in Kep. He showed us our first few plots and explained the different ways we can go about pumping water, wells, solar panels, building structures and so on..

In Cambodia, they sell in hectors which is just over 2 acres. This plot was one hector and in a farming community.

In the process of exploring the Kep Province, we met a great man BK. He took us to a property 30 minutes from a place in the next Province up, Kampot. This is a much bigger town with better access to building supplies, medical attention and volunteer recruiting. He was insistent that he help us find land for the local discount. He has many resources amongst the community and has already drawn upon many of them to set us up with land owners, transportation, a moto ( The Red Road Foundation’s first asset) and construction workers/ discounts.

He found us a hector of prime land for farming, in a village with no school, where there is access to water from the mountain and next door to the chief of the commune. This land is absolutely GORGEOUS!! Our favorite so far. It will cost us the local rate of $4500. There is a man up the road who can prepare it for farming at the price of $600. This is a great option for us.

We’ve spent the last two weeks in Kampot, Cambodia. We moved up here after finding the magnificent piece of land that we’ve posted above. We have learned that Kampot is a glorious place. The infrastructure here is really taking off and there are numerous people who live here from all over the world. At first the town didn’t seem so impressive, but now we have found rapids, waterfalls, hidden temples, gorgeous river beaches and mountain caves. The villagers are truly the happiest people I have ever seen with the least amount of material goods that I have ever seen. They are a true inspiration. Our dear friend BK that I spoke of earlier is truly helping us on the legal matters, getting local deals and land finding. In the mindset of not jumping for the first wonderful piece of land we saw in Kampot, we have been searching properties and different areas all around Kampot to see what is available. Because of the growing amount of resorts and guesthouses, along with a two million dollar hospital they just built it makes sense that land prices are rising. We found many plots around town and into the mountains but the prices are sky rocketing up to $30, 000 to $50, 000 for a hector because so many westerners are looking to buy here. We went down to the local Land Management office and talked to the man who is in charge of land sales, land development, GPS coordinates of land and hard titles to property. Funny enough, he told us our best option is the original piece of land that we fell in love with. It is thirty to forty minutes from town, but it is in the middle of two glorious villages that are truly filled with beautiful hearted people who love to smile as we drive through. We put a $300 deposit down on the land, we met our neighbor who works at an orphanage in town and loves our idea, we discussed the matters with the Chief of the Commune and got our papers stamped that we are residents of the village and opened bank accounts!! We have a meeting coming up that will have our Site Manager, Chief of Commune, Land Management Director, Owner of the Land, Our Communications Director and myself. This will be a big meeting for us and we should get all the information we need and be on the same page with everyone after this. Following the meeting we will arrange a meeting with the governor and tell him of our plans. Progress!!! 🙂 I love it! Not to mention, my Khmer is coming along quite nicely, as I learn a few words everyday. 🙂

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