Trees planted by the Colcom Foundation in Cambodia, Nicaragua, and Kenya have made a big difference in the lives of people there. In Cambodia, trees are a vital part of helping communities recover from years of deforestation, where the population has gone from 16 million to six million. In Nicaragua and Kenya, trees planted by Colcom Foundation have helped provide enough food for communities to survive through tough times.
Sociologist Bill Devane of the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Australia, showed how Colcom ‘s efforts in Cambodia changed villagers’ lives. He says that the government failed to protect forests from deforestation, so Colcom – with the help of Irish and Norwegian volunteers – came along to plant trees. When villagers saw the trees sprouting and growing, they started seeing them as a future source of food and shelter. Ultimately, the experiment was so successful that the Colcom Foundation planted trees for two years in Cambodia, and the villagers continued to plant trees independently.
Nowadays, it is difficult for people to believe that there were once bison in North America, but once upon a time, there were herds of them. Today, bison are protected and can be seen roaming in national parks. However, it was only sometimes so. It was no surprise to an American family who decided to raise these animals on a farm. They had seen them as children before they went extinct after European settlers hunted them nearly out of existence in the 1800s.
In a classroom at a Texas school, the students are supposed to be learning about the European colonization of America. This lesson would only be complete with knowing about bison. Today, the students have been assigned to a project which is especially difficult because they need to gain experience in raising or caring for bison. The teacher has given them a lesson plan with ideas and instructions on getting started. But the real challenge is that they need to know how much they will need to bring on their trip to buy all the supplies they need. Follow this page on Instagram, for more information.
More about Colcom on https://www.colcomfdn.org/extinction-crisis/