Submitted by olivia on Fri, 2013-08-23 11:43
- STORIES FROM VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLOMBIA-
I have an embarrassing confession to make: up until recently I didn’t know much about CTC International. What’s worse is I thought I was pretty well educated on the organization.
I work at Whole Foods Market, where we sell L.I.F.E. Line products, and I’m in the marketing department where it’s my job to tell the story of the items we have in store. So I knew that those adorable change purses and handy sleeves for your coffee supported women in Kenya and the work of CTC International.
Whole Foods Market does a lot of amazing things for the people that work there and one of them is volunteer trips around the world for Team Members. We’re asked to submit an essay on why you should get a spot on one of the trips and if you’re accepted you have to fundraise for your flight costs and the company takes care of the rest!
The purpose of these trips is for us to see first-hand how the money donated to the Whole Planet Foundation is changing people’s lives and how our other partnerships are improving communities on our planet.
Which brings me back to CTC International.
I was lucky enough to go to Kenya to learn about all the initiatives of CTC International in Maai Mahiu. Jeremiah, Carole, Tony, and of course Ruby Ruth of the CTC team were extremely welcoming hosts who made us feel welcome and at home the entire time we were there.
We were able to meet the energetic kids who received daily care beside the CTC Offices, many of whom received little stimulation at home before the group brought them in.
All of the staff members spoke with pride when they described the work they were doing including cleaning up their neighborhood through trash pick-up, education, and plans for a garbage truck one day. Ruby Ruth took us through her neighborhood which she said was cleaner because of CTC.
Meeting the fantastic Malaika Mums was amazing. These women started as a group of 9 and now were well over 40 working on L.I.F.E. Line products to be shipped to Whole Foods Market.
But the absolute best part of our trip was working on the new Cafe Ubuntu. The cafe sites on 11 acres of beautiful CTC land that features crops being grown, running water, and space for new CTC offices. I think all of us were taken aback by how beautiful the cafe was. We probably expected to be doing some actual construction instead of beautifying it with some landscaping and a fresh coat of paint. (Which was a very happy surprise!)
We took our job as official tasters of the coffee from the new espresso machine very seriously and I am happy to report that it’s strong coffee! It’s easy to envision the place filled with locals and tourists making use of the wifi and iced coffee in the warm weather.
I still dream about that cafe and how amazing it will be when it’s complete. I don’t know if I’ll ever be back (unthinkable!) but seemingly impossible challenges that CTC is taking on daily will continue to inspire me long after I get all the dirt out of my clothes.
Blog By: Lindsay O'Donnell, Whole Planet Team Member
