Moti Maya was only seventeen when she experienced her first earthquake¬, an 8.4M shock that struck Nepal on January 15, 1934. Eighty-one years later, her home was destroyed by the recent massive quake in 2015 that also killed four people in her small village. After two months of living in the destruction with very little food, Maya Moti left everything she knew and went by helicopter to start a new life in Dhola.

She spent the last year living in a tent, but her spirit remains strong and positive. While she confirms that nothing remains for her family in their old village, she finds all these changes in her life exciting. She expects she will die soon but is pleased that her daughter, son, and grandchildren will now have a safe place to call home in Dhola.

Moti Maya’s wish is that her community will live in harmony while undertaking their project of building their fifty-five new homes.

Rebuild homes | Heal Hearts
Donate: http://bit.ly/rebuilddhola

The day in the life of a Ugandan teacher begins before dawn. She rises early to collect firewood, feed her children, and clean her home. She takes pride in being professional and spends a little time getting ready for her job. Then she walks several miles to her school. She teaches forty six year olds in a one-room mud building and holds the future of Uganda in her hands.

She owes this opportunity to Obaya Community Association. They have provided teacher training to rural communities and in return the teachers help fund other teachers once they receive a salary. It is a grassroots operation that helps the community raise education standards from the inside out.

I’ve come the day before Shivaratri, a Hindu festival celebrated annually in reverence of the god Shiva, in the hopes that I will catch the sadhus preparing for the ceremonies. As a non-Hindu, I’m not permitted to enter Pashupatianath Temple. This temple is considered one of the sacred temples of the Hindu faith.  So, I shoot from outside, the sadhus’ dressing room. 

I’m in luck. Several sahdus begin their preparations by covering themselves in ash, some taking several hours to paint their bodies. There is a wide array of dress (or in some cases undress) and makeup, but each sadhu has his own theme. 

Read the rest of the story: http://www.crystalinerandazzo.com/blog/2016/3/17/or2gjndogpuwhkxms91ainh7yjkecc

This morning, I'm documenting the Madhav Narayan festival in Bhaktapur. This month-long festival is one of the most difficult rituals practiced by Hindus in Nepal. Devotees undertake a month-long fast, walk barefoot in the cold winter mornings, and take a chilly, holy bath in the early light of day.

Around me, women loosen their hair and prepare their offerings before entering the freezing water. They disregard the trash that floats up around them and rinse their entire body, including their mouths. Many light candles at the water's edge and chants of Madhav Narayan fill the air.

Read the whole story here: http://www.crystalinerandazzo.com/blog/2016/2/25/a-photographer-in-nepal-madhav-narayan

Ajok Irene was living in an IDP camp when she learned about a program sponsored by IOM that helped women receive training in sewing and tailoring. She entered the program and began working with One Mango Tree. Irene and the other women working at One Mango Tree had the skills and capacity to create beautiful garments and bags. They didn’t have the resources to get the appropriate tools, improve quality, or export their products. One Mango Tree empowered women in Uganda to do all these things. In addition the women began working together to finance and build homes for each member.  Their access to resources helped them to take control and improve their lives.

A day in the life of a Ugandan farmer begins just before the sun rises. He heads out to the fields so that he can plow in the cool of the morning. He tills the land with two oxen and an old-fashioned plow. He credits his knowledge of farming to the trainings he has received. He is proud that he is capable of providing for his family.

They are currently working with over 700 subsistence farmers’ households and hope to transform lives through education.

Floride Basabose is a motivated mother who wanted to improve education for her children. She was disappointed by the school that was available to her children. So she and her friends worked together to build a better school in Rubavo, Rwanda. Today she works at the school as a teacher. Her efforts have helped her children and her community to have a better education and a better life. ©Girl Hub Rwanda/Ni Nyampinga. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve come the day before Shivaratri, a Hindu festival celebrated annually in reverence of the god Shiva, in the hopes that I will catch the sadhus preparing for the ceremonies. As a non-Hindu, I’m not permitted to enter Pashupatianath Temple. This temple is considered one of the sacred temples of the Hindu faith.  So, I shoot from outside, the sadhus’ dressing room. 

I’m in luck. Several sahdus begin their preparations by covering themselves in ash, some taking several hours to paint their bodies. There is a wide array of dress (or in some cases undress) and makeup, but each sadhu has his own theme. 

Read the rest of the story: http://www.crystalinerandazzo.com/blog/2016/3/17/or2gjndogpuwhkxms91ainh7yjkecc

The day in the life of a Ugandan teacher begins before dawn. She rises early to collect firewood, feed her children, and clean her home. She takes pride in being professional and spends a little time getting ready for her job. Then she walks several miles to her school. She teaches forty six year olds in a one-room mud building and holds the future of Uganda in her hands.

She owes this opportunity to Obaya Community Association. They have provided teacher training to rural communities and in return the teachers help fund other teachers once they receive a salary. It is a grassroots operation that helps the community raise education standards from the inside out.

As a child, I had celery sticks and peanut butter as my afternoon snacks. My father carefully prepared them while my mother was in school. But this young Ugandan girl is confident in her ability to acquire her own afternoon snack. She looks intently up into a tree with her eye on the prize. With a dead aim, she fells a mango and triumphantly retrieves it.

A day in the life of a Ugandan farmer begins just before the sun rises. He heads out to the fields so that he can plow in the cool of the morning. He tills the land with two oxen and an old-fashioned plow. He credits his knowledge of farming to the trainings he has received. He is proud that he is capable of providing for his family.

He owes this opportunity to Obaya Community Association. They are currently working with over 700 subsistence farmers’ households and hope to transform lives through education.

Tigertops Lodge in Nepal is the first lodge to allow their elephants to go chain free and eliminate the practice of elephant rides. Instead, they promote ethical tourism by setting up jungle walks with their elephants. To learn more about elephant conservation, visit http://elephantwatchnepal.com/.

You’d never know by looking at these students crisp, white shirts and carefully styled hair that they have been attending school for weeks under a tent in Jacmel. The school building of Marie Reine Imaculee in Jacmel was damaged and the 400+ student no longer had a place to study. Classes resumed under tents in steamy hot temperatures. 70% of the homes were also damaged in Jacmel, which means many of the students were living at home in tents as well. 

Over 80% of the rural population in Rwanda practices subsistence farming.  Women and girls often maintain the land. Many organizations including the UN are working on increasing women’s access to agriculture services and gender equality trainings. These changes have the potential to greatly improve the quality of life for rural women.

Over 80% of the rural population in Rwanda practices subsistence farming.  Women and girls often maintain the land. Many organizations including the UN are working on increasing women’s access to agriculture services and gender equality trainings. These changes have the potential to greatly improve the quality of life for rural women.

In our sewing project Umutima, many of the women are domestic helpers. One girl came to Nyamirambo Women’s Center and she took our sewing course, our literacy course, and worked with the Umutima sewing project. This year she managed to buy land in the village that she came from. She is excited because now she is able to help her two younger sisters. Umutima is the Kinyarwanda word for heart and I believe that Nyamirambo Women’s Center helped this girl have the heart to do something that she would never of been able to do on her own.

-Marie Amie, Nyamirambo Women Center Manager

Nyamirambo Women's Center was founded as a self-help group in 2008 in Kigali, Rwanda. Today women attend the center for classes in English, literacy, computers,  and sewing/craft training. NWC started a community-based tourism project that offers guided cultural walks in Nyamirambo neighborhood and UMUTIMA, a new line of household and children's projects. These projects and buyers like you help to keep the center alive and continues to create better lives for the women of Nyamirambo.

This morning, I'm documenting the Madhav Narayan festival in Bhaktapur. This month-long festival is one of the most difficult rituals practiced by Hindus in Nepal. Devotees undertake a month-long fast, walk barefoot in the cold winter mornings, and take a chilly, holy bath in the early light of day.

Across the bank of the river, a row of men and boys line up in front of a temple. They are dressed in white. They hold conch shells in their hands and lift them to their lips. They chant and follow women in red who roll out large pieces of white fabric. The men and boys roll or crawl over the fabric, which is unrolled around the entire perimeter of the temple (maybe a half a mile). 

Read the whole story here: http://www.crystalinerandazzo.com/blog/2016/2/25/a-photographer-in-nepal-madhav-narayan

Excerpt from Evelyn Teo from TechWomen Delegation to Rwanda:

In early February of this year, I had the honor of traveling on the TechWomen Delegation Trip to Rwanda. For me, the highlight of the TechWomen delegation trip was our visit to kLab[2] (knowledge Lab) –kLab had organized a Ladies’ Speed Geek Session.

I was very impressed by how each presenter was able to identify everyday challenges and turn them into opportunities to apply technology as solutions. One memorable pitch: a lady designed a mobile app which integrated a payment solution for a common public transport in Kigali called “Moto” (a motorcycle taxi). The goal is to let users locate and pay for their Moto ride via their mobile phones.

At the end of the session, I approached a young entrepreneur and learned that she is an experienced software engineer, who received her Bachelor’s degree from Kigali Institute of Technology (KIST[3]), and that she will also be the first batch of graduates from Carnegie Mellon University – Rwanda[4] (CMU-R) this year. I met many outstanding women like her during our trip, and they left a deep impression on me.

View the full article here

The New Forest Company is building a business in Africa that is socially responsible, environmentally sustainable, and profitable. The company started investing in plantations in Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania to provide a sustainable source of local timber. The New Forest Company sells poles for use in the three countries large-scale electrification projects, built it’s own pole plants to process and treat poles, and is currently building sawmill to process timber into planks. One of their key objectives is to improve the lives of their workers. They also support local communities with projects ranging from building schools to starting beekeeping projects.  The company invests 3%-5% of it’s expenditure in social and environmental projects.

Vestine Mukarugiro is 32 years old and the mother of three children. She married at the age if nineteen. She works with every day with a cooperative of women who prepare land for harvest. They till up the land by hand with hoes. She wakes up at 5 a.m., gets her older children ready for school, and travels to the fields at 7 a.m. with her youngest tied on her back. She digs every day there is work available from 7-1 p.m. It is her only source of income. She worries about how her family will fare in the months of harvest when digging is scarce.

Imagine that you lived in a country that couldn’t provide food to patients in its hospitals? Patients in Rwanda have to rely on family members to bring them food daily. Those who have no family or those whose family cannot help them are left without resources. 

A small group of women noticed this problem at the hospital near them. They decided to come together each week and cook meals for the patients in need. They had no funding or backing from a local organization. They simply brought what they had and made meals. 

Every week, the women gather together to cook a large batch of porridge and soup. Each woman is assigned one to two patients that she provides food to throughout the week.

This morning, I'm documenting the Madhav Narayan festival in Bhaktapur. This month-long festival is one of the most difficult rituals practiced by Hindus in Nepal. Devotees undertake a month-long fast, walk barefoot in the cold winter mornings, and take a chilly, holy bath in the early light of day.

Around me, women loosen their hair and prepare their offerings before entering the freezing water. They disregard the trash that floats up around them and rinse their entire body, including their mouths. Many light candles at the water's edge and chants of Madhav Narayan fill the air.

Read the whole story here: http://www.crystalinerandazzo.com/blog/2016/2/25/a-photographer-in-nepal-madhav-narayan

Tigertops Lodge in Nepal is the first lodge to allow their elephants to go chain free and eliminate the practice of elephant rides. Instead, they promote ethical tourism by setting up jungle walks with their elephants. To learn more about elephant conservation, visit http://elephantwatchnepal.com/.

The boys from Dohla are between six and ten years old and left home to join a monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. There are a variety of reasons children come to the monastery. For some, it means a roof over their head, food on the table, and education. For others, it is an honor to their devout Buddhist families to have a monk or nun in the family. Almost every family from Dohla has sent a child. 

For the full story here: http://www.crystalinerandazzo.com/blog/2016/6/9/the-boy-monks-from-dohla