Sometimes the fruits of success taste particularly sweet, as Global Environment Facility CEO Carlos Manuel Rodriguez discovered on a visit to the Maldivian island of Meedhoo, where he witnessed an effort led by local women to revive a dying culinary art. With the help of funding from the GEF, the non-governmental organization Meedhoo Ekuveringe Cheynu (MEC) has been working to replant coconut palm groves and to teach the island’s young people how to prepare local palm sugar delicacy Addu Bondi the authentic way.

 

“This GEF Small Grants Programme project is not only investing in preserving the rich tradition of Bondi-making in the Maldives but, more importantly, in its future generations,” said Rodriguez, who later visited two waste-related projects elsewhere in the Addu Atoll, the southernmost atoll in the archipelago nation. “It is helping young girls and boys educate – and provide a source of income for – their communities.” Read more HERE.