Equipped  with El Naturalista shoes, the 5th Madrid Rumbo al Sur expedition has begun.

On August 16th, 2010, the 150 youth selected for this educational program arrived in Morocco.

Once more, El Naturalista has provided shoes and boots, specially designed for this program, for all the participants who will journey over 7,000 kilometers across the African continent with El Naturalista’s spirit of “Walking thought Life”  – Caminar por la Vida.

You may follow the expedition on: Madrid Rumbo Sur

]]> http://www.proyectoatauchi.com/?feed=rss2&p=1192&langswitch_lang=en 0 http://www.proyectoatauchi.com/?p=1176&langswitch_lang=en#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:11:39 +0000 admin http://www.proyectoatauchi.com/?p=1176&langswitch_lang=en

El Naturalista is once again donating shoes and boots for more the than 150 people who will travel 7,000 kilometers across the African continent during a month-long expedition.

The trip aims to bring the reality of less developed countries to Spanish youth and to raise their awareness of the necessity for cooperation and collaboration for the needy.

Among the activities planned for this year, the young travelers will participate in many humanitarian projects. For example: they will work in a project supporting literacy for street children and women in the Moroccan city of Fez. They will also help at a project supporting battered women in Al-Jadida and care for children with psychiatric problems in Tangier. In addition, they will care for seniors and visit with children in a nursery for destitute families in Tetuan.

During the trip, the young travelers are accompanied by a group of expert teachers who provide a complete academic program for them. Throughout the journey, the participants attend classes and workshops related to the history of the area and to the need for cooperative development.

This year, the expedition includes a new experience: a trip on the ferry to the Canary Islands from Morocco on the new maritime line that unites Morocco with Spain.  This experience will underscore the close physical tie between Spain and the African continent.

The expedition will leave Madrid on August 16th and will return on September 11th. It will consist of 100 youth, and 43 staff persons from the sponsoring agency including monitors, teachers, firefighters, historians, journalists, archeologists, etc.

Madrid Rumbo al Sur is a project that exemplifies El Naturalista’s values. Through the Atauchi Project, we are committed to the education of disadvantaged children worldwide.

You can follow the trip on the web at: www.madridrumboalsur.com

Coinciding with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa will host an important event that should not go unnoticed: The Global Education Summit. The summit will take place from July 7th to 11^th.

The summit objective is to strengthen and reinforce efforts to reach the goal of “Education for All by 2015” as proposed in the Millennium Goals.

According the non-profit organization Save the Children, there are 72 million children worldwide who do not go to school. This figure exceeds the combined number children attending grammar school in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia.

El Naturalista, through the Atauchi Project, has been working for the last five years to improve children’s education through two projects in Tanzania and Peru.  We believe that the Summit in Cape Town is a wonderful opportunity, taking advantage of the fact that the eyes of the entire world are focused on Africa, to proclaim the right of every child to an education.

One more time, El Naturalista is going to meet to celebrate the XIII international sales conference, this time in Bilbao where it is going to show the new collection of shoes for spring-summer 2010 season.

Here will be the atauchi project with alot of things to say about the different initiatives.

In 1973 the General Assembly of United Nations established  World Environmental Day (WED).

The WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnerships that will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

During the WED many activities are carried out throughout the world.

Once again, El Naturalista is one of the companies invited by the Ilundain Foundation of Navarra to celebrate WED. The Ilundain Foundation is a private, non-profit organization that provides educational services to at-risk children and youth in Navarra who are facing marginalization in education and employment.

Last year, El Naturalista planted a tree in the newly created Forest of Participation, a space that symbolizes gratitude to the corporate sponsors.  This year we will renew our collaboration in a scheduled outdoor event.

]]> http://www.proyectoatauchi.com/?feed=rss2&p=1142&langswitch_lang=en 0 http://www.proyectoatauchi.com/?p=1131&langswitch_lang=en#comments Tue, 25 May 2010 15:25:58 +0000 admin http://www.proyectoatauchi.com/?p=1131

May 25th is the official day of Africa in the world. This day, established by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 at their meeting in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) celebrates African unity and diversity. Later came the African Union (AU), which has served as a driving force in the development of a range of institutions in Africa including the Pan African Parliament and the Peace and Security Council as well as the establishment of such programs as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). These initiatives reflect Africa’s desire to merge the values of lasting peace, respect for human rights, good public affairs administration, and sustainable development.

Despite these positive developments at the institutional level, the latest report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) indicates that 40 out of the 50 countries worldwide with the lowest development index are in Africa.

Currently more than 78 million children in Africa do not have access to a school or an education.  A year ago, El Naturalista decided to dedicate a portion of our Atauchi Project funds to Africa because we are convinced that children represent the future, and a sound education is the foundation of that future.  Working through the organization, Amigos de Tanzania, we have contributed to the Baobab Children’s Home located in Arusha, in norther Tanzania, an area where 44% of the population is between 0-14 years old.  The Baobab Children’s Home serves a total of 37 children between the ages of 1-17 years. Twenty-five of the children live at the center.

Our intention is to continue contributing to the development of education for underprivileged children. Thanks to the support of all of you who believe in El Naturalista, we have already achieved more than 180,000 smiles!

We wish the World Cup which will be held in South Africa from June 11, 2010, could achieve to join and improve the knowledge about the African reality, their culture and their people.

United Nations has declared this year, 2010, as International Year of Biodiversity to celebrate life on our planet and to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity in our lives.  It is an invitation for the entire world to safeguard our biodiversity during 2010.

Biodiversity includes the ecosystems and genetic structures that sustain life on Earth.  As indicated by the Fundacion Biodiversidad, the agency responsible for promoting this concept in Spain, biodiversity includes climate, air, water, food, energy, medicines, and more than a third of the resources of our economy.

At El Naturalista we make every possible effort to practice this philosophy.  We strongly believe that our future lies in respecting nature, the environment, and people.

On April 27, 2010, Mª Paz Díaz de Rada and María Goñi, from El Naturalista’s Department of Corporate Social Responsibility and Communications, visited the ASPACE-RIOJA facilities.

With so many projects undertaken by the Department of Corporate Social Responsibility, we wanted to learn more about the specific activities of the agencies with whom we partner. On this occasion, and at the invitation of ASPACE-RIOJA, El Naturalista had the opportunity to visit this Association’s facilities in Logroño.

Since its inception in 2003, El Naturalista has been partnering with ASPACE (Asociación de Paralíticos Cerebrales), a nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of life of people with cerebral palsy and related disabilities by promoting personal development and equal opportunity. The Association has targeted meeting the specific needs of these persons throughout their lifetime as their principal objective. A group of 20 people working at the ASPACE headquarters in Rioja manufacture the advertising kits for our shoes; they also produce the marketing materials for our company.

The visit lasted for almost three hours. Guided by the foundation’s leaders, we visited the Special Employment Center, the Day Center, and the employment workshops. We were impressed with the excellent facilities and the outstanding staff. During our visit we experienced first hand the good work done by the people of ASPACE and the excellent care that they receive.

This organization truly demonstrates personal courage and human perseverance at its best.

Our thanks to all who made us feel welcome during our visit. You have made us more aware of the valuable work that you do, and of the importance of continuing our partnership with ASPACE.  Thank you also for sharing with us the values and contributions of this Association.

During this coming year, the people who do the work for El Naturalista in ASPACE will visit our production center in La Rioja.

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As we did for last year’s expedition, El Naturalista will equip the participants of the 5th Madrid Rumbo al Sur with shoes and boots especially designed for the program. More than 200 people will take part in this journey through different parts of Africa in August. In addition, this year the expedition will visit the Baobab Children’s Home in Tanzania, which has been sponsored since 2009 by El Naturalista through its Atauchi Project in cooperation with Amigos de Tanzania. 

Madrid Rumbo al Sur is a project intended to motivate and sensitize young people to the importance of international cooperation and development aid. El Naturalista collaborates with Madrid Rumbo Sur because this is a program with values consistent with our brand’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. They both have similar objectives: to create respect for the environment and to sensitize young people and society to the importance of having an environmental and social conscience.

Environmental initiatives are increasingly being supported by individuals as well as by official authorities. New technologies and the creation of broader social networks facilitate the widespread support for these initiatives.

In addition to the impact of technological globalization, we must also acknowledge the increased environmental awareness in our communities.

The international observance of World Water Day took place on March 22nd.  This year’s motto was “Clean Water for a Healthy World” and the United Nations emphasized that water quality is as important as water quantity.

Last month the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sponsored “Earth Hour”.  For the fourth consecutive year, the WWF organized this worldwide initiative to raise awareness of the importance of combating climate change. For one hour, on March 27, 2010, an estimated billion people in 6,000 cities in more than 125 countries switched off their lights in a symbolic show of support for our one and only planet. Additionally, a great majority of famous monuments around the world went dark for the hour.

On April 22, 2010 we will celebrate Earth Day, which was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth’s environment and to advocate for the conservation of natural resources.  This initiative addresses multiple issues such as biodiversity, energy conservation, clean and renewable energy, or recycling, among others.

El Naturalista encourages you to actively participate in these initiatives and to be conscious of the importance of our natural resources.

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