How to Support Brooklyn Bridge to Cambodia, Inc.

My name is Paula Shirk, and I have spent much of my life helping struggling Cambodian farmers. Years ago, I went to Cambodia to adopt a little Cambodian boy. There I met the farmers. Having grown up on a poor farm myself, I understood their struggle. So when I returned home, I vowed to help them and began a search for engineers to develop ways to make their lives easier. They came from England, South Africa, America, Martinique, and France. They paid for their own plane tickets and made very low wages.
And Brooklyn Bridge to Cambodia (BB2C) was created. It is a nimble, resourceful 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the effects of climate change through our innovative agricultural tools.

As climate conditions worsen, BB2C's goal is to raise $13,600 to start a pilot program to help farmers acquire the new technology and place women farmers in managerial roles.
Climate change is increasingly affecting Cambodia. The farmers' plantings can't withstand long periods of drought and floods. BB2C, with our affordable, locally produced technology, brilliantly shoots the rice seeds into the ground. Seeds embedded are drought resistant since the soil contains more moisture deeper in the ground. The seeds are also protected from being washed away by flooding and protected from pests such as rats and birds.

BB2C also seeks to help and empower women. Our invention, the Eli 3.0, is a rice planter that does away with the backbreaking work of women bending over all day in rice paddies. It improves upon the only other method - ineffectively and indiscriminately throwing the seeds on the ground, which relies heavily on pesticides. This method is unhealthy for the farmers and causes damage to the ecosystem.
BB2C provides training for women to understand the technology. Agricultural mechanization increases gender inequities. Men are the beneficiaries of training for farm improvement, especially farm mechanization leaving women behind. The research shows that if women don't understand the technology, they lose power within and outside the household. Local teams integrate and empower the women by placing them in managerial roles, teaching them to track the money spent on the seeds, regulating the amount of pesticides, and managing the use and rental of the Eli Seeder in the villages.

Help us reach all farmers in two new provinces by starting a pilot program in Battambang and Takao. With minimal additional funds, we will place rice planters in four villages in each province. The farmers will pay for the Eli 3.0 from the profits of their crop, allowing us to continue to roll out our climate-resistant technology. But we need the funds to start a fire.

$25/$50/$100 - is a step toward paying for our team to provide training sessions to women farmers located in remote areas.

$350 – pays for an entire training session for women to understand the technology to regain respect within and outside the household. This will help undo the effect of gender inequities caused by agricultural mechanization. After the training, women will assume managerial roles in the village.

$425 - is a step towards providing an Eli Seeder to a village in Takao or Battambang.

$850 – pays for half of the cost of the Eli Seeder.

$1,700 – pays for an Eli Seeder and helps an entire village improve their health, income, and the lives of their families.

From the adoption of a Cambodian boy, BB2C emerged. A unique beginning. A distinctive culture – nimbleness, creativity of the staff, unwavering optimism, risk-taking, devoted engineers, fabricators, staff, and the courage to embrace failure. We have a long successful history of partnering with universities, including the University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, New York University, and Georgia Tech. Paula Shirk recently received the "Outstanding Service Award" from The Ohio State University.
BB2C is proud to announce that in December, the United Nations specialized agency WIPO GREEN chose to highlight the ELI Seeder for its innovative "Green Technology" solution. BB2C is now on the world stage.
Our small organization was awarded the prestigious "Patents for Humanity" award issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Prior winners included major companies such as Microsoft.