CLOSING OF THE YEAR 2025 AND PREPARATION OF THE PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS OF GAM IN 2026
In December, the GAM projects for 2025 were finalised and their expenses justified. The budgets and expenses for the events held were updated, and work began on updating all the documentation for the year, which will be included in the 2025 report and can be consulted on the GAM website when it is completed. Also in December, we began enthusiastically planning GAM's activities for 2026 and managing the five new projects that the association will launch in January 2026 in Ecuador, Colombia, Kenya and Cambodia.

GAM VOLUNTEER TRAINING
On 20 October, a training session (the second organised by GAM) was held for GAM volunteers, both those who already collaborate with the association and those who are interested in collaborating but do not know how. During the two-hour training session, GAM's strategy and objectives, its operation and the activities it carries out annually were explained. These sessions are important not only to raise awareness of the association's strategy and structure, but also to recruit volunteers to help us improve our activity and results.

GAM 2026 PROJECTS
These are the GAM 2026 projects, approved by the Administration Board of GAM asbl on 21 October:

• "Construction/renovation of infrastructure for training sessions and accommodation for community leaders in the Ecuadorian Amazon" (Phase 2). Canelos (Ecuador). 
•  “Clean energy in the Colombian Amazon”. Mitú Vaupés (Colombia). 
• “Literacy and training programme for out-of-school children aged 3 to 15”. Kampong Chhnang (Cambodia). 
• “Empowering Samburu women through literacy, training and entrepreneurship (2026-2028)”. Phase 1. Regional project covering Lodoung’Okwe, Tuum and Barsaloi (Kenya). 
• “Comprehensive training programme for project managers (IMEY) (2026–2027)”. Phase 1. Yarumal (Colombia). 

9th VIRTUAL MEETING OF GAM WITH ITS SOUTHERN PARTNERS
As usual, in October GAM met (virtually) with its partners in the South to inform them of the proposals approved for 2026 and to learn about the status and results of projects nearing completion. On this occasion, we were able to count on representation from all the destinations where GAM develops projects, and project managers informed us of how the objectives are being met. In the coming weeks, they will send us the final reports. In January, we hope to send GAM's co-financing for the five projects GAM will support in 2026.

SOLIDARITY MONTH 2025. INITIATIVE BY THE MUNICIPALITY OF ETTERBEEK. 
In 2025, GAM asbl will participate in Solidarity Month 2025, an important initiative organised and funded by the Commune of Etterbeek to raise awareness of the work and results of projects carried out by organisations based in this commune in favour of the most disadvantaged. GAM's activity is scheduled for 9 November 2025 and combines a talk-workshop on GAM and its projects with an information and awareness-raising stand for the association. This year's main theme will be promoting healthy eating and lifestyle habits among children and adolescents. You can find more information about the activities included in the programme for Solidarity Month 2025 in the Etterbeek Commune at this link.

GAM 2026 PROJECTS: RECEIPT AND EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS
The deadline for submitting GAM asbl projects for 2026 was 30 September 2025. Fifteen proposals have been received, which will undergo an evaluation period to ensure that they comply with GAM asbl's strategy and objectives, the main condition for their selection. They will then have to be approved by the GAM asbl Board of Directors, which will take place at the end of October, before the GAM Annual Dinner, where the 2026 GAM projects will be officially presented to the association's benefactors, volunteers and supporters. 
In the meantime, at the end of 2025, we expect to receive the final reports on the seven projects supported by GAM asbl during this year.Haz clic aquí para editar.

In September, we will open the call for proposals for GAM projects for 2026, which will undergo an evaluation period to ensure that they comply with the strategy and objectives of GAM asbl. The selected projects will be presented to the Board of Directors at the end of the year for approval. We are also monitoring the 2025 projects, some of which have already been completed. The results of these projects will be reflected in the final report prepared by the project managers at the end of 2025.

​On 20 September, GAM asbl took part in an event organised by the EU Committee of the Regions, as part of the Spanish Presidency of the EU. It was a unique opportunity to give visibility to our association and our projects.

​The 4th meeting with our partners from the South presented the progress of the GAM 2023 projects and the GAM 2024 project proposals, which will be announced after approval by the GAM asbl Board of Directors at the beginning of November 2023.

​LOTERÍA DE NAVIDAD 2023
Our Christmas lottery number is now on sale. The draw will take place on 22 December 2023.

A group of GAM asbl volunteers travelled to Kenya, in what was the 8th humanitarian trip of the association, to visit the projects funded by GAM in this country.

On 17 August, in Tuum, taking advantage of the visit of our volunteers, took place the inauguration of the bakery, a GAM 2023 project that aims to promote the empowerment of Samburu women.

​The contact with the beneficiaries of the projects, but also with the GAM representatives on the ground was certainly an interesting and enriching experience.

This trip was an excellent opportunity to see the extraordinary work being done by missionaries in Kenya, supported by GAM asbl. We visited three villages where GAM is funding projects: Tuum, Barsaloi and Lodoung'Okwe. All three are situated in a part of the country that is very poorly communicated (rocky roads, unpaved tracks and long distances), making the work of the missionaries even more difficult. In addition, many Kenyans told us that the Samburu and Turkana tribes living in these villages had been forgotten by the government. During our visit, the Lodoung'Okwe area was experiencing a period of severe drought; women had to walk more than an hour to reach the dry rivers, where they dug a hole in the riverbed to draw water. The Samburu women, beneficiaries of one of the projects we visited, aimed at empowering them, which starts its second phase in January 2024, asked us to build a well in the area where they receive their training, so that they do not have to walk so far to fetch water. They also gave us many other ideas on how we can continue to help them.

The visits to these projects showed us the true reality of these vulnerable populations, to whom GAM will continue to provide support through the financing of projects that meet their needs, but also through the establishment of strong and lasting partnerships that allow a real and effective north-south cooperation.

​In addition to external aid, the best partnership is the local participation of the beneficiaries, which means empowerment, and which they do very well in all our projects, being a non-negotiable policy of GAM asbl. It is a matter of avoiding any paternalistic thinking.

Even if the wind blows against us, the mighty work goes on: you can contribute a stanza

Lodung'okwe, 2023. As if we were in the oven about to be charred to death, people cry out for rain. The water has to be scooped out of the sand drop by drop and this task involves such an effort that, by the evening, the women who have scooped the sgu and carried it on their backs are exhausted and breathless for anything else. Yesterday, Ana Lenkuro, who has three daughters, all students, arrived tired from herding to ask for 20 litres of water that she could not even carry. In these difficult times, faith increases for those who make the effort. The women have learned to value the work of each day. There are no goats for sacrifice, debts are not repaid, and despite the leniency of the moneylenders, the one who has been forgiven rages against his debtor for a small amount.

There was a man in Lodung'okwe who helped everyone, who gave advice, who was a man of faith and very much appreciated by the community. One night he was robbed and killed. The people know who he was, which clan he belongs to and they simply say: "for our sins we have no rain, no development, no leaders, no sheep for sacrifice, no fattened calves for feasting, we are reduced and exhausted; our animals die, our men wander like sleepwalkers looking for what to do, and end up killing the tedium with liquor that makes them momentarily forget their suffering".

Yesterday Mpunyaki's mother came, a once slender woman, stricken by hunger and tuberculosis, while her husband lives only for liquor.

The drought has also affected the growing elephant population and they are desperate for food for their young.

Recently, in Lodung'okwe, people brought food for the poorest, and a group of girls brought a sack of rice to share with orphans and widows. What a great action by a community overwhelmed by hunger and still able to share from their poverty.

In Lodung'okwe every day there are women who show us their simplicity, their wisdom, their virtuous femininity. They are the Samburu women. GAM also supports them as much as possible with its sustainable projects, to help them grow, to empower them and to help them finally recognise the fundamental role they play in their community.

​"We are beings full of passion. Life is desert and oasis. It knocks us down, hurts us, teaches us, makes us the protagonists of our own history. Though the wind blows against us, the mighty work goes on: you can contribute a stanza. Never stop dreaming." (Walt Whitman)

The GAM BARBECUE brought together a large number of benefactors and friends of GAM asbl to enjoy a relaxed atmosphere on an unusually warm day for Brussels, which once again demonstrated the great interest shown by everyone in supporting GAM asbl's projects in different parts of the world. Many thanks again to our volunteers for their efforts and dedication, without which the success of this event would not have been possible.

SPANISH SUMMER DRINK, an event organised by GAM asbl on 23 June in the atrium of the European Commission, at which we presented the association and its projects to a new audience, who did not hesitate to show their interest in and support for GAM asbl.

GAM T-shirts, already on sale, in various sizes, with a white background and 100% organic cotton. Buy it now!
Available at [email protected]

The 3rd GAM Volunteers' Meeting took place in Brussels on 14 May, which was attended by all those who, on a constant and regular basis, collaborate with the association in the development of its own functioning, in the organisation of its events, in the dissemination of its activities, in the maintenance of its webpage, etc.

​Although not all GAM volunteers were able to attend, those who participated enjoyed an atmosphere of community and joy.

​We look forward to seeing you on Saturday 10 June at GAM's BBQ, one of the association's main events, which aims to offer all its benefactors are laxed meeting place that will help to unite and strengthen our community of volunteers and benefactors of GAM, while at the same time providing the opportunity to learn about and support the development of our sustainable projects in different parts of the world.

You can book your tickets through the form available here