Loveland businesswoman to launch cottage industry in India

On a three-week trip to India, Theresa Fogle gave a little village girl a stuffed bunny. It wasn't anything fancy, just one like you'd find packed on store shelves and in kids' rooms across America. Fogle thought of it as a simple gesture.

The little girl did not.

"She screamed in delight," Fogle recalls. "She showed it to everyone. I couldn't help wondering if this was the girl's first toy."

It wasn't her only glimpse of people going without items that many people take for granted. Daily, she saw villagers struggling for basic needs.

At the hospital, she saw people pitching blankets on the floors in the hallways while they waited for a bed to become available or while their loved one received treatment.

The snapshots of poverty carved memories in Fogle's heart.

For the woman entrepreneur--she founded the Loveland-based company Edge-Communication by Design--the Third-World trip shifted her mindset. Upon her return, she had a newfound appreciation for her life here.

It also made her think differently about her career.

"India was life-changing," she said. "From that point forward, I didn't want to use the talents I had on mundane tasks. I wanted to use them to make the world a better place."

She found her opportunity.

When reading about a paper company that was funding projects encouraging unique paper usage, an idea came to mind.

Art for Conservation was created, an effort that she hopes will improve the little corner of India she glimpsed in a way that would be life-changing for the villagers.

As part of the project, Fogle and a crew of four others will teach 50 villagers near the Bandhavgarh National Park, a popular tiger preserve in Central India, how to make paper maché art. They hope to leave this year, as soon as the project is funded. The tiger-themed art--masks, plates, figures, coasters, note cards and posters--will then be sold to visitors and globally through a Web site. If it goes to plan, the villagers will increase their $350-$400 monthly income with the art sales, making them less dependent on dwindling forest resources and thus creating a healthier habitat for the endangered wildlife. The paper used will not be from the national park but recycled from an Indian mill or printer.

"I'm confident this project will improve the livelihood of many people," Fogle said. "This plan has been incubating for over a year with input from many experts. We have done our homework--and more."

Still, the ambitions are lofty as change in a Third-World country does not come easy.

Fogle knows the challenge. She also knows her capabilities: She took down the neighborhood bully in the summer of fifth grade. She was the only one in her family to go to college. She has served as a foster parent.

"I've overcome my share of adversity in life and am comfortable with this endeavor," she said "I find it exciting and challenging and doable. At age 90, when I look back on my life, I will know that I lived my dreams."

INFORMATION

To find out more about Theresa Fogle's project, Art for Conservation, or to make a donation, go to www.improvingourworld.info. Fogle can also be reached at (970) 493-1178.