On this remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean, a new black pearl farming operation we helped launch is up and running, providing Namdrik’s 600 residents with a lucrative industry that’s also eco-friendly.

Cultivating black pearls (also called black Tahitian pearls) involves inserting a “bead” – typically a rounded piece of shell — into a Black-lip pearl oyster and waiting between 2-4 years for a pearl to form around the bead.

In addition to providing pearl farming equipment, we also gave funds for an education and surveillance center to help locals patrol a new 86-acre marine reserve within their pristine atoll.