“It is impossible to be in those places for any length of time and not be moved, even knowing that whatever we do won’t be enough.”

When filming in Mozambique came to a close, the company next traveled to locations in London, India and Belgium, where the balance of scenes would be shot. But before they left Africa, an idea began to take hold of the entire cast and crew. Each of them had been touched by the warmth of the people they had met there. At the same time, they had witnessed great deprivation and resolved to make a difference.

During filming, Djimon Hounsou had taken time out to visit an SOS Children’s Village near Maputo. (SOS Children is the world’s largest orphan and abandoned children’s charity). Other members of the cast and crew, including Leonardo DiCaprio, also enjoyed an opportunity to visit with some of the children from the village, who had joined them on the set as extras.

As the crew broke down the sets, most of the props, construction materials, costumes and even personal belongings were distributed to local orphanages and hospitals. In addition, the construction team volunteered to build desks and chairs for the orphanages and schools.

“It is impossible to be in those places for any length of time and not be moved, even knowing that whatever we do won’t be enough,” Zwick maintains. “Our unit production manager, Nick Laws, went out of his way to look into areas where we’d been and learn what their specific needs might be.”

Weinstein affirms, “You can’t stand by when you find out that if you spend a thousand dollars, the women won’t have to walk 40 minutes to get water. To me, it went without saying that we had to do something.”

Every member of the cast, crew and filmmaking team pitched in money— some beginning with a week’s per diem, others even more—to help the communities that had welcomed them during the filming of “Blood Diamond.” With these donations, the “Blood Diamond Charity Fund” was launched and is still growing.

In addition, Zwick relates, “When I informed Warner Bros. of the Fund and its goals, the studio agreed to match the total of our donations without hesitation.”

“Taking part in the Fund has been very rewarding for me personally,” says Marshall Herskovitz. “I’ve been involved in projects where people talk about getting involved, but nothing comes of it. In a way, we don’t think of this as charity; it’s a way for us to express our gratitude and stay connected to the people in Africa who were so gracious to us.”

The work of the Fund has just started, but its goals range from digging wells to creating roads, from building schools to buying school supplies, from delivering food to providing medical assistance, and much more.

“It’s a drop in the ocean compared to what needs to be done, but we did what we could…and will continue to do what we can,” Zwick states.