get schooled

www.eyeseeonline.comISSUE 6 M A G A Z I N E

JUSTICE CULTURE STORY ENVIRONMENT PROJECT

TOP 8 BARRIERS TO EDUCATION

BRINGING HOPE TO CALCUTTAOne Woman’s Vision to Bring Education to Her Village

CREATING GRASSROOTS GREEN JOBS FOR WOMEN IN AFRICA

HOW HEART SURGERIES ARE BRINGING PEACE TO FAMILIES IN IRAQ

The Importance of FINANCIAL EDUCATION IN THE MICROFINANCE COMMUNITY

Get SchooledThe Power of Education Around the World

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“Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Education is the future. Young or old, rich or poor, information opens doors, challenges ideas, strengthens convictions and waters seeds of change.

Around the world we are beginning to see a shift towards ethical education, innovation and community. From teaching children about social justice to revamping the way we do business, it will take those willing to challenge the status quo to improve and redefine our future.

Who is on the cutting edge of this Education Revolution? Get to know them, their ideas and where you fit in Eye See Media’s GET SCHOOLED issue.

Thanks for reading Eye See Magazine.

The Eye See Team

Art and Administrative DirectionDarcie [email protected] Marie [email protected]

EditorsRuksana Hussainwww.ruksanawrites.com Cassandra [email protected]

Graphic Design and LayoutDes RountreeLinda SjooLydia Smit

IllustrationDes Rountree

Cover ImageMorgana WingardProject Rhino program in Calcutta, India. www.morganawingard.com

Thanks to all our contributors!

Eye See Magazine is entirely freelance.

Contact us today with your story.

Photo CreditsJ.T LissRyan HillMatt WillinghamMagdalena HanssonMaria RistinmaaHeather Cummings

All InquiriesEye See Media, LLCwww.eyeseeonline.com/contact

www.eyeseeonline.com

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10. Becoming a World Citizen Exploring with an Attitude of Openness

27. Teaching the Remedy Surgical Peacemaking in Iraq

38. Hug it Forward Turning trash into schools

40. Getting Down to Business The Importance of Financial Education in Microfinance

CONTENTS

44. Education = Prevention

46. We are the Same Three creative people share what they Love

54. Education for Moroccan Women

57. Rural Radio One Low Frequency Radio Channel Unites Villages in India

CONTENTS

11. Peace Education

16. Building Hope in Calcutta

20. Solar Sisters

22. Roots of Change

30. Reimagining Urban Community Space

33. One Big Change


48. Streetview

50. Momentum

52. World of Voices

60. Which Comes First? Food or Education?

62. Bringing Global Poverty Awareness to Life


Contributors

1: Ryan Hill www.stilllifeprojects.com

Article: Building Hope in Calcutta

2: Heather Cumming www.ssaap.org Article: Project in Zambia

3: Neha Misra www.solarsister.org Article: Solar Sister

4: Mathew Abrams www.myceliumschool.org Article: Mycelium School

5: Dana Andersson www.dana-anderson.yolasite.com Article: Rural Radio

6: Alexandra Cunningham www.artforglobaljustice.org Article: Art for Global Justice

7: Lauren Zumbrun www.laurenzumbrun.tumblr.com Article: Peace Education

8: Alia Kate www.kantararugs.com Article: Education for Moroccan women

9: Sarah Symons www.madebysurvivors.com Article: Education Prevention

10: Matt Willingham www.PreemptiveLove.org/blog Article: Teaching the Remedy: Surgical Peacemaking in Iraq

11: Kim Groves [email protected] Article: Mexico Microfinance

12: Magdalena Hansson/Maria Ristinmaa Article: Becoming a world citizen

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FOR millions of children around the world, attending school is simply out of the question. For several reasons, they may never be able to set foot inside a classroom.

However, millennium development goal #2 seeks to make inequitable access to education a thing of the past. We compiled the top barriers to education to illustrate what we must overcome to achieve mdg 2.

POVERTY

CHILD LABOR

For nearly 90 countries, primary education comes at a cost to families. Between school tuition fees, uniforms, and supplies, school is often an unaffordable luxury.

In many villages, children may provide a valuable source of income to their families. Rather than spending money on school, families can earn it by sending their child to work instead. A child can’t balance work and school, so a family must make a decision. Often, earning an income is a far more attractive option.

THETOPEIGHTBARRIERSTOEDUCATION


HIV/AIDSHIV/AIDS often leaves children too ill to attend school. Or, if a family member has contracted the disease, a child may have to stay at home to provide care.

CULTURE & TRADITIONSome families may be opposed to education because of their culture or tradition. This especially impacts young girls. However, in our first blog post this month, we discussed the tremendous benefits of educating a girl.

DISABILITYChildren with disabilities often are underserved or ignored completely in school.

TEACHER SHORTAGESLarge class sizes and underpaid or under-qualified teachers limit the availability of quality education. As we discussed last week in our blog post on Burundi, war uproots and destroys villages. This often leads to a lack of trained or qualified teachers.

LOCATIONFor millions of children, school may be several miles away. In many cases, this walk can be too arduous or dangerous. Parents may decide that it is safer to have a child stay at home rather than walk miles to school every day.

CONFLICTConflicts and wars ravage communities. Between the destruction of schools, the fleeing of child refugees, and the recruitment of child soldiers, conflicts play a major role in disrupting education systems.

BECOMING A

WORLD CITIZEN


eing young in 2011 in a developed country, you have the world at your feet, or at least you think you do. Traveling, studying, working

and falling in love abroad have almost become a part of fulfilling your 20’s. While realizing our own temporary life projects abroad, we came across people in our own age who did not meet the world under the same auspicious conditions. But we also encounter some who did. After having had the chance to see and spend some time in different parts of the world, we are now back in Sweden with thoughts of what happens when the citizens of the world become world citizens. What does it mean to be a ‘world citizen’? Is it for everyone? Should we strive for it?

According to Wikipedia, a world citizen is a person who disapproves of traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship. Drawing from our own experiences and reflections, we would also like to add that a world citizen enjoys the opportunity and the freedom of accessing and engaging in the world beyond her own immediate geographical, cultural or social surroundings. But perhaps even more essential, world citizenship has to do with an attitude of openness towards other people and their ways of living. This seems to foster identification between citizens in the world, which in turn is a very good start for increased mutual understanding and solidarity worldwide.

One illustrative example of the quest to become a world citizen is from South Korea, Seoul - this lively, super-modern and rather prosperous metropolis with

one of the world’s most well-educated and dedicated young population. Over a hot pot of bibimbap however, some Korean friends expressed their frustration over the mandatory two years military service which all young men have to take up. They clearly explained the contrast of themselves on the one hand dedicating two of their “best years” to hard discipline, with the acknowledgement of the history and the war constantly present, and then coming back to another reality, realizing that their female friends on the other hand having spent the past two years studying abroad, learning new languages, inspired by new values and influences – becoming world citizens.

However, the future possibilities of young Korean men to eventually become world citizens might seem quite promising in a wider comparison. The urban identity makes them part of a worldwide network of cities, bound together by human, financial and cultural interactions, channeled not least through new technologies, providing endless opportunities of taking part in the global discussion. Moving between larger cities in different parts of the world, it is striking to see that this urban identity tends to overtrump any national identity. Young urban people seem to have far more in common, as for the content of their everyday life, with their urban equals from other continents, than they have with young people from remote parts of their own country. Similarly, people from rural areas around the world might also share a rural identity. Although an urban identity is not a precondition for world citizenship, living in the centre of where the interactions take place, rather than in periphery, seems to help.

Another aspect that seems to help is economic wealth. Meeting people in Kenya, it became clear that the possibility to reap the fruits of globalization and the shrinking world varies a lot between people within a country. The rich Kenyans travel, study and enjoy

food from all around the world. Visiting any shopping mall in urban Kenya, you learn that the diet of the wealthy young Kenyans resembles the one of people in many western countries. In Nairobi and Mombasa (the two largest cities) this is noticeable by the emerging problem of obesity within the growing middle-class. The poor however, experience little of the above and while members of Masai communities in Kenya may well know of and appreciate Beyonce’s latest music video, it does not necessarily increase their possibility to participate in the global community. Although flows of information and cultures are spread, mixed and merged throughout the world, there is definitely a difference between taking an active part in the process and being an observer, just like there is a difference between exchange and mainstreaming. However, there is nothing saying that the willingness to identifying with other citizens of the world or to broaden ones perspectives would be lower among poorer or more traditional communities.

The connection between economic and social privileges and world citizenship becomes clear within the academic world. Being a student taking classes in Development Studies at a Swedish University, you might initially be encouraged by the large number of foreign students attending, and the variety of countries of origin. However, giving it a second look, you realize that the foreign students, who had come to Sweden to discuss and to learn about development, were not the average Ethiopian, Mexican or Pakistani but, just like us, part of a privileged minority.

Our reflections and questions about world citizenship and global solidarity are also being brought to the fore, following the recent events in the Arabic world. The importance of using the Internet, distributing and easily accessing information in order to organize resistance is undeniable, and the striking



power of reaching out with the message to the world is invaluable. We, along with millions of people worldwide, have in recent years also seen live filming and footage of violence against civilians in different parts of the world, which have spurred world citizenship in terms of identification and organized global solidarity. Facebook and other social forums on the Internet have become tools for vicinity which is not bound by geopolitical divisions. Even in this context it is however important to note that many people are left out of this virtual flow and sometimes know less of things happening in their own surroundings than people on the other side of the globe.

The more we reflect on the idea of world citizenship, the more convinced are we

that it all comes down to the approach of people, rather than their lifestyles. You could live a modern and metropolitan life without ever engaging, caring or taking notice of the world beyond your own bubble, just like you could choose to live a traditional life with an open approach towards other people, their views and their lifestyles.

Hence, neither travelling nor studying is equivalent to being a world citizen, since world citizenship is not only practised when we go abroad. It is clearly a challenge to maintain this open-minded and inclusive approach, when on one’s home ground. In many countries, not least in EU member states, it is easy to find a “not in my backyard” mentality when it comes to adapting to new

cultural influences deriving from immigration. There is also certainly a difference in how we approach those potential world citizens who present us with their presence. In Sweden, for example, it is striking and discouraging to note how foreign researchers are being attracted to our academic institutions since they contribute with valuable international perspectives, while other extremely well-educated immigrants stay unemployed for years, perhaps because of their reasons for migrating. It is a pity and a true waste that we tend to be so incapable of living as world citizens, once we have returned from our back-packing tour in Thailand – or in Korea or Kenya if it comes to that.

A world citizen is more than a person with access to

information and global influences. World citizenship is about participation. Being a world citizen is not something you “do” when you go abroad, but an identity which is present irrespective of where in the world you are currently living, including your native country. World citizens enjoy the privilege of taking advantage of global influences in order to shape their lives - where to live, who to meet, what to engage in. It is clear that socio-economic preconditions matters for what opportunities you have of becoming a world citizen. To that end, economic wealth, an urban identity, a free and democratic society, knowledge and an open-minded value context, all seem to be favorable conditions. Provided that world citizenship stands, not mainstreaming, but for global and inclusive identification, solidarity and freedom, it is definitely something to strive for.

BY: MAGDALENA HANSSON& MARIA RISTINMAA

“WORLD CITIZENSHIP HAS TO DO WITH AN ATTITUDE OF OPENNESS TOWARDS OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR WAYS OF LIVING”

ducation is a process in which “we learn new ways of thinking and behaving”

(Reardon 2000, p. 31). Education is one of the most important elements in a country’s development, especially in conflict regions, education is an important tool to help rebuild and recover from the effects of war. Peace Education has been developing over the last decades to be translated and used in a variety of settings. The basis of the pedagogy is to truly allow for transformation in a process of how to think. Peace Education is where the learner takes ownership of his/her own learning without being so influenced by what is taught and what one is supposed to learn (Harris 2004, p. 6). Peace Education focuses on reform, reconstruction and transformation toward nonviolent behaviors for people of all

nations through structuring global institutions to resolve conflict and keep peace, rejecting violence (Reardon 2000, p. 32). As a scholar in the field and making her mark in the late 1900’s, Betty Reardon (2000), states that through this transformation of knowledge, there allows space for possibilities of achieving and maintaining peace (p.3). Sara Clarke-Habibi (2005) states Peace Education is more than just the absence of war; it is the awareness of human rights as it addresses worldviews and aims to transform students to a place of peaceful orientation (p. 8). Within the collaboration and development of Peace Education and human rights comes the ability to hold peaceful values and make judgments without them leading to violent conflict.

PEACEEDUCATION



In addition to Betty Reardon, Myles Horton came before Reardon in the early 1900’s, is also considered a scholar in this field. Both highlighted the awareness of oppression and violence in schools in their respective time of influences and have accomplished establishments for instituting peaceful and just education. Where Reardon focused her efforts on the former by founding the International Institute of Peace Education, Horton honed in on the latter by starting the grassroots Highlander Folk School which allowed adults and school aged students living in Appalachia and the South of the United States a chance to be educated and fight for equality and sustainability (Bell, Gaventa & Peters, 1990, xxvi).

Reardon (1997) states, “Peace Education is a worldwide movement… diverse and always changing” (p. 21). With the global aspect of Peace Education, Reardon has found her conceptual core of peace is rooted in the need for human rights education and awareness (Reardon 1997, p.22). She believes that the opposite and obstacle of peace is violence, which is the “ultimate insult to human dignity” (Reardon 1997, p. 25). Therefore her strong voice has always been toward creating a non-violent environment that is supported by programs known as conflict resolution and multicultural education in the schools (Reardon 1997, p.28). Reardon has also found that another obstacle to peace is the lack of programs teaching students to “understand structural and systemic aspects of conflict. Concomitantly, Horton has rooted his focus during the civil rights movement for informal education for adults and educational empowerment in

the United States and the global community (Bell, Gaventa & Peters 1990, xxiv). He believed conceptions of peace came from people’s ability to fight their own destiny through participating in community, education and work. Obstacles of peace come in the form of the oppression the upper class imposes until the lower class, as well as gender, racial and ethnic disparities. Horton was a simple man who started with local rural workers and showing the importance and opportunity education provides. The content and methodology within Peace Education is change starts with the ordinary people, not always a global community. He saw the need for education in his early life as a poor child and then in the lives of his neighbors, so he decided to take steps toward peace through education (Bell, Gaventa & Peters 1990, xviii).

Peace Education’s holistic framework consists of exploring and understanding peace and conflict through dialogue, lessons on character building, self-awareness and conflict management (Harris 2004, p. 6). Peace Education is a lifestyle of learning with a curriculum that is needed beyond academic for children living in conflict or post conflict areas. Covering topics such as conflict management, non- violence and civil rights, students will properly learn what appropriate social responsibility means and how the community can work together to develop ideas against violence and practice conflict management strategies. This conflict resolution education aspect provides students with peacemaking skills that they can use to manage their interpersonal conflict. Students need to understand the violence that is around them and those

lessons can be taught properly and peacefully within schools curriculum. Curriculum is one of the most essential elements to education, however curriculum for conflict and post conflict students has to be tailored to the particular needs (Buckland 2005, p. 7). As important as it is to create a safe zone in school and in educational lessons for these students, it is equally imperative to address the reality in which they live (Buckland 2005, p. 7). As the Academy for Educational Development (AED) article states, education needs to continue delivering vital messages for the student’s basic needs (AED 2003, p. 14). In addition, curriculum should provide a sense of identity for a student as well as develop leadership skills. Ultimately, educators deliver the curriculum and the presence they provide in that delivery and in their leadership can set the stage for learning for children.

Academy for Educational Development (2003), The education imperative: Supporting education in emergencies.

Clarke-Habibi, S. (2005). “Education for peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina.” Journal of Transformative Education 3(1): 1-38

Buckland, P. (2005). Reshaping the Future: Education and Postconflict Reconstruction. Washington DC. World Bank.

Harris, I. (March 2004). Peace Education Theory. Journal of Peace Education. 1(1). 5-20.

Reardon, B. (2000). “Peace Education: Review and Projection.” In Bob Moon, Sally Brown and Miriam Ben Peretz (Eds.) International Companion to Education. New York, Routledge.

THERE ALLOWS SPACE FOR POSSIBILITIES OF ACHIEVING AND MAINTAINING PEACE


was nervous to return to Calcutta. Having worked on a documentary there years before, the city brought me to my knees.

I arrived confident and healthy, and left sick and humbled. Since then I questioned whether I could handle another project in Calcutta, but knew one day the right project would bring me back.

When I heard about an illiterate woman named Kali and her vision to bring education to her village, I was excited to return. The challenge would be to capture the story of her effort to break the cycle

of illiteracy, and communicate how a single humble classroom has multiplied into a network of schools around Calcutta called Project Rhino. Our first step would be to meet the characters and try to understand how it all began.

With three friends, a handful of cameras and a bag of lenses we headed 20km outside Calcutta to the village of Kadamtolla. Our guide was a native of Calcutta, Amitabh Singh. As a child, Amitabh attended a school run by Calcutta Mercy Hospital. Years later he joined the staff and became a champion for community outreach. Calcutta Mercy runs a feeding program to deliver food to some of the poorest slums. Each

morning a truck pulls up and vats of rice are unloaded as villagers wait with tin bowls. For many it is the only meal of the day. But one morning as workers were unloading the daily rice, something happened which would forever change the course of the village.

As we approached Kadamtolla, poverty was apparent everywhere. A dark cloud of smoke hung in the air as our bus barreled through giant piles of smoldering trash. Amitabh explained how chemicals from the trash seep into a nearby stream that is the main source of water. As we looked out the window, the struggles of everyday

life became clear.

Our bus pulled up to the village and we stepped off. Humor is always disarming, and film crews provide entertainment effortlessly, but this morning our cameraman Jeff went

above and beyond. Not long after we arrived, Jeff took three steps toward the village and sunk in mud up to his knees. It took two locals to help pull him out and the uproarious laughter from the village made us feel welcome. Both the smiles and Jeff’s brown pants served as a constant reminder that we were harmless and would need their help to get our job done.

Amitabh motioned for us to tour the village. As we walked down the path,

children ran to greet him and hold his hand. Life erupted in every corner of the village. Babies cried, women washed dishes, chickens pecked around tied up goats, and children scooped up puppies as we walked. Recalling how Project Rhino started, Amitabh began with Kali, a well-respected woman in the community. Amitabh measures visits by cups of tea rather than weeks or months. He smiled as he remembered that after sharing several cups of tea with Kali, a meaningful relationship was forged. After getting to know Kali, their conversation turned toward family, and as Amitabh shared this part of the story he grew emotional. On one visit Kali asked to see a photo of Amitabh’s daughters, so he pulled a photo from his wallet and told her they do well in school. Kali said that she and her son were both illiterate. Then Kali asked the question that opened the door for great things to begin: would Amitabh be willing to help provide education for her granddaughter?

A producer looks for human connections that transcend places and cultures, and we had just discovered the connection we were looking for. The heart of Project Rhino started with a simple conversation about love for family. As Amitabh and Kali talked, it became clear that both loved their families and valued the importance of a good education. Only Amitabh was able to provide this for his children; Kali did not have the means to do so. Our goal would be to show how this mutual concern drove these

two amazing people to work together and overcome the barriers involved with starting a school from scratch.

As the tour continued, we began filming. We were anxious to meet Kali but were told she was sick and may not be up for it. As we walked, Amitabh filled in the missing pieces. He knew that opening a school in the village would require the full blessing of the community. He also knew that the children would need a classroom to meet in.

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To obtain the blessing as well as the classroom, Amitabh made a deal with Kali. If she could build a hut to use as a classroom, he would make sure they had the funds to hire a local teacher, develop a curriculum and provide volunteers. Amitabh knew Kali could not build a classroom without the support of the village so he left it there without

knowing what would happen next.

Later in the day Kali appeared and said that she was ready to be interviewed. “Where would you like to be interviewed?” we asked her. “Right here” Kali said, as someone brought her a stool and she sat down in the middle of the path. We rolled the camera and listened to her story. Kali had been coming to the feeding line for 20 years. She shared the tragic story of her 5-year old son who died from diarrhea, and relayed other sad events resulting from lack of resources in the village. Kali was determined to provide opportunities to make life better for the children in her village through education. She described how she had built a classroom behind her home, and how proud she was after her neighbors inspected it and voiced their approval. Now, with a new classroom and a village of illiterate children, all of the work and anticipation came down to one question, would any students come to this new school Kali had built?

The morning arrived for the first day of school. Tension was high. They waited. Then their dream began to take shape as one by one students began trickling in, hair combed and shoes tied, giddy with excitement. The children nervously

removed their shoes and stepped inside the classroom for the first time with an opportunity none of their parents had. As they sat on the fresh straw mats waiting for class to begin, Amitabh and Kali had a new problem– the children kept coming. By the end of the morning, over 120 children came for the first day of class. Shocked by the response, the staff divided the children into four groups with colored wristbands and set a daily schedule according to age.

After we finished our interview with Kali, it was time to film inside the classroom. This is always a challenge. The camera brings excitement and embarrassment and the result is typically chaos. What surprised us was how incredibly well behaved the students were. They paid attention to the instructor and it was obvious that for the students, school was a privilege and should be treated with respect. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the village with Amitabh, Kali and the student who became a character in our film, Mongala. Amitabh talked about the lessons they learned and how Project Rhino has grown into something bigger than they ever could have imagined. Today, Project Rhino

exists in six communities around Calcutta and teaches 866 students. All because Kali stepped forward to request that her granddaughter be the first in their family to read and write. At the end of her interview Kali told us, “I am not far from death, then only my words will be remembered.” She will also be remembered for her selfless dream of bringing education to her village, and the hundreds of lives that have been touched through that dream.

To watch the 4-minute film about Project Rhino visit www.StillLifeProjects.com/eyesee where you can also watch a film from an urban Project Rhino center.

BY RYAN HILLOwner of Still Life Projects, a production company that creates original content for social good. His credits include PBS, HBO and National Geographic. His awards include The Overseas Press Club award for “Best International Reporting on Human Rights,” and the 2011 Sundance Cinematography Award. He can be reached at [email protected]

SOLAR SISTER:

Creating Grassroots Green Jobs for the African Women


A new kind of clean energy revolution is taking root in Africa – the one that is enterprise based and not aid-driven, the one that is grassroots and not thrust from top-down, and the one that brings African women from behind the veils of darkness and smoke filled kitchens to the forefront of a green economy. Meet Solar Sister, an innovative social enterprise combining woman power with clean power.

Over 600 million people in Africa don’t have access to electricity. In the absence of reliable basic electricity access, they depend on kerosene for light. Kerosene is toxic, dangerous and costly for people, as also for our planet. Women and girls bear the worst conse-quences of this energy poverty, forming 70% of those without modern energy. Solar Sister changes this by combining the breakthrough potential of portable solar technology with a deliberately woman-driven direct sales network to bring light, hope and opportu-nity to even the most remote communities in Africa.

Using a micro-consignment approach, Solar Sister provides African women with a ‘business in a bag’, a start-up kit of a variety of clean energy products, along with the training and marketing support to launch their own micro-solar businesses. The pro-ducts in the bag include portable solar lights, mobile phone chargers and radio battery chargers. These are manufactured by Solar Sister’s diverse portfolio of some of the most cutting edge technology providers selected on the basis of three guiding principles of design, durability and affordability. Since Solar Sister entrepreneurs sell on consignment, they pay for the inventory “after” they sell it, earning a commission on each sale. This micro-consignment innovation helps reduce the start-up financial risk for rural women who lack the collateral for a high-interest micro-financed loan and are new to business as such.

Equipped with the right tools and self-confidence, Solar Sister entrepreneurs step into new avatars as clean energy evangelists. Their customers benefit from the ripple effect created by increased hous-eholds savings, improved health and better education opportunities for children. The women benefit - both as users of clean energy themselves and as the vital (otherwise missing) last mile distribution link for buil-ding a green economy that works for all.

A founding story of Solar Sister is that of Rebecca, a rural farmer in Mpigi, Uganda, who chose to put a solar light in her chicken room. Rebecca knew that chickens only eat when they can see, and by increa-sing the hours of light, the chickens ate more, and were healthier. They laid more eggs, improving the economics of her operation and providing income that allowed her to buy seeds, and eventually a goat,

pigs, and even a cow. From the simple improvement of a single light, Rebecca built a farm and

eventually a school where she teaches children to read and write, and also how to do small plot farming. With a little bit of light and opportunity, many more women like Rebecca can have the power to improve their own lives.

Solar Sister started in 2010 by training 10 women. Today, 132 Solar Sister entrepreneurs in Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan are bringing the benefits of life-transforming solar solutions to over 17000 Africans. Having proved its bottom up, market based approach with the mantra “Give a woman a fish and you feed her for a day, teach her how to fish and you feed her for a lifetime”, Solar Sister aims to scale to magnify its impact manifolds. The goal is to build a grassroots network of 5000 Solar Sister entrepre-neurs to bring clean energy solutions to over 3.7 mil-lion Africans in the next five years. The goal is big, as is the challenge of energy poverty and its female face. We must change the story of Africa, where it can no longer be called a dark continent, but instead a story of light, hope and opportunity - the story of many Solar Sisters.

By: Neha Misra, Chief Collaboration Officer, Solar Sister

Learn more about Solar Sister at www.solarsister.org and @Solar_Sister on twitter.

Neha Misra serves as the Chief Collaboration Of-ficer for Solar Sister. You can follow her on twitter @LightSolar and read her

blog Postcards from the Pearl of Africa at: http://postcardsfromthepearlofafrica.tumblr.com/

“Give a woman a fish and you feed her for a day, teach her how to fish and you feed her for a lifetime”

L I G H T .

H O P E .

O P P O R T U N I T Y



The greatest innovators of the past century, by definition, did things in a new way. Henry Ford revolutionized

transportation, Buckminster Fuller, design, and Steve Jobs, communication – they were all able to break out of the social norms, ask ‘what if?’ and live it. These guys couldn’t hack it in college, so they dropped out. But for every innovator that drops out and comes into their possibility, think how many there are that submit and conform to what everyone else expects them to be.

A major reason for this conformity is the culture of higher education. When we become part of a new culture, we are often the ones transformed. Consider a college undergrad, she either adapts to the new culture, makes friends, goes to classes, passes her exams and gets a degree or realizes it’s not for her and either fails or drops out. Either way, the culture of the school informs the thoughts and actions of the student.

Imagine, on the other hand, an idea hive, a hackspace. A Petri dish for possibility, an incubator of dreams. A place where you could go to not only learn the core of what makes you come alive, but create a life born from that place. A lab where you could hone your super powers as you learn

from great thinkers and doers from around the world; a modern day Plato’s Academy. A home for heretics, outliers, noncon-formists and innovators. A launch pad for young entrepreneurial spirits to go to dream big, fail hard and succeed wildly.

This is The Mycelium School.

The Mycelium School is a 2-year business school being developing in Asheville, North Carolina. Slated to break ground in the spring of 2013, it’s designed to give young innovators the tools, the experience and the connections needed to address social and environmental problems through the creation of social enterprise.

We set out with one task, forget eve-rything we know about what schools are and imagine what the next generation of movers and shakers will need to thrive. We gathered some leading thinkers from the worlds of social entrepreneurship, living systems thinking, design, ecology and alternative education and are figuring out and coming up with many ideas: “It will have to allow the freedom for learning to happen, it will have to be hands on, it will have to be emergent, alive and always growing and morphing to meet the rapidly changing needs of the learner. It will have

to be active in the community. It will have to give the participants the tools they need to not only dream big, but also make them real out in the world. It will have to connect them to a living network of change agents. It will have to be DO oriented. It will have to wind the propeller of possibility for two years and let go.”

Modern society is complex and needs people who can navigate the underlying currents and connections. Traditional, me-chanistic ways of learning and leadership no longer provide adequate solutions. The complexity and interconnectivity of our world is increasing exponentially and thus requires captains to confidently navigate these waters. E.F. Schumacher said, “The task of the wise man is to understand the great rhythms of the universe and gear in with them.” If we can learn to gear in with this complexity, we can work with it to unimagined opportunity.

At The Mycelium School, we believe we can create a learning environment where the culture does not dictate the lives of the individuals, but the individuals dictate the life of the culture. It will be meaningful and malleable, relevant to each and continu-ously emerging to meet the growing needs of the students. This dynamic not only


allows for an educational experience that is alive, but readies our participants to thrive in a world of rapid change. In college, it is the end product that is the perceived value, at Mycelium, it is the process. And having mastery over the process will prove profoundly valuable in the coming decades of rapid change and uncertainty.

This is where traditional schools are failing us. The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” Traditionally higher education wants to freeze both the man and the river – a technique that offers structure and commandment over learning, but limits the potential of the learner and distorts the opportunities and challenges in our world. Even the most progressive universities are too big to flow with the changing river, and thus, are perennially educating for yester-day rather than exploring the disruptive potential of engaging tomorrow.

The focus of education should not be on sustainability, but on regeneration. Going into the root of a problem and innovating new solutions that make the old way no longer relevant. Sustaina-bility is a linear concept where a current si-tuation is maintained. The Mycelium School is built from a place of complexity. We work in a changing environment and continuously co-design learning to increase the connec-tivity, health and resilience of our world. Living this philosophy enables participants to develop the tools and confidence needed to meet whatever challenges and opportunities present themselves. When students graduate, they will be well equip-ped to continue their learning in every context. They will be chameleons, rapidly adapting and thriving in a world of peren-nial change. Our participants will know how to design and act to affect systems. The social enterprises they create will be applied on a local scale that will, in time, inspire huge ripples across a global pond.

While the field of social entrepreneurship is still emerging, there are many ideas as to what defines a social enterprise, but what often happens is that businesses claiming to be a social enterprise are really running a business that is less bad. Less bad organi-zations cut their carbon emissions or give eyeglasses to a person in Kenya every time a pair is purchased in San Francisco. At The Mycelium School, participants will learn how to run a business that empowers its stakeholders. Their businesses will be alive, always emerging to meet the needs of its stakeholders. In doing this, the business not only evolves to meet ever changing needs, but also raises the consciousness of those affected.

All around the globe, there are thousands of people pregnant with game changing ideas, but lack the learning environment that will help bring them to life. We believe creating this environment is not only pos-sible, but is happening and will soon spread like a beautiful pandemic. This new way of

educating is untested and radical. Much of its success won’t be measurable in tradi-tional metrics and many people wont get it. And that’s okay; we haven’t created this school for most people. We have imagined a learning space without limits and will prove its utility through demonstration.

We believe the deepest learning is integra-ted through action. In the first of the two years at Mycelium, learning takes place in two principle ways, both hands-on. Participants learn through project-based

workshops facilitated by visiting instructors on topics such as empathy, radical innovation, living systems design, inter-cultural communication, resilient communities and design for social change among others. While the-

re are several workshops scheduled throughout the year, there is a balance

between structure and emer-gence. To meet evolving needs,

our participants are also given a budget to invite visiting instructors whom they want to learn from and collaborate with.

Also, in this first year, participants will develop their business acumen by collecti-vely designing and running their own social enterprise. Students will be given a budget and access to people who are skilled in strategic development, design, raising startup capitol, research, organizational leadership, coalition building, etc. The first year will launch the enterprise and subse-quent cohorts will continuously evolve the business to add deeper and deeper value to the community, co-creators, investors,


customers and the earth.

The second year is called the Dream Lab. Here the participants take their own idea for a social enterprise and develop the hard skills – business writing, pitching, social medial strategy, etc. – they need to bring their ideas to life out in the world. At the year’s end they’ll have an articulated bu-siness plan which they’ll pitch to potential seed investors to raise seed capital toward

launching their initiative.

Once they graduate, they’re paired with a team of mentors who work with them in a 3-year ‘outcubation’ period where they’ll bring their social enterprises to a self-sustaining level.

The Mycelium School borrows design prin-ciples from Buckminster Fuller. Probably most formidable, is his concept of the trim tab. Trim tabs are small steering devices used on ships and airplanes which demon-strate how relatively small amounts of le-verage, energy, and resources strategically

applied at the right time and place can produce maximum advanta-geous change. In design science, the trim tab metaphor is used to des-cribe an action that when placed in the environment at such a time, its effects would be maximized, thereby effecting the most advantageous change with the least resources. Es-sentially, looking at how we do more with less.

This metaphor is applied to The Mycelium School in two way. First, the experience our participants have at The Mycelium School will have a trim tab effect on the trajectory of their lives and second, the creations of our graduates out in the world will be designed for a trim tab impact on the social and environmental systems of the world. We see the ability to do more with less to be increasingly valuable in the coming decades.

One way that allows our participants to do more with less is that they’ll be connected

to an ecosystem of resources. Whether it’s seed capital, workspace or business partners they seek, they will have access to these channels through the global web of people, organizations and resources created by The Mycelium School.

This is the principle of mycelium. Mycelium is the vegetative part of the mushroom – the largest living network on the planet. Some call it the Internet or the neural net-work of nature. Mycelia (pl.) link into root systems of trees, plants and other mycelial webs and transfer information and nu-trients across the forest floor with the end goal of increasing the health and vitality of the host ecosystem. Our participants and their creations in this world are the fruiting bodies, but what keeps them alive and thriving is this mycelial network of support.

This is the living network that will grow in the Petri dish that is The Mycelium School. We see mycelium schools and similar initiatives popping up around the world. An ecology of place-based learning centers where people can go to plug in to the pulse of the regenerative movement and go back into the world and heal by living authentically. Each initiative will become a member of an innovation lab ecology that shares information and resources that will guide us to a co-created future that is local, empowered and resilient.

BY: MATTHEW ABRAMS

This is the principle of mycelium. Mycelium is the vegetative part of the mushroom –

the largest living network on the planet.

With a daughter on the verge of death, Ghazel’s parents had all but given up hope of finding someone who could help her. Like so many children in Iraq, Ghazel was born into a loving home that has deep ties with family and community. But, also like many children in Iraq, she was born with a life-threatening heart defect.

Teaching the Remedy: Surgical Peacemaking in Iraq


In his search for a doctor who could mend his

daughter’s heart, Ghazel’s father had come to find that in 21st century Iraq, there are no such doctors to be found.

There was a time when this was not true. In fact, Baghdad’s cardiac care was once the envy of the Middle East. Families from neighboring countries brought their children to Iraq for heal-ing, rather than the other way around. The city was home to many of the finest medical schools and hospitals in the region, and aspiring students came from all over to study medicine.

This began changing in the 80s and 90s when an estimated 70 percent of the most experienced Iraqi medical specialists fled under Saddam Hussein, and this exodus only intensified during the lawless period after the regime’s dismantling in 2003. This large-scale emigration of medical professionals and other trained individuals is com-monly called a “brain drain,” and it left Ghazel and thousands of children like her without hope.

As a result, today’s post-war Iraq is severely lacking the medical capacity to treat the ballooning population of children born with heart defects. What isn’t lacking, however, is blame. Blame for Saddam’s regime and its harsh policies. Blame for Americans and the devastating sanctions and war. Blame for opposing Iraqi factions and their tit-for-tat sectarian reprisals.

Ghazel and her family are from Fal-lujah, a majority-Sunni city that was rocked by some of the Iraq War’s most brutal fighting, and its citizens are still experiencing sectarian tension bet-ween Sunni and Shia factions today.

Fallujah is a hotbed for blame and resentment.

In a tense environment like this, is there a way to respond? What can you and I possibly do to ease the tensions? Can we even help these children?

We at the Preemptive Love Coalition (PLC) believe there is a clear answer to those questions: Yes, we can save lives by training locals and redeveloping Iraq’s medical infrastructure. To meet this goal, we host pediatric cardiac surgical training missions throughout Iraq during which lives are saved and local doctors and nurses take one step closer to being able to care for their own children, without our help.

When Ghazel’s father heard about these training missions, he drove his daughter south, into enemy territory, to find the doctors. His neighbors thought he was crazy. The height of the conflict was years ago, but fallout from the American bombs can still be seen in their city’s skyline. Shias posed an even bigger threat. The fall of Saddam’s Sunni-led regime ignited an


internal arms race where both Sunni and Shiite militias fought and killed to be the leading authority in post-war Iraq. Fallujah became the stage where some of the worst violence and repri-sals took place by the hands of Shiite militia. Why willingly put your child into their hands?

But for Ghazel’s father, Shia and Ame-rican doctors saving his daughter’s life was the preference because he under-stood the training mission’s potential

In a tense environment like this, is there a way to respond? What can you and I possibly do to ease the tensions? Can we even help these children?

for bringing peace, and he extended his daughter like an olive branch.

In July of 2011, Ghazel’s “enemies” performed a complex, first-ever proce-dure in Iraq called an “arterial switch” that saved her life. Her family returned home with a message of reconciliation from American and Shia doctors. Right before Ghazel went home her father told us, “We should take this barrier

of fear and break it down. We are brothers.”

Ghazel’s is just one of many stories of lives saved by surgical training mis-sions, but there are thousands more children waiting for a shot at lifesaving surgery. In Ghazel’s hometown of Fal-lujah alone, recent research indicates that 10 percent of children are born with a congenital heart defect--that’s ten times the global average!

themselves. We believe Iraq’s health-care system can be restored and, along with it, the hope of thousands of Iraqi families.

There is no greater opportunity for us to bring that restoration than by providing the training that leads to wholeness.

BY: MATT WILLINGHAM

The only way to eradicate this backlog of sick children is by training locals to do it themselves. Providing charitable surgeries without teaching locals is short-sighted, exporting the problem to other countries isn’t cost-efficient and it would take thousands of years to help every child, but regular surgical training missions inside Iraq will help fill the void left by the brain drain and empower locals to solve this problem

Founded in 2007, PLC’s mission is to create a medical infrastructure throughout Iraq that is capable of eradicating the backlog of 30,000+ children waiting in line for life-saving heart surgery. To date, PLC has saved the lives of over 160 Iraqi children and provided local doctors with over 30,000 hours of hands-on training. For information, please call +1 806-853-9131, visit www.preemptivelove.org or email [email protected].


Reimagining Urban Community Space

through Arts Education

Two Case Studies in Hillbrow, Ghana and Jamestown, South Africa



There is nothing like watching an individual’s face when they step away from the first paint stroke they have just made on a mural. Whether a smile or a critical gaze, the look is often

full of pride and responsibility. This person has made a personal mark on a collective product that they know their community will see and appreciate. Honestly, this moment of recognizing self-value is the only thing in all the nonprofit, social change work I have done that has really made me feel the change. The most recent of these mural-moments was when I was in Johannesburg this past August, in partnership with the Hillbrow Theatre Project. Awelani, one of the participants in the after-school group I was working with, had drawn a flower on paper. Some of the girls were commenting on how nice it was, so I walked over to see. It was perfect for the center of the mural that was coming together organically through the sketches and ideas of the group, so I suggested that we make it the centerpiece. Awelani looked at me, a bit bewildered, and then smiled shyly. She and I approached each person working on the mural with us to see if they approved of the idea, showing them the sketch. With each affirming nod, Awelani grew more and more confident. By the time we found chalk and determined the center spot, she was sketching her

masterpiece on the wall, something she was afraid to show her friends a few minutes earlier.

Putting the power to create one’s environment in the hands of those who interact with the space on a daily basis should not be a novel idea. Yet, in many urban spaces, the architecture of everyday life is often determined by bureaucratic institutions, making local residents feel that transformation is out of their reach. After studying abroad for a semester in the fall of 2009, I returned in the following summer to Ghana. Art for Global Justice, the NGO I founded, ran arts lessons in Jamestown, a neighborhood in Ghana’s capital city of Accra. My co-worker Brenda and I asked our students what changes they would like to see in their Jamestown community. Answers from the class five students (ages nine to fourteen) included: a hospital, a library, a football field, more police, and more schools. We then asked them who would bring these things to Jamestown. The responses we heard were: the king, the chief, and the government. We turned the question around and asked, do any of you believe you can bring these things to Jamestown? Most students shook their heads no, but others started to scrunch their faces and think about it. The lesson continued with the definition of NGO, which we defined as a non-governmental organization that creates projects and plans to help the community. We discussed categories that NGOs work in: education, health and sanitation, environment, arts, and food and agriculture. We brought in guests from our local partner NGO, Jaynii Streetwise, founded and run by Jamestown residents.

Through writing activities and art projects identifying goals, vision, and steps necessary to get there, students began to think of ways they could reimagine their community’s future. The art lesson asked students to paint their dream occupations on a large canvas. This mural was put up in the school entryway, so that other students could see the aspirations of their peers and boost the students’ confidence through sharing with the wider school community. These activities encouraged students to reimagine their agency within local communities, pushing them to move beyond common notions of what is possible for a student from Jamestown.

The communities of Hillbrow and Jamestown are microcosms of their respective cities, Johannesburg and Accra. Often perceived as the most dangerous and impoverished regions of each inner-city, these areas have been labeled as “marginalized” and “under-developed” by both national authorities and international political and economic agencies. The lack of job opportunities, adequate housing, sanitation, and service delivery in these areas is a reality that locals experience. However, community members experience a greater sense of oppression in these particular neighborhoods and other similar segments of urban regions due to the stigmatization that occurs when their neighborhoods earn a negative reputation. Even mentioning that I spent time in Hillbrow and Jamestown brought looks of astonishment, fear, and at times disgust amongst city dwellers outside of those communities.


To explore the transformative possibility of reinventing the perception of a community, we must discuss the complexity of the term “commu-nity.” According to historian and theorist Benedict Anderson, “all com-munities larger than primordial villages of face to face contact (and perhaps even those) are imagined. Communities are to be distinguis-hed, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined” (Anderson 6). For Anderson, communities are “imagined” because it is unlikely that someone will know evryone in his or her community. He argues that even in small and close communities, the ties that draw a particular group together are often imagined. There is great potential in this idea of the community as a fluctuating imagined style. By recognizing that community is a constructed process rather than a naturalized and stable entity, the possibility of altering the per-ception of a community becomes possible. Communities can reinvent themselves. Murals, public art, and other educational programming amongst the youth of a community, like the writing and art exercises we facilitated with the children in Jamestown are examples where communities have recovered the agency to successfully reimagine themselves.

Urban community development is a complex issue that requires community origination and consciousness for effective, sustainable development. My experiences working with diverse approaches to arts education have left me in a precarious place. It is evident through this entire discussion that I passionately believe that empowering change comes directly from the community itself. It took me these ex-periences and many more to understand that, and I am still struggling with my own role as an outsider in the reimagining of these com-munities. I must question how I, as a white teacher from the United States who teaches a classroom of black Ghanaians in Jamestown, may perpetuate underlying cycles of oppression, even if that has never been my intention.

Unfortunately, many communities rarely have the resources necessary to create the changes they deem effective for community reimagina-tion. Furthermore, those that have the funds believe that they know the best way to create change from the outside, repeating oppressive discourses of power. Sometimes these outside groups have great ideas that may be useful and profoundly more effective in the short run than working with community-developed ideas. However, in the long term, I am concerned about the negative implications that result from the repetition of colonial common sense. I believe my role is to assist local ventures in a support capacity, to demonstrate the strength of community-originated change in NGOs and foundations that may

overlook these realities. To build strong communities, we must respect and have faith in the abilities of the community members, and ensure that they have faith in themselves. In this way, communities can be reimagined through paint strokes on mural walls that are followed by looks of pride, responsibility, and ownership.

BY: ALEXANDRA CUNNINGHAM

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. New York: Verso, 2006.

To build strong communities, we must respect and have faith in the abilities of the community members, and ensure that they have faith in themselves. In this way, communities can be reimagined through paint strokes on mural walls that are followed by looks of pride, responsibility, and ownership

“”


Four years ago, when I met Breno in the winter of 2008, he told me about his dream to start a project that would give the gift of education to those less

fortunate. I was touched by his vision and his story, and my wheels started turning. I knew people had to hear about this.

You know that moment when you’re in the right place at the right time? By definition, this moment is a mira-cle. That moment happened to me four years ago when history was made. That history is still being written as One Big Change rushes forward, paving the way for a new future generation of hope and opportunity.

When I met Breno, I was unaware of his background. It wasn’t until we began to build a friendship that I was able to peel back his layers to uncover his modesty and unde-niably inspirational story.

Over a shared meal one evening, Breno told me about his past. I learned that his family was from Brazil’s heavily populated city Sao Paulo. Brazil, a Third World country, has an unfortunate large economic gap between the wealthy and the poor. “We went from middle class, to low class, to below the poverty level,” he explained. “One day we had a nice house and then the next day the eco-nomy collapsed and my brother and I were selling cotton candy on the beach.”

Breno grew up as the youngest of three, with an older sister and an older brother. Breno’s parents were always working hard to support their children and his grandmot-her, but between the downfalls of the Brazilian economy and family feuds, it was inevitable that the children of the family would have to make sacrifices to make ends meet.

“My parents would always tell me that no matter what, my education was important,” Breno said. “I never left school because they never let me.” After school, Breno


and his brother, Cadi, rode their rusted bikes straight to the beach to meet their mother to sell cotton candy to patrons. “It was embarrassing,” Breno said. “See-ing all your friends going to the beach while my brother and I had to go and sell

cotton candy? That wasn’t cool.” I could see in his face that he was rehashing the painful memory and then he lifted his chin with a defiant expression and said, “My mother told me when I complained: ‘Any job you do with dignity you shall never be embarrassed about it. One day you’re gonna laugh about it.” He laug-hed.

Over the years, Breno began to realize the boundaries that he would face if he remained in Sao Paulo. He was working in the hotel business and becoming very successful, despite working sixteen-hour-days, seven days a week. He knew he didn’t want that life.

At age 19, he bid farewell to his family and friends and took off to New Zea-land for a better life for him and his family, as many Brazilians often do.

With no English, Breno went from a management position to sanding walls. His tenacity jolted me. “Never quit your dream,” he said, explaining his philosophy. “It’s hard. I learned in my life that having everything doesn’t mean I’m happy. It really doesn’t.”

After two years, his dream to succeed and learn English was coming true. He earned himself the position as concierge and was making enough money to live comfortably and support his family. With his ambition and charisma, he was meeting people and making friends. One person he met, in particular, is just as important to this story as Breno. Just

as my life took a turn when I met Breno, Breno’s took a gigantic turn on the day he met Dr. Douglas Holden.

One day, Breno was driving the ho-tel shuttle at the Millennium Hotel in

Queenstown, and tourists on his shuttle were, as usual, impressed. One person on the shuttle happened to be Dr. Hol-den. When the 70-year-old Methodist minister was sitting in the hotel lobby the next day Breno approached him to offer some help. Instead of receiving a usual request, Breno was asked to accompany Dr. Holden to lunch. Coinci-dently, both men were willing to make new friends despite the culture and age gaps. They would soon find they had more in common than imaginable.

“I was impressed with your kindness,” Dr. Holden told Breno over a couple burgers at the Hard Rock Café. “I wanted to get to know you.” Breno told him about his life and his struggles. When Dr. Holden learned that

Breno had not received a proper higher education he told him it was vital. “The only thing a man will not take from you is your education,” Dr. Holden said to Breno. “He can take your house, your car… but your education will die with you.”

Dr. Holden invited Breno to come to the United States to study. He saw a potential in Breno, and knew his invest-ment would be worth it. Breno declined because he had a responsibility to take care of his family, and he also didn’t understand how someone could be so selfless. “It’s hard to trust people,” Breno explained. “When you live in the world I did, it’s hard to understand why someone would be so kind—especially with money.”

Dr. Holden was persistent when he returned home. “You have to be able to help yourself before you help others,” Dr. Holden told Breno after months of contact. A year and a half later, Breno fi-

nally decided to go. “My motivation and faith, and also my mother’s advice, ‘What do you have to lose?’ gave me the cou-rage I needed to get on the plane to Georgia.”

“Any job you do with dignity you shall never be embarrassed about it...”

Handmade earrings made from magazine by One Big Change students for sale at a community event in Statesboro, Georgia


When Breno arrived, not only was he completely out of his world of comfort, but he was with a stranger. “The first few months were very lonely and de-pressing,” he said. But, when Dr. Holden took Breno on his first mission trip and his first visit to Nicaragua in 2007, he began to feel better. “When I was in Nicaragua, I remembered when I was 8 years old, and I remember the happiness I felt,” Breno said. “Life before stress — the innocence of life. I saw their smiles and I wanted to be beside them.” Breno saw the same vision in the children of Leon as Dr. Holden saw in him: a glimmer of hope in the wasteland of poverty. Dr. Holden gave Breno the chance to have an education, and Breno wanted to make it his mission to give that back to the children of Nicaragua.

Breno’s own experience helped him discover how education gave meaning to his world, and he wanted to show others how it could bring happiness to them. “Education helps people understand By: Vanessa Terrell

what happiness is about.” Breno said, ex-plaining his mission. “I don’t need to be a doctor or lawyer. That always equaled money to me. I wanted to help people find themselves through education so they could see who they are.”

Breno began plans for a community ser-vice project that would raise money to send to Nicaragua to help children finish school. This is when I met him — when his project was a PowerPoint presenta-tion. His relentlessness and inspiring story was contagious. I knew I would use whatever skills I had to help, and if I didn’t have the skills I would find them. He and I co-founded One Big Change in 2010.

We decided, on our first trip to Nicara-gua in March of 2010, that we would give students the tools to succeed and fight poverty with education. We would raise funds to get them an education, while they learned its value by participating in career workshops and character-building

community service activities. It built my character. It built Breno’s. We hope it reaches them.

“It took two people to make a dream come true,” said Breno. “Dr. Holden with the courage and the willingness to help and me with the courage and the willing-ness to change.” One Big Change became what it is today because of Breno’s story and our team’s hard work, sweat, and tears (literally). After traveling to Nicaragua, I saw the same smiles Breno had talked about. I left Nicaragua with a new family and the determination to see my family succeed. “My father always had to carry rocks and do hard labor,” Breno told me once. “He would rather carry the rocks today so I didn’t have to carry them tomorrow.” One Big Change is carrying those rocks, and building our foundation, and our fight against poverty with education goes on.

One Big Change’s founding students on a trip to Universidad de Ciencias Comerciales, a local college, in Nicaragua, March 2010


Portland, OregonWe have recently relocated the US office of Eye See Media to Oregon!

With a chance to connect with loads of great organizations, world-changers, and innovative approaches to today’s major issues of injustice, we just couldn’t help ourselves. We are sure Portland and the surrounding area will be a great place to find inspirational approaches to the future! We can’t wait to explore our new home.

As always, you can find the stories from around the world and actions that will make a difference at our website. www.eyeseeonline.com


Eye SeeM A G A Z I N E

giving out of pu re love, without expecting anything in retu rn38 | www.eyeseeonline.com

H.U.G. It Forward is a movement to inspire people everywhere to live their passion while giving back to make a lasting change in the world

A trip to Guatemala for Zach Balle and Eli Call in 2009 was an eye-opener into a world of misery and the need for education. During the trip, H.U.G It Forward discovered its mission: To empower rural communities in Guatemala to build schools out of plastic bottles and trash. H.U.G. It Forward: Humanity Unconditionally Giving it Forward – is a non-profit that celebrates the idea of giving out of

pure love, without expecting anything in return.

Zach and Eli learned during their first trip that many schools in rural Guatemala were being built out of corn stalks. The idea of building using ”trash” had been around this community for over 30 years.

The bottle schools are built with plastic soda bottles stuffed with other inorganic trash. H.U.G. It Forward works inside the community to support and empower them to build schools. They operate under the philosophy, ”If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

Communities learn how to build schools themselves. They are taught skilled labor that empowers them to come together to participate and find solutions to their trash pro-blems.

During the process, the school age children are included and have a sense of ownership in the construction by stuffing the bottles used to make the walls of their new school. Bottle schools clean up the streets, create a healthy environment, prepare children for the future and attract tourists, which all help the economy in these rural settings.

Why build bottle schools?

Bottle School projects have many benefits, including:

• Providing much needed educational in-frastructure for poorer communities

• Cleaning the streets of non-biodegradable trash

• Teaching environmental awareness, recyc-ling and proper trash management

• Fostering community leadership

• Teaching new skills that can be used to gain employment or on other community projects

• Spending capital within the local community where the school is being built

• Giving kids ownership of the school, because they build it with their own hands

• Uniting communities, they come together as one during the project

Hug It Forward Turning trash into schools

Insulating walls with plastic bottles stuffed with inorganic trash was pioneered in Guatemala by the organization Pura Vida. Instead of the common cinder-block walls used in Central America, “eco-bricks” are stacked in between chicken wire, and co-

vered in cement. The bottles are used solely as insulation; the buildings are supported by professionally built, structurally sound frames. This method of construction is both eco-friendly and economical, and independent structural analysis has testified to the strength and safety of the buildings.

A Bottle School can be built for anywhere form $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the size and location. The average cost is just $5,000 per classroom. 80% of the money goes to aquire the raw material, and rest of the 20% goes to pay the Head Engineer and head Mason. None of the money is used for H.U.G. It Forward. Any donation from the public is spent on the ground, in the communities where bottle schools are being built.

Since October 2009, H.U.G. It Forward has enabled *15* communities across Guatemala to build their own bottle school. Their aim is to facilitate the building of 20 more schools in the year 2012.

H.U.G. It Forward is always in need of volunteers, a trip will be an eye-opening expe-rinece and a change of heart when knowing you can give back and make a difference for a community. By coming together from different cultures we all exchange a greater cultural experience. Visit www.hugitforward.org for more information.



GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS IN MEXICO


The women start arriving quietly, coming from all directions from within the town. They don’t give out the half hugs and cheek kisses that are common amongst the women of the city. Instead they greet each other with the softest of handshakes. It is not really a shake at all, but a touch. The words they exchange are soft as well. I lean in to catch the sounds, and find them unfamiliar. It is a much older language than Spanish. It is a tonal language made up of constantly rising and falling notes. High low, low high; the Zapoteco words rustle around the edges and fold themselves happily amongst the shuffle of skirts, sandals and woven bags.

We gather in a typical living/working room in a house in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico. The floor is swept concrete. There is evidence of various trades all around: coloured wool hangs after dying, wood sits ready to be carpentered, and pots for boiling are stacked waiting. There is a small commotion as chairs are brought from neighbouring houses. A dog gets underfoot and is banished to the patio. Some of the women pull out loose pages or notebooks. A small whiteboard is propped against a chair in the middle of the room. Focus and a hush fall about the group. These women have come to learn. It is time to get down to business. Fundación En Vía’s business classes, that is…Fundación En Vía is a not-for-profit,

non-government micro-finance organisation working in Oaxaca, Mexico, that provides small interest free loans to women for them to invest in their own income generating businesses. Microfinance for development operates under the principle that many people living in poverty have the skills and motivation to make an income generating project work. However, what many lack is access to fair credit. In Mexico, credit is readily available from commercial sources, however the average interest rate for micro loans is 70%, and an interest rate of 150% of the loan is not uncommon. This rate can be crippling or impossible for many people living in poverty to undertake. By providing small loans interest free, En Vía aims to give the women they work with the best chance possible towards the development of their own businesses.

En Vía funds their programs through the means of socially responsible tourism. Using the funds from tours to provide interest free microloans, En Vía is able to channel money into the communities they work with. Tour participants are able to see first-hand how microfinance works, make meaningful connections with the women borrowers, and see their money used in a way that has a real impact on the communities that make Mexico so special.

Recognising the importance of education to such a project for development, in June 2011 En Vía began offering a free business course to their borrowers. “Microfinance itself is not the solution for poverty reduction”, says En Vía’s Executive Director Carlos Hernandez Topete. “Microfinance can provide a huge help towards a better future, but it needs to be accompanied by tools that can help the borrower take advantage of the program. Financial literacy matters; and education is the key to success”.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN MICROFINANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT


The course, called Como Manejar el Dinero de Su Negocio (How to Manage your Business’s Money) was originally designed and donated by Freedom from Hunger which is known as Alcance in Mexico. During the course the women learn the importance of separating personal and business expenses; strategies for saving and re-investing in the business; avoiding losses or problems, dealing with customers who buy on credit; calculating costs and incomes to determine profit; and increasing communication with customers, family, and the borrowing group, in order to achieve growth in their businesses.

The women En Vía work with are very often the overseers and managers of multiple projects and large extended families. They are used to dealing with money. However they have never been taught specific business strategies from

account keeping to calculating profits. They are busy women, and today they have made time to learn…

Today’s class is about selling on credit, which is very relevant in this small town where everyone’s businesses and personal relations interconnect every day. The teachers start the lesson by introducing hypothetical situations that feature a variety of made up customers and clients, all with typical stories and excuses for needing to buy now and pay later. The women take up the “who would you sell to on credit?” role-play in earnest, and begin to make conclusions for themselves about the drawbacks and risks of selling on credit.

The exercise must have made talking in front of the group easier, because suddenly we are hearing real stories. Josefina shares with us that she has three

large outstanding sales of wool that total a significant amount. “It’s been over two months and they still haven’t paid me. I don’t want to lose clients, but when I sell on credit I have nothing to reinvest”. The whole group nods their heads heavily in an obvious show of understanding and sympathy. “It’s OK to refuse to sell on credit sometimes”, Petra, another woman, says kindly, “We have to learn in which cases it is a safe thing to do for our businesses”. She adjusts her shawl and takes a breath. “Now I’m recording everything, including all my sales on credit, so I can avoid discrepancies and keep track of my customer’s repayments”. The group nods again, but in a different, stronger, purposeful way.

Armando Ramirez, a local from Oaxaca City who is volunteering his time and skills to teach the class, takes this opportunity to acknowledge all that has


been said. He offers a series of strategies to deal with the issues that have been raised in both the hypothetical and real situations. I find myself nodding along with all the others as we listen and take note.

For the most part the course is oral, however there are main points that are written down on the board each week, and a summary page handed out for reference. It is at this point that Aquilina’s young daughters arrive and place themselves quietly by her side. They bend their heads over their mother’s pages and

point here and there as they whisper to her. “Often the women who can’t read or write will bring a daughter to help them”, Shelley Tennyson, one of the founding volunteers and teachers, explains.

The women are chatting animatedly amongst themselves as the class comes to an end and the soft goodbye handshakes begin. Lucilda approaches me with a smile. She shows me her notes. There are three boxes drawn. “This one is for business costs, this one is for personal costs and the family, and the third is for savings and reinvestment”, she says, closing the book and looking up.

“I never kept records before, but now I’m beginning to see how much money I make and also where I lose it. Knowing this, I have a better chance of moving forward and prospering”. She touches my hand, gathers her things and heads for home,

leaving me in a sort of awe of admiration. “You can see, the classes we give are basic”, Armando says with a humble shrug, “Basic and very important”.

“And are they always this much fun?” I turn to ask Shelley. “Is there always so much laughter?” “Yes!” she cries happily.

“I remember during one class we were calculating the price of making a rug, and we were figuring out how much wood was necessary for the fire to boil the water for the dye. The wood is delivered by donkey, but several women argued that for one rug only “half a donkey” was necessary. The whole group was in tears, laughing about the image of half a donkey!”

I get the feeling that this is why the education program is so successful, because it is also a space for strengthening relationships within the community of women and the organisation. Samantha Wattson, En Vía’s Managing Director describes how the classes provide an important forum for support as well as learning. “They have a space to talk about the challenges they face, including the difficulties of saving and reinvesting money, the balance of taking care of their families, and participating in the life of the town, while pursuing entrepreneurial activities”.

In this light, I was told that during one of the business classes, an upcoming town party was brought into conversation. The women began to discuss the great pressure to spend money on the event, and the impact these expenses would have on their families and businesses. One of the women, Eugenia, said bravely, at the risk of social shame, “I can’t afford

to buy a ticket to the evening events. I don’t want to go”. A low murmur of agreement spread around the room, and in solidarity, the women decided at that moment that they would not attend together.

Fundación En Vía recognises that providing the women they lend to with access to such a forum of learning and solidarity is essential to meaningful development. “While microloans themselves are incredible instruments for development, their impact can be enhanced when they are provided along with other tools such as education”, Samantha continued. “Our goal is to provide the women with the best possible support, while allowing them the independence to create their own success stories.”

I think about the way the women carried themselves during the class. In contrast to the softness of those handshakes, and the quiet unassuming tilt to their words, that one may view as timid and unsure, their characters are strong, and their resolve firm. It is their courage and commitment to overcome obstacles that form the driving force behind Fundación En Vía and their programs for education in microfinance for development.

BY KIM GROVES

To find out more about the successes of Fundación En Vía’s women borrowers, and the ways in which they are embracing new opportunities for education, visit www.envia.org.

Or better still, visit En Vía in Oaxaca, Mexico, and join a tour with a difference, to meet for yourself the women who are striving to make better lives for their families and communities.

‘MICROFINANCE CAN PROVIDE A HUGE HELP TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY TOOLS THAT CAN HELP THE BORROWER TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE PROGRAM. FINANCIAL LITERACY MATTERS; AND EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS’


Neel grew up working in a quarry in India alongside his brot-hers, parents and grandmother. The entire family has been

enslaved in bonded labor for more than a decade to repay a small debt of $50. Good news for the slaveholders: as long as Neel and his brothers are breaking rocks and not getting an education, they will never develop the knowledge or skills they need to support themselves or to protect themselves from exploitation in the future. Thus, they will grow up to serve as another generation of slaves.

Prai was born into a brothel district in Thailand, to a mother who was trafficked into prostitution in her early teens. Without educa-tion or opportunities, Prai will have no alternative other than joi-ning her mother and older sisters on the streets when she is 10 or 11.

In my experience, kids who are educated through tenth grade or beyond are almost entirely slavery-proofed, for several reasons. First, by age 17, the kids have aged out of the highest risk category for trafficking. Second, they know the laws, their rights, and how to read a contract, so they cannot easily be duped into slavery, or exploited as bonded laborers. Finally and perhaps most important-ly, with an education, they have economic alternatives to slavery. They have the tools to build their own bright futures.

In addition to fighting slavery, education is a powerful preventative tool against domestic violence, labor exploitation, child marriage and other human rights abuses. For this reason, our organization, Made By Survivors (www.madebysurvivors.com) sponsors 200 former child slaves and kids born into brothels for a quality education through high school.

Children who have been rescued from slavery, or who are born to mothers in the red light area, face significant barriers to education,

as highlighted in the documentary film ‘Born into Brothels’. These barriers include extreme poverty, trauma, and social stigma. Many of the children do not have birth certificates or any other proof of identity. Because of the stigma surrounding prostitution, many public schools will not accept them. If they are accepted, these children often have enormous academic delays and beha-vioral issues resulting from their lack of early education, and from trauma and abuse. For example, survivors of brothel slavery might be rescued at 15 or 16, and have never even atten-ded kindergarten. These children and teens need ongoing sup-port – academic, emotional and financial – if they are to remain, and succeed in school. If they have been rescued from brothel slavery and cannot safely return to their families, they also need housing and aftercare until they reach adulthood.

Working closely with outstanding local and regional agencies, and with parents, we have managed to place, and to keep the majority of our sponsored kids in school, and it is well worth the effort!

Made by Survivors also offers non-formal education – literacy, numeracy, English and computers - and vocational education to teen and young adult survivors, giving them the tools they need to live independently, support themselves, and to know their rights so they can protect themselves from further exploitation.

Both our formal and non-formal education programs are designed to slavery-proof survivors and high risk communities, offering sustainable long-term alternatives to slavery and other human rights abuses. Without long-term support, many survivors will fall back into exploitative situations, or their children will be at risk in the future.

With quality education, children like Neel and Prai will be able to fulfill their dreams and become contributing members of society, reaching their full potential as leaders, professionals, artisans, parents, and social change-makers.

Because of their backgrounds and all they have overcome, survi-vors have a unique voice and a crucial role to play in social justice work. Educating them is an investment not only in their individual futures, but in the future of our movement and our world.

Education = prevention

“Many of the children do not have birth certificates or any other proof

of identity. Because of the stigma surrounding prostitution, many

public schools will not accept them”

BY SARAH SYMONS

Founder and Executive Director of Made By Survivors

www.madebysurvivors.com

Natal is a kid with cool. It’s more than his tendency to include “yeah man” in every sentence and his strong appreciation for organic fruits. He has a perspective, keeping him on the straight and narrow. It makes his passion for writing, learning and sweet-tooth for chocolate unique- it is a luxury.

Where are you from? Sudan, Africa. How long have you been in Australia? Going to be eight years now. I was in a refugee camp in Kenya when I was 13 and 14 with my fam-ily and I came over on a refugee visa but now I am an Aus-tralian citizen. What do you do? I study journalism; I want to be an investigative journalist, to write human interest stories on natural disasters, corruption and injustices that happen to marginalised societies around the world. Can you be creative through this? In writing I can. I do a lot of writing despite English being my second language. I write real stories about people and practice, my creativity is in the description of these people. I also write poems about how people behave and what I think of it. Do you eat chocolate? Yes, I like Mars.When was the first time you ate chocolate? When I was in high school, I can’t really remember. What do you like about chocolate? They taste real sweet man, the sweetness of chocolate. I just love them when they are in my mouth- nothing tastes sweeter than them. What was chocolate like in Africa? There is chocolate in Africa but I never had the privilege of buying it. There is a lot more chocolate in Australia. What reminds you of Africa? Guava, man I love guava. Back when we were living in peace there was so much guava, pawpaw, avocado, lemon and mango. It tastes so much better in Africa, here they are grown with so many preservatives but there everything grows naturally. What is your favourite thing about Australia? The schools, the freedom- here you have a right to do what you want and women are given alot more authority. Easy access to so many things, you can travel easily and people have good jobs. What don’t you like about Australia? With technology and government people are limited. Back home you can have your own house, start your own business without all the papers- the land is free. Here everyone is very focused on themselves and their families- there is more individual-ism. Back home people are more communal.

EAT N A T A L A Y U M E

WE ARE THE SAME HEAR THREE CREATIVE PEOPLE FROM AUSTRALIA TALK

ABOUT THINGS THEYLOVE AND WHERE THEY ARE FROM.



Nicole, a girl gleaming with Latina, drinks her coffee for the aroma- the warm and fuzzy feeling she gets when it slides down her throat. Interestingly enough, a study using sleepy rats says that even the intense aroma of coffee that streams from our cafes can help start your day before even taking a sip of our idolised drink. But the Latino way is not about the effect. Coffee is an allure, an occasion- always social and always cheap.

Where are you from? Lima, Peru. How long have you been in Australia? One and a half years.What is your passion, like how do you get creative? I dance- I did it more in Peru. Mostly Hip-hop or Burlesque.How do you take your coffee? I mainly order a cappuccino when I go out. I don’t take sugar but if I make it at home, I will have it black with no sugar. What do you love about coffee? The smell, it smells really nice, how it feels down your throat even when you drink it with milk, it is a rich flavor. Are you a coffee addict? No, I really like it but I can live without it. In a week I would drink four or five. Do you drink coffee for the effect? I en-joy it; I usually drink it for the taste and for the feeling but not to feel awake because it feels warm and fuzzy. What’s coffee like in Peru? I think it tastes better- although I have tasted good coffee in Australia, the flavor is more intense, it is more concentrated. What’s coffee culture like in Peru? It is very social- we go a lot to study at cafes- it is more of an event. It is not as popular as it is in Australia but it is very cheap.

DRINKN I C O L EA L L E N D E

Mitch invites me into his boys ‘den’, after a day of pumping out take-away lattes in inner-city Brisbane. Amongst the dim light and burning incense he shares how his job makes him never want to become a “suit”. I can see him relax as he lights up a cigarette. A neatly-hung collection of T-shirts, some Litnin Hopkins Blues and his roommate’s attempts at being Picasso- Mitch knows culture, one which he says he can express through his clothes: fashion.

Where is your family from? Phillipines. What’s the fashion like in the Phillipines? It’s a different world. The girls are very conserva-tive; boys are from a very hip-hop based culture like Korean pop. What do you do? I’m a freelance graphic designer. Can you be creative through this? I can be creative through the format that I am working with. When a company comes to you they know how a business runs but they don’t know how the world runs from a visual aspect. I develop a brand identity how they want to present themselves to the world, and I can definitely be creative through this. Does this creativity merge into your fashion? Yeah, I guess in a very gay sense, I’m my own identity that needs to be branded. What is fashion to you? It’s a platform to express the culture I’ve grown up in. It’s definitely an art.Where do you get inspiration from? Pretty much the new generation of blogging. I guess that’s where everything comes from now, everyone froths blogs. The Sar-torialist, that’s the main fashion blog I read, he just started taking photos of people who had good fashion and it become a worldwide phenomenon. What are your thoughts on the fashion industry? It’s almost demonic. You are going to look good in clothes if you are on the verge of dying; you are going to have to sacrifice your health for fashion. For girls anyway.

WEARM I T C H R E Y E S By: Stephanie Love

Ph otograPh y fo r social changeevents for them. These events help create awareness about the organization’s mission and display J.T.’s work for sale, with 25% of the proceeds going to the non-profit. In fact, any photo that is sold has 25% of the proceeds going to a particular organization that is helping others in need. Photography for Social Change is a belief that a photo can be more than just something that stimulates thought or evokes emotion. It can be an advocate for change.

If a new thought can enter the mind, even for a brief moment, then change has a chance. J.T. Liss Photography for Social Change was created out of a need to do something bigger than photography. Using photography and turning it into advocacy, helping others in need, and allowing art to spread positivity.

Describe how photos can be more than visual art and emotions.

JT: Art, in my opinion, is emotion. The artists are passionate about their craft and the viewers want to be moved in some way. Whether they are moved to be inspired, to think, to feel, to create themsel-ves, art has the ability to evoke a human response of some kind. In my situation, I hope to create photographs that turn a human response into action.

J.T. continues to plan benefits to help raise awareness and funds for the organizations that are a part of Photography For Social Change, while also displaying his work at galleries in several states throug-hout the country. J.T. was recently accepted into a national street photography exhibit titled “Off the Cuff” at the MPLS Photo Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is currently working on a clothing line to further incorporate social change.

Check out J.T.’s work at www.jtlissphotography.com

By: Eye See Media

It was the imperfections in people and the stories of each city block that caught John Theodore (J.T.) and inspired him to display the truth. With a creative mind and a passion for photography, he star-

ted to capture life in all shapes.

Galleries and museums weren’t enough. By walking through the streets of East Harlem, J.T. saw what he considered to be ”art”.

How do you create change through your photos?

JT: I created J.T. Liss Photography for Social Change as a way to use my art to help others in need. I collaborate with non-profits and hold events for them; creating awareness and raising funds for their cause. I also sell photos online to further assist these organizations, having a percentage of sales going to them directly.

J.T. is self taught but has a unique ability to catch important moments of life through his lens. By walking around the city he found wonder, joy, sadness, and despair. It was truth, and capturing that truth quickly became a passion. His work has been featured in galleries and events in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Most recently J.T.’s photo, titled “Mine”, came in 3rd place in a worldwide photography contest for MTV Exit.

Describe the impact your photos have made in your community?

JT: Being able to team up with two non-profits in NYC has not only al-lowed me to sell my photos and hold events for them, but it has also allowed me to be involved personally. I have walked the city streets with Hear The Hungry, feeding the homeless and gathering their sto-ries, and been to concerts for B.E.A.T. supporting the students and helping out anyway I can. To be involved first hand, instead of from behind a lens is an extremely rewarding experience.

Before photography, J.T. worked with many at risk youth in residential settings, emergency shelters, and as a 4th grade teacher in the Bronx. His passion for working with children soon fused with his passion for taking photos and Photography for Social Change was created. He began working with creative grassroots level non-profits by holding

an interview w ith J.t. liss

Streetview


“A photo can be more than just something that stimulates thought or evokes emotion. It can be an advocate for change”



BY: RENEE NYEN


The World Needs Your VoicesEducation. The word conjures up a spectrum of responses.

Less than twenty years ago in South Africa, higher educa-tion was rarely an option unless you belonged to the White

minority. But today students in South Africa are clinging to the possibility of education as a means to hope, empowerment, and the ability to create a new life. With the inequality of the apar-theid system behind them, universities are working to provide higher education to all citizens regardless of race, religion, and gender. In turn, they have received an overwhelming response.

This January, thousands of students and their families traveled great lengths with the hope of securing a spot at the Univer-sity of Johannesburg in South Africa. As the gates opened, the ensuing stampede killed one and seriously injured a number of prospective college applicants. This tragedy made the reality of the university crisis markedly apparent. Young people are desperate for a chance at higher education. The University of Johannesburg received thousands more applications than spaces available. Most of the students who had traveled miles, waited patiently, and even risked their lives were turned away.

The unemployment rate among youth in South Africa exceeds 50% and the overall situation for women across the continent is much bleaker. Africa falls behind most parts of the world in closing the gender gap within education. However it’s not just a matter of comparison. The link between education, women and strengthening the economy is proven strong. For every year a girl stays in school, her earning potential increases by 10-20% (The World Bank). Research also shows that when women earn income, they will reinvest approximately 90% of it back into their communities (The World Bank).

Hopeful students face a myriad of obstacles in their endeavors toward higher education. Luckily, they are not standing alone. Portland, Oregon based non-profit These Numbers Have Faces is doing their part to help close the gap.

These Numbers Have Faces (TNHF) is founded in the belief that education has the power to lift people and communities out of poverty. With the reality of the situation in South Africa, TNHF holds firm that while education is a solution, it is not a quick fix.


University life is an adjustment for youth from under-served and impoverished communities. It takes commitment on behalf of the individual, the community, advocates, mentors, and teachers to empower these young people toward a different life.

These Numbers Have Faces currently provides college scholarships and supportive community programming for nineteen students from the townships outside of Cape Town, South Africa and four students in Kigali, Rwanda. Of our twenty-three students, eigh-teen are women and five are men. We have made a special effort to focus on women, but do not discount the struggle many young people in Africa face, regardless of gender.

During my time with These Numbers Have Faces I have been inspi-red by the ambitious and dedicated young people who are part of our program. These students have overcome some of the most trying of experiences, and yet are still resolved to step forward to improve their lives and the lives of those in their communities. This quality of conviction is what we look for during the application process. TNHF Scholars are selected both on academic prowess and their commitment to carrying out transformational change in their communities upon graduation.

Desmond Tutu wrote, “Education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient and self-sustaining.” It is a huge honor to be a starting point for these aspiring youth, but it is not without its struggles.

When we started out five years ago, These Numbers Have Faces provided a scholarship to one student with no additional acade-mic or social support. As we learned more about the needs of our students and the community, we developed an education model in order to operate responsibly within the global development fram-ework. In 2009, These Numbers Have Faces launched its Communi-ty Impact Model. Alongside providing education scholarships, we provide our students with financial literacy trainings, mentoring, tutoring, retreats, group and individual community service pro-jects, and financial reinvestment. The Community Impact Model creates a scholarship program that goes beyond charity.

We’ve found that development is never a case of one size fits all, and more than anything it is imperative that we remain sensitive to our students’ needs and continue to mold our program accor-dingly. With all that we invest in our students, the most rewarding outcome we have seen is hearing our students confidently say, “I am now aware of the power that I have to help my community, and the program helped me develop the desire to help others.”

Equipped with a college education, a strong skill set and a sense

of personal pride, ambitious college graduates from townships are now poised to reinvest their skills back into their communities, paving the way for future generations of young people behind them. The importance of education is undeniable and universal.

The success of our global economy hinges on the economies of both the advanced and developing nations. We cannot ignore the education crisis.

Working with These Numbers Have Faces has allowed me to see my responsibility as a global citizen. It is imperative we support both our own

education system, as well as, advocate for the rights of men and women in developing countries to have equal access to quality higher education opportunities. If we choose to disregard the importance of education, the world will be robbed of generations of brilliant innovative minds. Minds that cure disease, save the environment, teach our young people, build up communities, and lead nations. To all the students around the world fighting for an education, we say, “Persevere. Don’t give up. The world despera-tely needs your voices.”

BY: SARAH LEVY AND BRENDA BUCHANAN


A walk through the bustling streets of any Moroccan medina reveals sights, sounds, colors, and smells

that stimulate the senses and capture the imagination. Nestled in these small winding streets are every sort of meticulously crafted artisan product— there are leather goods from the tanneries in Fes, silver amulets from the Sahara desert, cedar wood carvings from the Middle Atlas Mountains, and geometric tile-work from the coastal cities.

Nevertheless, it is the Moroccan carpet alone that transcends all of these other regional crafts. On the one hand, Moroccan carpets are made in almost every region within Morocco and their vibrant designs and eclectic color palettes speak to a unique indigenous past. On the other hand, while most of the other crafts are produced by men, these carpets are made solely by women who have maintained the craft over centuries by passing down the secrets from grandmother, to mother, to daughter.

Unfortunately, because these women weavers in rural Morocco have little contact with those who ultimately buy their products, urban middlemen have taken advantage of the isolated nature of their rural social structure. By controlling the demand of carpets, these intermediaries obtain the carpets for a fraction of what their market value should be, only to resell them at high-priced urban markets. With the prices offered by these middlemen, the artisans are barely able to pay for their materials, let alone receive compensation for their time and creativity. This market dynamic affects not only the women but also their families as it perpetuates the cycle of poverty and child labor in rural Morocco.

Education for Moroccan Women

Jamila and Adam: Jamila and her son Adam in their home in a small village on the outskirts of Taznakht.

In this way, the rural landscape in which women weave traditional Moroccan rugs is juxtaposed by the world in which fast-talking carpet salesmen hawk their wares to wandering tourists in the Marrakech medina. This chasm between rug production and rug sales is more than just a gendered nuance as it draws upon urban and rural divides within the country as well as these women’s access to educational enrichment.

The images shown here are part of an ongoing project, called Untangling Threads: Women Artisans in Morocco’s Rug Weaving Industry which is a traveling art exhibit featuring handwoven Moroccan rugs, documentary photographs of the artisans, video installations, and an arts education element. This project transmits the humanity of the artisans as they maintain a craft that has endured centuries and as they fight against all odds to keep their craft pertinent in a globalizing world.

”the artisans are barely able to pay for their materials, let alone receive compensation for their time and creativity.”


Fatima at her sewing shop: most weavers supplement their income from making carpets with other jobs on the side that pay more consistently. While some of them work in the fields, Fatima works as a seamstress in her sewing shop.


Alia Kate is the founder of Kantara: Moroccan Rugs, a fair trade business that imports handwoven carpets directly from artisans in rural areas of Morocco.

Anna Beeke is a documentary photographer. She is a graduate of the International Center of Photography’s pho-tojournalism and documentary certificate program and is currently pursuing her MFA at the School of Visual Arts.

Untangling Threads is available to be booked across the United States in museums, galleries, schools, and organi-zations. For more information contact Alia Kate.

Rugs drying on the road to Ouarzazate: This far south, rivers tend to dry up as it is nearing the desert regions of the Sa-hara; when rivers are full, villagers come out to wash and dry their clothes, carpets, and raw wool.

Fatima at the Workshop: Fatima is the treasurer of her coope-rative and over the years has become involved in local politics as well.

BY: ALIA KATE

”...while most of the other crafts are produced by

men, these carpets are made solely by women who have maintained the

craft over centuries by passing down the secrets from

grandmother, to mother, to daughter.”


RURAL RADIO

In the countryside of Andhra Pradesh, India, a small building sits hidden behind masses of jack-fruit and custard apple trees. Rising above the foliage, an orange signal tower marks the build-ing’s location. This is the home of Sangham Radio, a community radio station run by women from the impoverished Medak district. The station shares and preserves the knowledge of villagers by offering programs on health, agriculture, childcare and culture.


Three women manage the low-frequency station, which has a 20-

mile signal radius and reaches about 100 villages. Algole, Narsamma and Pulemma prepare programs that both entertain and disseminate information for listeners in the local Telugu language. The women stand against the indifference of India’s national media towards the region’s impoverished population and reserves of traditional knowledge.

Narsamma, the station’s lead anchor, sits in a chair in the editing room with her sari tucked around her knees as she prepares to go on the air. She

double-checks to ensure that all the pre-recorded programs are queued on the computer screen and then clicks the broadcast icon.

“Welcome to all the hard workers,” she begins before playing a short song about the hardships of children farming the fields. She invites all children to listen to the radio because she will play

the Children’s Special. “Children should have education for a bright future,” Narsamma says. in this case, the special features a small contest. One child asks 20 questions, and the most correct answers win a prize. The child asks, “How many types of oil seeds are grown?” “In which types of seeds are more vitamins found?” “On which day do we celebrate children’s rights?”

Narsamma announces the winners and continues with the programming, speaking eloquently and without notes. After playing Our Village Crop, a segment featuring updates on local farming, Narsamma urges listeners to

plant more than one kind of seed for sustainability.

“Even though we have problems, we must face them and cope to find solutions,” she encourages listeners before playing a local song, followed by a village story.

Sangham Radio broadcasts in an

extremely neglected region of India. The majority of the population relies on agriculture for a living, and literacy rates remain below the national average. The farmers lack access to mainstream media such as the national radio broadcaster All India Radio.

Most of Sangham Radio’s listeners and participants have never been formally educated and are illiterate. They use their radio to share and receive valuable knowledge.

Argole, another anchor at the station, says Sangham Radio contributes to the autonomy of its listeners by

broadcasting relevant information.

“We tell villagers how to make organic pesticides, [methods for] natural pesticide management, good agriculture practices, health and hygiene, the advantage of micro-credit methods, setting up of medicinal plantations, and the need to repay loans in time to have a sense of integrity

“CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE

EDUCATION FOR A BRIGHT

FUTURE”

“Sisters, let us go together to our sangham, so that we can talk. We have retrieved forgotten conversations and brought them alive in our radio. We have recovered lost festivals and described it in our radio. We have planted diverse crops and sung about it in our radio. We have saved traditional seeds and brought their methods to our radio”

- Sangham Radio opening song


and pride,” Argole told India Together Magazine.

The Deccan Development Society (DDS) is a local organization that supports Sangham Radio. P.V. Satheesh, co-founder of DDS, says the station proves that education can come in a variety of formats.

Literacy, he says, is just one outcome of education. “You need hundreds of

the importance of their radio vision, the farm women persisted for 10 years, gathering and editing material. They played audio-cassettes of their programs at community meetings while waiting for the day when they could broadcast live. Finally, in 2008, Sangham Radio went on the air.Narsamma says the station serves a vital function for local villagers.

“The radio connects the problems of various villagers to others who can help,” she says.

One program features a question-and-answer format that allows listeners to call for health advice. The women at the station find a local health expert, who then prescribes a solution over the radio for all listeners. Even the entertainment elements of the station’s programming, such as stories and songs, often serve informative purposes. Stories tell how to be a better husband or community member or how to properly celebrate a wedding. Ancestral songs remind listeners to

“THE RADIO

CONNECTS THE PROBLEMS OF

VARIOUS VILLAGERS TO OTHERS WHO

CAN HELP”

take pride in their past.

The real force behind Sangham Radio stems from the groups of village women who come to record their knowledge, stories, concerns and ancestral songs. Each day, the women sit on the worn steps of the station to practice their singing and discuss what they want to share. Then, after sipping steaming cups of chai, the groups enter

the recording room.

Tuljamma, a village woman who comes often to record at the station, says many local women have made participation in Sangham Radio a priority.

“Even though they have work, they have made a point to make sure they tell their stories to benefit others,” she says.

These women of Sangham Radio demonstrate how community and creativity can rise above the crippling effects of poverty on education.

skills to live in this world and literacy is one of the skills,” he says. “But if you come and sit in a place like [Medak] and live and work here and start interacting with people, you understand that people have hundreds of different skills.”

Radio provides a platform for sharing these skills and can liberate people from “the stigma of illiteracy,” Satheesh says. The station launched in 1998. Despite having equipment, the support of the DDS and a partnership with UNESCO, the station did not receive a license from the government. Certain about

“You need hundreds of skills to live in this world and literacy is one of the skills”

BY: DANA ANDERSON


Which comes first? food or education?

My take on helping the developing world

By Heather Cumming, CEO of the Simwatachela Sustainable Agricultural and Arts Program

Education is the centerpiece of any development project in Africa. When attempting to help those in dire need -- whose children are

dying of rampant disease, lack of nutrition, and poor quality of water -- activists in the developing world often ask ”Which comes first: food or education?”

In my understanding, food and water [or lack thereof] were to be dealt with prior to education. How can children expect to learn on an empty stomach? And how can we, as outsiders who may have never expe-rienced starvation, understand what it is like to feed the mind when the stomach is empty and starving?

However, I realized the issue was more complicated when a friend of mine told me stories of his childhood in Germany. He grew up in the aftermath of World War II, and he said that his family did not have enough food, and so he was sent to school with an empty belly, day after day. His response to the question of: Which comes first, educa-tion or food? was quite blatant:

“Everything starts with education. Everything. How are poor people in Africa ever going to rise out of poverty? Through education. I went to school hungry every day of my life as a child and I still had a good education. I cared enough to learn, and I knew what education would mean to me in my life someday. Those who care enough will learn, even if they have to go to school starving.”

Education goes further than just schooling. It is important to approach the work we do in other countries with a mindset to learn as well.

Learning to buiLd a Community ProjeCt Simwatachela Sustainable Agricultural and Arts Program, or SSAAP, (www.ssaap.org) is a water, food and nutrition sustainability grass-roots organization. The headmen of three villages in Simwatachela – Siamabwe, Sibooli, and Simoono – each provided a chunk of land for the SSAAP project. In total, 140 hectares of virgin land to start a pro-gram that would provide potable water for drinking, for animals, and for crop irrigation. The people created their own project based upon their own needs. The project was recognized by local artisans who be-gan working with the community to teach skills on creating traditional art representing ancient culture.

The theory behind this development model was that, as foreigners, we can’t expect to understand or to help those we do not understand. How can we make changes within the realm of an ancient culture in which we have no education in how it operates?

In order to serve, help and be of assistance to anyone else, we must humble ourselves enough to educate ourselves on the community, the group of people and the culture in which we are serving. Education in development should be mandatory for both those who are serving

opinion


and those being served.

Working with those who are in need of basic human essentials including food, water, clothing, and education is not about the haves teaching the have-nots. It is about learning from one another, reaching peaceful solutions, and understanding through something much dee-per than the mind - the heart.

the differenCe Some non-profit organizations are run by people who live overseas, vi-sit the area where they are working a few weeks or months out of the year. Other projects employ directors who live within the country and are paid to help the underprivileged people. The directors of these projects live in the towns of Africa, drive large cars, and live in fancy homes. They visit the rural areas, which are where the poorest and most vulnerable members of society reside, only briefly – for a day or even a few days. They are paid through funding from their Western country to promote a project that the Western country has decided the people need: cement pit latrines, HIV/AIDS informative workshops, mosquito nets – not having done the research of the culture or the deep needs of the community in which they are serving. For example, the mosquito nets that I have seen in rural areas act as good fishing nets but are rarely hung above the beds in village homes.

When we work only for ourselves -- for personal gain and power, for self-interest and control of others -- we cannot improve our condition. When we work to serve others we are ultimately serving the whole planet – everyone gains.

my Life, our Lives My life in Africa began full time when I realized the injustices imposed on the people there, which were due to a lack of education on part of both the African people as well as the Westernized nations attemp-ting to serve them. My daughter and I, Radiance Gaia, live in a mud hut in the Simwatachela village in the Southern Province of Zambia, Sub-Saharan Africa. In the middle of nowhere. A walk to the nearest health center – a building without electricity or running water, with paint peeling off its crumbling walls, which employs one doctor, three nurses and serves a catchment area of well over 5,000 people – takes 2.5 hours. A ride to town takes even longer; the village is 72 kilometers from the nearest town of Kalomo, Zambia, which does not even have Internet facilities. We want to be part of the change we wish to see in the world. It is through living with the people: feeling their tears when it does not rain or their sweat after walking 2.5 hours to the nearest health center or their pain when a child dies in the village – that I have learned both humility and peace within myself. I have been taught through the village the meaning of both suffering and joy. This is the inspiration for the project and the foundation of my life. How are you going to serve?

*Heather Corinne Cumming can be contacted at [email protected] and further information on SSAAP can be found on the web: www.ssaap.org.*

“When we work to serve others we are ultimately serving the whole planet – everyone gains”

opinion


Poverty is one of the main contributors in today’s most critical social justice issues.

Education, employment, healthcare and opportunity are all affected. On a global scale, poverty is rampant. Today, 1.4 billion people in develo-ping countries live on $1.25 a day or less.

Teaching the next generation to understand and respond to poverty is a key factor in addressing this issue. From understanding how to help generate income and self-reli-ance to establishing a solid system of education, the complexities of poverty can be taught in today’s schools, youth groups, troops and other student settings.

Designed for students ages 12 to 18, BeadforLife, a “nonprofit organization that works to eradi-cate extreme poverty by creating bridges of understanding between impoverished Africans and con-

cerned world citizens,” created a five lesson curriculum that can be used by teachers and students.

This edition of the curriculum uses BeadforLife’s 18-month model as an example of a sustainable ap-proach to poverty eradication as well as looking at the importance of fair trade and its impact on our world. Throughout the week, students use hands-on activities, simulations and discussions to better understand global poverty and ways they can take concrete actions to help.

“Our ultimate goal is for this next generation to become informed global citizens who feel empowe-red to alleviate poverty wherever they encounter it; in their local community or in a remote vil-lage half-way across the world,” says Patty Manwaring, Education Manager for BeadforLife. “This means taking action. Our success

becomes a reality when students and educators take the curriculum beyond the classroom after wor-king with it,” Manwaring adds.

“The response from educators and students has been incredible, and we are seeing students become engaged global citizens who will make a difference throughout their lives.” Says Manwaring.

More than 2,000 educators have accessed the free, online curricu-lum. Those educators have reached more than 110,885 students glo-bally with lessons that explore the broad issues from resource scarcity and distribution to daily life in extreme poverty.

Parents and teachers can access the curriculum at beadforlifestore.org/curriculum.html

By: Amy Yanda-Lee

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