Jesus, Justice & race-- stories from the U.S.
by Mirette S Bahgat, Saturday, Oct 1, 11 |
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| Amazing conversation the one I attended yesterday at Bus, boys and poets at Washington DC. A vibrant environment and one of the most diverse attendants I came to witness since I came to the U.S. It's strange to say that when I'm living in the land of diversity since what first comes to anyone's mind is that the U.S. is this mixed bowl of salad, however, what I came to experience was a little different.
For me DC was a bowl of salad, but unmixed yet. It's like having the greens lying at the bottom of the bowl, and then the tomatoes, carrots, and then the cheese and nuts at the top. Sometimes you might find a piece of cheese that made it's way to the bottom or a piece of carrot that accidentally was put on the surface. But it's far from being fully mixed, fully homogeneous.
The discussions yesterday was so vibrant and full of life. People were courageous and they talked honestly about the racism that is still pervasive in the American lands up to this moment. I had 3 white people and one African American on my table, and I considered myself to be a spectator, a flaneur.
The white guy started by telling us why he came to this event tonight. He explained that he is a manager in a company, and he never felt that he discriminated against black people. When asked about the percentage of black people he has under his leadership, he said it's not as much as the white percentage, but attributed this to other reasons. The guy seemed a little nervous when he said: " they keep talking about discrimination, but I don't think it exists, at least for me."
The other white young lady told us stories of her childhood, and her best friend who happened to be an African American. She remembered how her parents never allowed her to stay the night with her African friend, although her friend was allowed to stay with her. She recalled how her friend was occasionally harassed in the streets when they were young in the strict Northern Virginia.
The conversations became more and more vibrant as the speaking guests and the authors of the two books "Jesus, Justice and Race" and " Mobilizing Hope:faith inspired activism" began to tell us the stories behind their two interesting and thought provoking books.Lots of interesting points were raised, but here are some of the points that really intrigued me and thought of sharing here.
The first was about the concept of interracial society. The author- Adam Taylor- stated that the case is not about having an interracial society, there will always be different races in the U.S, and the differences between races are undeniable, however the issue here is about having the same access to opportunities in this country.
The second was about the role of Christians and churches in activism and politics. Taylor pointed out that although the church isn't to act as the chaplain for the government, it's the consciousness of the state. When something goes wrong, the voice has to be loud. He clarified the difference between service and activism, where the latter addresses the root causes behind poverty and injustices in the world. He highlighted the importance of the church being involved and engaged in politics, but not used.
A final note from the author which was an "AHA" statement for me: "There has been always confusion between America's mission in the world and God's mission in the world." I believe this is one of the main reasons behind the hostility of so many countries towards the U.S. foreign policies. It's so ironic that the same American leaders that claim to be looking with an eye of care to the world's poverty and injustice have failed to deal with the same issues on their home country!
Finally, I want to mention that the authors were talking on the stage of bus, boys and poets, where 3 pictures were hanged behind them: The Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Ghandhi. Those three pictures invoked a lot of emotions inside of me as I was listening to this inspiring speech.
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Thinking Aloud
by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, Friday, Sep 30, 11 |
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It has been over six months since class 6 Fellows started service in the United States and Columbia. There have been exciting as well as challenging times. Experiences tend to vary from awesome, indifferent, making do with prevailing situation to challenging. For most fellows, exhibiting mental toughness has been a way of life throughout the fellowship period and compelled to stick to such attitude to the end. Fellows have also shown leadership capability through highlighting issues and challenges to the fellowship and working closely with Atlas Corps management for redress. Such actions recently led to the creation of fellow committees with a high expectation to promote information sharing, strengthen professional development initiatives and enhancement of overall fellow experiences.
Surely, the arrangements thus far do not address all the challenges faced or seek to do so but it is to be viewed as useful attempts. If utilized effectively, the steps taken could have the propensity to contribute immensely to the improvement of the fellowship.
Besides the challenges faced by fellows, Atlas Corps itself is constrained with resources that limits the ability to deliver fully to the expectations of fellows. However, concerns have been raised as to the pitch in marketing the fellowship program that raises fellow expectation above what can be delivered.
Moreover, two issues have engaged my mind for some time for which I intend sharing with readers,
Fellows or interns—I think the title and description seems not well understood, fellows and host organizations alike. This creates tension and unnecessary time wasting on the drafting of terms of reference (in case there are any) and training plans. Aside the description there is also the issue of activities assigned to some fellows that seems to be likened to that of an intern. This leads to my next issue.
Volunteer or work placement—my own challenge has arisen from conversation with some fellows who have raised issues with the fact that they are working long hours even though they receive stipends and are tagged as volunteers but in their own estimation they are working and filling a gap for their host organizations in a cost effective manner. However, I have asked myself several times whether volunteering for an organization does not also imply working long hours at certain times and helping address challenges faced by host organizations. In such a situation, my understanding at volunteering also entails making useful input with one’s skills to build capacity, address challenges, and above all create opportunities by making use of the resources available within such organizations no matter how difficult.
However, there is also a challenge of motivation especially when fellows get into a crunch times.In that sense, there are issues that Atlas Corps as an organization need to address as a matter of urgency;
- Consistency in the payment date for stipend to ensure coherent financial planning for fellows
- Continuous and enhancement of information sharing among fellows and the organization,
- Improvement in professional development and training
- Helping fellows answer the question of how they can contribute meaningfully to the non-profit sector in their countries.
I do not claim to know about the challenges faced but I think with the little that I know the issues highlighted above could help in addressing them and strengthen the fellowship. |
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Transitions!
by Foluke Adetola Ogunyemi, Thursday, Sep 29, 11 |
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Transitions, change, growth, dynamism, all the different phases and even different faces we see and meet as young leaders in a dynamic world.
What makes a particular face become etched in memory or a particular name ring a bell and bring back memories?
Its the little things we do when we have a chance to make that first impression, the words we speak, the attitude and characteristics we display.
I had to answer some questions last week....what makes a hero different from a leader?
Are heroes real? Can real life humans be heroes and survive as heroes all their lives?
Got me thinking and keeps my mind wondering...a leader or a hero who am I?
Think about this fellows.....Gracias! |
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Some common words in International Development...
by Sudeshna Mukherjee, Sunday, Sep 25, 11 |
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Given that this blog is a window to my life in Washington, DC, today's post is an attempt to highlight some of the words which are common as NGO-speak in this part of the world.
Some of you know, I work for GlobalGiving, a an organization that is lauded world over for giving International development a new definition through its concept of 'online marketplace'. Simply put, we are a web platform, referred as Ebay of Charities in our initial days, that hosts projects from around the world making it possible for grass-roots non-profits to raise funds for their projects and for donors to support projects as per their interests (both personal and business) - thus virtually creating the concept of buyer and seller and a win-win for all. "Sellers" in this case are the project leaders while "buyers" are the donors. What does that make us? The intermediary that makes this marriage between buyer and seller possible.
I work as part of the Project Team that vets non-profits and also devises the strategy for getting more such social entrepreneurs on board. We call this process "Open Access" to refer to how this is accessible to anybody with a powerful idea for social change. From "online marketplace", I move on to more generic concepts that any and every non-profit professional witnesses today. However, my examples will be from the organization making this a practical concept instead of being an esoteric allusion.
- Sharing controls: Its interesting how "sharing of controls" keeps coming up whether during presentations on web2.0 or real life networking. I first heard about the concept when I attended Beth Kanter's webinar on networked nonprofit. I did a little more research and came across the same concept being iterated and reiterated by Habitat For Humanity Egypt and Guide Dogs for the Blind, where the founders and the senior management no longer believe in top down approach and are going lateral allowing ownership at each level and reminding me of the term, "decentralize".
- Embedded giving: All this while in India I have been using the word cause related marketing. After coming to U.S. I first heard of the term 'embedded' giving. However, when you call it embedded giving somewhere the concept gets lost when you are not conscious of the impact being created by you. You are participating in the concept but not really aware of it. So how can we engage our stakeholders better. At the same time if embedded giving is not smart, donors can be lost. For example, New York Marathon has charity section. But it also asks for details like SSN. At the other end of the justification is, you are not that salesy since you are subtle in marketing as you camouflage giving to "when you buy a product you help someone somewhere." It helps in powerful behavioural changes. Imagine a campaign, for "every switch you turn off, you turn on light in the life of a poor villager in Chattisgarh in India where energy is scarce.
- Story Telling: GlobalGiving's storytelling project is a big hit. One of the most powerful tools to evaluate the impact of our work on ground, this process empowers the community and asks its people for feedback on their needs. Gone are the days when Aid agency would decide what is beneficial. Read more to learn about how people from Kisumu in Kenya shaped their destiny.
- Empathy: In the NGO speak, one can no more 'sympathize'. One needs to empathize, step into the beneficiary's shoes to better understand their situation. That also serves as the underlying premise for the story-telling project discussed before this. The Peace Corps program that places young Americans to work with underprivileged and under-served communities and make real differences by being part of that community for a stipulated period of time.
- Transparency: Again, this is a very important trait and technically, the buck stops with us. To me GlobalGiving is a front-runner in upholding this as a virtue; they have all the donations mapped out and also the % being given out. A project leader recently commented how we are so much more approachable than our so called competitors who are hidden behind an iron curtain.
I feel great to be part of such great work and do hope to master some of these and take the learning back to my country to further my work. |
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Denounce sexual violence
by Andrés MartÃnez GarcÃa, Thursday, Sep 22, 11 |
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| Both Amnesty International and the Campaign Rape and Other Violence: Leave my Body out of the War recently published studies on a problematic that has been frequently ignored: The prevalence of impunity for sexual violence against women in Colombia in the context of the armed conflict.
The statistics are shocking. In nine years 489,687 women were victims of sexual violence. Breaking down this figure the result is 1 woman, every ten minutes, suffering sexual violence. The phenomenon reaches pandemic proportions, even though it is not taking into consideration gender based violence outside of the armed conflict. One can only wonder what the real numbers are considering that on 20-30% of the cases the survivor does not denounce.
It is important to understand that violence against women is not the expression of a lonely man that was unable to control its impulses. It is about an interconnected ongoing problem in women's life, which they have to face in most social spaces. It is political.
Women in Colombia face these threats not only from individuals in their own families and communities, but from all armed actors in the country. Those who are poor, from specific ethnic origins, or make part of the LGTBI communities are specially at risk as they have to deal with further sources of discrimination. With no centralized, official document, these two documents are important as they are giving a voice to the thousands of women in Colombia that have none.
Let's do our part in our own community and denounce and ACT if you see or experience gender based violence. Holla Back DC! and Holla Back NYC! a are initiatives that provide men and women the opportunity to denounce sexual harassment publicly. Know your rights, demand your rights and holla back! http://hollabackdc.wordpress.com/ http://www.ihollaback.org/ |
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