Tag Archives: hunger

Connecting Children to Self, One Another, and the World

Patricia Shafer, December 18, 2015

Lynda-Boozer-in-La-PazStepping Stones – Mexico catalyst Lynda Boozer is getting ready to lead a third youth arts and creativity camp at La Ciudad de Los Niños y Niñas (Boys and Girls Town) orphanage in La Paz, Baja, Mexico. What’s becoming an annual event gets us excited every December when we anticipate Lynda’s mid-January trip with supporting volunteers.

Lynda launched Stepping Stones – Mexico via Mothering Across Continents after I bumped into her while I was on a whale watching trip. We met briefly one morning in the hotel.  A few days later, volunteer Jane Tanner took me to visit the children and staff at the orphanage. We all met again in
Charlotte, NC, after our respective returns.

Kids-paintingOn the January 2016 trip, Lynda and volunteers will again bring thoughtful creative activities and lots of joy as they work with 50 youth living at La Ciudad orphanage. The focus is always on using the arts, interactively, to build character and a sense of connection between the youth, the earth, and the local environment. The “padre” of the orphanage has said, “Even the energy you bring is a gift; it empowers our small staff and the children.”

Photo_Escuela Nueva_Girl with OrangesLynda and the Stepping Stones – Mexico project have inspired creation of sustainable food gardens and the dream of a large park space to (hopefully) be developed on an adjacent empty lot. For the past year, the project has also included daily lunch for 80 schoolchildren at Escuela Nueva Creación primary school on the edge of La Paz. (Just $50 sponsors one child’s lunch for a whole year.)

None of this would be possible without friends and strangers. Donations of all sizes are essential. This past year, a donation of more than $2,000 from students at East Mecklenburg High School under the guidance of the school’s Global Immersion Steering Team co-chair Martha Deiss was a real boost to the project. In the past few days, a Girl Scout troop leader inquired about directing a portion of profits from cookie sales.

We often think: how appropriate that Lynda named this project Stepping Stones . . . in January, there she will go again . . . putting in place a few more elements of this lovely act of relationship building between 130 children in Mexico and kind supporters in the US.

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Top Ten List of Reasons our Eyes were Opened, Heads were Left Buzzing, and Spines are Still Tingling

Saturday, April 5, was a big day for us. In January, we officially took the plunge to plan and deliver the Any1Can You’re It! Global Youth Service Summit. It constituted a series of firsts . . . first time we hosted a youth service summit, first time we served as Youth Service America’s local lead agency, first time students from public and private high schools across the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District came together in conjunction with Global Youth Service Day (April 11). We knew it would be a day of surprises – as are all “events.” But we really underestimated how much we would learn in the presence of approximately 125 students who are service leaders at 16 different schools. Given that the event came on the heels of “Top Ten Reasons” originator David Letterman announcing he will retire, we’re offering ourTop Ten List of Reasons our Eyes were Opened, Heads were Left Buzzing, and Spines are Still Tingling.” In reverse order, of course:

10. STUDENTS WILL GO OUT OF THEIR WAY ON A SATURDAY.
When we first decided to move ahead with the event, with limited time to Group on Stairs hands up smallorganize sponsors, partners, and commitments to attend, we held our breath. Will students come to a summit on a Saturday? We learned that we underestimated how moved and motivated they would be by the opportunity to come together to learn about and share experiences with service projects.

9. MUSIC MATTERS.
One of our facilitating partners, Leading2Change, insisted that we couldn’t have a youth summit without the right music. They were right. It was one of those intangibles that said “This summit is for you.”

8. SPECIAL VISITORS TAKE PEOPLE’S BREATH AWAY.
Our keynote speaker was 18-year-old Charles Orgbon, founder of Atlanta-based Greening Forward. He started his non-profit environmental efforts in the 6th grade. He’s now a high school senior. In six years his organization has supported projects engaging 2,000 students and 10,000 adults in environmental service.

7. LOCALS INSPIRE TOO. Charlotte Latin students
Students and an adviser from Charlotte Latin attended. We learned that this year they’ve raised $35,000 to support a school project in Tanzania, and they’re still going! Two students were the catalysts who proposed the project. 

6. See #8 and note…
WE UNDERESTIMATE YOUTH, AND THEY UNDERESTIMATE EACH OTHER.

A  common refrain was, “I had no idea other schools are working on stuff like we are at our school. I thought we were the only ones who cared about global issues and service.”

5. BETTER FUEL UP.
If you want a successful event, surprise students with fresh, hot pizza and snacks they like. Thanks, Fuel Pizza. Thanks, LANCE for the chips. Thanks, EarthFare for the apples, bananas and yummy juice. A collective gasp arose and hands clapped when we shared that lunch included you.

4. MISSING SKILL – ADVOCACY.
Asked for examples of their activities in the realms of Awareness, Service, Philanthropy or Advocacy, there were plenty of examples of the first three – almost no examples of the last (Advocacy). Facilitators asked “Why?” Participants responded: “Who wants to hear from
us?” and “We don’t know how to advocate.”

3. IF YOU WANT HONESTY, EXPECT UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENTS.
Like…the student troupe that performed at lunch and named specific issues at specific schools. Like…the dialogue in the economy workshop led a participant to share that his father lives and works in New York, while the family lives in Charlotte, because that’s where his father found the best job to put food on the table. They SKYPE each night, but miss each other a lot.Peace poster group small

2. PEACE WINS.
Given seven different themes as options for creating a service campaign (education, poverty, hunger, water, peace, tolerance, and environment), peace and its parallel tolerance win out. But the truth is, we as facilitators don’t know why. We simply noticed a pattern.

 

1. FIRSTS ALWAYS LEAD TO THE QUESTION – WHAT NEXT?
Some students exchanged contact information on the spot and declared, “Look at me – I’m networking.” Twitter, Facebook and Instagram received their fair share of traffic. And the
general sentiment from students and facilitators indicated, this was a great first step.
And so . . . ?!

We learn a little more each time…

Alas, we won’t be meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

dalai lama

Even when we don’t “win,” we love writing grant and contest applications. The experience forces you to define and re-define what you’re trying to do in the world, how you will go about it, and results for which you aim. If we hadn’t recently entered the Compassion & Technology Contest from Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, we may not have discovered this wonderful quote from center director Prof. James Doty: “[Compassion] . . . is that key that will address the issues that we all think are isolated issues, such as global warming, war, conflict, poverty . . . These are problems of the human heart.”

That one quote again affirmed that we’re on the right track with our program The Global Class & Any1Can Project, which helps teachers and students become familiar with seven complex global issues that touch every community on the planet: poverty, education/literacy, hunger/nutrition, water/infrastructure, environment/sustainability, social attitudes/prejudice (tolerance) and peace/conflict resolution.

In our application, we made the case that schools help infuse youth with a spirit of responsibility and skills to engage in service projects. However, studies by the Corp. for National & Community Service indicate that during the 2000s, the percentage of schools integrating service learning into classroom academics declined. Service is widespread, but not service learning – with calls for investigation, preparation/planning, action, reflection and learning demonstration/communication. Fewer principals and teachers engage in and sustain academic-based service learning (especially global service learning) when faced with budget cuts, lack of easily accessible materials, and a sense of overwhelm.

We proposed transforming The Global Class & Any1Can Project Resource Guide into an iBook linked with an online learning management system. In 2012-13, more than 10,000 teachers utilized our Resource Guide and professional development support. Participating in the Compassion & Technology Contest helped us clarify how the Apple iBooks format could expand and add interactive flexibility to the Resource Guide as a unique, multi-touch format with video, diagrams, 3D objects and movies and facilitate engagement in Apple-compatible Smart classrooms and through Smartphones and mobile devices.

Perhaps, though, our biggest learning was how generous experts are with their time in an effort to make a difference to young people. We wouldn’t have dared apply if it weren’t for Adam S. Brooks, a professional who understands technology application to education pedagogy and extensive experience as a senior developer, learning content manager, and systems administrator on eLearning initiatives. He volunteered his time and counsel without hesitation. And we are grateful.

Now, we just need to find another way to get support and funding to put the idea to work!

Bol Maywal’s Story

By Patricia Shafer

I’ve known Bol for about two years now, but this past Sunday was the first chance I’ve had to hear him speak about in a public setting about his experience as a southern Sudanese refugee. Education Program Bol Maywal LebanonManager Elizabeth Peacock and I made a detour on our drive from Charlotte, NC, to Washington, DC and Baltimore, to hear him speak. We sat in the front row with his mother Adout. I was reminded that even though he has been in the U.S. for 12 years now, and the story of young men affected by the past civil war in Sudan has been told many times, every story is unique and every telling is fresh depending on who is listening. In one PowerPoint slide, Bol shared the only photo his family has of time spent in a refugee camp in Egypt. He described a nearby church that in many ways and on many days felt like the only safe harbor in life’s storm. He acknowledged his mother for raising her children and guiding them well in the United States even though she arrived not knowing how to speak English or read and write her name – reality for most women who come into adulthood during war and the aftermath of fleeing it. He beamed with obvious pride at the slide that shows him being commissioned for his entry as an officer in the US Army, a role he officially takes up this January 2014. I’ve been told that southern Sudanese culture places a high value on someone’s story, and it’s important that when someone starts to tell their’s you give them the room to start and finish. I look forward to hearing more about Bol’s.

Melinda Making a Difference – Addressing Hunger

September is designated Hunger Action Month by Feeding America.  According to The World Food Program  approximately 870 million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy.  

At Mothering Across Continents, hunger is one of five issues that we focus on as part of our overall mission of “Adopting Dreams. Raising Tomorrow’s Leaders.” Since our overall focus is education for orphans, vulnerable and at-risk children, we know from experience that hungry children don’t learn well wherever they are in the world.

With Hunger Action Month underway, we think of some of the amazing Mothering Across Continents project catalysts and collaborators that have developed innovative approaches to hunger and nutrition in very challenging circumstances.

Caring Schools South SudanOur first project launched in 2007 was “Caring Schools,” a partnership with Save the Children South Africa, to develop an innovative pilot providing daily nutritious meals and sustainable gardens at three impoverished high schools serving nearly 700 children in the community of Qwa Qwa, in Free State, South Africa. At the time, daily meals were available in South African primary schools, but not high schools, and a consulting report indicated wide variation in the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of meals programs across schools. Against these measures, the pilot was successful, but when we asked Caring Schools project leader Melinda Van Zyl to reflect on the experience, she suggested a different standard for success. She said the truly lasting benefits are knowledge gained by students and parents about nutrition and communication skills they developed to advocate for expansion of the program.

 

Testimonials say it all!

We greatly appreciate the testimonials and reviews we have received from a variety of people we have worked with. Here are a few examples…

“Mothering Across Continents assisted our school in becoming a part of a global service project and helped our faculty understand the complex problems that surround need in developing countries.  We wanted to focus our service project around the idea of clean water and discovered their global classroom materials online.  They came to us to deliver staff development, as well as, student leadership development.  Students grew in their knowledge of global problems and became partners to affect change in South Sudan.  They have gained a better understanding of issues like poverty, conflict, hunger, and resource management.  Most importantly our school understands that we have a place in the global community and our responsibility is to educate students, our own community and to reach out and partner with those who need help.”
~ Amy (Teacher)

“I had the opportunity to work with Mothering Across Continents on a project my senior year of high school. Not only were we successful in our project, they were very helpful at letting the students learn the ins and outs of the business. We were treated like peers and adults but at the same time if we needed help with anything they were always there. The people from MAC that we worked with were incredibly personable and I still keep in touch with one which I think really shows that they care about more than just raising the money but the people they are working with as well. I still continue to donate money to the causes they have and I hope to even work with them in the near future as an intern or still as a volunteer!”
~ Shelby (Student)

“A Lost Boy of Sudan, James Lubo Mijak, and I had a dream to build a school in South Sudan back in 2009.  We were floundering until we met Mothering Across Continents.  Since then, with their tireless direction and support, we’ve raised more than $300,000 and have completed a school in one of the most remote places in the world.  We simply could not have done it without them.  And, there is so much more work to do and MAC is committed to seeing it through with us.”
~ Phillips (Project Catalyst)

“Mothering Across Continents has created a solid framework by which our team is in the process of creating two sustainable school projects in South Sudan.  Even though working in South Sudan is extremely difficult, our project, designed by Mothering Across Continents has met goals that other groups have only hoped to achieve.”
~ Karen (Project Catalyst)

To read more, or add your own, visit our page on Great Non-Profits where we received one of the first Top-Rated Awards of 2013. GNP new badge