Sustainable Good

Power to the Youth!

If anyone says that young people today don't care, they have never met the youth at Spectacular, a camp of about 1,000 youth and staff held at Graceland University in rural Iowa. These youth and staff heard the calling of our impoverished brothers and sisters all over the world and responded in a BIG way...In just one week, they raised over $11,500 to support a community in Zambia! This community is working hard to build a water system that will provide clean water to its residents. (Read more about community development in Zambia.) The youth at Spectacular realized the need to work with these community members to make this possible. How inspiring!

Small Victory for Justice in Former Yugoslavia

After 13 years of evading justice, Radovan Karadzic (pronounced Kara-jich), a key mastermind of brutal ethnic cleansing campaigns in the Bosnian war was arrested in Serbia's capital this week.  He will be extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, where he faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. 

Reading of his capture was a cathartic experience for me.  Living in Bosnia, I was constantly surrounded by the reminders of the crimes of Karadzic and his henchmen.  Bullet holes in the side of an apartment building, where civilians had been executed. The remains of a mosque, exploded to deny people a sense of history and belonging.  The rows and rows of graves covering parks and empty spaces all over Bosnia's capital, Sarajevo (see photo). I had long despaired that Karadzic would ever be caught or face justice for his crimes.

The new pro-European government in Serbia, which faces nationalist resistance following Kosovo's declaration of independence, was very brave to make this leap towards ending impunity.  While Serbia's pro-democracy movement has had an uphill struggle, even after deposing the authoritarian leader Slobadan Milosevic, they have won a small but important victory for peace and justice in the Former Yugoslavia.

To read more about the difficulties faced by development agencies in building peace after conflict, click here.

-Matthew Bolton

Redefining [Poverty] LAUNCH!

The redefine [poverty] campaign has launched in a huge way at Spectacular 2008, a youth camp of 1,000 High School students from around the country. The launch started off strong with a launching party at the redefine [poverty] shack built in the center of Graceland University's campus. At the party, campers and staff filled in their own    [ ]'s by saying something they wanted to redefine in their lives. Then they flung paint on this board to represent their commitment, creating this beautiful art piece.

Recent Graduate? Consider service and adventure

With the school year finishing up here at the London School of Economics, graduates are moving onto new careers and trying to determine their calling in life. Eager and ambitious, many look forward to getting big paychecks.  I too am not far from finally finishing my PhD. However, in addition to the ‘reach for the stars’ message we so often give graduates, I believe we need to encourage among ourselves a sense of social responsibility – to use our newly learned skills to serve and better the world around us. 

After graduation from my undergraduate degree at Graceland University, I took up a challenging but fulfilling volunteer position in Bosnia. It confronted my assumptions and helped me learn ways I could carve out meaning and purpose in the workplace. It also talk me how to take care of myself in uncertain surroundings and how to bridge cultural differences in the workplace.

For adventurous new graduates, I would highly recommend this kind of experience. Go see a corner of the world far from home, learn about its history and see your own culture through new eyes.  Consider working with the WorldService Corps, volunteering with the PeaceCorps or teaching English as a foreign language. (Check out this site for ideas: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/). For students who, for various reasons, need to stay closer to home, you can still gain these experiences of service and adventure within your own country. By working with AmeriCorps or non-profits you can put your knowledge to use in helping others. (For ideas see: http://www.idealist.org). Consider acting as a volunteer for Outreach International in your community, or interning at their headquarters.

To all those of you who have recently finished your studies, a congratulations is in order. However, consider blazing an alternative trail to the one that plonks you down in a cubicle. Seek opportunities for adventure and service as you mull over your vocation and calling.

(Adapted and abridged from: http://www.examiner.net/opinions_columnists/x1774956138/New-graduates-Consider-service-adventure-abroad).

-Matthew Bolton reporting.

Help Prevent War with Iran

I believe provoking war with Iran could have disastrous consequences. Unfortunately, the possibility of an armed confrontation with Iran is not as far-fetched as it may seem. A resolution, H.Con.Res. 362, is making its way through U.S. Congress that would demand the president impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran.”

While this might sound like a good way to isolate Iran, passing such a resolution would be an act of careless brinksmanship. As the Friends Committee on National Legislation point out, “By whatever name it is called, unless authorized by the U.N., this action would be widely construed as a blockade and an act of war by Iran and most of the international community.”

The U.S. must work to constrain the Iranian government’s attempts to throw its weight around, but I do not believe military action is the most effective way to seek meaningful transformation in Iran. Iran is an ancient civilization, with a history of sophisticated culture, including poetry, film and art. They also have a large population of young people fed up with rule by the clerics and want contact with the outside world. There is potential, however small, for engagement, citizen diplomacy and long-term change.

For the sake of peace, the economy and sensible foreign policy, call your elected officials and urge them not to support H.Con.Res. 362.  Check out this page for details of how to take action: http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=3368&issue_id=123

(Abridged from: http://www.examiner.net/opinions_columnists/x379987471/U-S-must-work-diligently-to-avoid-war-with-Iran).

-Matthew Bolton reporting.

Eating with no utensils...Redefine [Lunch]

Eating mashed potatoes with only your fingers is certainly a funny experience. But what does that have to do with anything? Actually, it can be a great awareness-raising activity.

At a camp in Missouri, about 50 campers and staff joined the world's poor for a meal by throwing out the utensils and eating with their hands. This helped these high schoolers to raise their awareness about global poverty.

During the activity, the youth also had the opportunity to fill in the brackets on a Redefine banner. This is part of the overall Redefine campaign, encouraging all of us to redefine poverty and to redefine our lives so that we can do more to end poverty. 

Desperate Zimbabwe Situation--Do Something!

The situation in Zimbabwe has gone from bad to worse over the last s everal years...and then to absolutely unacceptable recently. I drove through Zimbabwe in January of 2007 and at that time there were massive food and fuel shortages. We had to carry a container of gas with us and borrow a funnel from a group of men along the side of the road who were selling gas that they brought over from Botswana. The gas station 30 yards away had no fuel.

The economic situation has continued to detoriate since that time. Actually, the International Crisis Group says, "By April 2008, the annual inflation rate was over 165,000%, the world’s highest. Unemployment is over 85%, poverty over 90%, and foreign reserves almost depleted. Over four million people are in desperate need of food." http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1233&l=1

And now the political situation is as bad as the economic one. The president of 28 years, Robert Mugabe has rigged the election so that he can stay in power. Once a hero for post-colonial African presidents, he seems to have become power-crazed. His regime has used violence, threats and unwarranted arrests to pressure the opposition candidate to withdraw from the race. And if the world's leaders don't do something about it, Mugube will win and will control Zimbabwe for another term.

Do something!! Click below to encourage world leaders not to support Mugabe.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/zimbabwe_chance_for_peace/6.php?cl=104266007

Aid Dollars Making an Impact, but at Risk

Sometimes it is hard to see how US policy impacts the world. I just got back from a trip to Kenya that helped me to realize just how important US policy can be to the world's poor. In Ukwala, Kenya, a rural village in Western Kenya, I worked with a clinic that is set to receive a $1.4million grant from USAID that comes from PEPFAR (The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

I got home and had an email in my inbox about the PEPFAR funding being in jeopardy and my heart broke. I just met people that will be benefiting tremendously from this legislation. Among them was one of the most inspiring people I have met: Collins is disabled from the waist down. He gets around by a hand-pedaled bike. He doesn't have HIV/AIDS, but 1 out of 10 people in his area do. He is a member of an AIDS Support Group, because he wants the message of prevention to reach the disabled population, a group that is normally ignored. He is one of the smartest people I know.

Because of a possible decision by some powerful Congresspeople in DC, millions of lives are at risk. We can't let that happen. We can join Collins and stand up for our brothers in sisters living with AIDS. Keep updated on PEPFAR funding by checking the blog. You can also learn more at: http://www.data.org/issues/what_is_PEPFAR_0607.html.

-Stephen Donahoe, Outreach International Intern