Tim's Going to Kenya

OK. So I take off on Monday morning for Kenya. That's in 3 days. Got a few things to do.

I'm traveling with a team from The 1010 Project, a humanitarian organization here in Denver. We partner with creative and innovative social entrepreneurs in the developing world to break the cycle of poverty. As the Fundraising Coordinator, a big part of my job is writing the grants that help keep us trucking along. But to write good grants, and to keep our international development work running smoothly, we need DATA.

We're going to Kenya to meet with partners and friends in our community-based organizations. They're mostly in Nairobi, scattered across the various slums and estates, but we do have a few rural partners as well. We'll be going all the way out to Kisumu near Lake Victoria. We're collecting boatloads of photos, lots of video and audio, and most importantly, stories. We view ourselves as storytellers - our tagline is "Join the Story" - and we're going to talk with the people that our income-generation activities benefit. We'll be visiting schools, orphanges, microfinance institutions, women's empowerment groups, and HIV/AIDS support groups.

I've never been to Africa, but I hear good things. Our team is super-talented and super-cool, so I don't expect any problems. I'll be tweeting along with our Director of Communications, Mark Mann. With luck, we'll be tweeting like mad by next Wednesday morning, or for those of you in Denver, late Tuesday night (there is a 10-hour time difference). So stay sharp, keep up with us, and we'll see you when we get back!

poverty, the 1010 project, africa, kenya, mark mann, twitter

Eradicating Malaria With the Tony Blair Faith Foundation

Hello web-friends,

I have been appointed to my dream job and I need your help to make it rock.

I have been selected to join the Faiths Act Fellows, a cadre of 30 young interfaith leaders in the US, UK, and Canada who will spend August 2009-June 2010 working to promote malaria eradication. This is a brand-new program which will operate under the auspices of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation (yes, THAT Tony Blair) and the Interfaith Youth Core. It's all fantastically exciting! I'll be traveling to London at the end of July (farewell, Denver) for induction and training. Then it's off to a malaria hotspot in Africa for on-the-ground work. We finish with training in Chicago. I report for duty to the Islamic Networks Group in San Jose, CA on October 1st. My job will be recruiting faith communities, and especially young people of faith, to work towards malaria eradication. Getting rid of this wicked mosquito-borne sickness can be done!

It goes without saying that I will utilize the fluid world of social media in order to reach these goals. I blog, tweet, and share most things, so this will be no different. I will be relying on my network (all of you) to help me spread the word and find kinds of people who can partner with me to get things done.

I'm short on the finer points and details, and for that I apologize. As a first order of business, I need to know ANYTHING about San Jose. My first ever trip to California is this Saturday when I attend the Nonprofit Technology Conference, so any advice/thoughts are welcome.

Post what you will, and send this one far and wide - the more, the merrier!

social media, technology, twitter, facebook, ntc, ntc09, nonprofit, malaria, tony blair, tony blair faith foundation, malaria no more, interfaith youth core, tbff, ifyc

Of Advertising and Return

A little while ago, I caught a tweet from @davewiner pointing out that super web-guy and blog-champ @jasoncalacanis was offering Twitter $10000/month to be on the "Suggested Users" list. I retweeted it and offered Mr. Calacanis $5000/month to relentlessly promote him and his work. I wasn't entirely serious, and I'm convinced that my response was out of line. But that is neither here nor there.

Calacanis responded to @davewiner, clarifying that the offer was payable in advance for two years' standing on the "Suggested Users" list. Do the math. That's $250000 for a presence on a list for a service that hasn't completely figured itself out (this is largely due to the fact that Twitter morphs on an hourly basis!). Calacanis is entirely justified in wanting a spot - Twitter continues to explode, and as more and more people come to it, they'll likely check the Suggested list for who to follow.

But I'm not so sure that dumping a quarter of a million dollars on the "Suggested Users" list is the best way to promote his stuff. If Mr. Calacanis was serious about attracting not only regular web-users but also the people new to the social web, he could find better ways to spend the money. Why not "blow" the money on anti-malarial bednets; 25000 bednets is a lot of safe families in the developing world. Such a gift would generate immediate mainstream media attention, and the story would certainly get around on Twitter. $250000 would also start a lot of businesses in the developing world (shameless plug there).

I'm not questioning his methods, and I'm certainly not complaining about his advertising budget. But if he wanted to make a big splash, both in terms of regular and web-media, there are many "Suggested Awesome Things" that he could do instead.

poverty, the 1010 project, calacanis, twitter

PeaceJam

The 1010 Project was asked to present a workshop on poverty eradication at a PeaceJam conference here in Denver this past weekend. The Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator and I were going to co-present, but she fell ill and I flew solo. I think it went well. The room was packed, the kids asked good questions, and none of my multimedia fell through.

Some of the tougher questions were about comparisons between microfinance institutions in the developing world and sub-prime mortgages in the US. It sounds crazy, but it's a good question. I answered that we have to hope that our rosy vision for the future is correct, and that communities in the developing world have a better sense of...community...than the rest of us. Other good questions were about regulation of the informal sector in our world's slums. It really was a lot of fun. I'll include the description of the workshop below for your perusal:

Initiatives to tackle poverty are not new, but the methods and best practices employed by people to do so change quite often. Even twenty-five years ago, the prevailing notion was that eradicating poverty could be done from the top down. Those initiatives failed, or produced systems of dependence wherein no real change was made. What was needed was a shift from the top-down model to a bottom-up model. What was needed was ownership of poverty eradication by the very people who would benefit from it: the poor.

It is important to explain to the general public, and especially young people, that ending poverty is not simply a question of how much foreign aid is sent to the developing world but rather a question of where that money is going and how it is being used. Purchasing emergency rations during humanitarian disasters is perfectly noble, but when the food trucks leave, are the people there really in a better position?

The 1010 Project employs a model of development that ensures sustainable, healthy growth coupled with positive social change, and we are not alone in our work. There are countless activists in developed and developing countries working hard every day to make sure that foreign aid dollars and individual donations are used to their greatest effect. This is achieved by actually listening to what the poor have to say. They usually have ideas about how they can help themselves and their communities to break the cycle of poverty but just lack the resources.

Also important is the notion that the “conversation” about poverty is changing. We are used to seeing photos of hungry children and destitute slums; we are told time and time again about the conditions in such places, with malaria and HIV/AIDS running rampant. The conversation now includes success stories; reports about community-based organizations coming together to help each other. Billions still live on less than $2 per day, but every day, thousands of people and families are lifting themselves out of poverty. We know how to help them, and they are more than ready to partner with us.

We will walk participants through the following content areas:

1. Introductions: Our icebreaker is discussing what “poverty” means to us. This is, in a large way, the perfect starting point for any discussion about ending global poverty – defining it.
2. History of foreign aid infrastructure and poverty alleviation/eradication techniques.
3. Description of The 1010 Project methodology as it relates to poverty eradication.
4. Description of other NGO/NPO work, e.g. Kiva, GlobalGiving, etc.
5. “Success stories from the field” – Describing the positive effects of in-country ownership of poverty eradication initiatives.
6. Taking it to the streets – What can activists do to advocate on behalf of the poor, and how can those successes be expanded upon and globalized?
7. Q & A

poverty, education, peacejam, the 1010 project

Quick Responses and Warm Bodies

I'm helping to organize some malaria awareness events on campus this quarter and the next, and I had the bright idea to find a real anti-malarial anti-mosquito bednet. Not having any idea where I might find such a thing, I contacted my point-person at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, who promptly beeped someone at Malaria No More.

When I walked into my apartment this evening, there was a strangely-shaped package waiting for me. It was from the kind folks at Malaria No More. It has been exactly 4.5 days since I inquired as to where I might find a bednet. Note: It is Monday right now.

The package contained not only a real-life anti-malarial bednet (to use in demonstrations on campus), but also a full press/marketing package: postcards, toolkits, promotional materials, sample PRs and sign-ups, and a whole lot more. There was even a copy of last year's annual report.

What a fantastic experience. It's not like Malaria No More is working overtime to keep me as a "customer;" they lose nothing if I look for bednets elsewhere. They aren't counting on me to write a lengthy blog post about how nice they are. They saw a need, a resource gap, and they rushed to fill it, not for personal gain, but to inspire and support an activist who wants to make a difference. I now have far greater capacity to plan for our upcoming events, and I know that I can count on these people.

Awesome.

malaria, disease, tony blair, malaria no more, bednet

Bloggers Unite - World AIDS Day

Today is the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day, and Bloggers Unite has put together another massive action to raise awareness. Hence this post.

I collaborate and consult with The 1010 Project, a humanitarian nonprofit in Denver, that works to eradicate poverty in Kenya. One of our focus areas is HIV/AIDS support groups - civil society and community-based organizations that are providing hope and care to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. I've spoken before of the ways in which poverty holds back the developing world, but infectious diseases have their place, too.

It goes without saying that HIV/AIDS is retarding development. This happens on two levels:

1. When a head of a household is too sick to work, or worse, dies, that family becomes unable to support itself. It's like instant impoverishment.

2. When parents die, their children don't. This has led to what is essentially an "orphan epidemic," especially in sub-Saharan Africa. These orphans don't have options open to them, and they will likely end up in poverty.

Combating diseases like HIV/AIDS has become a global rallying point - something agreeable like climate change or nuclear disarmament. World AIDS Day will hopefully refresh the commitments of governments, organizations, and individuals to do whatever they can to stop the spread of AIDS, and to bring hope to those for whom hope is a dream.

Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.

Technorati Tags: world aids day, poverty, the 1010 project, hiv/aids

Uncultured

Great post about the changing face of poverty eradication up at the Uncultured Project. The 1010 Project is doing great and innovative work in Kenya by listening to the people affected by poverty, and by relating their stories (usually pretty happy stories) to our friends here in the US.

Technorati Tags: poverty, 1010 project, uncultured

Religion and Politics - A Long Post

New post up at the DU Interfaith Student Alliance blog: http://du-interfaith.blogspot.com/

Blog Action Day

Each year, Blog Action Day brings together thousands of bloggers from across the globe to raise awareness of important issues facing our planet and our people. This year's theme is POVERTY. Today, bloggers everywhere are writing about how they see poverty, what they are doing about it, and what other people can do to help.

I would say that I've studied poverty, but that would be somewhat inaccurate. It's more like I've come up against poverty in nearly every research project that I've put my nose to here at the Korbel School. In my work on comparative democratization in particular, I've found that it is a matter of utmost importance.

Poverty retards development, increases political instability, reduces quality of life, and distributes misery and hopelessness. Its chronic nature undermines many honest efforts to improve the condition of those affected by it. But too often, poverty is portrayed as a faceless phenomenon; at its worst simply an economic concern, at its best an abstract human rights issue. I am especially excited with the work that The 1010 Project is doing in this field. (Disclaimer: I work with them.) Our work is not simply about eliminating poverty. At The 1010 Project, we work to show the very human side of poverty; to give a face to a global issue.

On days like this, when bloggers everywhere are addressing the importance of poverty, we should all be mindful in seeking ways in which we can also help break the cycle of poverty. Whether it is big or small actions, we can all do something. Thank you for joining me on this day.