Meaning Behind the Mission: What Literacy Means To Me

Awakening the Mission (Cont.)

I work for an organization who focuses on literacy as part of its mission. And as you might have seen in previous posts I am grappling with how to make the mission more real at our organization:  How do we create passion for our mission with the daily grind of trying to run a profitable and sustainable business?  I've also suggested that finding this passion will lead us to higher impact.

A place to start might be to look at what this mission, literacy, means to me, personally, and why I think it's something worth being passionate about.

Seeing is Believing

Literacy wasn't something I really thought about much throughout my educational career. I guess growing up in the states and attending top notch schools I took it for granted as I'm sure a lot of us do. But then I had the opportunity to serve in the Peace Corps in Mali.

According to the 2009 Human development report Mali ranks right near the bottom in terms of human development at 178 out of 182. The literacy rate of adults 15 years and older is about 26%. Mali is a country where literacy is definitely a key component to development.

In Mali I lived in a small rural farming village where I had to learn the local language, Bambara, because no one spoke French. I think 98% of the adults were functionally illiterate. A school only existed in the village as of 2000 and when I arrived in 2002 classes were being held in a broken down storage building not nearly large enough for the number of children. They had constructed the base for a new 3 classroom school house at the direction of the government, but then funds dried up and the project was never complete. So despite being an agriculture volunteer, I decided to try to meet the communities greatest need and want which was to complete this structure. So my major project was to raise funds for and organize the construction of this school. So we raised funding and the school was completed in late 2003. Right after we finished this a French group came in and built 3 more classrooms. So now the village has 6 classrooms.

A Complex Issue

If I were to stop here, you would probably say it was a good, successful project. But, looking back I'm not so sure. On one level it was good. It provided much needed infrastructure. However, the school alone hasn't solved the problem of illiteracy in Sitafoula. For example, young women are still often kept out or pulled out of school early to either work for the family or get married at a young age. There are only 2 teachers who are only qualified to teach the lower grades. There are no books. The children are the first generation to be educated so parents can't help them with their studies nor do they fully understand the value of education. Without good mentors as examples of the value of education, young men often drop out early to go work. With teacher's only qualified up to a certain level, kids who reach the higher grades have to go elsewhere in order to continue their education. The closest schools with the higher grade levels are 5 miles away through the bush by foot. A lot of families will pull their kids out if they don't have a place for the kids to stay in town where they can rest and eat their meals. The list goes on... So the school was a start but far from a solution.

An Issue Close to Home

While I was living in Sitafoula, I met my wife, a shy young woman who stood out among her peers. When school was first introduced in 2000, she was already a teenager. Some families chose to put their kids in school, but unfortunately hers did not. They felt she was more valuable to them at home so she ended up cooking, cleaning, fetching water, and doing other chores for her aunt's family every day while her friends went to school. Today she lives here in the US with me and our two young boys. She knows better than anyone the importance of literacy. It has been a challenge for her to adapt to our culture and to learn English all while having never attended school in her life. But she diligently attends her ESL classes and works to learn to read while working part time and raising 2 toddlers. She dreams of being able to read to her kids, getting a drivers' license, passing the citizenship test, and maybe one day getting her GED. These are all things most of us take for granted.

Literacy is an important part of my wife's daily life. It's a struggle, but it's something we're confident we'll get through. Our true passion for literacy goes beyond her personal struggles. It lies in knowing that so many kids in Mali including our own family might miss out on all the things we take for granted when it comes to education and literacy.

Our brother Pa is struggling to complete high school against the temptations to quit and go work like most of his peers. Our brother Ablaye is at the top of his class entering high school, but isn't sure whether the future will see him graduating let alone going on to college. Our youngest brother Yacouba is following in his brothers' footsteps and his future depends on their uncertain success.

Then there are Sadjo and Araba. Sadjo is the first girl in the family to enter school as she starts the first grade this year. Will the family keep her in school despite customs and traditions that might pull her out? Araba is still only a small baby, but her education too is at stake. We can only dream right now that she can take it all for granted one day like our two sons probably will growing up here in the US. Then there are our boys' cousins and all the other children of the village and of Mali who are faced with the same uncertain future.

This is why literacy is important to us.

A Daunting Task, But One with Hope


My wife has selflessly devoted herself to helping her family overcome a lot of the obstacles standing in the way of her siblings education. She would never admit this because in her culture that is just what you do. She works hard at a part time job in the evenings to save money so that she can help her family when needs arise, but also hopes to save enough to go back to Mali and visit her family. Unfortunately, the part she saves for herself never seems to amount to much. Last year, she spent almost all of her savings on a plot of land and home for her family in the town where the kids were going to school so they could continue their studies. She routinely sends money to help her family with their farming, for holidays, to help with medical bills, and when times are tough such as a bad harvest. Just a couple of weeks ago she sent another large installment so her dad can repair rain damages to the family home in the market town where her siblings attend school. She has financed the last 2 years of Pa's education. She is trying to help her cousin and brothers continue on to university and possibly come to the US to study.

We're starting to realize that our meager remittances are not going to solve this problem. We've made some bad decisions along the way both for ourselves and for the family, and realize that in some ways we are only strengthening the "aid trap" of dependency. But we have strong confidence in the power of education and literacy. We believe these are the key to her family and community breaking out of the cycle they are in. Our hope is that our passion for solving this problem will help us to find a sustainable way to break the cycle, and maybe one day lead to the long term development of Sitafoula and the broader community and maybe even Mali on the whole.

For us, literacy means hope where sometimes there isn't a lot of hope to see.  For us literacy isn't something we just talk about or a cause we simply support.  Literacy is part of our lives.  The hopes and dreams, the livelihoods and lives of people, real people, our family depend on it.  The cause is more than a cause, it is a necessity.  It can sometimes be a daunting task, but it is something we're determined to figure out.  Our hope is that we will be able to build something out of this vital part of our lives that will impact others' lives in a meaningful way.  

Finding Your Inspiration


To me, at an organization that has a social mission and that really wants to have a great impact towards that mission, it is imperative to find this type of passion.  Otherwise, you will lose sight of whatever that mission is and you will forget why you started doing what you're doing in the first place.  You need to find your inspiration.  There's a difference between supporting a cause like literacy, and being inspired to address an issue like literacy by true passion for the cause.  From the former comes good and from the latter comes greatness. 

For an organization that is just getting started, my advice is to first figure out what your passion truly is and then build something great around that passion.  And to those who've already started, I would suggest stopping, reflecting, focusing, looking inward and trying to discover what inspires you.  Let it become part of who you are.  If your cause is literacy, ask yourself why.  Ask yourself why you care about it and what it means to you.  Ask those within your organization to share why they are passionate about it.  Build off of the stories like mine to create meaning behind your mission.   And then go do great things towards that end. 

Other thoughts and ideas are welcome...

Awakening the Mission

The Role of a Social Enterprise (Cont.)

In my previous post "Books for Africa, Literacy in Africa, and the Role of a Social Enterprise" I asked a few questions about what more we at Better World Books can do to extend our social impact and bring more life to it within our organization. I got some great comments on the post in response to these questions.

A friend and former colleague suggests that the answer lies in us harnessing the passion of our followers and customers to come up with the next "big idea". I definitely agree that there is something to be found through collaboration. I think there is a need for more collaboration in this space, and I think social enterprises can be good catalysts for creating more. It is definitely important to engage with others, and especially to listen to those who are passionate about what you're trying to do.

Daniela Papi also added some great thoughts about how to address these questions. She points out that we are doing a lot already by baking "good" into the business model and being sure to do things before "the bottom line" even at the cost of profits. But how do we go above and beyond even this? She points out our donation volume and the power that comes with that (and I would add responsibility). We're no longer giving a few books or a few dollars or even a few thousand dollars. We're dealing with hundreds of thousands and millions of books and dollars. There is a lot of power there. Daniela suggests we do our homework:

By doing a lot of homework on where your largest donations are going, seeing if they are providing the best format for supporting literacy education, and only supporting the groups you think are doing the best work, you can have the biggest impact with your funds while also inspiring others to improve their work to meet your standards. I don't want this to be misinterpreted as a disguise for donor-driven program development, as that is not what I am trying to promote, but instead a really thorough understanding of the metrics you are trying to change: literacy, learning, book use, love of reading/learning. When metrics are presented as number of books delivered, number of libraries built, etc it is hard to get at the more qualitative impacts you are looking to see.

If BWB identifies partners who have the skills to analyze your partners impacts and finds or comes up with a list of best practices with relation to increasing literacy and learning, these can perhaps be shared across the board and will help your team determine the best places to invest your future funding. In other words - you asked "What else can we as a business, a for-profit business, but one with a social mission do?". You can identify which areas you are investing in short term results and redirect some of that money into helping the entire sector learn, improve, and better benefit from the support you are giving them.

The same day Daniela wrote these comments I came across this post By Sean Stannard-Stockton on the Tactical Philanthropy Advisors blog: "Fixing the Power Imbalance in Philanthropy". Here Sean too points out the value add when social investors and donors see the responsibility they have and use it to invest wisely in high performance organizations over low performance ones. As Daniela points out, the point isn't to tell non-profits how to do development, it is to influence the field by promoting those who do development well.

Realizing Our Influence


I agree with my friend that we need to engage and collaborate more with our network of peers, customers, and followers to come up with new and innovative ways to create change. However, I also agree with Daniela and Sean that as an organization who is making significant contributions to organizations working towards social change we must recognize the responsibility that comes with that. We need to do our homework to learn how these organizations are performing, what is working in the field, and make decisions to point our influence towards the highest impact possible. So now the question that springs to mind is "What do we need to do to get to this in practice?"

Part of the answer lies in simply reflecting on and recognizing the size of our current impact. As an individual donor you think about a $1,000 donation differently than a $10 donation. You think more carefully about what you do with it. In a sense we've already done this by ensuring our funds are going to reputable organizations. But, from my perspective it takes a little more effort to do what Daniela and Sean are suggesting, to really be a leader that is influencing the whole field through smart high impact investments.

Finding Our Passion


I think to get here, you have to start with the mission. I believe it takes true passion for the cause in order to create momentum within an organization to think beyond the transaction from donor to recipient. If you're passionate about the cause itself, you will focus more on impact.

A lot of social enterprises are started by an individual who is dedicated to addressing some social problem and sees capitalism as a powerful tool that can be used to work towards alleviating the problem. In this case the enterprise started with passion and the business was built around that passion. So as long as the organization remembers why it started and what it set out to do, the passion for the mission should remain central.

There are other social enterprises that start from a great idea for a business that has a nice tie-in to social and environmental change. In the case of Better World Books the tie-in to literacy and the environmental fit perfectly and we've baked it into the business model itself. This is a great thing. But, what is our passion? Are we as passionate about our cause as the entrepreneur who builds an enterprise around directly addressing a social ill they care about? By default, I don't think we necessarily are, but I think we can be. I think it takes a more concerted effort. We have to "awaken the passion" within our organization and remind ourselves why we do what we do. In our case I think we need to ask ourselves: Why literacy? And we need to think beyond that it fits nicely with books. What does literacy mean to us? Why do we care about it?

I believe that once we're able to complete the exercise of self-assessment as to what our passion is, then it will be easier for us to see the potential we have to really lead change. Then we'll understand the importance of thinking beyond transactions towards actual human impact. We'll understand we're part of a larger community and in a position to take a leadership role in that community. And we'll see the value in engaging with others in the community to answer the question of how to best direct our influence.

So to start I think I'll write something about why I care about literacy...

Books For Africa, Literacy in Africa, and the Role of a Social Enterprise

An Event Filled Trip to Minnesota

On October 2^nd and 3^rd I had the opportunity to represent Better World Books (BWB) in Minneapolis/St. Paul at several events put on by our partner Books For Africa (BFA). Those two days were jammed packed with events that made me find my way around the twin cities, but were well worth the trip. One big take away is that BFA is a great partner for BWB. Everything about the trip reaffirmed how reputable an organization it is and made abundantly clear the important role it plays in the great task of confronting the obstacles to literacy and education in Africa.

The events ranged from breakfast with Dr. Augustine P. Mahiga, the Tanzanian Permanent Representative to the United Nations; lunch with Johnnie Carson, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; a conference on Literacy and Education in 21^st Century Africa co-hosted by the University of Minnesota and BFA; a recognition ceremony attended by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of Somalia; to a South African Braai at the BFA warehouse attended by South African Vice Consul General Gillian Motlhamme. Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Congressman Keith Ellison also participated in the events. At all of these events BFA was recognized for its work as the largest shipper of books to Africa. The presence of such distinguished guests attests to the importance of this endeavor.

Literacy in Africa: A Large and Complex Puzzle

But in addition to respect for BFA and the incredible outward facing mentality of the Minneapolis/St. Paul community, I think what brought all of these people together these two days is a deep passion about the issues facing the African continent particularly with respect to literacy and education. In his remarks at the conference, Secretary Carson stressed the important link between education and development stating that Africa’s greatest resource was its people as opposed to the common belief that it’s its natural resources. This theme was echoed throughout the weekend. There are many problems the 53 countries in Africa are facing but also enormous potential. The potential resides in its people and only through literacy and education can this potential be unleashed.

There was a lot of mention of the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education and that while a good start, it only creates more problems if more is not done. Now that kids are in school, we need to find solutions to keep them in school and to ensure they leave school “well’’ educated. We need to ensure they have access to good secondary and tertiary schools, good materials for study and research, and good jobs when they graduate. Secretary Carson noted the digital divide, the brain drain, under representation of girls in education, unqualified teachers, and lack of research and good higher education as issues that must be addressed.

Christopher Thomas, the World Bank sector manager for education in Africa, also noted that the drive for education exists in Africa. He stressed the importance of similar things: make sure kids are healthy and ready to learn, transform schools into quality schools, prepare kids for the labor market and world, create universities that are leaders of social and economic change, and create systems that work. He expressed optimism that illiteracy is a very large but solvable problem. We now need to focus on universal “quality” education, focus on improving adult literacy, and develop a rich and literate environment.

Dr. Mahiga reiterated the theme of creating a literate environment by expressing the need to foster a “culture of reading”. Good quality education at all levels is essential to this as are materials such as books.

All expressed that there are a lot of obstacles and a lot of pieces to the puzzle of solving the issues confronting literacy and education in Africa. There are many institutions, organizations, groups, and individuals who must fill their role to solve this puzzle. Books are one important piece and Books For Africa is filling that role. Institutions like the World Bank have their role as does the US government and African governments to create wide reaching systems and institute sound policies. NGOs and non-profits fill in other pieces of the puzzle such as implementing change at the grass roots level. Individual donors contribute by supporting the work of these non-profits.

The Role of a Social Enterprise

One lingering question I had throughout the two days was about the role of business and the for profit sector. Where do we fit in? I didn’t get a chance to ask the question, but I think I can start to piece together an answer.

At the recognition event on Saturday I had the honor of receiving an award from Books For Africa on behalf of Better World Books in recognition of our partnership with them. Books For Africa’s executive director, Pat Plonski, told the story of how he received a phone call 6 years ago from this kid (BWB co-founder, Xavier Helgesen) who said he wanted to run a book drive and support Books For Africa. Pat said sure and a few months later received a check for $1000. The kid called him back and said he wanted to continue to support them and the next check Pat got was for $20,000. And now Pat receives a $20,000 check every month from the organization that this kid started 6 years ago.

We at BWB harness the power of capitalism to provide crucial funding that allows organizations like BFA to do what they do. We have been essential to their growth. But BFA has also been essential to the growth of BWB. They add legitimacy to what we do. It’s a mutually beneficial partnership, a win-win. So the easy answer is to keep doing what we’re doing in supporting organizations like BFA who are directly addressing literacy and education in the world.

But I still wonder if this is the only answer. It is clear that we’re putting a new spin on the donor-benefactor relationship with the non-profits we support. We’ve made them partners and even shareholders. But might there be more value in the relationship beyond the legitimacy they provide us and the funding we provide them? What else can we as a business, a for-profit business, but one with a social mission do?

Our decision to invest in causes such as that of literacy and education in Africa is a conscious one that goes beyond marketing plugs and tax right offs. It is baked into the very core of our business model. It is essential to our survival and long term growth not just as a sustainable social enterprise but as an enterprise in general. The cause itself must have meaning to us. We as an organization need to share our partners’ passion about literacy, and we need to care about solving the problems that are keeping so much of the world illiterate. Coming off of a series of events surrounded by people who have this passion and put it to action in their every day work is invigorating. And coming back to the daily grind of a for-profit enterprise trying to be sustainable can be a downer, even if it is a social enterprise.

So how do we create this same passion for the mission at our own organization so that it is something real and meaningful and not just something we talk about and tout?

What more can we do to overcome the obstacles to literacy and education in the world?

I welcome and encourage your thoughts. I think the answers to these questions will help propel us to become a great company who is a true leader in the social enterprise space.

Paul “Paco” Miller

Africa Rural Connect

Last week I was fortunate to have been able to participate in a round table discussion with Arlene Mitchell from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focused on agriculture in rural Africa and the newly launched initiative from the National Peace Corps Association: Africa Rural Connect.

Kudos to fellow Mali RPCV and one of the architects of Africa Rural Connect, Molly Mattessich, for inviting me to participate.

I encourage all to listen to the podcast and especially Arlene's opening comments. I just want to highlight a few things that jumped out at me from this conversation.

African Women Matter

It is great to hear from someone from an organization like the Gates Foundation talking about the importance of women in agriculture in Africa. Arlene starts off the conversation by pointing out that this is a promising moment in agriculture, but one that will depend on African women as they make up 3/4 of the farming population in the developing world. They need to be the target. Coming off the recent G8 summit agriculture has jumped to the forefront in development, as it should. But, I think Arlene hits the nail on the head that a new focus on agriculture cannot succeed without addressing the needs of the farmers on the ground, and particularly the women.

Voices from the Fields

It is also encouraging to see the Gates Foundation recognizing the need to partner with an organization like NPCA. As Arlene points out they need knowledgeable, caring, and creative minds to focus on the issues facing agricultural development in Africa. The development community doesn't have all the answers, and those answers are not going to come from people who don't care about rural Africa. She points out that it is hard for the developed world to visualize the realities of working on the ground. Thus, the need for connecting with rural African farmers and people who know and have worked with rural Africans. NPCA, Peace Corps, and the African diaspora are three important groups who can help serve as the liaison between rural farmers and the development community.

Appropriate Technology

The final piece that struck me was the conversation revolving around technology and coming up with innovative solutions in rural Africa. Again the overarching them is that these solutions need to come from the ground up and should be driven by Africans. Bringing outside technology to rural development is problematic. There needs to be a focus on local needs. Outside technology needs to be taken and redone from a local perspective. Technology needs to be tailored to address the real target audience, rural African farmers (particularly women), and needs to be done so in real and practical ways. At present technology isn't reaching this target audience because there exists a disconnect in understanding implementation on the ground. Again, this is an area RPCVs, Peace Corps volunteers, members of the diaspora, and small grass roots organizations can play a key role in communicating the realities of farming in rural Africa and giving voice to the true needs of the farmers.

My Personal Spin

For me this initiative and the support of the Gates Foundation is very exciting. My wife is from a rural farming village in Mali, and our whole extended family are all rural farmers who are just scraping by. It has always been a struggle for us on a very personal level to find ways to address their needs. So to see and be a part of an initiative like Rural Africa Connect is exciting. For me the biggest challenge will be to bring the needs of people like my family in Mali to the table, and then to come up with innovative solutions to address them. I really believe this project to be a step in the right direction in terms of bringing a community of people together who understand and care about rural Africa. But, again the real challenge will be to make sure rural Africans and especially rural African women are involved. This is why the project I've submitted is called "Helping Farmers find their voice and be hear." (I know not the most creative name.)

The project is very much an idea at this point that still needs a lot of thought and fleshing out. However, I believe it to be an important issue to find a solution to. We need to find a way to create a platform for rural farmers to express their needs and be heard by the development community. This platform would also be a means for bringing farmers together and enabling them to organize on their own. I'm not sure I have the right approach, and am sure a lot will change in terms of how I've laid it out as I develop it more. But I feel the idea is worth putting out there. And I plan on continuing to work on it and build it into a project that could realistically be implemented. And while I focus on Mali (since that is what I know and where I am most closely tied to), the ideal is to find a solution that could be replicated elsewhere.

There are certainly a lot of questions I still need to answer. Here are some I'm struggling with:

• How do you move from idea to actionable project?
• How do you organize a project from abroad?
  
• How do you get "on the ground" where the action is with limited funds?
• How do you motivate farmers to participate?
  
• How do you ensure women's participation?
• How do you find and connect with existing local organizations on the ground?
• How do you present the farmers ideas and needs to the development community?
  

So I encourage all to read through the idea, and to offer constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement. You can do that on the ARC site or here in the comments. And I thank all those who have already left comments or reached out with advice and suggestions. I'm already working on ways to incorporate your ideas.

I also encourage everyone to check out all the other great ideas formulating on the site and to please endorse your favorites.

Long Hiatus

I know it has been forever since I've posted anything. I guess I've been in "learning" mode lately. I've got some thoughts on social entrepreneurship and social enterprise I'd like to post soon. I'm also researching other topics such as clean water access, education in Africa, and micro enterprise in the developing world that I hope to post questions and thoughts on soon.

Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Uganda

Today I had the privilege of hearing a man talk who was introduced as a saint. This man quickly dispelled this claim joking that he would be the worst of them all if that were true. This man was Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Northern Uganda speaking at the University of Notre Dame Hesburgh Center today. If not a saint, at least a good man bringing a message of hope from a corner of the world where it often seems there isn't much hope left.

Archbishop Odama began with a brief history on the conflict in Northern Uganda that has now spilled over into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This war with the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) has been going on for almost 23 years and is one of the ugliest and longest running wars of our time. He explained how the LRA with the infamous Joseph Kony as their leader came about in 1987 as a splinter group of the UPDA that remained in the bush and grew in power with the help of the Sudanese government. The whole history can be found here.

LRA waged war on the populace for over 10 years before the peace initiative finally began in 1998. This initiative was started by local religious leaders including Odama. They started with community sensitization. They saw 4 possible paths to peace: 1. Military operation 2. Amnesty 3. Dialogue 4. The ICC. They did not see a military operation as the answer, thus their top 2 paths to peace were dialogue and amnesty, dialogue being the number 1 path. They were resistant to the ICC as they felt an ICC indictment of Kony and his commanders conflicted with the trust required for dialogue between the LRA and the government.

Odama believes that the ICC was responsible for the dialogue starting off on the wrong foot. They had already started to begin the dialogue with Kony and his men when on December 29, 2002 the chief prosecutor of the ICC held a joint press conference with President Museveni of Uganda. This was a very non Partisan move on the part of the ICC. Odama considered this and an official indictment as obstacles to signing a true peace agreement.

Odama believes reconciliation is the true path to peace. This addresses the needs of the victims, the perpetrators and the community. All must be involved. In an international court Kony would not have to face his victims, and might even possibly win with a good legal team. Even if Kony were arrested, that would create a power vacuum that might only lead to further conflicts. In order to fully address the postwar problem and to have lasting peace they needed reconciliation according to the traditional custom "Mato oput".

Asked how you attain both Peace and Punishment, Odama reaffirmed that reconciliation and restoring the relationship between the victims, perpetrators and community was more important than punishment. When asked if there are victims opposed to dialogue, he said that there were groups that wanted Kony to admit to his specific crimes against them, but added that in Uganda the common consensus was that people could forgive Kony if he would only stop the war.

Odama and his group saw themselves as the bridge between the government and the LRA. They were the mediators. On July 14, 2002 in Western Gulu they went to meet one of Kony's top commanders, Vincent Otti. There were 4 of them, mostly priests, traveling in a car with no escort. At 4 o'clock they met Otti. They explained that they had come because the war had lasted too long, and they wanted a clear decision from both sides on how to end it. They had already talked to the government about working towards peace talks with the rebels. Otti asked Odama if he had come as a representative on behalf of the government. Odama told him that he came on behalf of the people of their country who were suffering as the victims of the conflict. Otti was suspicious still and accused Odama of being a government spy. Odama responded that this wasn't true, and that he viewed Otti and others in the LRA as lost sheep who he was coming out into the bush to find. Eventually, Otti warmed up and started to talk. Both sides left the meeting with the mindset that this dialogue would continue. It was silent diplomacy between the government and the rebels facilitated by this group of religious leaders.

At one point Museveni warned Odama not to go back into the bush to meet the rebels as he had it from a reliable source that they would surely kill him. But Odama and his peers continued their dialogue. They also continued to press for advocacy even coming to the US State Department. They created awareness in the world about the so far unknown plight of the Ugandan people, especially the children as the LRA was notorious for abducting children and assimilating them into their ranks. Odama talked about 4 days spent living and sleeping in the infamous bus parks where the night commuters slept to avoid abduction by the rebels. He talked about the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons in IDP camps. Through networking and advocacy with people in Sudan, Kenya, Europe and the US the hope of peace talks started to become a reality.

Finally, in July of 2006 these peace talks began and continued until March 2008. Odama and his fellow religious leaders where the official non partisan observers in the peace talks.

In April of 2008 the final signing of the peace agreement was to take place but it failed. Kony did not show. Another meeting in May failed to happen and another in August. Finally, in November 2008 Odama met Kony face to face in the bush and asked him why he would not show up to sign the peace agreement. Kony said that he would not sign with out the ICC indictment lifted. He told Odama he was like a hunter with a spear going after peace, but then behind him the lion (the ICC) was coming for him. So what was he to do? Continue to pursue peace or turn around and fight the lion? Odama urged him of the great importance of signing the agreement, but Kony was too suspicious.

Only 2 weeks after this meeting the new joint operation of Uganda, DR Congo and South Sudan was launched on December 14, 2008 against the LRA in DR Congo. That conflict is still going on today and Kony and his army are still at large. Odama did not speak much on this current conflict as he was careful to point out that the only news coming from the battlefield was from the army. He said the accuracy of these reports was definitely a concern of the people of Uganda who were eager for the truth. He encouraged the idea that independent reporters need to try and go into Congo and see for themselves and report the truth.

Odama made an apology to the people of Congo for allowing their war to be exported into Congo. Early in his talk when talking about the conflict between the LRA and the government in Uganda he referenced the famous Swahili proverb: "When 2 elephants fight the grass gets hurt." In talking about the current situation in DR Congo he extended this: "When there are many elephants fighting the grass really suffers".

With the dialogue cut off and hopes of further peace talks dashed by the new war, Odama did not show a loss of hope. Even though the war has furthered the mistrust of Kony, Odama still sees diplomacy as the only true answer to this conflict. He said all efforts should be made to try to end the war with diplomacy.

Odama proposes political and religious leaders start to brainstorm on how to end this conflict. He suggested that places like the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame are also good think tanks for finding a new path to diplomacy.

When asked if Kony might only be using the indictment from the ICC as an excuse to continue his war, Odama expressed his belief that Kony has 2 major issues he is facing: 1. Fear of prosecution and 2. He is not alone and must be concerned with the future of his officers. He then expressed a third concern Kony might have which is that he might wonder "can he truly be forgiven". When asked if the ICC has played any positive role, Odama expressed that it did serve the purpose of bringing accountability to the forefront and forced both sides of the conflict to consider the issue of punishment.

At the top I say Odama brings a message of hope. The underlying theme in all of his lecture was that of reconciliation. It was clear that ICC indictments, military operations, or even punishment were not the right answer in his mind. He instead takes the human approach. Repairing relationships is more important than punishment.

The moderator of the lecture asked Odama at the end how he maintains his hope when things have taken such a sharp turn for the worse. Odama simply responded that the mission of peace is not his. He doesn't own it. It is owned by God and he is simply a servant. He said "God wrote straight on a crooked line." He admitted that he didn't know what the next steps towards peace were, but knew that steps to peace can be found. He stressed that to find the solution they need more workers for peace and hope, as many as possible.

And finally, he got personal and said that he always has a soft voice in his head saying "I am with you always. Be not afraid." And he added: "Even to go into the bush and meet Kony".

TimBer's Talk: I'm finally getting it... I think

TimBer's Talk: I'm finally getting it... I think


My friend Tim (@timbergman) from work wrote this post today on figuring out Twitter. He used me (@paconmiller) as an example of someone he learned from so I figured I would share a little too.

I just started using Twitter a little over a month ago. At first I, too, had no idea what I was doing or even what the purpose was. I actually tried to follow the Facebook trend and actually answer the question "What are you doing?" Well, that is a pretty boring question to answer most of the time, and a huge constraint to creativity. But, then I realized through someone I was following (can't quite remember who) that I didn't have to answer that question. Twitter wasn't like Facebook. People decided to break that constraint of always trying to answer the actual question literally. So I started posting links that were of interest to me (this was right around the time too that I started reading blogs, mostly about tech and Africa). Then all of a sudden people started to follow me who had the same interests. I posted more on Africa and development than anything and became connected to all these people doing great things in Africa and the development world and holding great conversations on those topics (plus a lot more great links).

It was after those first few followers that I truly started to realize what Twitter was. It was a way to connect with people outside my normal friends, groups, work and networks. It was a way to connect with people all over the world who shared the same interests. That was one thing I never liked about Facebook. I always felt constrained by my network, and always worried about "friending" people I didn't know real well. With Twitter that isn't the case. You follow who you want and they can choose to follow you back or not. It's more like sharing conversation with interesting people than committing to a relationship. There's no need to break up or "unfriend". Just "unfollow" or walk away from the conversation (you can always come back).

Then I took the leap to update my Facebook status from Twitter. Crazy? I know. I was completely defying those infamous words "What are you doing right now?", and honestly I worried what my friends might think to my blatant disregard for "everything that was good and holy". Well, so far I haven't been "unfriended". To the contrary I've actually received pretty positive reaction to what I was doing and as a result I've become more active than I ever was on Facebook (I never got into it before) and started to interact with my friends....it started to become more like casual conversation than forced awkward interaction. People started to find me instead of me having to use friend finder and debate whether I knew someone well enough to click "add friend". I'm sure there are a lot of my "friends" thinking "That crazy Paco and his constant status feed." But for now I can live with that as long as a few are commenting on my updates.

As @timbergman is learning and figuring it out, I too am still figuring it out. I think I'm just hitting the tip of the iceberg. One thing @timbergman has taught me (as he surpassed me in followers ;)) is that you need to engage the community, especially those you follow and those who follow you. I have mostly posted links that I find interesting. But I haven't conversed enough. I know I'm no expert compared to a lot of my followees and followers, but that's the beauty of Twitter. You don't need to be an expert and can still be in the conversation.

So I think I too am starting to get it. I'm ready to start engaging. And I can't wait for what comes after that....

The True Power of Technology

Now that I spend a good deal of time keeping up with all the blogs in my Google Reader, the people I follow on Twitter, and all my friends on Facebook, I've started to realize the true power of technology to bring worlds together that 5 years ago would have never been possible.

5 years ago I was just finishing up my Peace Corps service in Mali. I had never owned a cell phone before my service as they were just starting to become popular towards the end of my college career, and in Mali they were just starting to pop up in the big cities. Now my wife talks to her family who live in a rural farming village with no electricity or running water weekly via a cell phone we bought her brother. Now everyone in the village has cell phones.

(Here's a link to an interview with Jeffrey Sachs on how cell phones are connecting the world.)

When I was serving in Mali connecting with the outside world was via occasional trips to the capital or regional capital to use email or make a phone call home on a land line. There was also, of course, snail mail. I was bad about writing letters and keeping people up to date on what I was up to. Now it seems more common than not for volunteers to have blogs where they post regular updates of their experience abroad. I've seen people using Facebook and Twitter to share the work they're doing and even seek professional help and funding.

When I tried to organize a project to dig a well in my village, I had a hard time connecting with the right resources to figure out what to do. I had to travel long distances to meet with various people and wait a long time to get answers. Now the potential is there for a volunteer in even the most remote places to connect directly with in country and stateside professionals for immediate advice.

When my wife and I first came back from Africa together and were facing the first challenges of her adjustment to life in the US and how to stay connected and help her family back home, we struggled to face these challenges on our own. Now through Facebook, Twitter, and blogs we have become connected to others facing the same struggles and were able to harness the generosity of our family and friends (something we were always too timid to ask for directly before).

For the past 5 years I've been struggling with how we might find a way to start to truly make an impact in Mali. I'm was never an expert in development and was never well connected to any "experts". I didn't really know where to look. Now thanks to Facebook, Twitter and blogs I am starting to find a path. Just through posting various links of personal interest to me on Twitter people with similar interests have started to follow me....and following these people has led me to find even more resources than I could find on my own not to mention finding and connecting to the "experts" I wasn't connected to before. I'll admit that I haven't quite found the exact path I want to follow, but thanks to social media I think I'm a lot closer to figuring that out than I ever was before.

I hope in the next 5 years to put these powerful tools to some good use. And I can't wait for the next great tool to come along that brings us all a step closer to bringing the world together.

Millet Drive Update

This past Saturday we wired the money from our millet drive to a friend who purchased the millet and rice for us. Thanks to the generosity of all the individuals who contributed we were able to raise almost $900. This has enabled us to buy 25 100 kg bags of millet (that's 2500 kg!) and 5 100 kg bags of rice (500 kg). We spoke to the village chief, Moussa Keita (Modiere's uncle), who was very happy. He expressed his thanks and said that now the burden of having to worry about food has been lifted off of them. The food purchased should go a long way in getting the family through to next season's harvest.

One of the greatest side benefits in my mind is the ability of the children from her family to continue their studies in the neighboring market town, Mahina. Last year, Modiere and I (mostly Modiere through her hard selfless work at The Breadsmith 5 nights a week) helped her father purchase a house in Mahina. This was critical for the family as most of the kids were now past the grade level that was offered in the village school. Therefore, they had to go to Mahina to continue their education. Without a house of their own, they would have had to rely on relatives to house the children which usually results in problems and tension because everyone is struggling to provide for their own families, or pay money for the kids to stay elsewhere. Another less than desirable alternative would have been for the kids to walk 6 km in the morning, study all day without lunch and walk 6 km back home in the afternoon. So we decided it was important to help them get a house of their own. So we did that last year, and this year the issue would have been that with food stretched thin it would have been hard to feed the kids in Mahina and the family in Sitafoula both. Our fear was that the kids education might have been sacrificed. But now we don't have to worry and the kids should be able to continue to go to school with full stomachs!

Thanks again to everyone for your generous support of this effort. We are grateful beyond words to all of you.

Top 10 Pieces of Peace Corps Advice

*I've also posted this to my FaceBook notes and Peace Corps Connect.

I decided to jump on the bandwagon of "25 Random things" and start my own list. This list is intended for Peace Corps volunteers, but is really open to anyone who has served anywhere or has development experience. The main goal is provide useful advice to future and current Volunteers/workers from former or current ones so everyone can have the best possible impact in the developing world and have as positive an experience as possible.

So it's simple: List where and when you served at the top; Llist the Top 5 things you would have done differently; List the Top 5 things you would definitely do again. On Facebook you would tag me and other volunteers but I guess here just use comments.

Here are mine:

Mali 2002-2004 (Peace Corps)

Top 5 Things I would have done differently:

1. While I mastered Bambara (local language) I didn't learn enough French, so I would have made a better effort to learn French. Bambara is great for within Mali but once you travel to neighboring countries you really need French.

2. We put a sheet metal roof on a schoolhouse but did not secure it with cement bricks on top. A windstorm damaged a good part of it. Definitely should have put bricks on top.

3. I planted trees all over the village but did not protect them from the animals. As soon as the hot season came and animals roamed free again a lot of the trees were destroyed.

4. I built a water basin to catch pump runoff to be used for feeding animals as well as water for work (making mud bricks, etc.) but there were 3 problems: too deep making it difficult for animals, no cover so it got dirty fast (mosquito breeding ground), it needed a drain that could be controlled to occasionally wash out the dirty water.

5. I made the mistake of lending/giving people money, and of course that leads to dependency which is not sustainable. So definitely try to avoid that trap, stick with truly sustainable work that involves community contribution and buy in. Even though the other might seem easier in the long term it just leads to more problems.

Top 5 Things I would definitely do again:

1. Focus on projects that relate to your community's needs and not just what sector you're in. This is what I did. Don't feel constrained by your sector/specialty.

2. Learn the language of the people. I mastered Bambara. For me, learning from young kids and youths my age worked better than anything.

3. Integrate with the community. Don't isolate yourself. Open your door, hang out with the locals, help in the work they do, eat the food they eat. I ate, drank, worked and danced with them. They respect you so much more when you do this, plus it makes the time go by much faster.

4. I spent a lot of time at my site (in my community). I know everyone has their unique experience, but for me this is something I would not change (Relates to number 3).

5. Share yourself: educate people about you, about America, about why you are there. This is something I wish I had done much more of, but I would not change the fact that I tried to do as much of this as possible. Remember the 2nd goal of Peace Corps here.

Lessons in Patience: African style

Today I got more stressed than I've been in quite some time and a lot of the stress was due to time constraints...I had to finish a task by a deadline that resulted in rushing home to get somewhere on time that resulted in.....

My first reaction was that it made me miss my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali when I used to spend every afternoon sitting with friends, drinking tea, greeting the other villagers and just hanging out. I did a lot of that in Mali...just hanging out (and 3 rounds of tea played a crucial role in that experience).

As my stress subsided, I started to think about all the lessons (most on patience) that I learned while in Mali (in no particular order):

1. Despite every one's need to have their Casio watches synchronized to the second....time did not really matter and there was no official time for anything...things just happen when they are supposed to happen...wake up at dawn, lunch and rest when it's hottest, dinner at dusk...

2. Expect everything to start 5 minutes to 5 hours late....a reasonable window in Mali

3. Chickens, donkeys, and women at the water pump are a much better alarm clock than the $20 clock/radio by my bed

4. waking up to a yard full of donkeys, sheep, chickens, and goats is nothing to get stressed about, just a friendly reminder to mend the fence

5. counting the mice dive bombing your mosquito net are a good alternative to counting sheep

6. 12 hours in 100 degree heat with very little water was a good first lesson to the public transportation schedule

6a. lesson 2: night spent on the open train car waiting for the 7 PM train that arrived at 7 AM

7. Almost being trampled by the mob trying to rush onto an arriving train in Bamako only to learn the train would sit for 3 more hours before leaving

8. expect the train to take anywhere from 12 to 30 hours

9. I'm sitting in the back of a bush taxi. Man in the back of the truck stands up and fires rifle off in the distance. Driver stops. Man jumps out and runs off. Man returns 15 minutes later with a goose in tow. Man jumps in. We all jump out to push car up hill to start. Continue on our journey. Perfectly normal.

10. I need to ask a Chinese acupuncturist if he knows the PC house in Kita. I don't speak Chinese. He doesn't speak English. We both speak Bambara.

11. Blaring music all night is perfectly acceptable.

12. In America we think duct tape is the all in one fix-it solution, but we haven't met "mana" --the strips of rubber that can be used to repair bicycle tires, donkey carts, farming equipment, and even bus axles

13. As much as Malians wait for everything else...waiting for food to be cool enough to put your hand in is not "normal"

14. Early afternoon naps under the neme tree

15. Greetings are 90% of 80% of conversations

16. Nights when the only thing you hope for is a cool breeze as you lie sweating on your outdoor bed of sticks...and the occasional late night cold water bucket rinse off

All of this made me love Mali and love Africa.

All of this prepared me for my last experience in Africa and one of my most memorable (although I have trouble with all the exact details) that wast the ultimate test in patience:

After our wedding in Mali my wife and I had to travel from Kayes, Mali to Dakar, Senegal. We decided to try the bus as I had taken the train in and it was over 35 hours.

Wednesday 4 PM: Get on bus in Kayes.

Wednesday Early evening: After a few hours we arrived at the Senegal border where we had to wait around to go through border customs. Waiting but not too bad yet.

Wednesday Late night: Set out and drive through most of the night without event (at least I don't remember much).

Thursday morning: The bus stops before dawn and they don't let anyone out. We sit for a long time wondering what is going on before we see men outside siphoning all of the gas out of the fuel tanks into large plastic jugs (apparently there was a leak). My first thought is that we'll have to catch another bus. Nope. A man brings the jugs inside the bus amongst the passengers and opens up a little hatch in the middle of the aisle. He pulls out a rubber tube (wonderful "mana") and starts siphoning gas directly into the engine's fuel line. He takes a seat to man his siphon and we depart.

Thursday Late morning: We drive for a few more hours into the middle of the day.

Thursday Noon: All of a sudden there is a big "thud" and it seems like the bus is grinding on something. The bus stops and we all crowd outside. The driver and his partner disappear down the road and us passengers are left to sit by the side of the road in the blazing midday heat (luckily we bought a thermos with ice the day before).

Thursday an hour or so later: Clueless as to what is going on. Most passengers don't seem too concerned yet. Finally, the driver appears carrying a large chunk of wood that he had just chopped down. It seems that the piece of metal that holds the bus frame up from rubbing against the wheel axle broke off, and this piece of wood is what he intends to use in its place. So with a little rope and, of course, "mana"....

Thursday another hour later: We're off again.

Thursday mid afternoon: Amazingly that block of wood holds up for quite a few hours...but alas eventually it breaks out and another "thud" and grinding halt. We all pile out again and the driver says he has to try and hitch a ride to the next town for "a part" and will be back. He hitches a ride on the next passing car and is gone leaving his partners behind. So we all take our places in the shade on the side of the road and wait.

Thursday late afternoon: Now we're over 20 hours into the trip and the events that have been occurring are starting to surpass "normal" so people start to complain. Some approach the workers asking for their luggage so they can hitch other rides. At first the bus workers don't comply so people start to get it themselves. My problem is that my luggage (along with most of the other passengers' luggage) is lashed to the top of the bus along with a few sheep and goats. So I'm forced to wait and wait and wait....

Thursday not too much later: The driver comes back and lets us know that the bus is beyond repair so we have to hitch other rides. They get our luggage down and we wait for the next car.

Thursday still late afternoon: It isn't too long (or at least not too long compared to everything else) before we find a small minivan to take us. So we hop in and ride for 6 more hours to a pit stop

Thursday 6 hours later: We have dinner and are transferred to another minibus that must wait around until it's full before departing on our final leg to Dakar. Finally, we depart.

Friday 4 am: We make it to Dakar where we have to take a cab to a hotel which ends up being full so we have to walk and find a really shady hotel for the night....oh...and did I mention, we had a very important appointment at the American Consulate in Dakar that morning at 8 am regarding my wife's visa.

So if ever there was a time to be stressed...it was on that bus thinking making our appointment (that I waited a year to get scheduled) was impossible and I would have traveled thousands of miles to marry and bring back my wife only to have to leave her behind....but "Allah Sonna" and the rest is history.

So after that you would think nothing can phase me, but alas I find myself slipping into the constraints of time that we all operate by here in the developed world. But my stressful day has caused me to think back and remember how silly we are to be so worried about time and all the other things we stress about....so maybe next time I start to have a day like today I need to remember these lessons and use them like a mantra to recenter myself.

Peace Corps Partnership

Today, thanks to @pcorpsconnect on Twitter I came across a nice article on a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali who is bringing clean water to a community in Sikasso. This reminded me of my largely unsuccessful attempt to bring more water to my host village, Sitafoula, in Mali. And my wife knows too well the burden Malian women bear in having to rely on limited water resources.

In Sitafoula the 2 biggest needs were Education and Water, and I believe those are probably two of the biggest needs throughout much of Mali and Sub Saharan Africa for that matter. Sitafoula is in the heart of the Kayes region of Mali that is very rocky. Thus, digging wells becomes a huge challenge as my friends from Manatali who helped dig the well in Sitafoula learned. I tried during my service to make strides towards both of these, but I am not wholly satisfied with my efforts. So I am determined to find a new way to confront both of these issues in Sitafoula and hopefully beyond that. But, I'm still trying to figure out where to start....so more on that in a later post.

So for now I want to highlight the other thing that the article mentioned above reminded me of: the Peace Corps Partnership Program. It is one of resources volunteers are presented as an option for funding projects during their service. Basically, you write up a proposal which then gets submitted for approval from the Peace Corps officials in country (like any project you have to show community support and contribution). Once approved Peace Corps puts it up on their website where donors can search for volunteers by name, state, country of service, sector or region. I completed one of these myself while in Mali. Mine was to complete construction of a 3 classroom schoolhouse in Sitafoula to serve 3 villages. I successfully secured funding from 4 or 5 different donors. It's a great program as it is a way for friends and family to help volunteers and have a direct impact and participate in the volunteer's service. I'm a big advocate of grassroots development and "on the ground" sustainable projects, and that is exactly what this is. I feel like the program isn't too well known, which is unfortunate. If you think about it, this is probably one of the first places you could go online and find small projects to contribute to that you knew were making a direct impact. All your funds go to the project and it is the volunteers job to outline their use of those funds. And of course there is an approval process so you can be confident that thought was put into it and sustainability was considered.

Now there is stuff all over the place online where you can go and donate to this or that cause, which is great. Maybe it's personal bias (I am an RPCV), but I wish the Partnership Program got more attention. Why don't you hear about it more? Why haven't I found a Facebook group for it? Maybe I need to start one....

Here are some cool projects (of course I have to highlight Mali, but go to the site and search for what you like):

Children's Garden

School Construction

Women's Garden Association: Well and Fencing Project

Millet Drive for Keita Kaw in Sitafoula

My wife, Modiere's, family in Mali had a rough farming season this year. Inconsistent rains and flocks of birds damaged a large portion of their millet crop this year. Normally, they are able to harvest 30-40 100 Kilogram sacks of millet to feed their large extended family for the year until the next harvesting season. However, this year their crop only produced 10 100 Kilogram sacks. So they are short quite a bit, and without some help the months of August and September will be quite rough. Modiere and I are doing all we can ourselves to put some money aside and send it over, but aren't able to do enough this year. My generous family and a couple friends have already committed some help. A 100 Kilo sack costs about $25-$30 this time of year. The timing is crucial as that price will skyrocket in a few months. We're looking to help purchase at least 30 sacks to get them through most of the year. Modiere and I personally plan on funding at least 10. So while I hate to beg or bother others with our own family problems, I decided to try this new concept that I found called ChipIn. Thanks for your support. I will try to provide updates and more information as we move along.

Update: Very thankful and a little overwhelmed at the support we've gotten so far. Big thanks to my brother David for the $300! Also, thanks to Roman. Aside from the $325, we've already gotten $180 from other friends and family via check as well as commitments for more! The family in Mali is going to be very happy, especially the kids going to school in the market town who will be able to stay in school because feeding them won't be a problem.

Update 2: Wow! Less than 24 hours and we're at 93% of the $600 online goal, thanks to some very generous friends and family. Modiere talked to her family today and they were very happy to hear it. Plus, if you count some other private family and friends donations we are well over this goal which means we can help even more people. There really are a lot of good people out there!

Update 3 (Feb 10, 2009): Quick update. We've been talking with various contacts in Mali to try to get a good handle on current millet prices. We are also thinking about adding some rice to the mix. Millet is at about 15,000 CFA per 100 kilo bag and rice is 18,500 CFA per 100 kilo bag. Thanks to David, Pete, Michelle and Drew, Paul and Betsy, and Roman for contributing the $555 seen below. Also, thanks to Matt and Leilani, Mary, Thomas and my parents for committing another $200 to make the total $755. With our own money added in we should be able to meet our goal of 30 100 Kilo bags. We're still working out some logistics but hope to be able to wire the money and make the purchase this weekend. Thanks a million to all who have supported us. Sitafoula Kaw ko INI CE!

Viewpoints and Ideas on Development & Peace Corps

I just read an interesting blog post from Devon with the Mali Health Organizing Project in Sikoroni, Mali:

http://devongola.blogspot.com/2009/01/ambiguities-of-peace-corps.html


Devon offers an honest assessment of Peace Corps from the perspective of a development worker who is not a Peace Corps volunteer. Her overall assessment is that despite many positives Peace Corps is not successful as a development organization. It seems that her primary reason for believing this is the lack of experience of volunteers.

If you've read my first post, you can see some of my own views on Peace Corps agree with Devon's, although I am much more optimistic about the importance and future of the organization. The main point that we agree on is the lack of volunteers' preparedness to fulfill the 1st goal:

• Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

Most of the men and women joining the Peace Corps are not well enough trained or prepared for what they will encounter. Most volunteers are fresh out of school and spend almost half of their service learning the language and the culture, so they don't bring the right skills necessary to make a lasting impact in sustainable development.

Devon suggests that Peace Corps needs to change its structure and be more selective in choosing volunteers. In my earlier post I asked those same questions, but I'm still not convinced that is the only answer. Of course, in an ideal world all Peace Corps volunteers would be experts and well trained for their service, but I fear that setting standards too high might affect the positive impact Peace Corps is able to make towards its other 2 goals.

One idea I've had (it might not work or maybe it exists already, but I'll throw it out there anyway) is to create a better system of support for volunteers, but to do so in a creative way that doesn't have to get stalled in the bureaucracy of a government institution. What if there existed a way for volunteers in the field to link up with experts in the US and for those experts to serve as mentors to the volunteers in the field. Communication technology has come a long way since I left Mali in 2004. Cell phones are everyone, Internet is more available, digital cameras and flip video are widely available.... What if there was a LinkedIn for the development world or some similar social network where people with technical experience can collaborate with people on the ground. RPCVs who now have experience could link back up with their host communities and current volunteers to continue to make an impact toward the 1st goal. Who knows, if you can prove a mentoring model, maybe you could get Peace Corps to treat the mentors as volunteers themselves and finance trips to host countries to help with major projects. But I don't think one needs to wait for Peace Corps to change. Why can't we change Peace Corps? Maybe someone else is doing this already? Maybe the National Peace Corps Association has it in the works already? I haven't found it yet, so maybe I'll start something. Anyone takers?

Paul Polak: Combating Poverty with Practical Solutions

Today I want to highlight Paul Polak. Polak is the founder of International Development Enterprises. He believes in tackling the issue of poverty at its roots through practical solutions. He has been doing so for 25 years, and his work has helped move 17 million people out of poverty.

He has received numerous accolades including being named one of Scientific American's Top 50 in 2003, Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in the social responsibility category in 2004, and a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation in 2006.

He is the author of Out of Poverty in which he shares his practical guide to problem solving.

Here are his 12 steps for practical problem solving which he describes in an 8 minute video here.

12 steps:

1. Go to where the action is
2. Talk to the people and listen
3. Know the specific context
4. Think and act big
5. Think like a child
6. see and do the obvious
7. If somebody already invented it, you don't have to
8. Measurable impacts that can be brought to scale
9. Design to specific price targets
10. Practical 3 year work plans
11. Continue to learn from your customers
12. Don't be distracted by what people say


If donating, pick organizations that have measurable impacts.

Here are some practical tips from his website:


Practical Things You Can Do:

ONE: If you like what you’ve read in Out of Poverty, get ten other people to read it and encourage them to act on what they learn from it.

TWO: Stop pitying poor people.

THREE: Learn as much as you can about poor people in your neighborhood, their specific problems, and the specific context in which they
live and work.

FOUR: Become informed about the realities of global poverty and what can be done about it.

FIVE: Invest in viable businesses serving poor customers.

SIX: Contribute time and money to organizations that demonstrate specific scalable impacts, and make them accountable for whatever time or money you provide.

Get Out of Poverty at BetterWorld.com or Amazon.com:

Donni Donni Kononi B'a Nyaga Da

That's Bambara for "Little by little the little bird builds its nest" which is a proverb that was used often during my Peace Corps service in Mali to explain a development philosophy.

Lately I've been reminiscing a lot about my time in Mali and development in African in general. And I always come back to that proverb. The more I read and learn about all the different approaches to development and foreign aid, especially in this time of economic turmoil, I keep reaffirming some of my core beliefs about development:

• On the ground grassroots development: understand the people first and do what they need, not what you think they need
• Education is vital: Teach a man to fish
• Cross cultural understanding is important: be open to learning and spread what you learn
• Private Investment and Entrepreneurship have the biggest potential: it's time to think outside the box of the traditional "non-profit' approach
• Focus on Women is vital to the future (This is especially true in Africa)
  

So I've decided to start finding some examples that exemplify these principles. Now, while I truly do believe in these principles, I do not consider myself an expert, although I do have some first hand experience. Thus, I am always open to learning more and hearing about "better" approaches.

So I'll start with one story here and post more in future posts. This is a story I retweeted about today on Twitter. Thanks to @pcorpsconnect for the original tweet. It highlights 2 RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) who are helping women in Ghana become entrepreneurs.

http://www.odemagazine.com/exchange/4749/two_women_pioneer_a_new_way_to_help_african_women_help_themselves

More to come.

Believing in the Dignity of All: Close of World Economic Forum

The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu closes out the World Economic Forum at Davos with Klaus Schwab, John Bryant, HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and Pekka Himanen. This is definitely worth listening too.


http://gaia.world-television.com/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2009/default.aspx?sn=7046&lang=en


Himanen and Bryant make some good points between the 35th and 45th minutes.

Kofi Annan's Executive Summary on Africa

Kofi Annan: Africa: Preserving Progress at a time of global crisis

Annan points to real progress that has been made behind the scenes of all the humanitarian crises the global media focuses on, but emphasizes that this progress is threatened by the global economic crisis as countries back down aid commitments. He states that continued foreign investment, both by governments and the private sector, are essential. Continued support of good governance is also necessary...

Read the whole summary here.

Peace Corps' Role at a Pivotal Moment

I was happy to find an article today in my Alma Mater's student newspaper, The Observer, an article celebrating an increase in the number of alumni volunteers serving in the Peace Corps. This was especially encouraging to hear after reading several other articles noting a decrease in the number of overall Peace Corps volunteers worldwide. It was also an added bonus that the article features a PC in Mali, my former country of service. PC Sara Snider captures the heart of Malian culture quite well in this quote:

"Often I would just walk around the village and join in with whatever a group of people were doing. The culture here is such that anyone is more than welcome anywhere and anytime," she said. "It's completely acceptable to invite yourself to any activity."

Here she not only captures the spirit of Mali, but also captures one of the most important aspects of Peace Corps, the connection you develop with the people by living with them every day and just doing what they do.

My experience as a Peace Corps volunteer was a very positive one, but I'll be the first to admit that I was not well prepared for what I was getting into, nor was 2 years enough time to really figure it out. I did a couple big projects, but looking back I am not satisfied with any of them as now having more experience I can see the faults in them.

However, the one thing I have taken away and am very proud of is the connection I made with the people in my village. I lived with them in a mud hut with a thatch roof, no electricity or plumbing, ate all my meals with them, hunted with them, built houses with them, farmed with them, harvested with them, and danced with them. It never ceased to amaze (and amuse) people when they would see the toubab (white person) with a daba tilling the soil in the peanut fields. But eventually I succeeded in getting many of them to accept me as one of their own. In fact they even allowed me to marry one of their daughters and take her all the way to America. And I think at the same time I gave them a new perspective on the American toubab. And I was left with a lasting impression of a different world I could have never truly understood had I not lived there.

This impression is so lasting that I can't help but feel drawn back from time to time...wishing to be shelling peanuts over 3 rounds of tea in the hot African sun instead of sitting at my computer...or even entertaining the idea of going back for good some day.

Back in the US, working full time, raising a family, it's easy to start to forget this "impression" or let it fade. But recently, after reading about RPCVs' experience marching in the inaugural parade (like here) and hearing President Obama himself mention Peace Corps at the "Be the Change" ball and hearing about the call to service and sharing in the general sense of hope that the United States will renew its image in the eyes of the rest of the world, the "impression" is getting stronger again. I remember now how important, now more than ever, the last 2 goals of the Peace Corps mission are:

• Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
• Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans

While there are a lot of great Peace Corps projects that have been done and are being done, which will have a lasting impact on the people they serve, my own experience tells me that for a lot of volunteers these last 2 goals are our best chance to make an impact. Its hard in 2 years to learn a language, understand a culture and develop the skills to make great progress in sustainable development. But, in 2 years one can definitely leave a lasting impression on a community of America. And one can definitely come back and open Americans' eyes to life beyond our borders.

Thus, at this time I believe that Peace Corps and other institutions like it are vitally important to the renewal of the positive image of the United States for the rest of the world. It is real Americans going out and living with real people from other countries, and truly trying to walk in their shoes with humility.

With my extended family in Mali, I'm still working on number 2 and I now have renewed vigor to look for more opportunities to do number 3. And now that I've got some experience in the real world (both outside our borders and within) I hope someday I'll get the chance to try to fulfill goal number 1 again:

• Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

Maybe Peace Corps needs to realign their goals. Or maybe they just need more experienced men and women to follow the call. But, in either case I know that 2/3 of the goals are essential to the future of our nation and our world.