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FSD Bulletin | 20 August 2010
“Youth deserve our full commitment—full access to education, adequate healthcare, employment opportunities, financial services and full participation in public life." - United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon
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Greetings from FSD, Today, youth represent 18% of the global population or 1.2 billion people. 87% of youth live in developing countries, facing challenges brought about by limited access to healthcare, education, employment, and economic opportunities. Young people in all countries are a major human resource for development, positive social change and technological innovation. Their ideals, energy and vision are essential for the continuing development of their societies.The United Nations has proclaimed 2010 the International Year of Youth, beginning with International Youth Day (12 August 2010). In commemoration, FSD is dedicating this bulletin to youth development as a part of our efforts to shed light on the critical role young people play in addressing our world’s most pressing challenges. |
In this Issue:
Meet an FSD Expert
Mireille provides strategic and technical leadership and operational oversight to all FSD programs, partnership development, and the home office. Her work in international development over the past decade has supported programs in 30 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with field work in ten. She has over 13 years’ senior management experience in the nonprofit and private sectors,leading initiatives in program design and management, policy reform, partnership and capacity building, and strategic communications from community-based to international policy levels. Prior to joining FSD, Mireille worked with iOWH (a non-profit pharmaceutical company funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), BASICS II (USAID’s flagship child survival project), and has consulted with several major international NGOs. Mireille is a frequently requested speaker on FSD's Speakers Bureau, and is available for panel appearances, conference addresses, and university lectures.
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Our Year Our Voice: International Year of Youth Sheds Light on Youth Development around the Globe The theme for this year’s International Youth Day is “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding,” reflecting the value of dialogue among youth from different cultures as well as among different generations. This theme is also an opportunity for international governments, NGOs, and communities to demonstrate their commitment to young people. We at FSD hope you take a moment to consider the value of young peoples’ energy, imagination and initiatives, and recognize youth action as a crucial component in enhancing peace and development around the world.
Featured Project: Vocational Skills Building for Youth
The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) funds critical initiatives around the world that enhance the capacity of community based organizations (CBOs) in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to address local health, social, environmental, and economic issues. Each FSD monthly bulletin highlights a unique project that demonstrates the ways in which we adapt our support to meet the distinct needs of each community.
FSD Alumni Advance in International Development Careers
As an FSD Intern in La Plata, Argentina, Trey supported a documentary photography program based on the Photovoice Method and working with eight persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). To raise community awareness about HIV/AIDS in La Plata, this project included the creation of an exhibition to display the participants' photographic work. This 16-day public viewing allowed the participating PLWHA to author their histories and share their voice for the first time.
FSD Alumni comprise a uniquely talented group of development leaders. Today, FSD Alumni are more than 2,000 strong! Our Alumni have gone on to win Rhodes, Fulbrights and other merit-based scholarships, study at prestigious graduate schools, work for prominent international development organizations, as well as start their own grassroots organizations.
FSD Interns provide critical support to our Community-Based Partner Organizations around the world. Here is a look at what one Intern in Jodhpur, India is up to this month:
One woman named Kamla—or I should say girl, as she was either fifteen or sixteen (she didn’t know)—spoke with us about her life; she responded to our eager smiles, hiding her face and giggling at times, and then got up to grab her eight-month-old son from his nap about halfway through our interview. Kamla has been married for two years. She works for two hours in the mornings smelting and sharpening the mine workers’ tools sans protective gear for five to ten rupees a piece (conversion rate: 45 rupees is approximately one U.S. dollar) because her family is from the blacksmith caste. She knows no other trade, has never been to school, and started working at age ten. Her father passed away several years ago, and so her mother arranged her marriage with another boy from a nearby community when she was thirteen. Her husband, Bablu, has never been to school and also cannot read. Together with the rest of her family, they bring in about four hundred rupees per day in family income. Her little sister, who is seven, will go to work in a few years when she is old enough. When asked if she would send her son to school when he was old enough, she shook her head no. Her caste does not have a tradition of sending kids to school. “School is only for rich people,” a fourteen-year-old boy, who had worked in the mines since he reached ten, told us. “All of my friends are in the mines.” Kamla struck me as one of the prettiest, most expressive people that I have ever met. Her favorite colors—pink, green, and yellow—and her shy smiles, however, gave away her youth. Talking with her, I realized that the only thing that separates us, that puts me in the place of a well-off, educated, independent American girl and her in the place of an illiterate, malnourished, underage mother, is chance. Enabling even one child to fight for his or her right to an education would more than compensate the two months that I will spend in Jodhpur with the Mine Labor Protection Campaign. More» |
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Person of the Month
Maria Guillermina Alsina Bengardini
Vice President and Director, El Roble
As Vice President and Director of El Roble, a child center for at-risk youth and an FSD Partner in La Plata, Argentina, Guillermina Alsina Bengardini has worked tirelessly for more than fifteen years to increase the quality of life for hundreds of La Plata's most vulnerable children. Founded in 1995, El Roble initially served as a safe haven for a small group of five children who came from situations of neglect. Under Guillermina's leadership, El Roble has grown steadily and now provides education and nutritional support to dozens of children in the greater La Plata region. The care El Roble provides these children is critical to their self-esteem and development; the daily programs at El Roble encourge their imagination, ideals, energy and vision to flourish, helping them to become active and contributing members of society. Recognizing her achievements in advancing programs for at-risk youth, La Plata's mayor recently honored Guillermina with the "2010 Outstanding Woman of the Year" award. Guillermina’s dedication and enthusiasm inspire us all, and we are proud to highlight her extraordinary contributions to youth development in this month’s bulletin.
FSD would like to honor extraordinary individuals working in some of the most difficult environments in the world to improve the lives of others. Tell us who you think has made an extraordinary impact by e-mailing bulletin@fsdinternational.org, subject line “Person of the Week.” Please explain your nomination in 150 words or less and include your name, affiliation and location.
Youth Turn Garbage into Income Generating Materials in Mombasa, Kenya
“In Kenya, garbage is either left lying on the streets to act as breeding grounds for pests and disease, or it is burnt, causing immeasurable damage to the environment and to the respiratory systems of community members. During my stay in Kenya, I’m working to train four youth groups how to run a business through the proper collection and processing of waste. We just finished a three-day workshop in which the groups learned about waste management theory and how to turn garbage into income generating materials such as compost and charcoal briquettes. In August, representatives from each group will undergo a two-week training to learn about leadership skills, marketing, business management, bookkeeping and grant writing. In this photo, Rashid Mohammad, the chairman of one of the youth groups, carries dry agricultural waste to the site of their first compost pile.”
- Christan Leonard, FSD Intern, Mombasa, Kenya
A Young Apprentice Uses a Sander to Smooth Leather in Masaya, Nicaragua
“I took this photo during a series of trips to different shoemaking workshops around Masaya, a small city know as the "cradle of Nicaraguan folklore". I had initially brought my camera to take pictures of the different machinery that the shoemakers use, but when I arrived I realized I had the opportunity to capture a lot more. The following photo features a young apprentice using a sander to smooth leather. This particular workshop specializes in childrens sandals, and the grandaughter of my host-mom sports a similiar pair produced by this very shoemaker.”
- Patrick Mellors, FSD Intern, Masaya, Nicaragua
This month on Facebook, FSD Fan Kerala Hise posts activist Maude Barlow’s opinion on the recent United Nations General Assembly’s vote to adopt a resolution recognizing the human right to drinking water and sanitation. Maude writes, “When Pablo Solon, Bolivian ambassador to the UN, stood up to introduce the resolution, he referred to a new report on diarrhea showing that every 3.5 seconds, a child dies in the global South from dirty water. Then he held up his fingers and counted – 1, 2, 3. As he paused, the great hall went dead quiet. Then, the General Assembly voted.”
FSD Fan Jamie Horvath comments,“This resolution has great intentions and heart, though it leaves much to be desired from a practical implementation standpoint. Are governments the best and most efficient bodies to ensure their countries have ready access to clean water? If a country is wasteful with water and runs low, can that country take water from other countries with better water conservation practices? How will diverting limited water resources toward this resolution affect agriculture and the water that countries rely on to grow food? We must be smart and thoughtful in our progress toward clean water for all so that we give ourselves the best chance at reaching a sustainable solution.”
Join the conversation by posting a comment on FSD’s Facebook wall. Reader comments will be published right here!
Get Involved: Support FSD Partners' Youth Programs
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This Fall, Join FSD's International Development Training Programs for Students and Professionals—Apply by September 1st
Gain hands-on training in community-based sustainable development and project management while working with one of over 300 CBOs globally. Apply today to join FSD and support our community-based partners in the areas of Microfinance, Environment, Health, Human Rights, Gender Equity, Youth Development and Education. The final application deadline is September 1, 2010 - Apply Now. Contact us for information on funding resources and academic credit.
Service Learning Trips (SLTs)
Service learning enables participants to gain both theoretical understanding and practical experience in community-driven development. Local communities collaboratewith service learning participants to develop projects that are meaningful and that support sustainable change in communities. Practical service is linked to lectures, workshops, and cultural experiences to provide participants with a broad-based understanding of international community development. Start dates are customizable—Learn More»
Start a Giving Circle
A Giving Circle might best be described as the philanthropic equivalent of a book club. A group of donors join together and pool their time, talent and resources to work together on making international grants. The Giving Circle model is designed to connect people in the US who have a desire to learn about and give to small community development organizations in the developing world. Through a series of meetings, Giving Circle members learn about the issues through readings, guest presentations from experts in the field, and in some cases, through direct observation and dialogue with the grantees themselves. The Circle members then decide collectively how they can make the greatest impact with their pooled funds. More»
Join a Travelling Giving Circle to India in October, 2010
Join FSD and the Make it Real Foundation for a Remarkable Trip to Rajasthan, India from October 18th-29th, 2010. Participants will pool their donations together and engage in a collaborative grantmaking decision process with several grassroots Indian community based organizations. Participants will observe the work of grantees first-hand, learning about the people they serve and the key challenges they face. The trip will promote a personal connection between donors and grantees, while advancing a more engaged grant decision-making approach. More»
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There is nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. I still can’t get the image of the mine out of my head: the gaping mouth of it, the men working jackhammers in rubber sandals without masks, goggles, or gloves, the women carrying stones back and forth on their heads in the 100+ temperatures, the children crouched on the slag heaps with hammers in hand. One woman was working in the sandstone quarry with her baby slung across her chest. Winding through the narrow dirt roads among the hills of scrap stone, we kept catching glimpses of children at work before we were recognized and the children were rushed out of sight.