When I left Africa on my last trip, I asked a question to the teachers and parents at the school: “what should I bring when I return?”
They replied, without hesitation: “bring friends.” They want to meet you, to know the invisible people who somehow helped to rebuild a place that represents, for many of them, the cornerstone of their community. And while I’d love for all of you to join me us on our upcoming trip, I know for some of you that’s just not possible.
So I want to bring you in the way I’m able – on film. I want them to hear – from you – about who you are, what you’d like to know about them, and why you believe their stories matter. We plan to combine all of your responses to create a movie for the kids – some of whom may have never seen a movie before, and certainly not one just for them. Check out George’s picture to the right for some indication of just how interested the kids are in movies. You can see his makeshift video camera fashioned from pencaps, paper and rubberbands.
Already, we’ve had participants submit videos from London to Texas, but your voice is missing – and the kids would love to hear from you. To inspire you, the little redhead has again busted out her video camera to show you how easy it is.
As she mentions, all you need to do in your video is:
1) Introduce yourself & share something interesting about your life.
2) Ask the kids, teachers or parents at the school a question.
3) Tell them why you think their story matters.
So we have an opportunity to edit before we leave for Tanzania, your submissions are due by Monday, June 2 Sunday, June 15th. If you can’t get it to me by that date, just let me know when you can submit yours. If you have a question, or need any help with your video, email me at stacey@epicchange.org or call me directly at 415.630.0631. In addition, if there’s simply no way I’ll convince you to get on video, do this: email me at stacey@epicchange.org with a photo of yourself that includes your personal message to the kids.
You can’t imagine what their faces will look like when you remind them of their significance, through your eyes and in your voice. And I’ll make sure you get to see their reactions, all the way from Africa, right here on the blog.
I’ve had the incredible opportunity to have many conversations with Mama Lucy, and some of the parents at the school, about the many various ways that “aid” has been provided in their country. I’ve sat over chai at Lucy’s table and discussed our mutual frustrations with many failed, and some quite arrogant, approaches. I thought you might be interested to hear some of her thoughts, too. I realize, of course, that whatever she shares is now cast through the lens that she is our partner, but nonetheless I think she expresses a frank, thoughtful position that you’ll likely find interesting and thought-provoking. If you have questions, I’d encourage you to ask them directly to her. Though her internet access is somewhat limited, I’m sure she’ll be excited to respond as soon as she’s able.
Mama Lucy’s first language is Swahili, but she speaks remarkable English. I’ve no doubt that you’ll be able to understand the meaning of her note. Additionally, since we hope to build an online community where people from both of our cultures can meaningfully connect, I believe it’s imperative for us to begin to share these communications without mediation.
When I asked her to share with you her perspectives on aid, and our approach in particular, Mama Lucy wrote:
Dear Epic Changers,
What is aid?
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it has the following meaning:
Money, food, etc. that is sent to help in difficult situations.
Help that you need to perform a particular task.
Help that is given to a person.
Now let’s come to the point.
Those definitions give us a picture of how beautiful it is. For me, an aid seems to be a very good thing too, but it has two sides. One, it depends on how an aid giver decides to give (the approach). To the right people/community/country at the right time through those who have direct connection to the targeted group.
The other side, it depends on how an aid receiver is prepared to use/utilize such aid. Positively or otherwise. Someone can decide to send an aid with very good intention to help a community to cater a certain need, but can end up with no good impact. The receiver must be related to that need. There must be connection between the two.
Giving aid through “participatory approach” can bring great change to a community. Such community can value what they have participated in, rather than what they’ve just received ready made.
Epic Change has this unique approach of giving aid to our community. (participatory approach). They support us by giving us loans and strengthening our muscles by giving us chances to do planning and decision making. We do these practically.
Epic Change does not leave us to be passive recipients but active participants. It helps and encourages entrepreneurship and initiative in our community; which brings economic empowerment.
This is the only way a community can be taught how to fish, and not only be given a fish.
I wish other organizations could come up with this approach, there would be great change in our community!
Lucy
When we originally conceptualized Epic Change, we knew two things:
We knew nothing about building a school in Africa.
Mama Lucy did.
Therefore, you’ll see from the earliest documentation of our organization that our first, and most important, core value is local leadership. Epic Change does not design, develop or implement community improvements. We do not build schools. We’ve simply created an experimental business model that we hope will enable us to create a renewable source of capital to invest in the crucial efforts of grassroots change agents across the globe like Mama Lucy. While she calls our approach “participatory,” Mama Lucy does far more than participate. She independently founded and is leading this effort. As she mentions, she does the “planning and decision making.” After all, she created the school, and made it successful, long before we ever arrived. The vision is hers to realize, along with the parents’ committee, the amazing staff of teachers she’s hired and, of course, her students.
I recently ran across a link to the film They Come in the Name of Helping by Peter Brock on Peter Dietz’s Social Actions blog. The film takes a critical look at the effectiveness of foreign development programs through the eyes of young adults living in Sierra Leone. They offer thought-provoking perspectives on the value of local involvement in identifying the needs of a particular community and the solutions that are most appropriate in a given cultural context. It’s definitely worth spending some time to take a look, and provides some compelling reasons why locally-led initiatives likely have the greatest potential for success.
In it, 24-year-old journalist Zainab Kamara says:
“They [i.e., foreign aid workers] come in the name of…solving the problem, in which they don’t even have an iota of an idea…When they come, they just say, ‘we have the solution to your problem; don’t worry, we’re here.’ So their assurance is there; we’re just waiting on them to solve the problem. Instead of telling us that you [i.e., local people] have the solution to your problems, all they’ll do is say, ‘we have the solutions to your problem, so just wait on us and we’ll solve the problem.’”
Mama Lucy knows the problem, has the solution and waits for no one. As it should be.
How do you feel about our approach as Mama Lucy has shared it? Given what you know about our partnership with her, do you have suggestions for how we could improve our approach? Do you have any questions for Mama Lucy – or for us? Any other insights from watching Brock’s film?
In my birthday post on Go Big Always, I asked for three things: videos, donations & volunteers. It’s now 10 days later & several folks have now asked if I got my wishes, so here’s the skinny so far:
Videos
I’ve asked for everyone supporting our efforts to participate in making a movie for the kids that will be called Your Stories Matter. So far, several people have indicated interest, but no one has yet submitted a video. I figure maybe you were just waiting for me to jump first, so in the wee hours of this morning, before I went to bed, I made my own. Please note that 1) I am not pretty at 2:30am; 2) I hate seeing my mug on video; and 3) There’s nothing super genius about my submission – but it’s true. That’s all I want from you.
You have some time; videos are due by Friday, May 30th, but the sooner the better. All you need to do is create a video that includes your name & location and answers one or more of the following questions:
Why do the stories of the children, parents and teachers at a school in Tanzania matter to you?
What’s something interesting about you?
What’s a question you have for the students, parents or teachers of the school in Tanzania?
Donations
Last week, we received Sam’s amazing gift of Clearspace Community, and raised $421. $191 of that was birthday gifts from my friends & family, so $230 came from the six trendsetters who have been the first to donate since hearing about our story on Go Big Always.
If you get a chance, tweet these folks a thanks! It’s incredibly significant to add 6 new donors to our cause, but we’ve got a long way to go to get to our next goal of $25,000 to make a loan for the school bus, which I’d like to do before we depart this summer, probably in late June. So far, we’ve raised $6,046 toward that effort, so we’ve got $18,954 to go. Any great ideas?
Recently I learned via @Silverbell that, according to Convio, only about 8% of supporters, activists & advocates for a cause actually give to that cause. Why do you think that is? In your experience, what differentiates a cause to which you give from one which you support? I’d love to get a sense about what would motivate you to give.
So far over $40,000 has been raised and four classrooms have been built in Tanzania because of the generosity of many, many individuals, most of whom have donated about $25, and a handful that make small gifts of $5 – $25 monthly. So often, I think folks assume that philanthropy is the realm of the rich and powerful, or the job of corporations and foundations. In fact, according Giving USA, only 4.3% of total donations come from corporate contributions, and 12.4% from foundations. 83.3% – the overwhelming majority of charitable gifts – come from individuals like you who believe they have the power to make a difference. While we’re looking for help from corporations and foundations too, based on our experience at Epic Change, I’m a firm believer in the power of micro-philanthropy. Giving is for everyone and together, we are all powerful.
Okay, so maybe I thought (or at least secretly hoped) that pennies (or dollars) would rain down from the heavens when I posted to Sam’s blog; perhaps you hoped so too. And the money will come – it’s only been a week, and we’ve just begun to spread the word. I think, though, that this is probably an eye-opening case study for folks into just how difficult fundraising really is. We could really use your help. Remember, no one here gets a salary, and we don’t have the overhead of an office. Your donations directly build on the efforts of one amazing woman in Tanzania to provide a great education to kids like Glory & Gideon.
Besides, according to a study recently published in Science Magazine and the Boston Globe, a team of researchers from Harvard and the University of British Columbia recently found that “spending money on others promotes happiness.” So get happy, give now. And ask everyone you know to do the same.
Volunteers
Whew. Boy, howdy. This has been perhaps one of the coolest weeks ever in terms of getting connected to great people who can help.
Friday, for instance, I spoke with Jim Long, an NBC producer/cameraguy & founder of Verge New Media, who actually worked on the team that produced Ann Curry’s live interview of the president & first lady from Arusha, Tanzania for the Today Show. He’s, um, the expert. I reached out via twitter to find out the best, cheapest way to get video from the school to the web, because I’d love to build a community where we can interact more closely with Mama Lucy and her students. He sent me his cell number, and I called him in Crawford, TX, where he was covering the wedding of the daughter of no less than the POTUS. (How rad is that? This guy totally rocks.) In addition to Jim and many bloggers I’ve mentioned who’ve now started to help us spread the word, check out who else has now jumped in to help:
Social Media & Social Networking: Harvard senior Avi Kaplan, Jive’s resident community guru Barry Tallis, Genentech Project Manager (& my friend & go-to techie) Dan McCall, and Forrester Social Computing Analyst Jeremiah Owyang (yes, that Jeremiah Owyang) have all contacted me to offer advice and/or assistance with our plans to build an online community using Jive’s Clearspace Community software. In addition, Veronica Giggey found three engineers at Jive who have volunteered their time to help us implement Clearspace Community. (Thanks Chase, Alex & Scott!) Dustin Jacobsen too has passed along some SEO advice (which we’re looking for help to implement!).
Hosting: Mario Olckers, all the way from South Africa, has volunteered hosting resources – for free!
Accounting & Audit: Amy Worley, Digital Marketing Director at H&R Block is looking around to see if she can find us some pro bono support for our accounting and audit needs. Cross your fingers; accounting is not my bag.
Design: Nicole Andrews, Art Director & owner of Blue Design has volunteered her incredible creative talents & Clay Newton has also volunteered to tap some of his art & design peers to see if they might be interested in helping us out.
Marketing: Marketing 4 Change blogger Will Boyd has asked us to participate in a podcast interview. Hack Artist blogger Cara Byington has offered to help us with writing. Dustin Jacobsen & Paul Greensmith have also reached out with an offer to blog about our efforts. Paul also has connected us with a potential collaborator for future fundraising events.
These folks rock – and their expertise and offers of help will be invaluable to the evolution of Epic Change. I’ve learned too that there’s some invisible people too quietly working to bring attention and resources to our cause, so thanks, even if I don’t know your name. As you can see, too, most folks have volunteered to help with our online efforts, which is awesome - but we really need help with the other volunteer opportunities we’ve posted as well.
I hope you’re as excited as I am about all the progress that’s been made in the last few short days. With this kind of momentum, together, we’re about to create Epic Change. Of course, we still need many more volunteers, plenty of donations and your videos to make my birthday wish a reality. So I’m willing to extend my celebration for as long as it takes.
After all, there’s no such thing as too much cake.
PS: Sorry for the super-long post, but this is a great example of the reason Epic Change really needs Jive’s Clearspace Community. Cobbling together all of your amazing contributions is far better done by great tools than my feeble hands.
So I want to bring you in the way I’m able – on film. I want them to hear – from you – about who you are, what you’d like to know about them, and why you believe their stories matter. We plan to combine all of your responses to create a movie for the kids – some of whom may have never seen a movie before, and certainly not one just for them. Check out George’s picture to the right for some indication of just how interested the kids are in movies. You can see his makeshift video camera fashioned from pencaps, paper and rubberbands.
to offer advice and/or assistance with our plans to build an online community using Jive’s Clearspace Community software. In addition,