Harambee Issue 22 (Summer 2011)

GCN welcomes its Sixth Executive Director, in 20 years - Steve Struthers

Steve Struthers follows Cindy Murphy Kelley, who brought GCN into a strategic alliance with Intercultural Student Experiences (ISE) in September of 2009. Steve is ED of both GCN and ISE.

Steve's professional focus has always revolved around helping public and non-profit organizations deliver more value for those they serve, and he is excited to bring that passion and experience to his role as GCN's new executive director. He did this for 14 years as a partner in The Public Strategies Group - a consulting firm dedicated to helping government agencies reinvent themselves into customer-focused, results-driven enterprises. More recently, he helped guide Minnesota's AmeriCorps national service programs to become more outcome-driven through his work at ServeMinnesota, including serving as the founding executive director at Minnesota Education Corps - home of the Minnesota Reading Corps and Minnesota Math Corps.

On a personal front, Steve and his family have embraced cross-cultural immersion. Both of his sons attended a Spanish-language immersion elementary school from Kindergarten to 5th grade. As part of that experience, Steve's family hosted full-year teaching interns from Spanish-speaking countries (Peru, Colombia, and Spain) for four years. They also hosted a high-school student from the United Arab Emirates for a month during the summer of 2010. Most significantly, Steve and his wife (a family practice doctor) took a year-long service sabbatical in Costa Rica in 2007-08, volunteering in a free pediatric clinic outside San Jose while their sons attended a local school.

All of these immersion experiences have produced great friendships and wonderful memories. They have also reinforced Steve's belief that we will reach better, more sustainable solutions to our global challenges if more of us spend time living among and learning from individuals and communities unlike ourselves.

Please feel free to contact Steve at steve@globalcitizens.org or 612.436.8291.

GCN at NAFSA 2011

GCN Director, Linda Stuart and Regional Coordinator for Latin America, Laura Kurland attended this year’s National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) Conference for International Educators in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. NAFSA is the world’s largest non-profit professional association dedicated to international education. Each year, thousands of professionals in education, including travel providers, university leaders, study abroad advisers and others gather to attend sessions for professional development, learn new trends, meet colleagues from around the world, network.

This year’s conference consisted of 8,700 conference participants from 100 countries gathered in the gorgeous city of Vancouver to celebrate international education. GCN was chosen to present at the Working, Volunteering and Interning Abroad Poster Exposition. Linda and Laura presented a poster titled “It Takes a Village: Supporting Individual and Group Reflection in Cross-Cultural Volunteering. They shared the tools and techniques used by GCN team leaders to support trip participants as they reflect on their “aha” moments of cultural exchange before, during and after their journeys. A special thanks to Samantha Shapiro (Chicueyaco, Mexico 2010) and Sara Dobrinski (Tarapoto, Peru 2010) for sharing their reflection experiences as models of journaling and going beyond the experience after returning from their programs.

The passion and commitment of NAFSA professional members exuded in posters, presentations and flash mobs of the weeklong conference. GCN staff left energized and motivated. Through thoughtful collaboration, together we can achieve more to further our shared commitment to preparing the next generation with the vital tools to make a more peaceful world where we understand one another.

In the spirit of collaboration, Global Citizens Network is committed to serving University Institutions, their faculty and students as a 3rd party provider for Alternative Break programming. In partnership with people of diverse cultures, GCN promotes cross-cultural understanding and interconnectedness through authentic immersion experiences. GCN is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization that offers short-term cross cultural immersion and service learning experiences with indigenous and other minority communities in the global North and South.

If you would like to learn more now you can click here to learn more about GCN: http://www.globalcitizens.org/alternative-breaks

Nestlé Creates Sweet Experiences in La Push

In May 2011, eighteen Nestlé employees from around the United States traveled with Global Citizens Network to the Northwest for a cultural immersion experience with the incredible Quileute people of La Push, Washington. Participants were chosen at random from a pool of about three hundred applicants, all of whom had volunteered through Nestlé sponsored community events within the past year.

The team’s presence in La Push coincided with the annual Elders’ Week celebration and the community generously opened the event to GCN’s Nestlé team. Participants were invited to engage in traditional crafts like drum-making, wood carving and headband beading. The weekly drum circle was a powerful and interactive display of Quileute song, dance and storytelling.

The community honored the team by encouraging them to join in drumming and dancing in ceremony alongside local participants throughout the week. Nestlé employees Tony Bodie and Stephen Leach, both successful athletes, were asked to share inspirational testimonies about the importance of education in their lives, and were warmly received by both the Quileute Tribal Council and individual community members.

The trip was concluded with a feast and ceremony to honor the tribal elders and the traditions they continue to pass on to younger generations. The impressive spread included elk stew, wood-fired salmon (pictured), halibut, clams and oysters; all fresh and delicious contributions from tribal members. Speeches, dances, proverbs, songs and hand-made crafts were gifted freely between the team and the community.

H20 for Life Founder Shares Story at GCN

Patty Hall, founder of Twin Cities area nonprofit H20 for Life, visited GCN in Minneapolis last month and inspired the staff by sharing her story.

Patty traveled to Kenya twice with GCN; in 1998 with her 75 year old mother and teen daughter as travel companions and again in 2000 with her then college-aged daughter. Patty shared, “When my mother came in 1998, the (Kenyan) community members would come to visit her and say ‘We’ve come to see the old white lady!’ We were fascinated with the Maasai culture. So we went again with GCN to Maili Tatu. This time I was the oldest at age 52 and we were teamed up with a group of awesome college kids. It was the neatest group of people.”

Patty’s experiences in Kenya had a profound impact on her and her family, leading to more visits to Kenya and long lasting friendships. In 2007, seven years after her most recent GCN experience, Patty had the opportunity to build on the relationships she upheld within the Maili Tatu community when she became aware of a water shortage in the community.

As a middle school special education teacher, Patty decided to involve her students and school in supporting the Kenyan community. The students’ response was powerful, as they came up with fun ways to raise funds to support the community in building a sand dam to alleviate their water shortage. Students spoke at rotary clubs, held piano recitals and dance recitals to raise funds, among many other creative strategies.

The students at Highview Middle School in New Brighton, MN surpassed the goal Patty hoped to reach in that first year and a new program was born. Shortly thereafter, Patty played a critical role in sharing the concepts of service learning and fundraising to more than a dozen other schools and it took off, due in part to the teachers’ commitment to social justice. Soon, schools in the U.S. were learning about other parts of the world and collecting their change to support water projects in various global partner communities.

Over the years, structure came to the program. For example, the 8th graders are responsible for running the project(s) each year and the younger students look forward to their opportunity to be the project leaders as 8th graders. The students also came up with the organization name – H20 (“Help to Others”) For Life. The experience was so impactful for the middle students that they want to carry it on to high school, so the program continued to grow.

How does it work today? H20 for Life connects schools in the United States with schools in developing countries to complete WASH (WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene) in Schools projects. Donor partners learn of the global water crisis through service-learning, outreach and other educational avenues while raising funds to sponsor a WASH project at their recipient partner school. Students and adults learn that they can make a difference in the lives of others by becoming energized global citizens and activists for change. 100 percent of contributions raised by schools go directly to partner school projects. All overhead expenses are funded through in-kind donations and grants.
“We believe in service learning and the educational benefits of being involved in fundraising and the projects. The teachers, across the board, are taking this on; especially those who believe in social justice,” Patty shared.

The organization gained its 501(c)(3) status in 2007 and has grown to partner with 200 schools in North America, which support 125 schools in 26 countries. Now retired from her career in education, Patty devotes over 40 volunteer hour per week to the organization and sits on the Board of Directors. She has appeared on Good Morning America and was featured in Time – For Kids. We were thankful for her visit and for receiving a dose of her inspiration!

Get involved with H20 for Life by visiting www.h2oforlifeschools.org. Or, join us on an upcoming GCN trip and allow yourself to be immersed, be inspired and create change.

We are collecting stories. What has being involved with GCN inspired you to do in your life or in your community? Do you know a GCN Return Trip Participant who has a story of inspiration to share? Submit your story of inspiration (or suggest a story of inspiration about someone else) of 300 words or less to erin@globalcitizens.org for possible inclusion in future GCN publications.

Upcoming Trips!

Have an empty space on your summer calendar? We still have opportunities to join GCN programs this summer to the following communities:

• The Exploratory Journey to Puno, Peru July 8-18  Join our team as we explore the possibilities for collaborating with the Aymara people on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
• The Mayan Community of Cantel, Guatemala July 29-August 7  Travel to the community of Cantel in Guatemala and support the work of the Mayan Cultural Center for Peace.
• The Bayaha People of Bukoba, Tanzania July 30-August 13 Work side-by-side with villagers in the community of Bukoba, supporting women’s economic growth and community health.
• The Stoney People of Eden Valley Reserve August 6-13 This trip is a change on our summer schedule! Join the Stoney people to refurbish community buildings on the reserve and participate in local gatherings and pow wows.
• The Quileute People of La Push, Washington August 20-27  Experience the breathtaking culture and landscape of the Quileute people, participating with local community members on their shores of the Pacific Ocean.
• The Navajo People of Rock Point, Arizona September 11-18  Gain insight into the traditions of the Navajo people in Arizona while supporting the community in refurbishing projects on the reserve.
• The Tibetan People of Pokhara Valley, Nepal October 26-November 9  Collaborate with the Jampaling community on local development work and learn about Tibetan culture, history and religion.

Cultural Mélange

• Travel to Nepal...in 15 minutes!  What better preparation for our next trip to Nepal, than watching a family journal of a past trip to the Jampaling community in the Pokhara Valley!  The GCN experience in Nepal is continually/routinely highlighted as a life-changing experience by Return Trip Participants. The Blakley family of Portland, OR, recently created a wonderfully engaging video journal sharing and reflecting on their GCN Nepal experience in 2008.  Whether you are considering a group, family, or individual experience, we encourage you to “travel to Nepal” for 16 minutes and experience a small slice of the GCN partnership in Jampaling.  Take a break, enjoy the video, and imagine how you can be immersed, be inspired, and create change by becoming a global citizen.
• GCN raises over $2,600.00 in 4 days for preservation of Mayan History!  GCN successfully raised over $2,600.00 (US Dollars) in 4 days for our partner community in Cantel, Guatemala.  The fund raising effort via Tipping Bucket, will fund Phase Two of the Mayan Cultural Center for Peace.  Phase One, which was completed in May of 2010, was the building of the Center.  Phase Two focuses on collecting traditions of elders, which is represented in traditional weaving and embroidery art work.  Since 2007, GCN and the community of Cantel, Guatemala have been partnering on grassroots initiatives that meet local needs.