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Architects of the Future: starting new snowballs

Written by Jan Lee Martin
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Can an individual change the world? The short answer agreed by participants at the Waldzell Dialogue in Melk this year was "yes" -- by simply starting a new snowball (see separate story). And there was ample evidence to reinforce this conclusion from the examples of a dozen young Architects of the Future, who have started new projects as diverse as the reconstruction of Bosnia, training midwives in Malawi and helping Indian children to dream…. Education as a vaccine against AIDS Nearly one in five Nigerians are being infected with HIV in the country's worst-affected areas. The national rate is now 5.8%. It's a problem many leaders find overwhelming… just too big to tackle…. But it hasn't overwhelmed Fadekemi Akinfaderin. This 27-year-old co-founded EVA Nigeria, a non-government organisation based on the premise that education is the key to effective preventive strategies. It focuses AIDS education on adolescents who have generally been ignored by existing prevention projects designed for sex workers and other adults. Its major program works through secondary schools, and EVA also offers assistance to young people infected with HIV/AIDS. www.evanigeria.org What will East Timor look like in 2050? "Over 30 years of conflict have traumatised the population and shredded the social fabric of East Timor," says Danilo Afonso-Henriques. The country will only be able to envision a 'new future' and a 'new story' when its leaders cultivate their capacity to work together and create a new vision. So he is asking 35 leaders from different organisations, sectors and factions to do just that. Using the Mont Fleur approach that was so successful in creating alternative scenarios for South Africa and Guatemala, this 31-tear-old seeks to heal the wounds from more than 30 years of conflict. More than 200,000 people were killed in the 25-year struggle for independence and the conflicts of 1999 and 2006 left hundreds of thousands more displaced. A chance to live in Malawi Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Per capita income is $US150, but most of the population lives on less than one Euro a day. Infant mortality is about 10 per cent; the HIV rate is around 20 per cent and rising. That's why Niels Beisinghoff of Germany decided to set another snowball rolling. His project trains traditional birth attendants in rural Malawi with the aim of reducing the number of stillborn children and maternal mortality.. Seminars conducted by local doctors and formally trained midwives for these traditional birth attendants will share practical knowledge of early diagnosis and treatment of complications during pregnancy. They will also cover the most frequent and serious diseases affecting infants and babies such as malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases. In addition, family planning, nutrition and the prevention of HIV/AIDS are included in the project's training curriculum. www.lebenschancen.org Saving the forgotten and dispossessed Sasha Chanoff's project, Mapendo International, seeks to identify, rescue and protect people fleeing conflict and violence in Africa. Top of its list are people whose lives are in imminent danger, and who fall outside existing relief efforts -- refugees who are targets of genocide, torture survivors, rape victims, widows, orphans and those with urgent medical needs (including HIV). Mapendo International designs short and long-term solutions for those whose struggle to survive would otherwise go unattended. "Often, such people find themselves in places where they are not accepted," Sasha explained. "Undocumented and unwelcome, they fall through the cracks of international aid efforts. They lack basic human rights and have desperate psychological and physical needs. And they have nowhere to turn." The organisation is responding to the plight of such people through its medical clinic in Nairobi and rescue initiatives in East and Central Africa. www.mapendo.org After the headlines in Bosnia… Students in Germany have been demonstrating a new kind of leadership in the aftermath of the war in the former Yugoslavia. The program presented at Waldzell by 28-year-old Felix Dresewski (who had retired from direct participation because he was "too old") emerged from an earlier initiative in which school children all over Germany undertook a day's work in the community to earn money for reconstruction in southeast Europe. That project was very successful, uniting pupils, parents, schools and businesses in a campaign "which involved more than just 'begging' for money and/or writing checks." However, like many initiatives, it struck trouble after five years of outstanding success. "After distributing care parcels, raising approximately three million Euros and rebuilding 50 schools and kindergartens… Social Help Day found itself in a very challenging situation in 1997," Felix explained. "As the atrocities of war disappeared from the news headlines, the fate of the people in the former Yugoslavia received less attention from the public and the media. It became much more difficult to motivate students to support young people in the Balkans." Yet the situation for Bosnian youth remains desperate. So the project has shifted its focus from short-term reconstruction work to long-term youth projects, in which young volunteers help their young neighbours to identify problems and solutions. www.schueler-helfen-leben.de Pakistan National Youth Service People under 30 make up 70 per cent of Pakistan's population, yet very little is done to harness their energy and potential to contribute to their communities. Instead, they are encouraged to take on adult responsibilities, such as employment or raising a family, as soon as they can, explained Ali Raza Khan. Thus they suffer "not only the economic realities of poverty, but also the psychological implications: unable to dream, to undertake creative ventures or to demonstrate their talents, they turn to a culture of guns, drugs and violence." PNYS provides a range of services for young people, including access to national and international agencies and universities, and short-term training and counselling to help them design, manage and raise funds for their enterprises and ventures. Girls, who often do not receive an education past the eighth grade and are excluded from leadership roles, are proactively incorporated in the programs. www.ashoka.org/fellows/viewprofile3.cfm?reid=88888 SHIFT - The Global Leadership Lab "Humanity is faced with a genuine crisis of global leadership. Leaders appear ill-prepared to deal with these powerful times. A growing need exists for leaders with the competencies and capacities to respond to the toughest challenges of our age based upon the deepest understanding of our global situation," says 33-year-old Laurent S. Labourmene of Melbourne. "The next generation of young global leaders is uniquely positioned to transform the culture of leadership worldwide. Yet they remain an under-served and under-utilised resource…. Far too little is being invested to advance their growth and development. Few programs, if any, are specifically tailored to serve the sophisticated learning needs and aspirations of these young global leaders. The Global Leadership Lab will figure out and demonstrate how to better serve the needs of young global leaders." Laurent's Shift Foundation brings together a team of "some of the world's most provocative thinkers, practitioners, philanthropists, institutions and individuals who share the vision to cultivate a new generation of leaders." www.shiftfoundation.org 80,000 good reasons to bike A young Austrian on a bicycle demonstrated one way to change the world when he travelled from India to Switzerland -- across two continents and through seven countries -- to raise money for people suffering from leprosy. "Leprosy is a highly infectious and chronic disease…the physical mutations result in the exclusion of lepers in most societies. In most cases, those who are afflicted are not able to afford any kind of medical help," Christoph von Toggenburg told the Waldzell conference. His solo Bike for Help project was aimed at raising awareness as well as money for leprosy sufferers in Asia. And he did both: after 9,000 km he contributed E80,000 for leprosy sufferers in India and Cambodia. www.bikeforhelp.com Dream a dream in India Sometimes dreams alter the course of life, says Vichal Talreja of India. He lives out his own dreams through an organisation named for the purpose: "Dream a Dream was born as an organisation committed to protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of children from vulnerable communities by empowering them to dream big and work towards their aspirations," he said at Waldzell. His team works in partnership with other organisations, providing sports, theatre, summer camps, collage workshops, clay modelling sessions, public speaking courses, computer training and other programs in "non-obtrusive, not-threatening, fun-filled environments". The program "helps vulnerable children to develop self-awareness, self-esteem and an enhanced understanding of their personal strengths, interests, priorities and goals." www.dreamadream.org
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 December 2006 )