Previous entry: a first glimpse: zonke

13 May 2008

South Africa is much the same and different as many African countries that I have visited. Same in the sense of the smell of burning oil and gasoline, shipping containers as buildings, the red dirt, the friendly people, passenger vans as taxis, crazy driving, dogs for security, chickens and goats roaming everywhere, and the seemingly common practice of taking things as they come. The differences and nuances come in the country's history - white minority oppressive rule. White people are not unheard of in this area of Africa and South Africa specifically - uncommon, but not unseen. You get a sense that you are always being watched, but in a different way than what may be experienced in other African countries without such a history. It is more of a, "why are you here" look instead of the, "oh! You are white." The history of white oppression and the current issue of white organizations taking away from the communities makes the dynamic similar in skepticism, but different in why.

Elody Gyekis, a 2008 fellow from Penn State, is busy implementing her Blueprint for Social Justice! Valley Roots - Approaching a Mural as a Process of Community Engagement is a Blueprint that Elody designed to address the rural decline facing her hometown, Millheim, PA. She is using this creative and collaborative project to create an intergenerational and diverse dialogue among community members and encourage civic participation.

Elody recently welcomed Matt Popek and Arielle Hesse to Milheim. Matt and Arielle rolled up their sleeves and went to work contributing to Elody’s Blueprint.

Hi Everyone,

I know that many of you are interested in international relations, economic justice and/or community development issues. As such, you might also be interested in learning more about microfinance and Kiva. Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

As a 2006 YP4 fellow, I want to introduce you to the microfinance project that I need your help launching. If this field is something you are at all interested in, I hope you will consider joining me for a conference call to learn more about how you can help.

I will be holding two calls at the following times next week: