TED Fellows 2009 -

TEDIndia Post Party at Jaaga.in on Saturday night in Bangalore

Hello TEDFellows,

For any TED folks that are going to be in Bangalore this evening, Freeman, Archana and I are hosting a TEDIndia after party/get together this evening at Jaaga (http://jaaga.wikidot.com and http://jaaga.in) from 8:30pm to 1am tonight (Saturday Nov 7).  If you saw Freeman's TEDU talk on Wednesday, you'll have an idea of what this Creative Common Ground looks like - a 3000sq ft temporary building made of industrial materials that leaves no footprint on the ground.

Tonight should be a great chance to connect with this wonderful fraternity one last time and also meet a few folks in Bangalore who are dying to meet all of us. 

When:
9:00 to 1am Saturday

Where:
Jaaga
16 Rhenius St
Opposite the Hockey Stadium 
Just south of Richmond Circle
Langford Town in Bangalore

MAP.jpg
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=6204047418301939679

How to get there:
1. Take the MGRd/Majestic Bus (not the Airport buses) this afternoon from Mysore
 - Freeman and I will be on that bus and can shepherd everyone

2. If you are getting there via rick or cab:
The primary landmarks are: 
"Opposite Hockey stadium near Richmond Circle"
once you get close:
 "8 buildings to the right of the TV9 building, across from the Hockey Associated Club gate on Rhenius Street"

3. If you are driving:
Get onto Richmond Rd, going towards Richmond Circle
Take a left just before Richmond Circle at the Coffee Day (you'll be turning onto Rhenius St but the sign is hard to see)
Just go straight and you'll pass TV9 on your left and the Hockey Stadium on your right. 
Jaaga is the weird looking, 3 story building on the left, covered in Japanese ads.

If you get lost or need help, please feel free to call:
Sean +91 98862 51476
Freeman +91 96867 58658 (please also SMS RSVP to Freeman if you are coming)

We hope to see you there!
Sean, Freeman and Archana

PS. There will be "punch", music and limited Biryani too. 

Posted by email 

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OR318 Nominated for a ThinkSocial Award – Help Us by Voting!

We are happy to report that one of our projects, OR318 (March18.org) has been nominated for a ThinkSocial Award. The March 18 Movement was created in memory of Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, an Iranian blogger who died in Evin Prison on March 18, 2009. He is the first blogger to die in prison. The Movement advocates for free speech and calls for an end to all persecution of bloggers who dare speak their mind in closed societies.
Watch our video here:

The 30 final nominees for the ThinkSocial award were selected for “outstanding innovation” and representing a “powerful model for how social media can be used to address global problems.”

Public voting is open until midnight on November 2nd. Please help us by casting your vote for OR318 here.

Esra'a Al Shafei
MideastYouth.com

Posted by email 

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Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

as someone pursuing social enterprises i know how challenging and even occasionally exasperating it is to deal (surprisingly) with people you are directly helping, how proven management principles fail against complex factors that have not been captured by drucker, how passions bang against each other causing frictions when all are had the best intentions, how substantial resources are invested including sweat and precious time (which would have been spent more relaxing by the beach) result still to negative returns - financially and even emotionally...

times like these, i remember (aside from mentos), romero's quote which synchs with today's gospel reflections.  here's to all of us, prophets of future not our own...


PROPHETS OF A FUTURE NOT OUR OWN

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession
brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives include everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.


-- Archbishop Oscar Romero (martyred on
March 24th 1980)

Posted by Xavier Alpasa 

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Things To Do While Avoiding Writing An Iran Blog

Let's face it, Iran is not the easiest subject to blog about. I have been writing for the past four days, on and off, taking breaks to check email for important news, fine tuning my procrastination technique, while staring out the window at the trees turning autumnal. Still no finished article, but in one of those detours from the job in hand, I came across this piece in The New Yorker.

I know it's cheap posting someone else's writing instead of creating original work, but this piece struck a chord with me, and think will do the same with some TED Fellows. I don't know about you, but when I wake up in the morning I'm not sure where I should go first after making coffee, itself an elaborate ritual which begins with grinding the beans. Log onto Amirani Films email, Gmail,  Facebook, Twitter, TweetDeck, Posterous, Google News Alert (Iran), The Guardian Home Page, Huffington Post, check sms on the mobile, read The Daily Onion News, look out for Skype chat, refresh my Podcast downloads, watch that must-see Youtube thing friends have posted, add new friend, reject old friend, get sucked into looking at party photos of a total stranger just because they have set their privacy setting to "Everyone" and on and on....

Some of you are brilliant at this. You can hold down a job, run a family, have a life, AND do all the above, even on the move around the globe spreading tweets every other minute as you go.  But not all of us are super. Some of us long for the rotary dial phone, seeing friends face to face, and a newspaper you can hold in your hand. Or am I getting old? My friends say I don't act my age. Not sure if that's a compliment: so young at heart, in touch the with the playful child within, or a disguised insult as in "you're so immature". 

We've had a backlash against the bankers. When will the backlash against the constantly connected elite on-line army start? Is this an idea for a movie? The Luddites taking up arms against the Twitterati. Needs more work, as does my Iran blog. 

Taghi Amirani
@tagz23

Filed under  //   Amirani Films  
Posted by Taghi Amirani 

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What Do Farmers Want To Know?

The Grameen Foundation shares some of the findings of their pilot with us (TED Fellows Rose Shuman and Jon Gosier) at Question Box in Uganda. You can find similar data at our sister website http://worldwantstoknow.com.

Between April and September, the hotline received almost 3000 calls from CKWs and our analysis of the questions provides great insight into the questions that are of greatest importance to rural communities.  Roughly 2/3 of all questions asked focused on agriculture, with health, education, and news being the next most popular subject areas.  Diving deeper into the data we are able to learn more about what, specifically, farmers are asking about agriculture.  The following table provides a breakdown of the agriculture-specific questions:

 

Content area Percentage of calls Example
Crop problems related to pests, nutrients, and diseases 42% “What is the cause and control of spotted leaf disease?”

“What type of fertilizer should I use in my coffee garden, which is one year old?”

Crop production techniques 15% “Is it OK to intercrop coffee and maize?”
Agricultural product prices 12% “What is the price of rice in Bushenyi?”
Health problems related to animal husbandry 17% “What is the cause and cure for diarrhea in goats?”
Enterprise development for animal husbandry 6% “How do you rear or manage rabbits?”
Other 8% No pattern

 

Filed under  //   Africa   agriculture   farming   grameen   green   health   solar  
Posted by Jon Gosier 

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In Social Enterprise force yourself to be an entrepreneur first

 

Entrepreneurs or Idiots?
Don't let the social overtake the enterprise.

 

As I sit at my desk in Guatemala reading the business plans of the finalists of our Guateverde competition (http://www.guateverde.com) I keep thinking about my start in social enterprise and all the mistakes I made in getting AIDG to the point where we will now invest a few million USD  in local enterprises over the next five years. I also think about all the other social enterprises I have seen over the years that have closed down.

I am routinely heartbroken by seeing good small international programs close down, putting kids back on the street, ending that production of biodiesel, stopping the youth empowerment program, because the social entrepreneurs that started them lost focus of some of the basic fundamentals of managing an enterprise. It is easy to get swept up in the mission but don’t be a “buro” and have to watch the doors on your program close.

Talking to major donor early in my program he did not seem impressed with my metrics or organizational strategy. My quick repartee? "But you have to take into account I only started with $800 and a bag of tools" His reply "I will take that into consideration". Translation: “Honestly you were a well paid programmer and you started with only $800? You aren’t an entrepreneur, you are an idiot.”

Fortunately if you are starting a new program abroad you don’t need to be an idiot like I was. Here are ten “rules” of starting an international service organization that would have helped me if I had known them a few years ago, and maybe can help you. To anybody running an organization they may seem obvious but it is amazing how many early stage entrepreneurs ignore them while focussed on the mission of trying to just get the school built, the pollution reduced, the farm running, etc.  With these rules maybe you can start an enterprise  that is as much enterprise as it is social.

Rule number 1: Don’t start a new organization

There are literally millions of established organizations globally that are in need of support. Before you start something new ask yourself: “What can I do to help something that is already here become more effective?” There are several programs I know of now that if I had learned about them earlier and applied to a management position it could have likely saved me a few years in getting my program running.

Rule number 2: Clearly define what you do and stick with it

So in the face of massive unmet need there is always the temptation to run the feeding-housing-water-sanitation-ecotourism-renewable energy-child education-dolphin saving program. But unless you are say putting up a millennium village presenting this type of program to funders can be a tough sell. To draw an example from my experience at AIDG donors may not see the clear link between a program in say ecotourism and a program in say light industrial fabrication. Don't be a swiss army knife. Do one or two things well and be selective about program expansion.

Rule number 3: Clearly define your budgets and cash flow, and track your variance

Put down your shovel, or wrench, or blackboard and pull out an excel sheet (A great template from the for profit world is available here: http://caribbean.smetoolkit.org/caribbean/en/file/195?1194044785 ). Figure out what your budget is month by month, your cash flow and income, set targets and track the variances. If you are living month to month do everything you can to cut your burn rate to the bare essentials, and then build your cash reserves. It does nobody any good if your program closes because that grant you were expecting in January doesn’t show up till March. And without getting it all down you will never see that dry spell coming.

Rule Number 4: It costs more than you expect, get more than you need

Honestly don’t be afraid to ask for enough money to really have impact. If you have a well communicated business plan, have made the right connections, have the right board and advisors you have a better chance of making your impact by starting with enough resources to actually enact your mission at some scale instead of constantly being stuck dealing in trials.

Rule number 5: Get legal, and stay legal.

In developing countries this can sometimes mean months and even years in bureaucratic limbo. But you want to be formal from day one. This also might mean paying yourself according to US labor laws if you are a US charity, getting insurance, getting title to that truck you picked up at the border. Get it all in writing, your contracts, your grants, your projects, your partnerships, and keep those records. The sooner you are clean cut and can show all the proper documents the sooner you will attract capital.

Rule number 6: Pay yourself and your staff from the beginning

Everybody wants to volunteer for a good cause but many early stage Social Entrepreneurs volunteer for months or years without compensation or on base living stipends. I've seen more than a few programs shut down or almost shut down because the social entrepreneurs were so flat broke/in credit card debt they had no choice but to go back to work again in the states. The worst service you can provide a community is to start a program that is good and then force it to close suddenly because you put yourself at financial risk.

Rule number 7: Communicate openly with your staff and board, and have clear roles and responsibilities

It is important from the point of hire to be clear with people what their roles and responsibilities are, who is accountable, and who has the final say in decisions. I have seen an organization lose a million dollar grant because of conflict between staff, board and management about goals with no clear deferment to one party.

Rule number 8: Treat both constituents and donors as customers

Most NGOs when they are small lose track of their donors while they are wrapped up in providing good services for their constituents. It is an unfortunate donor as ATM mentality. With some large NGOs this switches and the donors tend to take priority. To be successful treat both donors and constituents as customers you want to keep happy. If you talk to both donors and constituents on a regular basis you have a good shot of creating an effective organization.

Rule Number 9: Play nice with others

Partnership and collaboration in the Non-profit world is always better than competition. In fact if you ever want to work with multilaterals it may be your only way in the door (many multilaterals use partnerships as an introduction mechanism for funding). Start early and figure out how to leverage the strengths and experiences of other more established groups instead of doing everything yourself.

And the final Rule: Don't be a non-profit. 

Bogo light, Tom’s Shoes, SKS Microfinance, there are plenty of examples of organizations that can scale quickly in providing services to people because they are for profit entities. Investment can be easier to find than donation and making money with each client served is always more scalable than losing it. While sometimes, like the case with AIDG’s training services, there is a need that it would be difficult to establish a profit model around, there are plenty of social ills that can be met in a for profit model. See if your cause fits.

Posted by Peter Haas 

Comments [13]

Sir Tim Berners-Lee at TEDx Kampala

I'm pleased to annouce the first TEDx event I'm organizing as a Fellow, and what an a way to start!  The man credited with inventing the web itself is speaking at TEDxKampala!  Sir Tim Berners-Lee, founder and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, and founder of the World Wide Web Foundation will visit the East Africa region in late November, stopping by TEDxKampala as our esteemed guest. Mr. Berners-Lee will join prominent members of the Ugandan IT space as we discuss the future of the web and the future of mobile in general (as well as in Africa) and other 'ideas worth spreading'.

TEDxKampala will be held on November 23, 2009 in Kampala, Uganda.  Other scheduling details and venue TBA.  For those interested, this site will have the details as soon as they are available.

Confirmed sponsors and facilitators include EACOSS (The East African Center for Open Source Software), LUG (Linux Users Group Uganda), and UNICEF.  Other interested sponsors can reach me via email at j.gosier@appfrica.org

Filed under  //   Africa   east africa   kampala   kla   tbl   TEDx   tim berners-lee   uganda   w3c  
Posted by Jon Gosier 

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My friend Kareem Amer remains in prison in Egypt

Kareem is a young Egyptian blogger who was only 22 years old when he was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Egyptian government for criticizing Islam and the President of Egypt on a personal blog. Kareem was threatened and harassed consistently for his writing, and was previously arrested prior to his sentence, all of which were attempts to silence his opinions which he should be free to express. He challenged the Egyptian government and the self-proclaimed "scholars" at the Al Azhar religious institution which he attended (and was eventually expelled from) by criticizing them and their policies. His latest arrest was on the 6th of November, 2006, and he has been in prison ever since that date. Months after that, while he was imprisoned without charges, he was formally sentenced to 4 years in prison, causing him to be the first blogger in the Arab world to be sentenced officially by a court for his blog.

Since the 6th of November, 2006, on the day of his arrest, I created FreeKareem.org to try and secure his release, and dozens of volunteers soon piled up to help out, making the campaign one of the most visible campaigns for a blogger in the world. Despite that, and the outrage expressed by thousands of people worldwide, including government officials and MPs who shamed Egypt and the Egyptian government for this gross human rights violation, Egyptian authorities failed to acknowledge this mistake. We created many campaigns over the years to help keep the mainstream media interested in covering this story, knowing that this is what the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak is scared of most. We did this through worldwide simultaneous rallies which took place in at least 15 major cities around the world, the "Flood the Jail with Mail" campaign, other letter campaigns throughout the year, #FreeKareem Twitter days, creating Free Kareem events in schools and universities around the world, involving musicians and artists, and much more.

This certainly worked in terms of raising awareness and mainstream media attention, which went wild, everywhere from the Washington Post to Czech TV. Staff at the Egyptian consulates and embassies around all these countries were certainly aware and felt the pressure multiple times throughout every year. They heard us say: We are aware of the mistake the Egyptian government has caused and we are here until you CORRECT IT. They never did. 1080 days later and they never did.

Kareem shouldn't be forgotten. He is not merely an example of what could go wrong for bloggers under oppressive regimes. He is a human being and my friend who deserves his freedom. Please help me free him, and communicate this message to the Egyptian government or journalists around the world, and perhaps to the U.S government that continues to fund this regime out of self-interest at the expense of basic human rights.

Kareem must be freed.

For more information please visit www.FreeKareem.org and do your part to spread the word. If you Tweet this news, please use the hashtag #FreeKareem.

Esra'a Al Shafei
Director, MideastYouth.com / FreeKareem.org

Posted by email 

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The 10,000 Hour Initiative

 

What is the 10,000 Hour Initiative?

The 10,000 Hour Initiative is aimed at offering a space for younger people to pursue their passions alongside professionals working in the field. The concept is very much inspired by the 826 National Project, which offers kids in the U.S. an after school hours community center where they can work alongside professionals who act as tutors and mentors. The name comes from Malcom Gladwell’s OUTLIERS, where he theorizes that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice for anyone to become truly exceptional at doing something. Of course we want to help offer those hours.

In Africa, prior to (and even at) University there’s a lack of this type of voluntary mentorship. Which is unfortunate because it’s not what we learn in school that makes us great, it’s what we learn by using that knowledge outside of school. That’s where ideas are born and that’s where students find the motivation to do more than what’s asked of them

Fostering a Culture of Apprenticeship

Instead of attacking this problem with my limited resources as most institutions would, my goal has always been to approach Education by maximizing existing resources. Instead of creating institutions from scratch that require enormous resources and high overhead (rent, security, staff etc) the 10,000 Hour Initiative would identify talented individuals and create co-working and co-learning spaces (dubbed 10K Spaces) for them at existing institutions and businesses. The program would allow youth to interact with other peers as well as trained professionals who could tutor and mentor them, helping them to improve their skills, while exposing them to new technologies, ideas and fields they may not have been aware of.

The goal is to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship, apprenticeship and creativity prior to attending university. Hopefully this will ultimately result in students who are even better prepared to be the leaders of tomorrow. Likewise, it allows working professionals to take these kids under their wings to show them what’s possible.

Anatomy of a 10K Space

This is my own wish for the Africa’s education system, and as such I intend to devote my own resources to it. The first space will be at my office in Kampala where I’ll encourage students interested in programming, new media and blogging to come by after school hours to spend a bit of extra time either working on their homework or learning new things from myself and my staff. Here they’ll have access to our staff, our internet connection, books, our computers and other resources that they can experiment with.

Other institutions who wish to get involve would mentor these kids in their particular area of expertise. The mission is not to ask for money to do this. Anyone can do this with what they’ve already got. Any office suite or company can put in extra hours allowing their staff to participate as time permits, without any support. We’ll start with our facilities and encourage more to do it as we go.

If you want to know more about Appfrica’s 10,000 Hour Initiative or to get your company involved please email me at j.gosier@appfrica.org

Photo By: TeachAndLearn (Fazeka High School, South Africa) used under the Creative Commons Attribution License

Inspired by TEDsters Malcolm Gladwell and Dave Eggers, the 10,000 Hour Initiative's goal is to offer time, resources and mentoring to students while exposing them to their future careers.

Filed under  //   826   Africa   code   education   eggars   learn   schools   study   teach   writing  
Posted by Jon Gosier 

Comments [6]

sorry for the spam, re: "Hi, y " message

Dear TED Fellows,

I seem to have an issue with someone/some virus stealing my email and posting spam on it. Subject is "Hi,y.." Sorry in advance for this problem. I'm trying to deal with it immediately.

 

All the best, Nassim

Posted by nassimassefi 

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