 |
Welcome to Skoll eNews, the Skoll Foundation's bimonthly update on Skoll activities and news in the world of social entrepreneurship!
Young Musicians Build Community Pride in Paraguay
Luis Szaran got a lucky break when a prominent Paraguayan musician recognized his talent as a composer and conductor and sent him to Europe to study with master teachers. As the eighth child of struggling farmers, he was extremely grateful for the opportunity, and he went on to become an internationally known composer and the conductor of the prestigious Philharmonic Orchestra of Asuncion, Paraguay.
Wishing to return the favor, he founded Sonidos de la Tierra (Sounds of the Earth) to inspire local towns to form musical ensembles for young people. The program instills more than a love of music. "Under the pretext of music, we are actually transmitting values and respect for families and communities," Luis explained.
In Paraguay, where youth violence is a problem, Sonidos opens a door to a different way of living. "We are trying to seduce adolescents into adopting a new style, to show them they can have more pride with a book under their arm than a cigarette hanging out of their mouth," Luis said. "The work of music has to do with creating beauty. Once you are involved in music, it's an automatic transformation."
Thousands Trained in Five Years
Launched in 2002, Sonidos already has 3,500 children performing in orchestras in 72 towns. With Skoll funding, it plans to reach 5,000 children in 105 locations by 2007.
The program involves entire communities in supporting music education and performance by tapping parents to become administrators and recruit volunteers. Luis and other musicians serve as itinerant professors and provide a basic allotment of instruments. For the first two years, the instruments belong to Sonidos. If a group achieves its objectives and becomes financially self-sustaining, the youngsters get to keep the instruments. More than half of the musical ensembles have done so and are operating independently.
Additional funds for Sonidos come from three studios where 42 artisans earn income by constructing and repairing instruments. These workshops produce about 15 percent of the instruments used in the program and provide an opportunity for youths to become trained while serving as apprentices to the artisans.
The musical payback is swift. Because Sonidos uses the Suzuki method of teaching, students are able to perform publicly within six months. These performances entice more members of the community to help. Luis said, "A business that can't make a large donation knows that for $10,000 a year you can become a patron of the community. You can see the evolution of the children within that year."
Music Camps Change Lives
Whenever he can, Luis persuades professional musicians passing through Paraguay to host master classes for the students. Every four months, Sonidos hosts a camp that is open to young musicians from all over Paraguay. Children from rich and poor families eat, study and play music together for three weeks. During these camps, Luis has seen a social transformation among some youths who had never before been immersed in music.
When they return home and play for others, communities share in their pride, and other children are motivated to join. In some towns with dirt roads, the music education building is much nicer than the local city hall, due to the community's commitment to its youth orchestra.
Parents report positive changes in their offspring. "Little by little, we create harmony in the home. We see many examples of violent children who go back and find a new way of living," Luis said. "Children who play Mozart by day do not break windows at night."
One mother of a youth who used to argue and become physically violent with her told Luis, after she bought her son a guitar, "I never would have thought that a piece of shaped wood could change lives so much." Another student went on to become a famous flautist and has given concerts in Prague, Vienna and Berlin. Quite a few have paid jobs with orchestras.
Sonidos Honors the Past
A core goal of the program is to engage students and teachers in reviving and documenting the traditional culture of Paraguay. "In little countries all over the world, global culture is killing the local music. People are influenced by what they see on TV," Luis said.
Sonidos makes a point of including traditional songs in performances and on radio programs. The organization produces inserts for the most prominent newspaper that include biographies of musical performers and sometimes a compact disc with some of the 150 classic melodies that Sonidos has revived. "These are songs that many people had forgotten," Luis noted.
Attending the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship last year inspired Luis to think a lot about his commitment to social change. As a result, he has expanded the Sonidos program to include villages in remote parts of Paraguay, and he's begun to replicate it in India.
He laughed when he recalled that he originally intended to donate only 10 percent of his time to Sonidos. He estimates he currently spends about 70 percent of his time on the program, and he has limited his work conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra of Asuncion to only the most important concerts.
"But if I could, I would do it all over again," Luis said. "The smiles of the children are more valuable that the applause of audiences."
 Sonidos de la Tierra, Cerro Cora 1796 esquina Mayor Fleitas, Asuncion, Paraguay; telephone (595-21) 424005. (Fundacion Tierranuestra) is the fiscal sponsor of the Skoll grant to Sonidos. |
Frontline/World Highlights Social Entrepreneurs
 Luis Szaran (see profile above) will be featured in April on Frontline/World, a magazine-style TV series that airs at least four times a year on PBS and offers expanded coverage online. (Check local PBS listings for the air time in your area.) A grant by the Skoll Foundation to WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston is underwriting three broadcast and four online segments about social entrepreneurs that will be accompanied by an online ad campaign and streaming video of all broadcasts to raise public awareness. Frontline/World has created a page on the PBS Web site with stories about social entrepreneurs.
The story about the founder of Sonidos de la Tierra in Paraguay is the second piece in the series. The first one, "Uganda: A Little Goes a Long Way," aired October 31 and described Kiva, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that built an innovative Web site allowing people to make individual loans to small businesses in the developing world. During the month following the broadcast, Kiva businesses received more than $500,000 in loans – more than the company took in during the rest of the year. Kiva’s cofounder, Matt Flannery, has a blog on Social Edge.
The New Social Edge Is Coming!
 In the next few days, you will notice a new look and many new features on Social Edge. As the result of an extensive survey, we have redesigned Social Edge to meet more of the needs of social entrepreneurs around the world.
New features include an encyclopedia about social entrepreneurship, a dazzling search engine and a series of audio interviews called "Peace Corps Entrepreneurs on the Edge." You will also notice a section called "Expert Advice," where you can ask experts burning questions about your social venture, and another area were you can post offers, requests and job announcements.
Social Edge will migrate over the next few days to its new technology platform. We apologize in advance for any technical difficulties you may encounter.
Skoll Seeks Participants for Study
 The Skoll Foundation wants to better understand people's thoughts and experiences regarding social change. If you are able to participate in a 30-minute phone interview with an independent research associate to provide your views, please send an email with "Research" in the message line to socialchangeresearch@yahoo.com. Rest assured that all information you provide will be kept completely confidential. No one will contact you as a result of your participation.
More Films in the Works
 The Skoll Foundation's Uncommon Heroes films have proven so popular, we're making more of them! The films are each seven minutes long and are ideal for explaining the work of social entrepreneurs. Numerous media outlets, nonprofit organizations, schools and churches have requested copies to broadcast or show during classes and meetings.
Filmmakers Carl Byker of Red Hill Productions, and Michael Schwarz of Kikim Media are busy creating four new films that will tell the stories of Taddy Blecher of CIDA City Campus, which helps disadvantaged youths in South Africa earn a four-year business administration degree that boosts their lifetime earnings and standard of living; Blaise Judja-Sato of VillageReach, which deploys medicines and other community services across the "last mile" in remote parts of Mozambique; Mindy Lubber of Ceres, which persuades corporations to adopt environmentally sustainable practices by galvanizing institutional investors; and Karen Tse of International Bridges to Justice, which has dramatically improved and even saved the lives of everyday citizens by training and supporting criminal defense lawyers and establishing a network of Defender Resource Centers throughout China.
Our current Uncommon Heroes films may be viewed as streaming video on our Web site or you can request a free copy of a DVD with all four films by submitting an order form. These films tell the stories of Martin Burt of Fundación Paraguaya, an innovative microcredit program in Paraguay; Ann Cotton of Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), which educates girls in poor, rural communities in Africa; Victoria Hale of Institute for OneWorld Health, which develops drugs and vaccines for diseases that disproportionately affect people in developing countries; and Amitabha Sadangi of International Development Enterprises (India), which empowers the rural poor in India with affordable, sustainable agricultural technologies.
Skoll World Forum Reaches Capacity
 The Skoll Centre on Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University had an unprecedented response when it opened registration for the 2007 Skoll World Forum. All spaces for the World Forum are already filled. We are sorry that the venue at Oxford does not permit them to accept any more registrations.
This year's forum will be held March 27-29 and will focus on enabling social innovation. Plenaries, panel discussions, workshop and academic presentations will help participants understand how innovation informs new models and approaches for solving complex social and environmental problems.
Among the speakers will be Jeff Skoll, founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation and Participant Productions; Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and microfinance pioneer; Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN; David Galenson, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and author of numerous books on creativity and innovation; Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google.org; and Bill Drayton, CEO and chairman of Ashoka.
You will be able to view highlights of the World Forum during and after the conference on Social Edge, the Skoll Foundation global online community for and by social entrepreneurs.
Peace Corps Volunteers Reminisce
 Former Peace Corps volunteers will describe their new lives as social entrepreneurs in a series of weekly interviews on Social Edge that will also be available on iTunes. The series was produced by Patrick O’Heffernan with help from the National Peace Corps Association. It will begin February 6 with an interview with Molly Melching, founder and director of Tostan, which empowers Africa communities to take charge of their own development through literacy and management skills. Molly served with the Peace Corps in Senegal from 1974 to 1976.
Other upcoming interviews include:
February 13 – Ralph Bolton, director of the Chijnaya Foundation
February 20 – Pat Christen, president of Hope Labs
February 27 – Loren Finnel, president of the Resource Foundaiton
Social Entrepreneurs Learn Business Basics
 Building on its momentum from last year, Social Edge is once again hosting the online application process for Santa Clara University's Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI), a two-week-long boot camp held each August in California's Silicon Valley for social entrepreneurs from around the world. The GSBI previously found its candidates from several sources, such as the Tech Awards and the Development Marketplace, but organizers have decided to recruit 2007 participants exclusively through Social Edge, due to the quality and level of preparedness of last year's candidates. This process also benefits the broader Social Edge community, as applications are posted online and serve as a resource for all the members.
|
AWARDEE NEWS
The results are in! The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) raised more than $1 million during December, when it was featured by the Financial Times' U.K. edition in its Seasonal Appeal. Founder Ann Cotton reports that the funding will support 1,800 African girls through secondary school, thus opening doors to opportunity for them and their families.
Last year WITNESS produced nine documentaries on a wide range of human rights issues and provided short-term training in the tactics and power of video advocacy to nearly 600 human rights defenders from more than 70 countries. Executive Director Gillian Caldwell chalked up numerous successes for WITNESS during 2006, including the arrest of a Congolese man who enlisted and conscripted children soldiers, the release of a Mexican man unjustly accused of murdering his cousin and the placement of the issue of Burma's brutal dictatorship on the U.N. Security Council's agenda for the first time in history.
The "socially responsible diamond" initiative launched last October by GlobalGiving and SA Gems, managing partner of The Private Collection of South African Diamond Program, has already raised more than $28,000 for four grassroots projects in East Africa. Participating U.S. jewelers donate a portion of the purchase price to high-impact community projects. The contributions are helping women in South Africa fight AIDS, poor communities in South Africa install sanitation systems, coal-dependent communities in Kenya develop and use alternative sources of energy, and school girls in Burkina Faso have midday meals that improve their ability to learn. GlobalGiving is a global online marketplace for philanthropy.
During 2006, EcoLogic Finance provided more than $52 million in loans to community-based enterprises in 20 counties across three continents, representing more than 200,000 farmers, fishers and artisans, while maintaining a 99 percent repayment rate. This lending activity helped increase the average household income of approximately 1 million members of beneficiary communities by 10 percent to 20 percent. It also supported sustainable agriculture on at least 500,000 acres of land. Founded by William Foote, EcoLogic Finance works in Latin America and East Africa to foster environment conservation and grassroots economic development.
On February 7 Bunker Roy of Barefoot College will host the premier of The Ordinary Heroes of Afghanistan, which tells the remarkable story of 10 Afghan men and women who travel to India to become Barefoot solar engineers. The film was produced by Barefoot College and Roughcut Productions with support from Skoll. Barefoot College trains people in remote villages to become technicians with a self-help model that engages local communities. The program will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Helen Mills Theater, 137-139 West 26th St., New York, N.Y. Reservations are required. For more information, call (888) 759-8175 or email rsvp@barefootcollege.org.
Dave Rochlin, chief operating officer of TransFair USA, weighs in on all things related to fair trade on his new Fair Trade Certified blog. In the next couple of months, he plans to report on TransFair's projects in Nicaragua, the Ivory Coast and Rwanda, among others. You can email him at blog@transfairusa.org. TransFair USA expands brand awareness, consumer demand and distribution of fairly traded products.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
February 3, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. – Dance Expose 2007, San Jose, Calif. Performances by San Francisco Bay Area's top Indian dance companies to benefit Ruchika Social Service Organization, which helps street children in India. The founder of Ruchika, Inderjit Khurana, was one of the social entrepreneurs featured in The New Heroes for her train platform schools. For more information, email sheetal@meeramasi.com,
February 6 – "Introducing the New Social Edge" event debuts on Social Edge
February 13 – "Working with the Resources Wiki" event debuts on Social Edge
February 20 – "Switching from NPO to For-Profit Status" event debuts on Social Edge
February 22-23 – 2007 Training Forum on Measuring and Evaluating Social Services Performance, Arlington, Va., The Council for Nonprofit Innovation
February 23 – "Effective Philanthopy and 'Deep Diversity': How Democratizing Your Foundation Can Strengthen Organizations and Grantmaking," San Francisco, Northern California Grantmakers
February 25-26 – 2007 Family Foundation Conference, Baltimore, Council on Foundations
February 27 – "How to Migrate from Innovation to Social Entrepreneurship" event debuts on Social Edge
March 1 – Deadline for applications for the 2007 Women Leaders for the World program to be held July 22-29 at Santa Clara ( Calif.) University
March 6 – "NPO and For-Profit Partnerships" event debuts on Social Edge
March 13 – "The Social Enterprise Sourcebook" event debuts on Social Edge
March 15-16 – 2007 National Conference on Funding Outcomes, Arlington, Va., The Council on Nonprofit Innovation
March 20 – "Changes in the Foundation World" event debuts on Social Edge
March 26 – March 26 – Deadline for nominations for 2007 Tech Museum Awards, which honor global innovators who use technology to benefit humanity
March 27 –"The Perils of Size and Success" event debuts on Social Edge
March 27-29 – Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, "Enabling Social Innovation," Oxford University
March 28 – Deadline for entries to the Changemakers collaborative competition swhich seeks solutions for ending abuse in intimate and family relations. Five finalists will attend a Change Summit on violence prevention.
April 19-21 – 2007 National Conference on Board Governance, Arlington, Va., The Council on Nonprofit Innovation
April 29-May 1 – "Philanthropy and the Challenges of our Times," Council on Foundations 2007 Annual Conference, Seattle
May 16-17 – "Learning for Results: A Conference on Organizational Learning in Philanthropy," New Orleans, Grantmakers for Ellective Organizations.
July 18-20 – "Pathways to Nonprofit Success," Alliance for Nonprofit Management 2007 Annual Conference, Atlanta, Ga.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
|
RESOURCES
A new research report, "Discovering the Activation Point," comes to some surprising conclusions about how nonprofits tackle the challenge of motivating people to take action on social causes. For starters, it found that nonprofits don't like the idea of manipulating people, and it points out that persuasion is needed to motivate people to take steps that lead to measurable changes for important social issues. The 54-page report is available free as a PDF file. For a limited time, you can also listen to a one-hour Webcast of an interview with the report's author, Kristin Grimm of Spitfire Strategies, courtesy of The Communications Network, an affinity group for communication specialists in the foundation world.
GuideStar.org offers tips on "Creating Spam-Filter-Friendly Emails" on its Web site. Among the recommendations offered: avoid sending images accompanied by little or no text, omit colored backgrounds and send emails only to small groups of recipients. The article includes links to other helpful articles on spam filters and email marketing. GuideStar.org provides data about nonprofit organizations.
The average snowfall has been declining on New Hampshire ski slopes since the 1970s, and the water has risen nine inches in the last century along South Carolina's coastal shoreline. How has climate change affected people and wildlife in your state? Find out by downloading the National Wildlife Federation's global warming fact sheets for the 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
|
|
