In Phil’s words, “In 2004 I partnered with the organization CARE to bring attention to the necessity of empowering women in the global campaign to alleviate poverty. I traveled to Africa, Asia and South America to gather the stories of extraordinary women in remote parts of the world who have empowered themselves and their communities. Here are a few of these women, remote and mostly unknown, on the vanguard of a global shift toward gender equality.”

Abay, 28

AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
Abay was born into a culture in which girls are circumcised before age 12.When it came time for her
circumcision ceremony, Abay said, “No.” Her mother insisted, aruging that an uncircumcised woman would be ostracized and could never marry.When her mother’s demands became unbearable, she ran away to live with a sympathetic godfather.

Eight years later, Abay returned to her village and began work as a station agent for CARE, supervising the opening of a primary school and a health clinic and the construction of a well. After five years, she finally convinced one of the women to let her film a circumcision ceremony. She showed the film to the male leaders. They had never seen a female circumcision and were horrified.Two weeks later, the male leaders called a special meeting and voted fifteen to two to end female circumcision in their village.

Asgeli, 52

AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
As a leader of the circumcision ceremony, Asgeli had performed hundreds of female circumcisions. Now, like others in the village, she is supportive of the change in custom that Abay had advocated. She said, “We did the circumcisions because that is what had always been done.We were in the dark house and did not know.”

Senim, 20

AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
Traditionally in the Afar culture it would be unthinkable for a young man to marry an uncircumcised girl.When I asked Senim if he would consider marrying an uncircumcised woman he said, “It would be strange, but now I think I could.”

Howa, 9

AWASH FONTALE, ETHIOPIA
Howa’s mother was one of the first women in Awash Fontale to be convinced that female circumcision was a “bad practice.” Thanks to Abay’s efforts, Howa will be the first girl in her entire family history not to be circumcised.

Gloria, 24

SUIPIRA, ECUADOR
At the age of 20, Gloria galvanized the members of her village to fix the
myriad problems with their water system. For years they had suffered from
water contamination, an inconsistent supply, and fights over access to the
one village spring. Gloria generated a workable budget ($37,000),
persuaded her neighbors to provide the labor, and convinced CARE to donate
the materials to modernized water system. She organized over 70 “Mingas”
(community work parties) to complete the project and today the community
enjoys a clean, dependable water supply. When I met Gloria, she had
recently been elected head “Water System Operator” and was widely respected
as one the of the first female community leaders.

Fahima, 39

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Fahima, a teacher since 1985, was one of thousands of professional women who lost their jobs when the Taliban came to power in 1996. In defiance of the Taliban andat great risk to herself, Fahima opened a clandestine school for young girls. At one point, 130 girls were coming to her home each week to study math, science, and the local language, Pushto. When the girls were asked why they were going to Fahima’s house, they said she was their aunt. Although harassed by the religious police and threatened with beatings and worse, Fahima continued operating her school for girls until the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Nafisa, 7

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Nafisa was thrilled when she learned she was chosen to attend Salman-e-Fars, a new school recently opened for young girls in Kabul. Girls now make up thirty-four percent of the student population in Afghanistan—a dramatic increase since the Taliban rule, when it was essentially zero.

Shakira, 21

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
When Shakira was 8 years old, the Taliban came to power and her education came to an end. Without access to clandestine classes like Fahima’s, she received no schooling. She recently enrolled in a literacy program for young women, to make up for the education that she was denied. Forced to wear the burqa in public during the Taliban reign, she now chooses to wear it when she does not have time to fix her hair.

Humaria, 11

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Humaria sells eggs as a street vendor to help her family survive. As with many families in Afghanistan, years of war have left them very poor. Only half of all Afghan children ages 7 to 13 attend school.When the luxury of education is an option, boys are typically chosen over girls.

Yelda, 12

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Yelda was helping her family make carpets at home until the Taliban fell. Now she would like to become a teacher and specialize in English. She has enrolled in the Out-of-School Girls Project, a program supported by CARE and designed to help girls ages 9 to 14 rejoin the mainstream education system.

Teke Foliwa, 42

HAVE, GHANA
Teke Foliwa was recently crowned ‘Queen Mother’ of Have. Her first act was
to form 16 women’s groups for micro credit, agriculture production and
education reform. However, initially there was concern within the community
that she was gaining power too quickly. She says, “Women are expected to be
submissive to the men.traditionally, a queen is just a figurehead; she
dresses up for festivals and serves as a role model to teach women to be
beautiful, quiet, and demure. After my training with CARE, I realized that
I could serve as a different kind of inspiration for the women here.”

Eventually, the men became impressed with the progress being made by the
women and asked for their own groups. “This has moved us forward towards
becoming a true community,” she says. “It’s not just the men and the women,
but all of us moving forward together in a much more uniform way.”

Nana Gyetyah, 56

DAKOTO JUNCTION, GHANA
Nana, known as Mama Koko, became the first female chief of her village. As such, she fought for the rights of the villagers, whose cocoa trees were being destroyed by the timber industry.When loggers destroyed and refused to repair a bridge, she mobilized her fellow villagers to create a roadblock. Her superior, the “stool chief,”complained when she exposed the corrupt relationship he had with the timber industry. He had her arrested, and she spent a month in jail. After CARE helped secure her release, she returned to seek restitution for her community’s ruined farmland. Mama Koko has successfully decreased the amount of logging in her territory, and her strength and position as chief make her a strong role model for the young women in her village.

Akhi, 32

TANGAIL, BANGLADESH
At age 13, before she had even begun menstruating, Akhi was sold into a brothel by her aunt. After working for several years, she became highly depressed and attempted suicide. Her failed attempt brought about an epiphany: Her life could be used to improve the lot of her fellow sex workers. Akhi accomplished the near-impossible task of gaining support from religious, political, and social groups to create an organization to advocate for sex workers’ rights. Despite being arrested three times, she prevailed and, in 1998, formed the “Nani Mukti Sangha” organization. Since the group commenced, condom use in the brothel has increased from near zero to eighty-six percent, and the number of 12- to 13-year-olds recruited into the brothels has decreased.Today, she continues to fight tenaciously for sex workers’ rights, and is said to have such a forceful personality that even the police are afraid of her.

Phil Borges

A longtime friend of the poverty-fighting organization CARE, Phil Borges presents his coffee-table book, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World. An art book of riveting portraits, moving personal stories and written contributions by Madeleine Albright and Isabel Allende, Women Empowered sheds light on the struggles of women in developing countries to break through barriers to improve their own well-being and the lives of their families and communities.

An orthodontist for 18 years, Phil Borges sold his practice and took a leap of faith that, over the past two decades, has led him through jungles, deserts, valleys and mountain ranges across some 50 countries, documenting indigenous cultures to create a heightened understanding of the issues faced
by people in poor countries. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, his award-winning books have been published in four languages, and he has received numerous humanitarian and photography awards. Stories from his travels — like the time the Dalai Lama tickled him — will capture your attention. But, his book, Women Empowered, will capture your heart.

Purchase “Women Empowered” – $19.77

www.philborges.com

All photos and text ©Copyright Phil Borges, All Rights Reserved

Both Cam and Kinari are engaged in the conservation of the tropical rainforest in West Kalimantan and Gunung Palung. The greatest threat to the forest is illegal logging, which is a big problem worldwide. Many of the local families are involved in this to supplement their very low income and in order to scrape a living. The extent to which illegal logging affects the area is detailed in a 2002 report by the World Resources Institute, which predicted that, at 2002 rates, the lowland forests in West Kalimantan would disappear by 2010. Today’s level of damage is disconcerting.

Fifteen years ago, while on a research project on orangutans in the National Park – one of the last few areas worldwide where orangutans still live in the wild – Kinari saw the threat to the environment as well as the desperate need for medical care of the people in the area. Both have primarily economic reasons: ‘The average income of a family is 13 USD a month according to the World Health Organization’, Kinari says. In a survey, Kinari’s team asked each family how much money they could scrape together if they sold everything they could sell and asked everyone they know to borrow money. The team discovered that the average amount any of the families could come up with was USD 270 – while government-provided emergency medical care comes in at around USD 460, making it unaffordable for most or leading to what the WHO and World Bank call ‘catastrophic spending’.

Kinari combined both problems and came up with a bottom-up concept that ties together environmental and community health, which connects conservation and medical care: she founded a health center that provides medical treatment for the local families and where, in return, patients can either pay in cash at very low prices or by working on community conservation efforts and education. While care is never denied to anyone, an incentive program fosters the environmental engagement of the patients. Today, Kinari takes care of the medical side of the operation, while Cam advises on the conservation projects.

Recently, Kinari and her team started visiting surrounding villages and settlements with a mobile clinic – under the premise that nobody in the village or settlement is actively logging. In the first go-around, this seems to have worked: one of the villages previously listed as ‘red’ by the national park service, meaning that they were actively illegally logging, stopped completely!

It’s not easy. When I met them last week, Kinari was asked over dinner one evening what medical facilities are available at the center. These currently include basic equipment: an EKG, an ultrasound and oxygen, but not much else. They are hoping to have an x-ray machine soon. But the center isn’t set up to perform operations. Naturally, the next question was what happens when someone needs an operation? Kinari recounted that, just recently, the son of a government official – with an acute appendicitis – had to first be driven 2.5 hours to the nearest town, and then taken by boat for 6 hours for an appendectomy. He just barely made it. She went on saying that the most urgent need for operational facilities was probably so that the center’s doctors could carry out C-sections – not being able to do that is still the primary cause of death for women.

The center does depend on donations. One of the options is to donate medical equipment.

As hard as their life is, you can tell that Cam and Kinari are happy – or is ‘content’ more appropriate? I am almost envious of the opportunity the two have – or rather, have made for themselves – to work together towards a common goal, but each in his/her own way.

It’s obvious that the contributions from both, together and separately, are essential for the project to be a success. They have thrown everything they have at this and achieve two very valuable things at once: to reduce illegal logging and to provide desperately needed health care to the people in West Kalimantan. They live a very full life.

It’s one of the best ideas I have heard of and surely one of the most impressive examples of taking action in response to a need. I hope they can keep up the good work for a long time.

From www.Nature.com

Melanie Haga wondered what would happen to old computers—now she runs a company that recycles them.

She called her company Back Thru the Future and focused on buying and selling used computers. After running the business out of her home for a year, Haga noticed that she always had leftover computer cords, power strips, external disk drives, and other accessories. She was also troubled by the cost of shipping whole computers. Then she had an epiphany: She could break down the old computers into their component parts and sell the motherboard, power supplies, and drivers one by one, just as scrap dealers do with used car parts. Haga changed the company’s focus from brokering to parts resale. Soon her house was so overrun with electronic debris that, in 1991, she moved the business into a 10,000-squarefoot warehouse.

Over the next five years, Haga opened similar locations in Atlanta, Chicago, and San Jose. (Now the warehouses are consolidated in New Jersey.) But even after selling off the parts, she was still left with the computers’ non-reusable metal and plastic casings. Getting rid of the metal was easy—Haga drove it in her truck to scrap centers—though with no state guidelines in place, she couldn’t ensure that it met an eco-friendly end. Dealing with the plastic was more difficult. Haga petitioned the major computer manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling the waste—to no avail. “The computer companies put me on hold and sent me through the phone systems with no answers,” she says. “They wouldn’t recycle or take anything back.” Out of options, Haga reluctantly discarded the leftover plastic at local dumps.

Finally, the industry began to catch up with Haga’s vision; 1998 saw the start of the International Association of Electronics Recyclers, among other groups. Then, in 2000, as part of a pilot program for recycling electronics, the State of New Jersey classified Back Thru the Future as an intelligent segregator. Now the company has the authority to send computer parts to reliable recycling facilities. “I had been trying for so long to be heard,” she says. “At last the government got the word out that computers must be handled properly.”

Today Haga brings in more than $1 million each year and shares ownership of the company with her husband of 14 years. “I started this business because I needed an income,” says Haga, who, on most days, is decked out in steel-tipped boots and perched behind the wheel of the warehouse forklift. “I had no idea I would become a pioneer in the recycling effort.”

www.Backthruthefuture.com
From “Bright Green Ideas” by Rebecca Adler Warren
More Magazine April 2009
www.more.com
©Copyright More Magazine; All Rights Reserved

Reel Green Media provides consultation to Hollywood production companies and studios including Warner Bros.  and Fox  in an attempt to ease the environmental impact caused by big production films.

“Most companies are doing an amazing job greening their actual studio spaces,” Selman says. Motion-sensor activated lights, indoor gardens, more efficient food service, solar panels and other changes have put a few of the studios on the path toward certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for existing buildings.

But getting the studios to change the way they shoot movies—diesel and fuel used for traveling, going through hundreds of disposable water bottles each day, building and discarding entire sets—more work needs to be done, according to Selman. “We need to increase awareness of the on-location realm.”

In several industries this sort of thinking has taken a back seat as the economic crunch forces companies to cut corners. Not in Hollywood, according to Selman. “It’s kind of funny. You’d think they would stop hiring in their sustainability fields, but it’s such a priority that they’re still hiring. Efforts have not stopped.”

And, as with Oscars and Golden Globes, the competition is fierce. “They all want to one-up each other,” Selman told Sustainable Industries in late 2008. Real Green Media, which has been active for two years, generates revenue on a project-by-project basis relative to the services provided, according to Selman.

by Nick Hilden – Bringing Sustainability to the Big Screen

www.reelgreenmedia.com

Sustainable Industries Journal – March 2009
© Sustainable Media Inc. All rights reserved
www.sustainableindustries.com

Before answering the questions “What is Tectonic Leadership™?” and “Why should one attend a Tectonic Leadership™ Summit™?”, we need to briefly assess where we–as human beings–stand today. The success of our species–first in agriculture, then in the development of language, the growth and sophistication of knowledge, the quest for deeper meaning, spirituality, order–has culminated in a world of dwindling resources fed by ever-expanding consumption and exploitation, and almost continual warfare caused by deepening polarization around our differences—ethnic, religious, cultural, political. Ironically, our progress has led to the threat of annihilation.

So what can we do? Looking at any one of the issues facing humanity today–all of them global in scale–it would be easy to slip into feelings of futility, cynicism, despair. But many thought leaders around the world are resisting the seduction of hopelessness and are searching instead for ways to heal seemingly impassible ruptures between peoples of differing ideologies; to bridge the growing gap between developed and developing nations, and create sustainable solutions for the use of our shared natural resources.

Globonders, who themselves are leaders in addressing many of these issues, began a year ago to discuss the need to provide a forum where those at the forefront of change can be fed with ideas–supported and encouraged in what is often a lonely endeavor. After many discussions about the seeming paradox that exists in every global challenge–cutting down on greenhouse gases without disrupting existing and emerging economies; settling land disputes without displacing millions; stimulating economies without sacrificing fiscal discipline–the notion of a leadership summit took shape.

Globonder Samia Bahsoun coined the term Tectonic Leadership™ because she saw a useful metaphor in the way Earth’s tectonic plates interact at their boundaries; how understanding the parameters of those boundaries–where earthquakes occur when the natural elasticity of surrounding rock is exceeded, or where compression builds mountains, or tension leads to volcanic eruption and the creation of new crust–can give us an understanding of future outcomes and a reinterpretation of those processes as predictable and non-destructive. So human interactions can similarly create fault systems of fear and hatred between us until we move fearlessly toward our differences, using them instead to create common intent and the commitment to resolve the many global challenges we share.

The Tectonic Leadership™ Summit is a working summit, where participants are introduced to the paradoxical approach to problem solving. Paradoxical thinking is used to remove the notion of right answers vs. wrong answers; good ideologies vs. bad ideologies; to help individuals and nations reverse the distrust that leads to protectionism or warfare. Paradox seen in its original meaning–para: beyond and doxa: common sense or popular opinion–provides a means to liberate the proponents of any given opinion to move from the divisiveness and separateness that comes from advocating one standpoint over another to the freedom that comes from shared responsibility and a new level of leadership.

Solutions that emerge and evolve through this process do not rapidly dissolve into variations of the original problem, because all stake-holders have been heard; blame has been replaced by accountability and powerlessness by ownership. Tectonic Leaders™ are freed from stand-offs and progress is made. This methodology is an invigorating, life-giving process in stark contrast to the Pyrrhic victories of the powerful over the weak, the wealthy over the poor.

http://tectonicleadershipsummit.ning.com

Myra’s program is called Sustainable Global Leadership Alliance (SGLA). She researched the best programs available today and brought their dynamic teachers together, to grow young adults into the ones we are waiting for.

In just nine weeks, she delivers training in globalization: deep study of how the current economical and political scene works, and how it creates the problems we’re facing. She brings in top thinkers on sustainability and dives into a running conversation on what sustainability means, and what kind of action it calls for. She gives these 16-22 year olds solid personal skills in public speaking, financial management, personal emotional intelligence, empowered communication techniques, fundraising and tons more. And she takes them to India for three weeks, to have a look at the world for themselves.

The youth who have graduated from SGLA so far, (its only 3 years old) have blown us away. They are on fire. They are geared up with tools and skills. They have each gone forward to begin making change in their communities, and some in the bigger society. Two have received national awards for their work. All have truly become the leaders we are waiting for.

I am especially fond of the promises:

SGLA PROMISES

* You will be living your life from the context of sustainability. (This may not be readily apparent right now, but by the end of the program, you will have a different view of life and will make different decisions because of the new context of sustainability).
* You will know yourself as a leader who has the capacity to make a difference in your community and the world now.
* You will have deep understanding of world issues gained through serving and getting to know your global human family.

* You will have the confidence and will be unstoppable in pursuing and fulfilling your dreams and passions.

* You will have a breakthrough in your ability to communicate with others.

* You will have UNIMAGINABLE, OUTRAGEOUS FUN!

AND…….THE PROGRAM: (launching in 5 cities in 2008!)

Myra Murphy Jacob & SGLA youth in India

Weekend 1 – The World and Me

· Accomplishment Coaching provides each student in our program a personal life coach for the entire program.

· The Pachamama Symposium explores the link between three of humanity’s most critical concerns: environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment.

· Exploring Sustainable Initiatives. Community leaders give presentations on initiatives that promote a sustainable future.

· Globalization and Our Future. This session explores economic globalization and its sweeping impact upon the planet.

· Ecological Footprint. During this session, participants explore how our choices affect the world.

Weekend 2 – SIMSOC Encounter

· Emotional Intelligence Leadership. We will begin to discover each student’s strengths and areas of weakness in regards to leadership.

· SIMSOC, Simulated Society. This two day exercise is set up like a real society with an infrastructure including industries, political parties, a judiciary, and mass media. How participants function in the simulation has an affect on the success of the total “society.”

Weekend 3 – Extraordinary Communication

· Culture Shock Training. Participants become familiar with what to expect when going through culture shock.

· History & Culture of India. Experts from the country we will visit share about the history and culture.

· Empowered Communication. Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication fosters respect, attentiveness and empathy, and engenders a mutual desire to give from the heart.

Leadership Adventure – Destination: INDIA

· During the three-week stay, we embrace the culture and serve the communities in various ways. In addition to exper-iential learning, participants utilize reflection, socratic inquiry and open discussion to synthesize the travel experience.

· Participants will interact with a variety of people, volunteer with an NGO, discuss globalization with people their own age, meet families living in extreme poverty, talk with local leaders.

Weekend 4 – Dynamics of Leadership

· The Priceless You. Looking at the beliefs we have about ourselves and learning to increase self esteem and self worth.

· Sustainable Personal Finances are an important foundation for being able to contribute to the world. Participants will learn simple steps to manage, invest and save their money.

· Global Economics. An overview of global economics and the economic powerhouses that exist in the world.

· Public Speaking. Participants learn fundamental tools of public speaking and work with an experienced public speaker to construct their speeches.

· Your Vision for The World. Participants explore their vision and passion, and begin to develop a sustainable community project that supports this vision.

Weekend 5 – Me in the World

· Conscious Leadership includes the whole human being: mental, physical, spiritual and emotional. Part of being an extraordinary leader is defining a clear vision for the world and having the power to effectively manifest that vision.

· Sustainable Community Project. This session allows participants to brainstorm with their peers to create a timeline and structure that will ensure the implementation of their projects.

· Launching Event. Participants publicly declare their vision for the world and sustainable community project idea. SGLA invites media, community leaders, SGLA Alumni and participants’ friends and family to this culminating event.

Stage 2 – Sustainable Community Project

· Participants continue working with their coaches for 3 months while they launch their Sustainable Community Projects. Regional mentors are matched to each participant as well, according to their project theme.

Stage 3

· We launch our new leaders into the world. We will connect them with other leading universities, advanced sustainability training programs and other opportunities that will further their leadership.

www.sgla.org

©Copyright 2009 World Peace Emerging, Inc. All Rights Reserved