On June 15th, the Chase Community Giving will begin.    Voters will be able to use their facebook accounts to determine which organizations will win one of the many cash prizes.

Our ability to win this money to help us continue our work in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Uganda depends on your vote.  So please take a moment to click the VOTE NOW link, login to your facebook account and vote for us.

VOTE NOW

http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Program_wv.aspx?episode=37254

My name is Esther Rodriguez-Brown. My husband, Michael, and I are the founders of The Embracing Project, a non profit organization we created to educate inner city youth about the similarities between genocide and gang activity.  One purpose of this journey is to expose inner city youth to the experiences of children soldiers in different parts of the world and then to create a pen-pal relationship between both groups.

After writing hundreds of emails to many different organizations requesting help and receiving none, I was almost ready to give up – but I could not.  I knew some one was there waiting for my call.  Finally, somebody gave me Kimmie Weeks information and I immediately sent him an email explaining The Embracing Project and the link between children soldiers and young gang members.  I asked him to  help me create a pen-pal program  between inner city youth from the US and young soldiers from Liberia, Uganda, and Sierra Leone in order to awake society’s conscience and to help other youths also in dire need of a friendly embrace.

I sent the email on March 19, 2007, and nine days later on March 28 I received a response.  Kimme loved the idea, “That sounds like a great project, I would love to see more!”  That email was the beginning of the journey.  In August 2008, I finally met Kimmie face to face. I made the trip out to Liberia to see first-hand what he is doing for the world.  The experience was absolutely amazing!  I met wonderful people who have made the commitment to help children in that region of the world, where NECESSITY is written in capital letters.  I never could have imagined what I was about to experience.  Ever since I was a teenager I have dreamed of visiting Africa, and now, with almost forty years behind me, my dream was realized.  It is never too late to do what your heart wishes.

As we arrived at Monrovia airport, I saw United Nations planes and tanks parked all around and it hit me – we were landing in a post war country. My heart was beating like a drum and my emotions were in a freefall on a roller coaster.  I was excited!  I was nervous! I was happy! I was sad… I was curious… I was shocked.  The trip from the airport to the capital was an adventure in itself.

When you finally get into Monrovia, your entire mind, body, and soul awakens to a separate reality – the smells, the noise, the colors, the energy, everything is different. I loved it.

After staying a couple of days in Monrovia, Kimmie took us to Temas.  I have never in my life felt so welcome, even when I return to Spain, and my family is waiting for me at the airport.  All of the beautiful faces, the singing, and the smiling… I felt like we were in heaven, surrounded by Angels.  I met Mama Doris, a courageous woman who put her home and her family at the disposition of hundreds of children who have become orphans due to war.  Next, I met Jessie, a brave fourteen year old who, after living   in the streets with an injured arm and leg for eight months, is now going to school and having fun with his brothers and sisters.  Then I met a blind seventeen year old young man named George Kimmie.  Even with his eyes closed he can see the love and kindness in others.  A few other amazing people I met were Momo, Yatta, Varney, Jenebah, Seensee, Rebecca, Amos, Isaac, and over 50 others who will always be with me in my heart.  They showed me so much love, and taught me so much about the importance of strength and courage.  I will always be grateful for this experience.

Morris, a former child soldier, was kidnapped when he was only thirteen years old and forced to carry a gun and kill.  He is now helping other former children soldiers go through rehabilitation to become better individuals, both for themselves and for their communities.  The stories that the former children soldiers shared with us will always stay deep inside me – the suffering that they experienced is unimaginable.  No child in the world should ever go though what they were forced to.  I am deeply grateful that they are now a part of my life.  

I felt like I was at home in Liberia; people are so full of joy, so full of life, and so grateful to be alive that is an inspiration to anybody who has the opportunity to go there. 

I am committed to returning every year with a group of inner city youth from the US and a group of volunteers to help wherever we can.  I am committed to sending resources to Mama Doris and the children in Tema so they can keep attending school.  I am committed to helping Morris and his organization in any way I can so he can continue to help former children soldiers.  And I am committed to Kimmie Weeks cause for opening his world to my world.

To all of you, my Liberian family,

Esther Rodriguez-Brown

 The program is expected to benefit at least 75 of the county’s citizens in the first phase. The overall span of the program is two years, said a YAI press release reaching this paper Thursday.

YAI’s Public Relations Officer, Oliver Menyongar, expressed his delight in launching of the program.  “I am very happy that they could take computers to Grand Bassa and make young people of that county [computer literate],” he said.  Menyongar also used the occasion to highlight the benefits of the program, including the fact that it is totally free of charge to the participants. He called on the young people in Grand Bassa to make use of the opportunity.

 YAI Program Officer, D. Isaac Hinneh, also expressed satisfaction with the number of young people that interested in gaining computer knowledge. YAI remains committed to supporting the computer training for young people of that county, he said.

The release quoted YAI’s Executive Director, Kimmie Weeks, as saying that his organization “remains committed to supporting educational programs in Liberia and will help the Government meet one of the pillars of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).”

In a related development, YAI has also launched its agricultural program in Grand Bassa County. Disclosing this information, Weeks said his organization’s programs will go a long way in benefiting the young people of Liberia. He added that as a young person who grew up in Liberia, he understands the importance of education, which is why, he said, his organization will do its utmost to support educational programs in the country.

The funds are in support of YAI’s Center for Women’s Empowerment in Sierra Leone and Liberia as well as the KIN YAI Award for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

YAI’s Center for Women’s Empowerment provides vocational training, small business development workshops, and micro-loans to 500 women every year from the poorest communities in Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

As a follow-up, a small group of KIN Global delegates led by Rob Wolcott and Michelle Buck will travel to Liberia to discover additional ways to help reduce Liberia’s high unemployment rate, which currently stands at 75%.

The Greener Diamond has released a new line of t-shirts to raise awareness and support YAI’s work.  The “ENOUGH!” campaign t-shirts have been worn and is being promoted by celebrities including   Johnny Littlefield on the show:Extreme Makeover, Home Edition.

The Greener Diamond will donate 100% of the proceeds from the ENOUGH t-shirt sales to Kimmie Week’s foundation Youth Action International for a project that will regenerate and reclaim an old toxic diamond mine in the Konor region of Sierra Leon. Former child soldiers will farm the land into new rice fields that will, not only serve as a source of food for the surrounding communities, but create a sustainable source of income for them as well.

 Click to purchase your t-shirt

A group of 175 “invitation-only” delegates with outstanding credentials in innovation in many fields from around the world are convening to build a path toward global prosperity.

 “KIN Global is part of a larger vision for a leading business school to provide an independent platform for people to collaborate and address humanity’s most meaningful challenges,” said Dr. Robert C. Wolcott, co-founder and executive director. “As a global business school, business remains at the core of the Kellogg School of Management. Nonetheless, many challenges facing the world today require cross-sector solutions and an innovative capacity beyond the reach of individual organizations. At Kellogg, we are providing an environment in which meaningful collaboration can occur,” Wolcott said. Kimmie Weeks says he hopes his involvement will spark additional global interest in Africa and especially in the Liberian building process.  Weeks is currently traveling through Europe, The Middle East, Africa and North America raising awareness and support for post war African nations.  In a recent address to African diplomats in the Middle Eastern nation of Oman, Kimmie Weeks  challenged Africans to “be prepared to die” for their countries.  He also called for greater cohesiveness to make Africa the best place to live.  Among the KIN conference delegates are: ·         Admiral James G. Stavridis, the proposed new NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) supreme allied commander, as well as commander of U.S. forces in Europe. ·         Kimmie Weeks, founder and chairman of Youth Action International, which supports the needs of families living in post-war countries. ·         Mike White, Vice Chairman of PepsiCo and CEO of PepsiCo International. ·         Judith Estrin, author of “Closing the Innovation Gap,” published in September, 2008. Ms. Estrin is CEO of JLABS, LLC, formerly known as Packet Design Management Company, LLC. Prior to co-founding Packet Design, in May 2000, Estrin was Chief Technology Officer for Cisco Systems. ·         Members of the government of Colombia, including Juan Manuel Santos, Minister of Defense and the former Minister of Finance & Commerce. ·         Xavier Phillips, the internationally-acclaimed French cellist and protégé of Mstislav Rostropovitch, in a performance open to the public at 7:30 P.M. June 2 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston. About the KIN The Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN) is a platform for ongoing collaboration between Kellogg faculty, corporate innovation leaders and government. Founded in 2003, the KIN facilitates strategy and management dialogue to promote innovation led growth and build long-term value. To learn more about the Kellogg Innovation Network visit: www.kinglobal.org.  

One Peace

Canadian Craig Kielburger, who started Free the Children to help victims of child labor at the age of twelve, has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Farlis Calle, forced to identify the body of a young friend-a victim of her country’s civil war-started the Columbia Children’s Movement for Peace. At age ten, Kimmie Weeks, a refugee from the Liberian civil war, came within a whisper of being buried in a mass grave. Almost miraculously he survived and vowed to make a difference in the lives of other children. At thirteen he established Voices of the Future, Liberia’s first child rights advocacy group. Other portraits feature the accomplishments of children from Sarajevo, Japan, the United Kingdom, Cambodia, Afghanistan and the United States. These moving testaments to the courage and initiative of youth will inspire readers young and old. 

 Purchase a copy of the book:  http://www.orcabook.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=548

 The new orphanage will provide shelter for close to 80 children and their caretakers.   During the program, the Executive Director of Youth Action International remarked: “I am very happy with the level of work that we have donehere for the children of Liberia.” He went on to say that children are the future and should never be left alone to fend for themslves.�
Mr. Weeks used the occasion to cal on Government to do more as it relates to the welfare of children.  He further said, “You children without parents will never be forgotten by us at Youth Action INternational.”  He also announced that Youth Action International in conjunction with Humanity Unites Brilliance (HUB) would begin work to build a two classroom building on the site of the orphanage.