1 CHOICE AMBASSADOR NEWSLETTER By: Hayley Golub This is Maria, a member of a village in Mexico where there was just a CHOICE Expedition. She is standing next to a version of the lorena stove model. October 2012 [INTERNATIONAL] Update from the field: Garbanzo, Mexico A CHOICE Expedition just returned from a village in Mexico and through the partnership of CISCO and CHOICE, they partnered with the village of Garbanzo to help establish Technological Centers that provide training and access to technology in order to teach computer skills and provide leadership opportunities in the village. Yasmin Yepes Mondragon, one of the village residents, is 18 years old and is taking on the leadership position of managing the center. For many people in rural Mexican villages, these Technological Centers introduce the community to a technical education that fosters a world of global communication since access to information is a top priority for the development plan of Garbanzo through CHOICE’s village-centered approach. At this early stage in the development process, there are 15 trained people who are ‘community connecters’ that help train others in the community on how to use the computers and thus they are empowering others to feel confident with technology. These centers will allow hundreds of residents in Garbanzo and neighboring villages to utilize the resources of the technology center. Another type of technology that a CHOICE expedition was working with recently was a version of the lorena stove project. The in-country team worked together with the villagers to share knowledge and successfully implement more efficient and healthier stoves in a village. CHOICE is currently partnering with 12 Mexican villages on the lorena stove project! Partnerships are the key to success! (to check out an example of a lorena stove project click on this link:http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI-2xkBxqX0 )
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CHOICE AMBASSADOR NEWSLETTERBy: Hayley Golub
This is Maria, a member of a village in Mexico where there was just a CHOICE Expedition. She is standing next to a version of the lorena stove model.
Oct
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[INTERNATIONAL] Update from the field:Garbanzo, MexicoA CHOICE Expedition just returned from a village in Mexico and through the partnership of CISCO and CHOICE, they partnered with the village of Garbanzo to help establish Technological Centers that provide training and access to technology in order to teach computer skills and provide leadership opportunities in the village. Yasmin Yepes Mondragon, one of the village residents, is 18 years old and is taking on the leadership position of managing the center. For many people in rural Mexican villages, these Technological Centers introduce the community to a technical education that fosters a world of global communication since access to information is a top priority for the development plan of Garbanzo through CHOICE’s village-centered approach. At this early stage in the development process, there are 15 trained people who are ‘community connecters’ that help train others in the community on how to use the computers and thus they are empowering others to feel confident with technology. These centers will allow hundreds of residents in Garbanzo and neighboring villages to utilize the resources of the technology center.Another type of technology that a CHOICE expedition was working with recently was a version of the lorena stove project. The in-country team worked together with the villagers to share knowledge and successfully implement more efficient and healthier stoves in a village. CHOICE is currently partnering with 12 Mexican villages on the lorena stove project! Partnerships are the key to success! (to check out an example of a lorena stove project click on this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI-2xkBxqX0)
New York City, New YorkThe Hunger Summit this past weekend from Oct. 12-14 was an inspirational FeelGood Peak Experience that emphasized the urgency of hunger eradication and its connection to poverty. The theme this year was “Investing in the End of Hunger” and we discussed what it means to be “invested” in eradicating World Hunger and “redefining money”. CHOICE Humanitarian is part of a large movement working to end poverty. Berkeley was the only FeelGood chapter that partners with CHOICE who was present at the conference, and thus we worked with other chapters to discover how both CHOICE Humanitarian and the Hunger Project are working together to solve the problems of hunger and poverty facing our human family. The Berkeley chapter [Ashwini Bhide, Meray Mankerian, and I] used Cheese Points to help subsidize the conference fees and according to Ashwini, President of the UC Berkeley FeelGood Chapter, “The Hunger Summit was an amazing experience that helped me reconnect with my passion to be a change maker and to be reminded of the global community I am part of!”
[LOCAL] Update from the field:Los Angeles, CaliforniaSpeaking of the CHOICE partnership, the UCLA FeelGood chapter devoted their first general member meeting to educating their members about CHOICE and discovering what the partnership means to them individually and as a chapter. Another partnership that their chapter is pursuing is with a local elementary school in Los Angeles through EnrichLA. The UCLA chapter plans on volunteering with the kids in the garden at the school or teaching the kids about nutritional food and eating healthy – community gardening and urban agriculture are ways of sourcing food locally and helping to fight poverty too! Finally, the chapter is hoping to go on a CHOICE Expedition together in June!
Members of the UC Berkeley, Columbia, and Pitt FG Chapters in New York at the Hunger Summit!
[PERSONAL] Update from the field: Berkeley, CaliforniaWhen you are at the deli selling sandwiches and only have a few seconds to deliver the whole spiel about the CHOICE and FeelGood partnership, here are a few key phrases to keep in your repertoire:
o Bottom-up, self-developing village-centered approacho Rural village empowermento Sustainability and breaking the cycle of povertyo Skill-building
**It is important to keep in mind that these are key phrases to connect to your own ideas about CHOICE and what it means to you personally because we are all change makers and it is crucial for you to emphasize what the CHOICE-FG partnership means to you!
I am your resource for anything CHOICE related. If a member of your chapter wants to go on an expedition and wants to talk to someone about what its like, if your chapter wants to learn ways to effectively communicate the CHOICE message, or anything else, do not hesitate to contact me. My email is [email protected].
The UCLA chapter at the activities fair. They now have 25 members!
