Monthly Archives: May 2012

Meet the IIRR Staff

Posted on by

Sebel Daniel is IIRR’s Training Officer and she is based out of the Ethiopia office. She is a fun-loving and outgoing individual who has a knack for keeping people motivated and excited.  She is basically the Queen Bee in our busy Ethiopia office. 

1. How long have you worked for IIRR and what do you do in your position?

I have worked at IIRR Ethiopia for about 3 years and 8 months now. I first joined IIRR as a gender audit researcher to perform a 6 month gender audit exercise under a project called Gender in Leadership and Decision-Making. At IIRR, I have worked as a focal person for the Managing HIV and AIDS in the Workplace  project and for the communication team. I am responsible for facilitation and co-facilitation of trainings, compiling regular reports, stories, and updates, and am involved in fundraising by preparing concept notes and proposals. I also work on organizational strategic planning and development.

2. What’s your favorite part about working with IIRR?

I love the team spirit and the learning environment at IIRR.

3. Where did you go to college/university/training school?

I got my first degree from Alemaya University with a major in Geography and a minor in History. After teaching geography at high school level for two years, I enrolled at Addis Ababa  University and got my Master’s of Arts in Gender Studies.

4. What is your favorite thing to do in the city where your IIRR office is located?

During my spare time, I love to watch movies at home, read books, be around water, and go to church. Ironically, I love the water, but I can’t swim! I’ve made a really serious effort to learn, but it just doesn’t seem to be working out…

5. What book/magazines/blogs are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Brilliant Coaching by Julie Starr.

6. Where is the next place you’d like to travel?

I would really enjoy traveling to Lalibela to visit one of the most renowned Ethiopian historical sites.

7. What advice do you have for someone who wants to make a difference in the world?

It is clear that having knowledge and experience are important to do something and make a difference. On top of this, the key aspect for me is to have a good heart and positive intentions in whatever you do. A kind heart and a positive plan will make a difference in people’s lives.

Cheers to You, Africa

Posted on by

49 years ago today, leaders from 30 of 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  This charter established the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and later in 1991, the OAU established the African Economic Community. In 2002 the OAU became the African Union. Africa Day is held on the day of the signing of the OAU charter, but it is more to commemorate African unity and the accomplishments of the last 49 years. 

While celebrating the 50th anniversary next year will certainly be met with pomp and circumstance, the 49th anniversary of the OAU is no small occasion.  Some formidable accomplishments include: 

  • Producing 6 of the fastest growing economies in the world
  • More female Members of Parliament than in the UK (16 countries)
  • The creation of a new nation, South Sudan
  • 18 Nobel Prize winners
  • The development of new, successful markets in technology, energy, and commerce
  • Gains in bringing clean water, agriculture programs, and free market systems to rural communities
  • Over 10 female Heads of Government or Heads of State

There have been struggles, big and small, but Africans have taken them in stride and worked together for a unified and prosperous future. 

Cheers to many more decades of success.

Sex, Slacktivism, and How Not to Change the World

Posted on by

Did that title grab your attention? Do you think that sounds like a good TEDx talk? An idea worth spreading that will have a BIG impact on the world that will help people make a difference in a manageable, inspiring, and engaging way?

We do.

We have entered in GOOD Maker’s TEDxUChicago Speaker Challenge for a chance to speak at the TEDx conference in Chicago in 2013. GOOD Maker is a tool to help make good things happen, and it gives individuals and organizations the ability to tap into the public’s creativity and energy to address an issue that’s important to them.

What is TEDx? The TED conferences are global forums that have hosted some of the world’s top thinkers to disseminate “ideas worth spreading.” The talks are 18 minutes long and cover a wide range of topics from research to the practice of science. Typically, TED talks are engaging, provocative, controversial, and entertaining (hence our title!).

The TED talks are held in California, but other communities and universities have established TEDx programs to host smaller events around the world.

That’s where we come in.

We have entered the contest to present our “Learning our Way Out” project in Ethiopia to a large group of professionals, academics, and students in Chicago. The project focuses on a community-led effort to talk about the relationship between family planning and poverty. Our talk is about the women AND men who wanted to change their communities from the inside out by leading their friends and neighbors in discussions about the poverty they all faced, what was causing it, and how they might address it. These conversations allowed the communities to discuss over-population, family planning, and early marriage’s effects on women’s education openly for the first time.

We believe this story needs to be heard because it is such a great example of how putting a community in the driver’s seat of their own development is more effective than sending in a foreign aid agency to “educate the people”. We think more people should hear about the effectiveness and sustainability of community-led development.

Lowoquotes

How can you help us?

Vote for us to have a chance to present this powerful conversation to Chicago in 2013. The voting ends June 4th, and you only get one vote, so it is an easy way to get involved in the conversation.

You can vote for our program here:

http://tedxuchicago.maker.good.is/projects/TheSexTalk

And make sure to tell your friends and family to vote as well!

Thank you for your help!

Behind the Trees: Kuyang’s Dedication to IIRR

Posted on by

This post comes from our Philippines Office and was written by staffers Joycen Sabio and Josephina Vicencio.

“Kuyang”, 75, is originally from Imus, Cavite. Upon finishing his degree in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry at Araneta University, he began working with Dr. Yen in the early stages of IIRR. He was one of Dr. Yen’s closest friends, and he eventually became the care-taker of the grounds at The Yen Center.  He worked with IIRR for more than 35 years.

After the structures were built around the IIRR campus in the early 1970s, “Kuyang” was mandated
to plant trees around the Yen Center campus with a $23 budget. IIRR founder Dr. James Yen’s original idea was to have every type of tree that can be found in the country planted on the campus, a challenge “Kuyang” readily accepted because he knew that he was planting for the future generation.

Given the limited budget for his assignment, he became very resourceful in finding ways to get various seedlings. He personally collected seeds found around the area, and asked the staff, particularly those working in the field,  to bring back seedlings for planting.

The eye-catching “Bottle tree” found on campus came from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, while the Cherry Blossom trees came all the way from Palawan. The Cherry Blossoms were planted by the wives of the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Vietnam, and New Zealand. Former First Ladies Imelda Marcos and Lady Bird Johnson have also planted trees on the campus. Among the many varieties, mango, tamarind, and coconut trees can also be found on campus.

The great effort to bring biodiversity to campus is conducive for learning, and reflects IIRR’s commitment to the environment. Today, these trees serve as a playground for children, a nesting ground for birds, shade from sunlight, and providers of fresh air and a cooler ambiance.

If “Kuyang’s” dedication and hard work for the institution could be compared to a tree, it would be the Fire tree, as Fire trees bloom most in times of adversity. The tree turns the reddest during the hottest season of the year while other trees are weak and dry. With more than 35 years of service, “Kuyang” has definitely proven his unselfish passion and loyalty for his job and to the founder of rural reconstruction in the Philippines.

To this day, “Kuyang” continues to visit IIRR and share his most treasured stories about the campus and his time with Dr. Yen. “Kuyang” was the guest speaker during IIRR’s 51st Anniversary last October 2011, when staff and families gathered to listen as he reminisced about his time of service and how grateful he is for having served the institution.

“Kuyang” embodies the competence, creativity, compassion, and impact made of rural reconstruction workers. These characteristics in “Kuyang” have contributed much to the success of IIRR’s programs and set the institution apart from the rest.

We are thankful at IIRR to have such a loyal friend.

We’re on Pinterest!

Posted on by

We are excited to announce our newest social media platform: Pinterest!

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more. We are “pinning” our favorite pictures from the field to share with our followers and other organizations.

You can find our profile here:

http://pinterest.com/reconstructing/

You can request to join Pinterest to follow our boards.

Happy pinning!

The Health of a Child is the Power of a Nation

Posted on by

There’s a poster than hangs in the common area of our shared office space in New York City that says, “The health of a child is the power of a nation,” and even though I read it almost every day, it didn’t seem relevant to me until last week.

Last week, not only was it the 45th Session of the Commission on Population and Development, focusing on children and youth, but it was also the first annual World Immunization Week that was promoted by the World Health Organization. Plus, USAID launched their 5th Birthday Campaign to promote initiatives to put an end to preventable child deaths, many of which stem from healthcare issues.

The poster didn’t seem relevant because it makes so much sense that children, the future of any nation, should be provided with quality healthcare that is affordable and easy to access. The poster didn’t seem relevant because I have always had access to great healthcare thanks to my parents, and now my job, and the United States government is making strides to make affordable healthcare accessible to everyone in this country. The poster didn’t seem relevant because vaccinations are readily available in the United States, and it is always an option to get the immunizations that I need to be healthy.

But after attending part of the 45th Session of the Commission on Population and Development and helping promote Immunization Week and the 5th Birthday Campaign, I realized what I actually knew all along.  My access to healthcare, and the policies that are making it accessible to all in the United States, is certainly more of an exception to the rule when compared to developing countries.  Many children in the developing world don’t have access to the most basic healthcare and immunizations to keep them healthy.

And it’s not just access to proper medical care and immunizations that make children healthy, either. To be healthy, it is also imperative that children have access to clean water and proper nutrition.  Healthcare and immunizations are key to a healthy child, but without water and food, healthcare and medicine can only go so far.

IIRR doesn’t work in preventive medicine, improving access to medical care, or immunizations, but we do work in improving the health of a child through improving access to water and proper nutrition.  In East Africa, we are working with communities to improve access to clean water in schools and community centers, and we are also working to mitigate the devastation that so often occurs after droughts.  In the Philippines, IIRR is working to improve access to nutritious vegetables for school children in areas that are wrought with malnutrition.

Medicine, water, and proper nutrition go hand-in-hand for the proper health of a child, or anyone for that matter, and working with communities, IIRR can help the rural poor become more healthy and provide healthier opportunities for themselves and their children.

The poster was originally printed in 1919, but the message is still important (almost) 100 years later.