Competing to Love

Why does helping people have to be competitive?  Why is it that I want to get a job helping people so badly, but can't?  I want to work on alleviating poverty, I want to work on breaking down ethnic, racial, and gender barriers, I want to work on providing sustainable ways for the nearly 1 billion undernourished people in the world to be able to have food.  I want to work towards every individual in the world being able to achieve  human security, dignity.  I want to work on real, true democracy, so that the masses of the world can have real say in their lives.  And I want to work on this 80-90 hours a week.  But I can't.  I mean not for real.  I can do things on the side, I can Occupy, I can volunteer, I can apply for jobs, I can try to network or meander my way into these industries, and hopefully one day get a job.  One day.  But then if I get that job, who doesn't get it?  It's just like all the other jobs I've applied for and haven't gotten.  One job, hundreds of applicants who all want to work in an industry or on a project that matters to them and the world that they believe in.  But only one gets it.  Only one person gets to legitimately help the world in that way on that day.  The rest of us are left trying to find ways to do things in our spare time, unprofessionally, until the next application goes unsuccessfully fulfilled between waitress shifts, nanny gigs, and temp jobs to pay rent.

Obviously, this is the job market.  It is the same job market for anything and any industry.  Whether it be finance, advertising, non-profit, academia, whatever, there is a competitive market centered around making money to support one's self.  But hey, I've done things to strengthen my chances.  I have skills, I have experience, I am intelligent; just like everyone else.  Yet, I don't seem to be able to win these job competitions.  (To bad we couldn't just have a race to see who gets a job, I'd be all set then!).  But they're not. They're based on a fine tooth comb of your life, but without the life.  More on what some person sitting behind a desk thinks about your life on one piece of paper, about their company's interests, and all of that filtered through the lens of their's and society's prejudices and presumptions.  Because I moved around a lot in my 20's does it mean I will now?  Gaps in employment must mean I was just slacking off rather than couldn't find work right?  And what is to say that those "non-traditional" life moments don't add to a person?  Or that I packed a bag and went to Sierra Leone to fill that time?  Oh, wait, that looks flippant, unstable.  Being able to do anything anywhere isn't as desirable as being able to sit and role over on demand.

But it is not just me, there are also of course issues about the organizations' funding, their priorities, and whether they've been able to dredge up enough capital from the netherworld to be able get shit done.  It doesn't matter whether I can do the job or not.  It doesn't even matter that we all can do the job, or that there are too many candidates and not enough jobs out there.  What matters is that we are competing against each other to be nice to each other.  People are trying to help people, trying to put in hard work, and they can't - not on a real level.  Not in a way that allows them to sustain their own lives.  Our society has taken being nice - an inherently cooperative emotion and action, perhaps the quintessentially positive human trait - and turned it into something aggressive, commodified, and surrounded by competitive negativity.     

This is frankly just a horrible way to structure society.  Skilled compassionate people with no real and sustainable outlet for that desire.  I have skills damn it!  We all have skills!  But they are not skills that somehow mesh with or fit into this system that requires things to be big money makers.  I don't want to compete to help you.  Why don't we do it together, or divide up our efforts and help more?  No.... let's make it competitive!  Here's a vision for you: what could be worse than sitting back and watching an old lady trying to cross the street and needing help.  Two people come up to offer help to her, yet rather than working together, they turn on each other and start fighting over who gets to help her.  They don't both to take one arm and work together, or have one stop traffic and the other take her arm, instead they compete against each other and end up fighting amongst themselves.  This is where our society is today in terms of humanitarianism; we're brawling in the street over who can help the old lady across while we ourselves become a spectacle, rolling around on the ground in a fit of flailing arms and legs.  Of course the elderly woman continues to cross on her own because she's got stuff to do, until:  Smack!!  A truck comes along (whose driver is working a double to make rent and hasn't taken a break).  The two people keep fighting of course, as if the train wreck next to them isn't happening.  So sad.  We shouldn't have to compete to help people.  Organizations shouldn't have to compete for money to help people.  Nor should people have to compete for jobs for it either.  Utopian yes, but we should just be able to to be nice to each other and sustain some semblance of a life around it. 


      

Africa!

So timing is something that I will never quite understand, and probably shouldn't even attempt to...  On Sunday April 15th I learned I would not be starting a Phd program in September, that Wednesday I lost my job and my relationship was in dire turmoil.  Seemingly every part of my life had schismed aimlessly within just a couple days of each other.  Time as I knew it had stopped. 

What do you think happened that very next day?  I was standing in Union Square talking about getting a think tank going, and to people about this crazy couple of days when my phone vibrated and three quick successive emails came through.  They were from Yapo!  Now, anyone new to this blog won't know him, but he is my guy in Sierra Leone.  Around the turn of the year I had scratched together some money for our Africa work and sent it out to him.  We needed to get our national and municipal registrations up to snuff for our community organization in Sierra Leone and the bank account open.  We went back and forth for a while as it took me longer than expected to get the money and get it to him.  Things had kinda gone quite  and then when I sent the money I didn't hear anything.  He had told me he would be doing some election monitoring and be a way for a bit so I didn't know what happened.  I was worried, but Sierra Leone is an interesting place.  There is no electricity pretty much anywhere and communications are really tough.  He basically never got my messages saying the money had been sent, thus never picked it up.  He thought I just didn't send anything.  So he slowly got together some cash to do the registrations himself.  When he sent me the certificates I immediately asked if he had gotten the money.  No!  He went that night and got it all.  So now we have a sizable chunk of cash sitting in the bank!  We still have to do a couple administrative things, but we are up and running!

We do not have a specific project yet that we have committed to, but as of right now we are strongly looking at verma composting (composting with worms) of waste, and also at a sustainable internet cafe/office to work from.  That is where the most interest came from the government and seems most viable.  It is really tricky though as without personally going there and getting to work on it, it is very difficult to make things happen. 

All in all though, it was fortuitous that he simply popped back up when he did.  Down to the day itself!  Perhaps there is something to our connection that is in fact incomprehensible!?  Or maybe things just happen incomprehensibly... But I do know that it brought a huge smile to my face, and I immediately ran around the park and told everyone.  Any rain on my face that day was quickly washed away...  I had hope again of finishing what I started.  :)

Dinner time!!

So we call people in the evenings, 4-9 at night with a 6:30-7 dinner break.  Last night for my break I went flyering for Occupy Town Square IV at Fort Green Park in Brooklyn (Sat, Mar 25th).  We work on the third floor, and underneath us is another politically inclined non-profit.  When I walked into their offices thinking I'd hand some flyers out, I was taken aback by the exact same layout and functionality as ours.  A bunch of cubicles making phone calls surrounded by the obligtor offices with doors.  Wow!!  I bet your saying, that's the way everything always is at businesses.  But more for me it just brought to question many things that run through my head about our political and non-profit world.

It wasn't the layout, it was the purpose and functionality.  Non-profit and political campaigns are simply about asking for money.  They are unfortunately not simply funded as an essential apparatus of the operating of a democratic state.  We do not as a society have an institutionalized funding apparatus for the things that are actually - to me - the most important to a society en large: governance and assistance.  Both of these are corner stones to democratic society.  And when I say governance, I do not mean the functionality of the government or what it does, but its guidance.  While we spend trillions of dollars on governmental programs from war, to social services, to government workers, we have left democracy fully and totally privatized.  There is no funding to amplify those voices being heard in small spaces, nor any funding to assist those not being heard in any spaces get into the public sphere.

No news here, but our democratic process - left unfunded - is left solely to the capitalist system and the free market for regulation.  Everything in the electoral system of any scalable importance is privately funded.  Hence these two organizations I've referred to spending so much time and effort on fundraising.  Why must organizations working so hard to bring to the fore political and socio-economic issues and injustices - so essential to a knowledgeable electorate - be so left upon itself?

Now I know, I am bring up an insurmountable political cauldron, but I am seeking more to just address a question of a principle: political awareness as a human right.  Why not?  The UN's declaration on Human Rights touches on political issues in article 21, but it's of course toothless and offers no substance.  But if anything is of importance, this is the first thing that a society should be promoting and funding: the awareness of our social world in a way that is transparent and builds social and electoral capacity.  Yes, I know, there are a million questions about what gets funded, how, by who, and how it would work in general.  But those are questions beyond the level of the "principle" that popped into my head, and they should be saved for another day.  At its core though, this concept stems from the public financing of elections and runs further into non-profits doing political work, and then even into non-profits doing relief, aid, and empowerment work.

Our society is bleeding.  Look around both America and the world.  Poverty is our greatest threat.  Disparity of means and wealth, health and wellness, human security.  Not some dictator or terrorist far off, but the poverty that keeps people down and allows them to be dictated to - our own Dictorship.  Our lack of transparency, our lack of democratic and social voice all handcuff us at every moment.   We live in a society where political speech is completely regulated on a systemic level in a way that discourages true democratic engagement and disallows true change. 

Fact is, these two organizations are both contingent upon not just money, but money that currently must come from private individuals, private foundations, companies, etc.  All of these entities have one thing in common: individual AGENDAS!  They all come from places not systemically promoting the greater good.  I want a political system that funds the agenda of itself, the free and fair democratic rule by the people - alllllllll the people.  Not just those with money, not just those with direct stakes in issues, but everyone.

How can this be done?  Well in our current context, we have to fund bringing a voice to everyone.  Meaning political pressure groups would need to be transparent and funded by a state-like apparatus.  Empowerment type groups and community organizations would have to be funded by a state-like apparatus.  All political parties would need to be funded by a state-like apparatus based on the common good.  They all could illuminate their issues to and for the greater good, and work towards addressing - or having their issues addressed - to and for the greater good.

Obviously, this is an INCREDIBLY complex and incomplete thought and does not actually fit well into our current socio-economic structure.  But the point I am trying to make is that a privatization of the democratic process - such as exists in America - does not serve the democratic process itself but rather those who privately can control and affect it through their own private individual means.  Again no mystery here, but still, it was tough to walk into a room and see it all so blatantly obvious, so blatantly preposterous.  That so much human capital was being spent on trying to make money to try to simply engage in the political process on such a basic level.  All this while, so much of our country's financial capital is being given to an effort to destroy both humans and their capital in agenda driven wars and policies throughout the world.  Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to make the Pentagon do door-to-door and telephone fundraising for their wars, just like we have to do for the fight against poverty and for a democratic voice.      

Dilemmas...

So given my last post I think it's pretty safe to say that I am coming up upon a transition point.  Two years of "little" to show for my passion, past, and hard work is tough to take, and I now may have a decision to make.  I got another call from the organization in Connecticut that I had spoken with about working for them several months ago.  They now want me to come up to their Massachusetts office for the whole of next week and feel each other out and see what kind of future could be possible there.

The previous position they had talked about was basically an entry level position with barely enough of a wage to justify moving to Connecticut, nevermind getting really excited about the immediate career option.  That position, weighed against the piecemeal system I have set up here in NY that caters toward my long term ambitions, my Africa work, and family/friends, was tough to justify moving for.  However, they are now talking about something entirely different, thus a dilemma.

The organization, New England Business Associates, is based in Springfield, Massachusetts (with several other offices in MA) and is a non-profit organization that specializes in working with people with disabilities.  They are now expanding their operations into Connecticut.  It has been three months since I originally interviewed with them (and they then unceremoniously fell out of touch with me).  However, they have now reappeared and offered me what seems to be the number two position in Connecticut, and what may be the highest permanent position there.  Their Director of Development is spearheading the expansion and overseeing everything right now.  As would be expected, she seems to be getting a bit overwhelmed as things take shape there.  Thus the need for more wo/manpower.

This type of position completely changes my evaluation of the options in front of me.  Obviously nothing can be decided until the end of next week when all the details of my options will be directly in front of me.  However, this doesn't mean I can't lay out my options here in advance and help set a foundation for a decision (and solicit advice).  So here we go, present day:

• Living in my family's home, which they are in the process of trying to sell.  Meaning uncertainty presently, and that I would then have to either find my own apartment (which I can't afford as am), live in a car (which I have yet to attain - though am close), or move in with my grandparents (which requires a discussion within itself).
• I am committed to working as a girl's lacrosse official which would bring in a livable income and is between 50 and 91 dollars per hour.  Good money, but only lasts through mid June.  I could get another flexible retail position, and there is a pittance from unemployment should I not make enough in a week.
• I am volunteering with Safe Harbors in Newburgh on two events there, a community clean up day and a 5k road race.  I must admit though that it has been tough to do this given a depressed state of mind and/or trying to focus on getting myself out of this state.
• I have a long standing network of friends here, one that since my Africa trip and malaria, seems to have become really important to me.  It's almost like since my time alone in the hospital I want nothing more than social interaction and genuine friendly compassion.
• Family.  My grandparents are 87 years old.  They have lived a long full life and deserve to have people there for them (they live about 3 minutes drive away now).  My parents have been helping them their whole lives and are in a tough position right now in terms of housing and will be moving to Rhode Island.  My grandparents will be left alone here in the NY area.  I want to stay here for them.  It would mean so much to both of us.
• Time to write and read.  My long term goals are about thinking, reading, writing, creating new ideas and systems.  I have time right now to spend doing all these things.  I have gotten off track a bit with the malaria, but am finding my way again.  I could try to publish some things I've been working on, and make myself more knowledgeable.  
• My Walking Lion project, both Sierra Leone and locally.  If I took a job in Connecticut I'd have to mostly leave this behind.  I could not travel to Sierra Leone for more than a couple weeks a year and I wouldn't be living in Newburgh or even close enough to do anything there.  I put in a lot of work, said a lot of things that I want to stand behind, and made some serious sacrifices that I would hate to have go to waste.  Granted there is not much to count on (I think I'll have to write another post on that), but as I've said, the whole thing is notoriously slow.  I just spoke to Yapo and then got a follow up email from him as well.  The solar lamps aren't looking so great right now do to legal issues.  Other options are being discussed, but there are lots of uncertainties.  But I have time on the ground and a part of my heart is there, I want to do things, the things I said I would try to do.  If I take a different job, I can't do them.  I couldn't actually go there for enough time to get things done as I'd like.
• Future PhD, I have been thinking about this for years and always come back to it.  I was thinking to take a class at CUNY in NYC (a top choice for me) in the fall to try to help them see me for what I am, rather than the poor dyslexic test scores I have.  I would then apply next winter for School in 2012.  I could then stay in NY and be around for my grandparents indefinitely and move toward my longer term goals and the future I want.  (Success with my Africa work, and time writing, would really help my application as well). 
• Freedom.  I would be free to come and go.  Africa, Central Asia, Europe.  Wherever I could be learning and bettering myself, and writing about it.  Nomadic, poorly funded, but working towards my goals one shoe string at a time. 
• Basically, I have established a nomadic, poorly funded, and fluid lifestyle but am working towards my goals one shoe string at a time.  But there is no stability.  There is no security.  Perhaps if I had a stable home it could be.  I have enough unemployment and part-time work to survive while I try to attain my goals.  Housing is the only real uncertainty.  Yes, it would be nice to have finances to live off and to set up other things such as Africa, but it is not life threatening with out.  This road would be much more difficult and risky than the other, but could get me where I want to be longer term sooner, and only makes sense if viewed in terms of these long term goals.

 Option two, details TBD:

• Be an intricate part of setting up, and then running, an expansionary program for people with disabilities in Connecticut.  It sounds at this point that I would be in a key position and perhaps the regional manager in the future.  A challenge with a good level of responsibility, and satisfaction doing something I would believe in.  A very appealing option.
• Stability.  I would have a decent salary, benefits, vacation time, etc.  I have not had this for a long time and it could open up many doors for me.
• Moving to Connecticut.  This by itself does not present much of an issue, except for what I would be leaving behind.  I would be an hour and a half away from my grandparents.
• I could save money, set myself up for future endeavors, donate to Africa or wherever, travel on vacations.
• Write in my free time, which I would think I would have a decent amount of.
• Basically, this option is the standard American option.  Same normal life that everyone here thinks of when they think of an ideal life.  A job, a home, stability, etc.  Something I need, something I would really like.  I could do this for years and find comfort in it.
• I will not know the extent of it in terms of scope of work or pay until next week.  We shall see... 

I think the essence of all this is that it is a change of life.  I will be walking away from everything that I have been doing and working towards for the last however many years.  I will be committing to the US, to a career pathway I haven't necessarily always wanted.  I will be giving up a lot of the things that have been important to me and i have worked towards.  I always want to be abroad, seeing, learning, doing, helping.  So many friends abroad, a way of life that feels more comfortable to me.  I have sort of fallen into this sort of alter ego, "walking lion", and I like it.  I like who I am and what I am working towards.  Settling in in the middle of Connecticut, making new friends, meeting knew people.  But will they be the type of people I will really identify with, want to be around and help me move towards my longer term goals?  Will my life really be a life that I can identify with?  I feel a bit like I would be settling and giving up for a bit, swimming with the tide, becoming a part of the system, part of what the problem, the band-aid, in our world is.  But I would also be able to breath while doing something I would believe in and enjoy.  Something that could facilitate any number of things in the future.  Which is this the right thing to do?  Be a part of society to change it, or stick to its fringes?  I know everyone's advice will be to take the job, but will any of those people ever change the course of history?  Will I?

Good People

One of the biggest rewards that I get for actively following this pathway here is the people that I not only meet, but will hopefully get to work with.  Gone are the days of working with aristocratic British millionaires, former military types, expropriating raw material extractors, and bottom line obsessed sales managers all bent on the best price they could get for their mothers...  Today I met with the people from Safe Harbors.  What can I say... good people... good ideas... good initiative...  Just all in all a good experience. 

We didn't get too far into the details about things as there is just so much information both from my side and theirs, but we laid the ground work for meeting again.  perhaps tomorrow.  I sent an email with some questions and a few things thy might be able to advise me on.  And this is the beauty of the non-profit world.  The people aren't solely about what benefit their is specifically in it for themselves, they just want to help.  They see a guy like me coming along and they think of ways they can help me.  It's not about extracting the maximum from me for their benefit, but seeing if there is anyway that we can work together and help each other without anyone having to lose anything.  Cooperation... perhaps a lost art in today's society... perhaps not!!

To Non-Profit or Not...

So should the non-profit start before or after the trek?  I just had a long talk with my chief advisor (aka my mother) and she thinks it best to wait till after.  Obviously if you scroll down this linked list of related posts there have been other discussions about this, and it is especially an issue to undertake in Sierra Leone, but it is till an issue.

I find myself really up against a wall with so many things to do to get it all done by myself.  Incorporating is a simple process - if its what you do for a living.  A lawyer who knows what they are doing could get into this and be done with it in hours, I am sitting here trying to read all the IRS's tax codes and New York State incorporating guidelines.  Not that I am complaining, I am doing it because this is the way I like to do things.  I want to know fully what the implications and limitations of becoming a Non-profit are and how then to construct the company.  In order to do something I think you need to do it right.

This is my mother's point.  Focus for the time being on the trip, then do the non-profit once I'm back.  "Things will be a lot clearer then and you will have a firmer idea of exactly what you will be doing, it also might be easier to get donations."  The logic is sound.  Rather than working over the next couple months to learn all there is to know about backpacking and Sierra Leone, and setting up and running an entire non-profit company operating on multiple continents, she is saying save the company for after.  As far as mental space in the brain, this does make a good amount of sense.

I think it has been a goal of mine to set up a non-profit though for years, and its something I really want to do - perhaps an exercise in patience is needed!!  But it also effects the concept of donations.  Would people donate to 'me' or a non-profit?  I'm not tax deductible!!  This motherly advice is as well in synch with what NYCON advised as well.  So I ask you, all 5 of my followers!!!  lol.  What do you think??  Should I put my focus into the trip, and the country, and the language, or into those things with an inherently forced lesser degree of intensity so that I can also go there as an affiliate of my own non-profit?  Hmmmm...  Comments welcomed!!

Naming the Nameless, Defining the Undefinable...

"Love" or "Ai" in Chinese

So I'm back at it with thinking about names..  I spent some good time with a friend on Monday trying to talk through the naming process and came to only more questions.  I am very fond of this name 'Mozi', but again it carries some connotations if looked into.  It is not just a word, but a man, thus its meaning goes beyond a simple definition and to an entire philosophical school in ancient China.  Much easier to bring about stigmas.  My concern is that people - particularly here in the US - will view this in polarizing terms as some sort of religious scenario.  Which is exactly what I do not want.  I want the organization to be as neutral as possible, and thus I think the name should also try to remain as such.

This is of course to my personal disheartenment given that his ideas of universal love and respect for all, including treating everyone equally and as you would your own family, truly resonate both with me and with the causes and methods this organization will be undertaking.  However, we had to move on.  We want it to be eclectic and catchy in name, rather than the standard acronym creating non-profit titles.  It needs to be something that can become a brand in itself as things grow.  What we came to was individual words, foreign words that mean things that speak to the organizations principles and purposes.

"Balance" or "Ping Heng" 

The words that we are playing with are words like, balance, harmony, symbiotic, cooperation, things that talk about finding a harmonious mutually beneficial balance amongst things and each entity.  We need one word, a word in any language that means such things.  I have always been particularly fond of Chinese philosophy, thus this is my first thought.  I would love to find a word that means similar ideals and can be 'romanized' in pin yin.  I will have to look through some of my books/online and see if passages or words come close to our meaning and then see what the translations are.  But more importantly I need to contact some Chinese/Chinese speaking friends as well.  However, I should say that we would take word and or meaning from anywhere, any language.  We just have to make sure it does not create stigmas where we plan on going.  That is why I like the chinese concepts - there is a lot of respect for ancient chinese philosophical thoughts, Confucius, Lao Zi, yin and yang, balance, quieting the mind and looking within.  These connotations carry a nice and somewhat more neutral feel for me.

"Harmony" or "He"

Anyway, I write this in asking if anyone has ideas, thoughts, and/or friends/family that could help in either translating these ideas into words or other concepts/ideas.  It may seem easy to search online and find things, but there are so many cultural nuances, meanings, and translations that it must be researched and done right.
              

Incorporation...

I am beginning to understand why people spend tens of thousands of dollars to go to school, and so that they can then get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do nothing but incorporate companies/non-profits.  It would be great to have some cash to just get this done with.  I'm sure the NYCON people would help greatly and at not to costly of an endeavor.

The trick to our situation though is that we are trying to do something that is atypical.  We are not just trying to start a non-profit to operate locally in New York.  We are trying to set something up that, from what it seems in all my researching, is revolutionary in structure and requires a solid understanding of the specifics of New York, US, International, and other location's laws.  In trying to get my head around those laws/locales and planning the rest of the trip itself, it is a daunting task.  But then again!!  How does one get the difficult done easily?  They can't!!  ;)

Random Taskings...

So today is thus far pretty straight forward, I've looked into some interesting stuff.  I actually did start an REI registry, but really so I could have a list of things that I decide upon.  The first one is described below, the SteriPen for water sanitation, and is actually on sale!!  So I'm gonna have to get on that one!!  I have also just been running through music from Sierra Leone on a great website SierraLeoneNow.com.  I found a couple decent songs, one of course was a good slow jam which immediately got me fired up!!!






And a little rap.... which unfortunately doesn't give me an embed option for right here.

I called the Hennessy Hammock people and the website phone number went directly to a women's mobile number who had to call me back because she was 'outside the country'!!  Not sure how that worked...  But anyway, good conversation.  They actually let you get a hammock for a couple weeks and if it doesn't work out for you, you can send it back.  That's a great deal, sleep in it a few nights in the woods and still take it back, sweet.  We talked about two options, the Hyperlight ($229) and the Deep Jungle ($269), the deep jungle has two layers on the underneath part of it, and another pad if desired, so that mosquitos can't bit you through the fabric - sneaky little critters!!  The other one is just plain light.  I didn't ask about the difference between the bottom entrance versus the side zip entrance, but as per looking at the website now it seems I should have.  It would be nice to be able to use it as a chair as well, side zip?  There is one called the Ultralight ($189) that has the side option, as does the Deep Jungle.  They all come with the rain tarps, but she thought it might be worth thinking about a larger one if I'd be in rainy areas.  Worth a thought, but I should be there after the rainy season is mostly ending and under trees as well.  

But the most important thing thus far is that I started going through my list of NGO's doing work in Sierra Leone and sent several of them emails introducing myself and the project.  This will be of the utmost importance as once I am on the ground it will nice to have people to coordinate with and just simply sit down with and talk to.  I will be able to bring them additional publicity through any exposure I can generate, and in-turn possible help them obtain more donations.  Obviously as well, there could be longer term implications for cooperation once our non-profit is further established.    

SteriPEN (REI Review)


Many of us like this miniature light saber. It uses ultraviolet light to deactivate the unseen cooties (viruses included) that could be lurking in water. Short-wave UV light (specifically, UVC, which transmits "germicidal" attributes) zaps, or "disrupts," their DNA, rendering them unable to reproduce and thus cause illness. This is what my coworker's daughter took on her trip, and she returned healthy and well-pleased with its performance. The SteriPEN is typically my first-choice water-treatment item for backpacking trips, but every person has different preferences. It may or may not be the right item for you.


Pros:

• All SteriPEN models are small, simple to use and lightweight.
• No wait time is needed once water has been exposed to UV light.
• UV light imparts no taste to the water.
• The wand can be used to treat water (without ice) in individual drinking glasses, such as in hotel rooms.
• UV light is very effective against Cryptosporidium, the most treatment-resistant pest among protozoa and bacteria.

Cons:

• The quartz lamp could break.
• Batteries can run out. (The manufacturer recommends using lithium batteries.)
• Not effective in very dirty or gritty water unless it is prefiltered or clarified. Light must interact with organisms in order to be effective.

Tips:

• If water has a high particulate content, use the SteriPEN's prefilter — a screw-on cap for water bottles equipped with a 4-micron screen.
• The use of the prefilter is advised in any outdoor situation to keep water as particulate-free as possible.
• For speed and simplicity, bring a water bottle with threads that are compatible with the prefilter.
• If the water clarity is poor, give it a second or even a third dosage of UV light.

Naming the Non-Profit...

So this may seem like a bit of an obscure thought, but one thing that we have to do is come up with a name for the Non-Profit.  Really, at this point, all possible options could find space on the table.  It is really quite tricky as well because if you come to a name, the first thing that you must check is availability for a website.  This means everything today, as if you can't get a good web presence you really have nothing.

The company will be using a .org address and thus must find something that works with this.  I have always used name.com for web domains.  Right now I own a few options but am not satisfied with any.  For quite some time now I have used alternativeideas.org for another project of mine, and still have a goal and plan for that address.  I also own alternativeidea.org but this is virtually the same.  I had this sort of "alternatives" theme that I thought I could follow with everything including the non-profit. I looked into alternative solutions, transitions, whatever and anything.  I eventually found alternate pathways and reserved that.  It seemed fine at the time but I feel that I have grown away from it.

So here we sit, all these ideas and work done for the project but not much of a name to work with.  I have been toying around in my head with a name/concept that is close to me, but it is not available straight as written for a website.  It is a historical figure with little to no interest these days but that resonates quite loudly with me.  Ideologically his work fits extremely well into our concepts and I have already been planning on writing another ideology post in reference to his work and ours.  His name was Mozi and you can see some of his work here.  He was an ancient chinese philosopher that believed principally in equality and universal compassion for all.  I think it fits the project well, but I couldn't think of how to use it in terms of a website address in relation to this project.

Anyway, This is just an idea, but I think we need others.  Names are tricky, they are the first and last thing anyone ever hears of an organization, and the first and last marketing tool you have.  This is my thought with 'mozi' its interesting/catchy and it has meaning, but it has no website unless something is added to it.  Ideas are welcome, for anything and everything.  Help!!    

Information, Information, Information ! ! !

I just had an outstanding meeting with NYCON, the New York Council of Non-Profits.  It so nice to get solid advice from people with good experience doing what I am trying to do.  Now of course "figuring it all out" is part of the project we've undertaken, but NYCON just made doing that a bit easier.  As an organization they are fairly similar to the Small Business Development Centers that governments provide.  The only difference - and quite indicative of our socio-economic system - is that the for-profit assistance is free, but if you want to start a non-profit, the assistance is fee-for-service!!  Something seems backwards about that!?!  Luckily for me though they are nice people and the first meeting is free!!  :)

So what did I go there to do?  Obviously I want advice on what it is that we are trying to do.  We are looking at doing two things, one is a trip to Sierra Leone in an effort to experience the country/identify opportunities, and the second is to implement those projects through a non-profit organization that we are trying to set up.  It is amazing at how wide a delineation there becomes between the two as you sit down and people begin asking good questions.

This project started as a chronicled walk for charity through Sierra Leone, it then expanded to include the initiation and implementation of a Non-Profit I'd been thinking about as well.  So this delineation is of course very important in our planning.  The meeting today raised this specific question.  Why does it have to be one in the same at this point?  The logistics of incorporating make it fairly difficult to do without a very definite description of the organization in its articles of incorporation.  The whole point of going to Sierra Leone (from the organization's point of view) is specifically to get on the ground and figure out the best things to do and ways to deliver them.  So how do you say that explanation in a way that allows for the governmental reviewers here in the US to identify what the organizations does and how they do it?  Ms. Lockwood (whom I had the meeting with), was discussing the process of approval and how given increased restrictions, especially since Sept 11th, 2001, that the government is going to want specifics - "what you are going to be doing and where".  They are not simply going to want to hear that we are going to focus on post/conflict areas all throughout the world using a synergy of  cooperative and individual socio-economic developmental ideas.  Now obviously our aims are much more focused than that, but we don't want to limit the organization to Sierra Leone or West Africa, or agriculture.  I see this expanding and becoming much bigger than this one project, so the articles must be broad yet still focused enough to get approval as a non-profit.  And the question I had been thinking about and she was getting at is how do you focus, before you have found your focus?

Another discussion point was fiscal sponsorship.  It has been my goal with this project to bring together a team of individuals that were interested and experienced, and try to motivate them enough to do it ourselves and learn things in the most rewarding way (i.e. the hard way), and maintain autonomy (see ideology posting).  I have read a decent amount of information - and have been recommended by a lot of people - to look into working with/under another organization's non-profit status.  This meeting shed a bit more light on how this type of cooperation specifically works.  It is just like a small business incubator.  You basically incorporate as a non-profit, but then file your IRS and accounting information through the fiscal sponsor as if you were a part of their organization.  They provide you with back-end support for the organization, filing paperwork, accounting, general administrative support, etc.  You get on with what it is that you really want to do, the projects, and then they help you with the admin part until you get things up to speed.

It does sound quite enticing, however, at what cost?  How much autonomy must you give up?  What are the specifics?  As with any scenario like this, you obviously always must realize who is telling you what, and what is their position in the process.  Ms. Lockwood's organization is certainly a fee-for-service organization, so whether it is because she truly believes fiscal sponsorship is a great option, or if she is trying to increase the organization's clients, this information should certainly be taken with a grain of salt and an eye for the other side.  (I will say though that she seemed to be more of the former.) It is an option very much worth looking into as it really would help things in the very beginning.  Still though, putting together a team and learning as we go is part of the experience - why take the easiest road when you can take the one that is far more challenging and thus rewarding?  ;)

The issue that must be weighted right now is when to incorporate and how - on our own or through someone else, and before or after the trip.  How has been discussed, but what of when?  The initial thought process on that is really about weighing the difficulties that could arise (as mentioned above), and our original rational.  Firstly, donations.  It is obviously very important to be able to offer people tax exemption for any donations given to the organization.  She did say though that there may be a one year lag that a donation could still count - not sure how that would work though.  The second, and probably more important is whether I travel through the country as a lonely traveler or affiliated with an actually legal entity.  An organization would seemingly carry much more clout than an individual traveler.  This authority could be tough to overcome.  She said it may be possible to reserve a name for a company, but upon further thought I was thinking that it wouldn't seem 'right' to represent an organization that does not yet technically exist.  Which is better then, to be an independent traveller giving the impression of not having an agenda and as a result collecting 'innocent' data, or a representative of an aid organization?  Would the two be treated differently?  Would people try to cozy up to the organization?  Would they not really think much of a mere traveler?            

Anyway, there was a lot of other information that came out of the meeting.  The concept of a Managed Services Organization - kind of a holding company for non-profits from what it sounds like - must be looked into.  There is NYCON's Innovative Charitable Initiative (ICI), the Foundation Center Cooperating Collection in the Mid-Hudson library system.  The New York Department of State's and the Attorney General's websites, IRS form information, the Dutchess and Ulster Community Foundations, and Guidestar.org all made it into my notes.  So in all, Ms. Lockwood was incredibly helpful and gave me a lot to think about and research.  I'm not sure how much of it we will implement or if we would use them specifically, but they certainly gave a good representation of the industry and how they could help make our soon-to-be organization better.  Thanks NYCON...  ;)

Sierra Leone Non-Profit Regulations

So I got through 'the document', big fun!!  Lots of fun 'legalese' to get through, but not actually very long...

So this is the gist of it, they don't make this easy.  Imagine if in order to start a company in the US you had to sign a contract with the governement stating each parties responsibilities and obligations to the other?  Granted this was a draft copy, but the document reinforced a reality all to familiarly described.  In the US for profit business holds the power.  Wall Street, the insurance companies, media, making money and companies that strive to maximize profits are given every opportunity to excel and limited involvement by the government.  It may not seem like it to those debating the the financial regulation bill, but 'doing business' in the US is relatively easy, number 4 in the world.  Sierra Leone seems to be trying to live up to its ranking of 148 with this NGO regulations document.  Unlike in the US, the governments' involvement is virtually all-intrusive.  In a country as underdeveloped as Sierra Leone the bulk of a economic involvement for most of the country comes from NGO's (non-profits).  I suppose with such a large part of a country's economic and governmental resources rapped up in the non-profit sector it would be no wonder that the government would see it as a definte way to control a bit more of their national development.

The document opens by saying "The current review was carried through a consultative process with key stakeholders [my italics] in a series of workshops held in each province..."  Who are these people or organizations?  This could simply mean a couple of local power brokers trying to find a way to make a quick dollar, the government and some of their 'people', or an exhaustive all inclusive Jirga.  But it seems to me that if they wanted everyone to know who was really involved they would have said it.  What are the intentions here?

As for the complexity of the regulations themselves: A company must be "in conformity with GOSL (government of sierra leone) development policies", and have an easily identifiable office space, signage, local bank account, easily accessible postal address, etc.  This isn't such a big deal, I'm sure there are companies that will register an office for you (at a high price), and the policies could simply mean you follow the laws.  But the document continues to say an organization must have 5 full time employees.  Could you imagine how many US or european companies would be done if they had to carry  five employees all the time?.  Full disclosure of all financial details - itemized down to each overhead cost, donor, outlay, whatever - and "be willing to share relevant activity related reports with GOSL... other NGO's, beneficiaries, and other relevant interested parties [i.e. anyone that asks for your company's details]."  The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) is responsible for registration and monitoring of NGO relationships with the government, donors, NGOs and beneficiary communities, "bearing in mind the national priorities".  In other words, they will monitor all the interactions of your company, and through how they fit into their national priorities/strategies/priorities.  I thought NGO stood for NON-governmental organization?

All projects must also go through the relevant government ministries.  It seems if you want to build a school, you have to get approval from the ministry of education, a farm, the ministry of agriculture.  There is a government "NGO Unit" that (among other more straight forward things) is charged to "do site visits to applicants' premises and witness randomly selected activities of field operations without notice [my italics] to the NGO."  In other words the NGO 'police' can show up at your business operation and go through it all and inspect it without any notice.  Seems intrusive...?!?!  But how about this...  "All assets purchased or acquired with donor funds should be the property of the people of Sierra Leone who are the beneficiaries.  When closing down its operations, no NGO shall dispose of such assets and keep the proceeds or transfer them out of the country.  In the process of closure, all assets must be disposed of in collaboration with the GOSL."  ?!!?  What?!? Any assets coming via donors money (most NGO funding) is not the property of the NGO but of the country and the local beneficiaries?  WOW!?!  Tell me if I'm reading that wrong (section 2.7.4).  The problem then gets a bit more complicated a bit later in the document (2.8.4) as they say "NGOs are created entities that serve as agents for both donors and beneficiaries.  All funds released by donors for NGO operations are meant for the benefit of the target beneficiaries.  This implies that even where funds are provided for capacity building/logistics support, items so acquired remain the property of the NGO for as long as it stays in operation."  So I can only think that this just isn't well written as it is a 'draft'.  Please tell me your thoughts on this interpretation.  One says "all assets... should be the property of Sierra Leone..."  the other says they are the NGO's property.  If I'm thinking what are they trying to mean here, it is that an NGO should see there property as for the people, and that if they leave or close up that they must leave the assets for the locals.  But this is not what is directly said here.  Could it possibly be that the governmental could come in and say "hey, that's mine now!"  I can't imagine that - but thats what it seems to say!!

The rest of the document is pretty straightforward and looks to be in the best interests of the people, employing them, and of the economy.  Employ locals, use local goods and services, comply with tax laws, etc. Middle and junior staff positions have to employ Sierra Leoneans or people from ECOWAS (Economic Community of W. African States), and the company has to be able to operate if no foreign national is there for any time period.  On the whole the regulations are a testament to the realities of doing business in a developing country.  It is not the government that is developing the country, it is not private for-profit enterprises, it is non-profits and charities, and if the government wants to have any say in the development of its own country, it has to get its hands in the cookie jars.  Understandable.  Now granted, what is written is very likely not what is practiced down to the letter.  How much oversight do they do?  Is it just about paper formalities?  I have the application and it is not so absurd at all.  There should be oversight, regulations, and the such, but when you tell a company you have to have five employees, I think maybe you've gone to far.  But again, what's to say this isn't five people on the books for a dollar a year?

As it is, it was a good document to read and will be for using as we move forward knowing that it is going to be bureaucratic and perhaps top heavy to set up an organization there (a long ways away).  We will certainly need local advice - which will undoubtedly require a decent amount of cash - but I still have to get networked in and try to find locals to work with.  This could alleviate all of these issues.  But I will start planning my project template structures around this document.  I am disappointed that it didn't say anything about the difference between what the ICNL described as an NGO (which this document talked about) and a Non-Profit Company (NPC) which "are allowed to engage in business activity, provided the profit is used to further the not-for-profit purposes of the organization."  This is different from their definition of an NGO “any independent, not-for-profit making, non-political and charitable organisation, with the primary objective of enhancing the social, environmental, cultural and economic well being of communities.”  More research will have to be done there...          

Narrowing Down...

So I've finally gotten through my list of Non-Profit organizations working in Sierra Leone.  336 organizations.  I had a list from just a couple years ago of something like 100.  Shows how far the country has come of late.  Lots of good resources there, but a lot of the organizations don't do a great job of contact info or media resources, so there would still be further opportunities.  My goal with this list is to identify organizations that I would either feel comfortable working with or like to.  I will need contacts on the ground not only when I get into the country but also as I travel through the country in some of the other areas and cities.  It would be nice to have a few friendly little rest stops, places for a meal or bath, as well as to chat with local people/workers and hear about the specifics of getting projects done in that locale.

So all told I have narrowed it down to 57 non-profits that we will look further into, and likely contact with an introduction to the project.  I have been trying to find smaller local organizations that would feel closer to the ground.  I also have been looking to focus on organizations that, though they may focus on specific issues, do not get into specific ideologies - whether religious, economic, or whatever.  Helping children or refugees is fine, but sometimes if you have a designated 'how' - god, privatization, reconciliation/justice, etc. - organizations can fall into awkward stigmas.  As the post below says, we are trying to stay as clear of this as possible.              

Ideology

Obviously, non-profits come with the presumption of being ideologically driven.  Unfortunately, this scenario we are setting out upon is driven by an ideology.  But I suppose this can be said about anything.  Everyone and everything has an underlying meaning or purpose, a reason for doing.

The basic principle that I (not we) are moving into this with is completely altruistic.  I have some very divergent views from the mainstream.  Yet this does not absolve me from living and working in the real world as it exists today.  There is ideology and reality - life is about balancing the two, as is this project.

The ideology that I, and hopefully a soon to be incorporated non-profit, will be approaching development and redevelopment work is to try to minimize ideology, especially our own.  I view this as one of the biggest detractors and obstacles towards sustainable global development.  When most organizations, companies, governments, individuals, whatever, go into an area with an aim to make something 'better' they are starting from a point of judgment.  For most people in the West it is about making the lives of people 'better'.  This is obviously a very subjective terminology.  I would prefer to think of lives on a linear level, they are equally different, not hierarchically ranked.  All these 'things' we have in the 'developed' West, yet happiness still seems to elude most of us.

The goal of this specific endeavor is to try not to go into any event or project driven by a specific ideology or template.  Every place in the world is different, every person different, every culture wanting different things and motivated by different things.  Agendas.  The world is full of them, yet the only one that should matter is those of the people that will most directly be affected by whatever scenario is to happen.

What this means is that this prospective organization will not be pushing any specific ideologies as the 'solution' to someone's or some place's 'issues'.  Capitalism, Socialism, Democracy, Civil Liberties, whatever, the specific pathway is, they do not always solve issues on their own.  Unregulated free markets can truly hinder an overarching community's development, just as a planned economic system can allow for much less initiative and reward than may truly stimulate advances.  Dictatorships throughout humanity have been mostly rigid and oppressive, and while democracy gives everyone their say it is slow, inefficient, and inherently compromising.  On there own and as we understand them they bring about presumptions and judgments, but these judgments are of peoples interpretaitons of the past, not the future or even the present.

We need new thinking that is not afraid to work outside existing ideology and presumption.  Would the world really be such a terrible place if it was run by Gandhi in a dictatorial position?  A communist Soviet Union was the fastest country ever to industrialize, what can we learn from this?  Free Markets and industrial incetive have made the US the worlds superpower, and a strong social safety net has lead Europe's people to high levels of statistical 'happiness' and security.

What can we learn from all of this?  That there is no one way, no one best, but that different things work in different places.  The ultimate aim of any scenario is to try to make local people happy.  Try to empower both local communities and local individuals without empowerment of one coming at the expense of the other.  Thus, our project will be about each individual situation and trying to use knowledge and human experience to empower localities and individuals within them alike.

All projects will be looked at in terms of a balance of both individual and community good.  If you bring in a factory and there are rich owners but poor workers, have you helped the community?  If you set up a fully equal communal work scenario, how is the individual rewarded for greater effort?  Balances must be found.  Balances with humanity, with the environment, with ourselves, with our communities, etc.  Localized solutions for localized cultures.

This is the main ideological premise that I'd like our organization to be based upon - ideology without ideology.  We want to make a difference for the people where we do work, not for ourselves or our own goals and principles in life.