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A Seattle-based humanitarian group called Peace Trees Vietnam has been sending local civilian volunteers and veterans to Vietnam. They are helping Vietnamese deminers safely remove and deactivate bombs left over from the war and helping villagers replant the land.
Read the full article.
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For recent graduates and students interested in international development work, finding that first professional position can be daunting. Students often juggle volunteer work, unpaid internships and endless networking in hopes of getting a foot in the door.
On July 24, Global Washington members along with international development students and interns gathered at PATH’s headquarters in Seattle for Charting a Career in International Development, featuring an accomplished panel of speakers: Lincoln Miller, Senior Director, Program Management at Landesa; Nancy Ward, Chief Engagement Officer for World Justice Project; and David Wu, Chief Development Officer at PATH. Continue Reading
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“What price tag can you put on a human life?”
The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, answered her own question by reading the “price list” used by ISIS in what she called “nothing short of a revival of the slave trade.”
On July 21, 500 guests gathered at the US Institute of Peace (USIP) for a distinguished discussion on Women and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and sat riveted as Ms. Bangura detailed the ways in which extremist groups use women as currency while they sell, barter and incentivize recruits in their efforts to consolidate power. Continue Reading
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Welcome to the July 2015 issue of the Global Washington newsletter.
One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) currently being proposed is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” This is a formidable challenge given that 58 million school-aged children are not currently in school. Between now and 2030, the international community is charged to come together to finance and provide education to reach this goal, and several Global Washington members are already playing a role.
Non-profits such as Mission Africa and Relief and Education for Afghan Children (REACH) provide funds so that children (especially girls) have the opportunity to attend school. Others such as Ashesi University, Rwanda Girls Initiative and International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia operate schools that provide quality education, technical skills and inspire critical thinking. Mona Foundation and Sahar work with local communities to support primary education and build community.
While there is no silver bullet to break the cycle of poverty, empowering individuals through education has been proven to have a transformational impact. The SDGs will further elevate the need for education, examine the barriers, and chart effective solutions. Global Washington members will be part of this progress.
Sincerely,
Kristen Dailey
Executive Director
Hasan Minhaj
GlobalWA will ask you a question every month and synthesize the responses and make available to our member organizations. Please take a moment to respond to the question for this month:
Will you be attending the GlobalWA Member Celebration on September 12?
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to education,” but only in recent years has significant progress been made towards ensuring protection of that right. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of out-of-school primary aged children dropped by almost 37 million. Today, more girls are enrolled in school than ever before, and the number of students in secondary schools is rising substantially.
There is, however, still much work to be done to ensure every child has access to education. 58 million children who should be in primary school are not, and 63 million adolescents between the ages of twelve and fifteen are prevented from continuing their schooling. Girls in particular suffer from a lack of access to education with young women facing violence and discrimination that keeps them out of the classroom.
Quality education has the capacity to transform both communities and individuals. It is a powerful tool that can end generational cycles of poverty and provide a strong foundation for sustainable development. This is why education is such a crucial component of the global development puzzle.
Why Education Matters
Education generates sustainable change that spans multiple generations. Just one extra year of schooling increases a person’s earnings by up to 10% and provides them with more diverse employment opportunities. A quality education equips children with the knowledge they need to transition smoothly to adolescence and adulthood, and become active members of their society.
Access to education is a key component of improving global health and helping people make informed decisions about their health. By facilitating access to treatment and fighting against stigma and discrimination, education helps combat preventable diseases like HIV and malaria. Educated adults are likely to have smaller, healthier families, and they often pass healthy habits on to their children. Educated women are better equipped to control how many children they have. In Mali, for example, women who receive a secondary education or higher have an average of three children, compared to women with no education who average seven. Women with higher levels of education are also more likely to seek out health care and support during their pregnancies, resulting in improved maternal and newborn health. Furthermore, a child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past age five.
Barriers to Access
Poverty is a significant barrier to accessing education. Even when primary school is free, the additional charges for uniforms, textbooks, teacher salaries and school maintenance are too large of a financial barrier for many families. In many countries where primary school is free, secondary school is not, and children’s educations are terminated much too early. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, children from the richest 20% of households reach ninth grade at eleven times the rate of those from the poorest 40% of households. Children living in poverty are also frequently pulled out of school and forced into the workplace to provide for their families.
Humanitarian emergencies, particularly war and conflict, are another barrier to education. More than 40% of out-of-school children live in conflict-affected areas, and millions are forced out of school each year due to natural disasters. A safe-school environment can gift children with a sense of normalcy during a crisis, and help societies bounce back quicker after a disaster. Unfortunately, only 2% of humanitarian aid goes to education during a crisis, and children’s education often slips through the cracks as a result.
Education and Gender Discrimination
Girls face additional and unique barriers to education such as child marriage and early pregnancy. Many countries place little value on the education of girls. Girls are more likely to be pulled out of school to help with domestic labor due to the perception that their proper place is in the home. Families with limited resources may choose to send their sons to school instead of their daughters and girls who do try to attend school often face violent retaliation.
Approximately 34 million girls worldwide are out of school, and women comprise nearly two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adult population. An estimated one-third of girls in the developing world are married before age eighteen, and another estimated one-third of women in the developing world give birth before age twenty. Educated women are less likely to marry early and against their will and are more likely to have healthier babies later in life. Women who finish school are also more likely to send their children to school, and are better equipped to provide for themselves and their families.
Global Washington Members Fighting for Universal Education
By Kaitlin Marshall
There is high demand in Afghanistan to increase access to education for the nation’s children, too many of whom are forced out of school by factors beyond their control. Global Washington Member Sahar Education International is working to provide resources for Afghan students to give them educational opportunities they may have not otherwise had. Sahar focuses on Afghan girls, who are kept out of the country’s education system at a severely disproportionate rate.
The organization’s mission is to create “quality educational opportunities in Afghanistan that empower and inspire children and their families to build peaceful, just and life-affirming communities.” To date, Sahar has built and equipped 18 new schools in Afghanistan and educated approximately 200,000 students. The organization works in rural areas of the Balkh Province region of Afghanistan, where many students are forced to travel great distances to attend school. The journey is too long for many families to be able to afford daily transportation, but walking to school can also be perilous. “If people are in a warzone, or in a zone that is insecure…it stops the entire process” said executive director Ginna Brelsford. By building new schools in areas that need them, Sahar is bringing thousands of girls an education they would have otherwise been kept away from.
“Every year of education makes such a difference in a girl’s life and in her family’s life,” said Brelsford. “One thing we are working on right now, and that I think is really important, is how to keep kids in school.” Airokhsh Faiz Qaisary, an intern from Afghanistan who formerly helped Sahar in her home country and is now working for the organization in Seattle, added, “Many of our student’s parents have missed going to school because of the war. They’re pushing their children so at least if they couldn’t reach their goals, their children can reach their goals.” Sahar fights to help Afghanis keep their daughters in school by maintaining school buildings and preparing the next generation of female educators in Afghanistan.
Girls were often prevented from going to school during the Taliban regime once they became teenagers. At a certain age in Afghanistan, girls can only be taught by female instructors. The dearth of female students during the Taliban regime means that there was a time when women weren’t getting teaching certificates. Now, there are not enough female teachers to keep up with the growing number of female students entering Afghanistan’s education system. Of the 412 districts in Afghanistan, 245 currently do not have a single woman qualified to teach. If girls reach a certain age, but there are no women to teach them, then their education is derailed. Sahar funds and manages an Afghan teaching training center that focuses on training female teachers in rural areas where the need for women instructors is greatest. The organization also funds the transportation of women from their villages into urban teacher training centers. This allows women who would have otherwise been deterred by transportation costs to receive the necessary certification to teach in their villages.
In addition to building schools and training teachers, Sahar leads a computer literacy program that teaches students skills they may not have otherwise received. “Some of the girls in the computer centers told me if we hadn’t created that specific computer center in their school, they would have probably never been able to use a computer,” said Qaisary. By bringing the computer programs to the students, the students don’t have to worry their families by trekking through insecure territory to the computer center.
The success of Sahar is, at least in part, the result of the determination and enthusiasm of those whom the organization provides resources for. “If there is anything to emphasize that always strikes me, is the motivation and passion that girls and people who want to be teachers have,” said Brelsford. “They’re continuing to want to be educated over all the barriers.” Qaisary views Sahar’s work as symbolic of a larger shift in Afghanistan concerning education. “I don’t believe that we are going to go back to where we were a few years ago with the war and the Taliban. I do believe that Afghanistan is going to move forward, especially with education,” she said.
Sahar aims to continue expanding and bringing more educational opportunities to Afghan girls. The work Sahar does to help girls fulfill their potential has been deeply rewarding for those involved. “I just went and saw the opening of the [latest] school, and there is an extreme sense of reward that comes from three and a half years of managing a construction project,” said Brelsford. “Physically being there and seeing the girls so excited, and talking about their futures, and seeing them empowered, playing soccer…[our work] comes down to the passion that girls themselves have to learn.”
By Kaitlin Marshall
Approximately 10% of college-aged students in Ghana, West Africa are currently enrolled in a post-secondary institution. Patrick Awuah founded Ashesi University in response to the dearth of opportunities in higher education in his home country. The mission of Ashesi, a private liberal arts university in Ghana, is to “educate a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa; to cultivate within [its] students the critical thinking skills, the concern for others, and the courage it takes to transform the continent.” Since opening its doors, 100% of graduates have received job offers, started their own business, or gone on to pursue postgraduate degrees around the world.
The immense success of Ashesi is the result of Awuah’s dedication and visionary thinking. Before founding Ashesi, Awuah spent time in the U.S., receiving bachelor’s degrees in Engineering and Economics from Swarthmore College and working as a program manager for Microsoft where he spearheaded technology for dial-up internet access. After working at Microsoft for some time, Awuah felt compelled to return to Ghana to share the knowledge he gained living and learning in the United States. “When my first child was born, I realized I needed to be paying attention to the world we would be leaving for the next generation,” explained Awuah. “That world, I felt, needed an Africa transformed from the current path it was on at the time.”
When Awuah shared with his wife his vision of opening a liberal arts college in Ghana, she gave him her full support. Despite this, Awuah still waited a year and a half to quit Microsoft. “The biggest challenge initially was just working up the courage to leave Microsoft,” confessed Awuah. “I finally realized that my hesitation was all about a fear of failing. I convinced myself that if I didn’t try, I would fail anyway.” To “minimize the risk of failing,” Awuah didn’t go straight from Microsoft back home. Instead, he enrolled in business school at UC Berkeley to learn and develop strategies for beginning a new enterprise. Equipped with an MBA, Awuah established a foundation in Seattle to support Ashesi, recruited donors, and returned to Ghana to open the University.
Awuah’s personal experience with higher education molded his vision for Ashesi and the dreams he has for the university’s students. He credits his experience at Swarthmore for showing him what students can accomplish when pushed to think critically about the world. “In Ghana, education tends to be very narrow in terms of the disciplinary focuses students follow. The way to do well in school here is to memorize information and repeat exactly what you’ve memorized,” explained Awuah. “This contrasts sharply with my experience in the United States at Swarthmore.”
Awuah’s mission is to take what he has learned and use that knowledge to shape Africa’s next generation of leaders. Ashesi students receive a liberal arts education because of Awuah’s belief that “the world is changing rapidly, and it’s important for people to have flexible minds and to learn to be students for their whole lives.” A liberal arts education, Awuah explained, is an effective way to teach students how to be self-aware, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent leaders. “The best leaders in the world are good citizens who are committed to learning all their lives and sharing their knowledge,” said Awuah. The entire faculty at Ashesi makes sure that students are engaged in an active way and learning how to contribute to the development of an ethical society. By marrying liberal arts with science and business, Ashesi educates future leaders who “can be analytical in a qualitative as well as in a quantitative way.”
Ashesi began with thirty students squeezed into rented classrooms. Today, it has its own beautiful campus with an enrollment of 600 students. Pending approval, Ashesi will soon offer additional majors in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. What Awuah is most proud of, however, is that the students voted to implement and respect a university honor code, the first in an African university. Under the honor code, students take all of their exams without supervision, and take on the responsibility to maintain honesty in their exams. The honor code was a step towards sustaining the high-trust community that Ashesi continues to build. “It’s a very clear indication that our students are taking very seriously this idea of Africa transformed, this idea that Africa will be transformed by enlightened leaders, and that they are committed to being those enlightened leaders for our society,” said Awuah. The honor code is a manifestation of everything Awuah hoped his students would learn when he left Microsoft to open the university.
Awuah will continue working to expand Ashesi’s impact. He hopes that other schools will adopt a liberal arts model and help educate the next generation of leaders who will graduate ready to contribute to the development of Africa. “What I feel we need to do with education, any society needs to do,” said Awuah, “is be really very intentional about developing citizens who care about the common good. We need to develop citizens who are problem solvers and who can be part of the social capital of society.” With the vast majority of Ashesi’s students staying in Africa after graduation, Awuah’s goal to shape leaders committed to the good of their society is clearly within sight.
Please welcome our newest Global Washington members. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with their work and consider opportunities for support and collaboration!
Kobi Academy
Kobi Academy’s mission is to provide exceptional education that empowers children in Ethiopia to be creative, achievement oriented, compassionate citizens committed to life-long learning and community stewardship. kobiacademy.org
Rainmakers TV
A documentary series established to communicate stories of leadership, innovation and social responsibility that inspire global transformation. rainmakers.tv
July 29: Pangea Giving // Coffee and Chat
July 31: Mercy Corps // aptART Exhibit
August 5: WCIT // Summer Luncheon
August 6: Mobility Outreach International // Happy Hour for a Great Cause
Highlighted Positions
Digital Engagement Specialist – Oxfam America
Deputy Director, Global Marketing – Population Services International (PSI)
REAL Change Election Fellow – RESULTS
For more jobs and resources, visit https://globalwa.org/resources/careers-in-development/
July 23: Charting a Career in International Development
July 30: Networking Happy Hour with Friends of GlobalWA, Humanosphere and World Affairs Council
August 27: Premiere of Around the World in Seattle
September 12: 2015 Member Celebration
September 16: New Member Orientation
December 10: GlobalWA 7th Annual Conference
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Photo Credit: Landesa
Seattle International Foundation (SIF) and The Seattle Foundation will host a donor delegation to India on October 9-18 where participants will see first-hand the work of Global Washington members. Seattle-area donors and experts will visit leading Seattle-area institutions such as Landesa, PATH, SightLife, Splash and University of Washington. Delegates will also have opportunities to engage with local business and nonprofit leaders, philanthropists, and visit cultural and historical sites. Field site visits and meetings will span a variety of issue areas including health, land rights, leadership development, micro-finance, technology and women’s rights.
Global Washington member Emirates Airline is offering a discount for GlobalWA members traveling to India. Click here to learn more and email us for the promo code before you book your flight.
Click here to learn all about this exciting delegation to India: www.seaif.org/2015IndiaDelegation
For more information contact Michele Frix, Director of Programs, at mfrix@seaif.org or 206.547.9335.
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On June 24, Global Washington members gathered to meet Kentaro Toyama and discuss his new book, Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology. An award-winning computer scientist and co-founder of Microsoft Research India, Toyama spent more than a decade designing technologies meant to address education, health and global poverty before coming to a radical conclusion. “Even in an age of amazing technology, social progress depends on human changes that gadgets can’t deliver,” says Toyama. This conclusion is the crux of his book, in which he argues that technology is not the solution to society’s greatest ills. Continue Reading
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Welcome to the June 2015 issue of the Global Washington newsletter.
The Seattle region is known for being “innovative,” primarily because of Microsoft, Amazon and our numerous start-ups. But does this translate to global development? Do we do things differently here because we have successful entrepreneurs and tech professionals who also believe in making a difference in the world? I think we do.
Along with world-class research and development for new solutions in global health, agriculture, financial inclusion, job training and education, we are home to non-profits that understand how to best deliver and implement these solutions in the communities they serve. Cross-sector partnerships are critical to get to scale and to create appropriate technologies. This was the topic of discussion at our June 9 event where panelists from Global Good, Shift Labs and MSR addressed the challenges of financing and taking low-cost health products to market in developing countries.
As we foster and celebrate innovation, should we assume that most of the world’s problems can be solved with technology? This will be the topic of debate later this month when author Kentaro Toyama visits GlobalWA to discuss ideas from his new book, Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology.
Seattle should certainly be known for being an innovative city. We should also be known for our innovative solutions that are having a transformational impact on society. We are leading the way in “disruptive development.”
Kristen Dailey
Executive Director
GlobalWA will ask you a question every month and synthesize the responses and make available to our member organizations. Please take a moment to respond to the question for this month:
Do you plan on taking advantage of the 2015 Emirates Airline discount offer for GlobalWA members?
It’s not hard to imagine how a city like Seattle could become a hub for breakthrough innovations in global development. Washington state is home to many of the companies that are creating the future of technology. We also play host to the most recognizable names in global health. As we dig a bit deeper, however, we uncover a diverse community of for-profits, nonprofits, academic and philanthropic groups dedicated to changing the face of global development through innovative ideas and cutting-edge technologies.
These organizations understand that technology is not a panacea when it comes to alleviating global poverty. They see innovative technologies as tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of development work rather than solutions in and of themselves. These organizations also know that technology can potentially exacerbate poverty and inequity, so they also focus on “inclusive innovations” — breakthroughs intentionally designed to reduce poverty in low-resource settings.
Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) describes the space in which technological innovation complements and enhances global development to bridge the digital divide, reduce poverty and improve livelihoods throughout the developing world. Because technology plays an increasingly important role in our lives, it’s important to understand how it’s changing the nature of development in diverse sectors such as:
Health: With increased access to information, technology enables health workers and patients to make better decisions, map health risks/outbreaks in real time and improve the overall efficiency of health systems. Solutions can be “low-tech,” as is the case with Days for Girls and IMEC. They can also be “high-tech,” as is the case with vaccine development work at PATH. In addition, Washington state has been a leader in the design of innovative water treatment solutions, as was highlighted in our March newsletter. Over 20 Global Washington members focus on access to clean water and Splash, Cascade Designs and Water for Humans stand out for their innovative devices.
Rural livelihoods and agriculture: Building on the success of M-Pesa in mobile finance, companies and NGOs work with mobile technology to provide people with information they need to improve their lives. For example, farmers in rural areas can gain access to information like market prices and agricultural best practices to boost yield and quality. In April, we wrote about the partnership between Grameen Foundation and Starbucks that uses mobile technology to connect farmers to markets with real-time information and create tailored interventions to improve the quality and quantity of coffee production in Colombia.
Climate and emergency response: New technologies provide real time information about environmental issues and how they affect people. For example, during natural disasters, many people use mobile phones to quickly disseminate information across difficult geographical terrain, find and help victims, transfer relief funds and manage disaster response efforts. Jet City Stove Works helps transform old tech into stoves that decrease the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to a cleaner environment and healthier families.
Education: As technology makes our world smaller, breakthroughs in education have been instrumental in developing countries. Access to education is fundamental to one’s success and education-focused technologies have had an impact on economic development, gender equality, health and poverty reduction. Literacy Bridge is using its Talking Book to provide education and combat illiteracy in Ghana.
People with disabilities: Technologies that provide new ways for people to see, hear and move reduce the barriers to entry for those with disabilities by integrating them into society and helping them gain employment. Two organizations that lead these efforts, Mobility Outreach International and Mobility Builders, call Seattle home.
Civic engagement: Social media platforms provide a space for individuals to engage with public officials and participate in conversations on topics such as spending, corruption and security.
Given the wide range of potential applications for technology in the developing world, as well as Seattle’s technology culture, it is no surprise that our state is home to a long list of innovative organizations. These Global Washington members are tackling global poverty in innovative ways, and weaving the fabric that connects Washington state to the world.
Cascade Designs: Cascade Designs’ Mountain Safety Research (MSR) brand started a global health department in the wake of the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami. MSR Global Health focuses on improving access to food, water, shelter and mobility. They recently launched the SE200™ Community Chlorine Maker, a small, portable and easily-to-use chlorine generator. With a push of a button, the device creates chlorine from salt, water and electricity in just five minutes. Each batch generates enough chlorine to purify 200 liters of water. www.cascadedesigns.com
Days for Girls International: Days for Girls International provides quality feminine hygiene products for girls by assembling and distributing feminine hygiene kits to areas in need. Girls around the world suffer indignities, infections and exploitation trying to stay in school without proper equipment for their menstrual needs. Days for Girls International works to ensure that every girl is safe and dignified with access to the proper information and supplies to stay healthy. www.daysforgirls.org
Engineers without Borders: Engineers without Borders designs and implements innovative engineering solutions for developing communities by addressing immediate needs, ranging from water supply and sanitation to information gathering and agriculture. The organization helped the Nepalese government design a solution to a water contaminant caused by improperly disposed human waste on Mt. Everest. A team based out of Seattle went to Nepal and designed the Biogas Digester system which disposes human waste in an environmentally friendly way. www.ewbseattle.org
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: The Gates Foundation works to lift the world’s poorest people out of poverty. The Foundation has taken great strides in preventing, diagnosing, treating and eradicating a number of infectious diseases. Through their support and worldwide distribution of medical innovations, the Foundation has made an enormous impact. One of the many new innovations the Gates Foundation is currently pursuing is an economical single-dose malaria treatment. www.gatesfoundation.org
Global Partnerships: Global Partnerships is an impact investor specializing in heath, micro- entrepreneurship and green technology for people living in poverty. Innovative investment strategies integrate developing communities with the organization’s partners to create sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships. Global Partnerships uses value chain investments by analyzing every step a product must go through – from raw materials to final product – to equip developing communities with sustainable, holistic economic systems. www.globalpartnerships.org
Grameen Foundation: The Grameen Foundation connects some of the world’s poorest people with financial services and resources. Through the use of mobile phone technology (MOTECH), the Foundation provides information regarding good farming practices, weather reports and prices for goods, effectively increasing productivity and crop yields for 246,000 farmers in Colombia, Guatemala and Uganda. Mobile phone technologies also serve 3 million people in eight countries by sending weekly advice on maternal and infant care. www.grameenfoundation.org
IMEC: IMEC specializes in providing IMEC Suites – fully supplied rooms outfitted with the necessary equipment to operate a service or department. These Suites supply doctors, teachers and farmers with the materials they need to serve their communities. In the medical field, IMEC offers 40 different types of Suites which, when combined, can equip an entire hospital. An IMEC Farm Suite contains all of the tools a small farmer needs to create and sustain a productive farm. Education Suites provide teachers, schools and training centers with the tools they need to educate their students. imecamerica.org
Jet City StoveWorks: Jet City StoveWorks designs, tests and produces stoves that burn renewable fuels that are easily accessible in developing communities. One of Jet City’s current projects is called the Jiko Stafi, a whole-seed burning stove which uses Jatropha, a plant often found in the southern hemisphere. Not only does the Jiko Stafi provide an inexpensive alternative to traditional stoves, it burns much cleaner making it a healthier option, as well. www.jetcitystoveworks.com
Literacy Bridge: Through Literacy Bridge’s Talking Book program, the organization provides an innovative, low-cost audio computer system designed to fulfill the learning needs of illiterate agricultural populations. Rather than having an agriculture extension or health agent visit remote locations to teach locals who have no method of taking notes, the Talking Book gives people who are unable to read and write an accessible medium for receiving critical information. www.literacybridge.org
Microsoft: Microsoft is in the business of connecting the world through the use of technology. International calling on Windows Phones and Skype allows for low-cost communication without internet connectivity. Microsoft is the leading mobile phone supplier globally, giving people near-unlimited information that is accessible from their pockets. The company has also recently begun providing disaster relief with its Humanitarian Toolbox which connects victims of disasters with organizations who can help them recover and rebuild. www.microsoft.com
Mobility Builders: Mobility Builders provides affordable, locally-built wheelchairs for children with disabilities in developing countries. By increasing their mobility, the organization gives these children the opportunity to attend school, improve health and interact with the community. Moreover, their parents can maintain employment as the need for home care decreases. Mobility Builders offers trainings and resources to give children with disabilities around the world a new level of autonomy. www.mobilitybuilders.org
Mobility Outreach International (MOI): Mobility Outreach International strengthens developing communities by training individuals in prosthetic care, orthopedic surgeries and clubfoot to offer children and adults with orthopedic disabilities the opportunity to regain their mobility. MOI increases in-county production of prosthetic knees and feet, bringing people around the world the gift of mobility. This innovative strategy allows local healthcare professionals better address their patients’ needs in a sustainable and accessible manner. mobilityoi.org
PATH: PATH has established itself as a global health leader by offering a multidimensional approach to solving challenges and by providing innovative vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices and services to people worldwide. PATH identifies issues and creates inexpensive, sustainable solutions. The organization recently developed a creative solution to solve the issue of vaccines being improperly stored by creating temperature-stable vaccines, freeze-safe vaccine carriers and vaccine vial monitors to alert workers when a vaccine has been damaged by heat. www.path.org
Splash: Splash sets the standard for clean water across the globe. By working with foreign governments and local businesses, the organization creates sustainable, safe water projects for kids living in urban poverty. Through innovative water technologies, Splash provides clean water to 310,067 children in eight developing countries daily. Splash’s water purification system includes: Mesh Strainers, UF Membranes, Carbon Filters and UV Disinfection, which filter particles, bacteria, viruses, odors and microbes exceeding World Health Organization’s standards for drinking water. splash.org
TASCHA: The Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the University of Washington Information School explores the design, use and effects of information and communication technologies in communities facing social and economic challenges. TASCHA has conducted research on the availability of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). While MOOCs have the potential to expand education and career training, very few people in developing countries have access to them. To combat the dearth of widespread usage of MOOCs, TASCHA created a project to alleviate the data gap and develop a framework for training young workforces using MOOCs. tascha.uw.edu
Water for Humans: Water for Humans designs low-cost, clean water and sanitation solutions to developing populations. The organization is currently working in five remote mountain villages in northern Oaxaca to harvest rainwater for the dry season. In the past, these communities have encountered serious drought issues during the dry season. They now have the resources to continue agricultural production and enjoy safe drinking water during the hardest seasons of the year. waterforhumans.org
By Jeff Halvorson
Truly successful public-private partnerships are hard to come by for a variety of reasons. So when one works, it’s a big deal. Especially if it involves the military, two foundations, an industry association, two global NGOs and an outdoor gear manufacturing company. In 1998, Global Washington member Mountain Safety Research (MSR) was granted government funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to miniaturize the municipal electro-chlorinator technology to a man-portable, individual scale water treatment system. Almost 20 years later, after support from the U.S. Marine Corps to improve the ease-of-use of the concept, now usable by untrained operators, this same technology is increasing access to safe water for people who live in low resource communities.
In its early days, MSR Global Health faced a challenge. They had decided to utilize their people and core strengths as a company to make a sustainable global health impact by commercializing reliable and improving access to technical solutions in low resource settings. However, they had little access to developing world communities or low resource market information. How would MSR’s Global Health Division design a reliable product utilizing their robust design process that requires feedback from the end user?
Enter another Global Washington member — PATH. Well-versed in accelerating innovation to improve access to health in developing world settings, PATH had the people and complementary experience in carrying out field studies, translating needs from the communities into a language that designers can understand, most importantly, identifying a need for a small community water treatment system. PATH’s on-the-ground experience made them the perfect co-developer for a device that has the potential to impact 50-200 people in a rural or peri-urban environment. The SE200TM Community Chlorine Maker was born.
The first field testing of the SE200 was in Korogocho, a slum outside Nairobi, Kenya. PATH and MSR learned a great deal from the people of Korogocho in terms of need, usability, and even the color of the device. MSR Global Health and PATH developed the SE200 through multiple design iterations, translating user feedback into technical features. PATH recently released this video which highlights the design and field testing of the new product.
Over the course of eight years, the PATH and MSR partnership grew to include the Laird Norton Family Foundation, the Lemelson Foundation and Washington Global Health Alliance, the three principle funders. And World Vision partnered to lead field testing in Kenya and Mali. On May 19, MSR, PATH and World Vision announced the launch of the SE200TM Community Chlorine Maker and highlighted the benefits of their unique partnership, a critical factor in the success of the commercialization effort.
Held at MSR’s headquarters in the SODO district of Seattle, the launch event gave local media and community members an opportunity to meet the individuals behind the device’s 15+ years of development. Speakers included Joe McSwiney, President of Cascade Designs, MSR Global Health’s parent company; Laura McLaughlin, the Director of MSR Global Health; Glenn Austin, PATH’s Senior Advisor of Product Development; and Brian Gower, World Vision’s Director of WASH Funding Strategy. The event also served as the official birth of MSR’s new Global Health Division which will focus on products specifically designed to increase access to basic human needs in low resource settings.
During a panel discussion, Gower highlighted the core strengths that each partner brought to the table. MSR creates high quality gear that works in extreme environments and understands how to make what people want. PATH understands science and technology that can serve developing communities. And, World Vision brings a global portfolio of projects which enabled the new technology to quickly get tested and evaluated.
The SE200 is a great example of what’s possible when diverse actors work together to address a social challenge. Many in the development community speak of shared value, insisting that companies can address and solve social challenges through their core business model, thereby creating both economic and social value. MSR does this and does it very well. When looking at successful public-private partnerships like the SE200 collaboration, we may just be looking at the future of development work.
What’s next? Currently, PATH and MSR are developing a line of next-generation chlorine-generating products, including larger-capacity products that could produce enough chlorine for drinking water treatment or infection prevention and control in health care settings, refugee camps, or for use during disaster response efforts. While this is no small feat, it is exactly why MSR Global Health exists – to tackle thorny problems with some of the brightest engineers, scientists and designers in the business.
By Jeff Halvorson
Global development professionals often throw around the phrase “working ourselves out of a job.” After all, that’s the goal when you’re aiming to improve lives and conditions in poor communities across the globe. But how many organizations can show you exactly how they will increase their impact while at the same time decrease the number of people tasked with making it happen? Eric Stowe, Founder and Director of Global Washington member Splash and past winner of Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, is doing just that.
Stowe has gained notoriety recently with his thought-provoking TEDx talk, How to Kill Your Charity, and article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, If the Goal is Scale, Promote Theft. At Splash, he leads an NGO that challenges conventional wisdom about effective development and the role of organizations dedicated to addressing global challenges. As a social enterprise committed to social justice, Splash has redefined “scale” and “impact” through a novel open sourcing model that prioritizes collaboration and learning.
Splash has roots in China, where Stowe set out to get clean water to every child in every orphanage across the country. Because there are orphanages in 31 provinces and 1,200 cities across China, the solution needed to be one that could be replicated throughout the country. This meant it needed local partners, from both the private and public sectors, as well as a technology that could work at scale. Luckily for Splash, the technology already existed.
Stowe recognized that McDonald’s approach to water could be used to bring clean water to millions of children in the developing world. If McDonald’s can get clean water to its customers, that same system could get clean water to schoolchildren, he thought. There was no need to reinvent the wheel but rather, like many successful entrepreneurs, he could tweak a proven model to make it appropriate for a new use.
But world-class technology without a great team and proven business model doesn’t lead to success. So Stowe surrounded himself with creative thinkers and people who were dedicated to doing development differently. They went on to hone their business plan to work in China, Nepal, India, Ethiopia and Southeast Asia. By using pre-existing technology and supply chains, Splash is able to put high-quality products into places in our world that usually go without clean water. And, through partnerships with local governments and businesses, the economically sustainable system will someday allow Splash to retreat, literally “working itself out of a job.”
Stowe envisions Splash evolving from a program-driven NGO, meaning one that works tirelessly on the ground, to more of a thought leader when it comes to clean water and development work. As the curator of a network of organizations trained to create and manage successful water programs, Splash grows its impact without growing its footprint. And it actively plans its departure by training partners to take over as social enterprises that don’t need ongoing funding from an international charity. Thus, Splash moves into the role of advisor, impact investor and industry champion.
Unlike organizations that evolve in response to the changing competitive landscape, Splash has built its evolution into the mission. That is one of Splash’s most notable innovations — a business model that is all about the exit strategy.
The Splash team is currently being put to the test in Nepal, which is home to Splash’s largest country program. Splash’s water systems had already reached about 70% of the school children in Kathmandu and the recent earthquake only strengthened the team’s resolve to reach the city’s 650 public schools and incorporate long-term water solutions into emergency relief operations. With thousands of people living in make-shift camps in school courtyards, one of the few places safe from building collapse, Stowe’s team is racing to provide water to thousands of people in the Kathmandu Valley. Click here to donate to Splash’s efforts in Nepal
By Kentaro Toyama
In India’s famous Hole-in-the-Wall project, ruggedized computers were placed in slums and rural villages for neighborhood children to use. Its founder, Sugata Mitra, claimed that with no supervision, children taught themselves computer literacy, English, and even molecular biology. Back in 2005 before the project became widely known, Mitra came to speak to a group of us about the project. We were a new research team in Bangalore that I had started while at Microsoft, with a mission to explore how digital technology could serve international development.
Inspired by Mitra’s vision of “minimally invasive” education, several of my colleagues started a similar project called Kelsa+ for adults. They installed a PC with broadband in the basement of our offices, and told the low-income service staff – technicians, housekeepers, and security guards – that it was theirs to use as they wished. The expectation was that with free access to the Internet, the staff could gain something of productive value – take an online course, study English, search for better jobs. (Kelsa+ means “work plus” in the south Indian language of Kannada.)
After several months, surveys were administered and usage data was collected from the machine. Analysis revealed that just like the children of the Hole-in-the-Wall computers, the adults quickly picked up the basics of computer use without formal instruction. Those who had prior experience with PCs taught the others. The staff sent one another short e-mails; they took photos with the webcam; and they used Google. And, they liked it. The PC got around ten hours of use a day, which was considerable given that the staff only used it in their off hours. One worker said, “In all my service, this is one of the best workplaces I have seen.”
The bad news, however, was that usage was limited to the men and it didn’t go beyond easy entertainment. Watching movies was the most common activity, and the way Kelsa+ users searched online revealed their shallow grasp of computing: Whenever they Googled anything, they’d add “.com” as in “movie Baassha.com.” Some of the staff voiced a desire for English-language instructional material, and relevant software was provided. Still, there was little use of it, and an assessment showed no significant gain in English ability.
These outcomes recapitulate what is known about telecenters (neighborhood Internet stations meant to serve social causes) as well as the original Hole-in-the-Wall project: When impoverished communities with little formal education or political power are given free access to the Internet, they don’t get a lot out of it. Though Silicon Valley social entrepreneurs imagine they can change the world with a few apps, technology by itself doesn’t give anyone the education, the social capital, or the economic power that people need for real change. Even the original Hole-in-the-Wall claims turned out to be hype. Researchers who have visited the sites months after installation find them in disrepair, with local adults having little memory of the computers other than teenage boys playing video games on them.
Over five years, I oversaw dozens of projects applying PCs, mobile phones, and custom electronics, to problems in education, agriculture, healthcare, governance, and microfinance. When I looked back to consider what differentiated the impactful projects, I found that it wasn’t the technology that mattered, but our partners’ dedication to social impact. Wherever the stakeholders were well-intentioned and capable, technology provided a positive boost; but where human institutions were corrupt, dysfunctional, or absent altogether, no amount of incredible technology turned things around. Technology’s primary effect wasn’t to add a net benefit, but to amplify underlying human forces.
Amplification explains how it’s possible for technology to aid us in our personal lives while it fails to have value for others. We (that is, anyone likely to be reading this post) have the education, the economic means, and the social ties to capitalize on today’s incredible tools. In the same way that a power saw has different outcomes depending on whether it’s wielded by a professional carpenter or a novice, digital technology has different impact depending on whether its users are college-educated knowledge workers or urban migrants with a fourth-grade education.
This is starkly illustrated even in the United States by the fact that over the last four decades, we have experienced a golden age of innovation in which digital devices have penetrated every corner of the country. Yet, during that same period of time, poverty hasn’t declined and inequality has skyrocketed. Any idea that better technology more widely disseminated is a cure for poverty demands reconsideration.
What amplification ultimately says is that in a world of abundant technology, genuine human development should be our focus. Kelsa+ had one unexpected but very positive outcome: One of the security guards had been enrolled in an evening data-entry class. Since he didn’t have a PC at home, he used the Kelsa+ computer to practice his skills. One day, he handed in his resignation – he had passed his certification and had been offered a job as a data-entry professional, which offered far greater future prospects. Most of all, he was proud of the social standing it brought him: “Today I can stand up in front of my father and friends and say that I am no more a watchman, but I am doing a computer job.”
It’s easy to mistake this story to be one about technology, but look more closely, and it’s a story of genuine human development. Computer access mattered of course, but it didn’t result in a change for everyone. It had impact only where motivation, instruction, and encouragement converged. These are human qualities that gadgets just can’t deliver.
In my book, Geek Heresy, I tell stories highlighting what I think of as “heart, mind, and will.” Many have a Washington state connection: How, as a teacher at Seattle’s Technology Access Foundation, I had to change myself before my students could learn computer programming. How Ann Downer at the University of Washington mentored a low-income chauffeur in India to become the facilities manager for I-TECH’s India office. And, how Patrick Awuah’s transformation from Microsoft program manager to Ashesi University founder is changing the course of West Africa. What these stories reveal most of all is that there is no social change without change in people.
After moving away from Seattle last December, Toyama will be back in town for book talks at Seattle Town Hall on June 22, and University Book Store on June 24. He will also lead a lunchtime roundtable discussion with Global Washington members on June 24, and be the featured guest that evening at GlobalWA’s monthly happy hour. Toyama’s book, Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology, is available now.
June 18: Global Partnerships // Open House
June 25: Trade Development Alliance // Annual Dinner
July 18 – 21: RESULTS // International Conference
Highlighted Positions
Development Manager – Global Visionaries
Director, Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights – Landesa
Director, Business Development – Splash
For more jobs and resources, visit https://globalwa.org/resources/careers-in-development/
June 24: Roundtable Discussion with Kentaro Toyama
June 24: Networking Happy Hour with Friends of GlobalWA, TASCHA, World Affairs Council and Humanosphere
September 16: New Member Orientation
December 10: GlobalWA 7th Annual Conference
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On June 9th, Global Washington hosted a panel discussion on the use of innovative technologies by social entrepreneurs. Panelists included: Ali Arjomand, Director of Analysis and Evaluation at Global Good; Beth Kolko, co-founder and CEO of Shift Labs; and Laura McLaughlin, Director of MSR Global Health. The discussion was moderated by Chris Coward, Principal Research Scientist and Director of the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the University of Washington Information School. Humanosphere sponsored the event. Continue Reading
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SEATTLE — Jaime Van Horn is a corporate strategist that had a desire to use her skills for a good cause. While searching online, she stumbled upon a website she thought would be a match for that she needed.
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