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2010 Annual Meeting to be held in San Francisco Bay area, Friday November 5 " Sunday November 7.
Winter 2010 Interaction available
Check out the Lisle lisleinternational.wordpress.com blog about the Lisle Jamaica visit.
It includes a new section of the trip which took place from November 21 - December 2, 2009, as well as past blogs on November 2008 and June 2009.
Global Seed Fund" awards 4 Grants

2010 Annual Meeting

The 2010 Lisle Annual Meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 5 through Sunday, November 7. You won't want to miss this opportunity to renew old contacts with Northern California Lislers and Board Members from across the country. More information is available at http://www.lisleinternational.org/annualmeeting2010.shtml

Global Seed Grants for November 2009 - October 31, 2010

The Lisle Board has announced four Global Seed Grants for the 2009-2010 period. At the 2009 Annual Meeting in Austin, the Board awarded grants to

Global Seed Fund Awards Granted to Four New Projects for November 2009 - October 31, 2010

At the Lisle Annual Meeting in Austin this November, the Seed Grant Committee recommended funding for four new projects involving people from Jamaica, Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Niger, and the Dominican Republic, as well as the U.S. It was especially exciting for us to see the linking of two previous awardees through a new project: women from Jamaica (as a result of the Computer Lab Project award in 2007) will go to Chicago to participate in the Expanding Lives program there. We are also pleased to support bringing young African-American students from Detroit, as a traditionally underrepresented group in international programs, to visit counterparts in the D.R.

Below is more detailed information on the organizations and the projects they are organizing.

Summer Reading Camps in Burkina Faso

Friends of African Village Libraries' goal is to assist the rural poor of Africa with the creation of village libraries. Working closely with the communities in which the libraries are established, FAVL refurbishes community-donated buildings, transforming them into a space to read and study. Libraries are stocked with books by local authors and in local languages to the greatest extent possible. In addition, FAVL sponsors librarian training and provides for librarian salaries, thereby empowering locals with skilled employment. FAVL also offers library programming, geared toward children in an effort to promote literacy and a reading culture. Recent FAVL efforts have focused on creating children's books in local languages and French. FAVL is the only organization in Burkina Faso producing these sorts of books.

Approximately 400 primary school girls and boys in five villages in southwestern Burkina Faso will attend one-week reading camps during the summer of 2010. These are the only organized activities available to village children during the summer. Each camp will have approximately 20 students, 2 student assistants who attended camp the previous year, 4 local adult camp counselors, and one or more international camp counselors (typically American college students).

Students will have individual reading assistance in camps and have access to art, music and physical education. This is quite beneficial for students in rural Burkina Faso where class size ranges from 65-90 and reading is quite poor. Librarians have learned many interaction skills during camps that have since been adopted as regular activities in the libraries. Camp counselors acquire experience and develop leadership skills, and are more able to run future camps. Past camp participants are encouraged to become camp counselors in future camps and to become active reading mentors in the libraries. Older children are encouraged to read to younger siblings at home.

Communities are more engaged in library activities and through these camps are developing a reading culture in a country with one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. This is the only summer camp that these rural children will ever have the opportunity to attend.

Lisle funding will enable us to expand on the work we have been doing, offering camps for a third summer. Because Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world, this project will meet Lisle's goals and purposes of educating for a global community. It also presents opportunities for our international visitors to interact with people from a culture that is significantly different from their own and to understand issues facing underprivileged youth in a developing country context. It also affords children the oppor.tunity to interact with students from other countries, giving them a chance to understand the broader world outside of their rural villages.

Our goal is to inculcate a culture of learning and exploration and to improve communication skills. We want to help children realize the joy of learning in a semi-structured atmosphere that is very unlike the rote learning offered in schools. Although the American students attracted to participate in summer reading camps are already sensitive to global issues, they emerge from their experiences even more committed to working for change.

Indonesia Beach Clean-Up and Trash Jamboree

Next summer's Tompotika "Pantai Bersih" Beach Clean-Up and Trash Jamboree is an effort to address a thorny and unpleasant environmental problem in a substantive but lighthearted way. Sponsored by the Alliance for Tompotika Conservation, or "AlTo" for short, mentored by long-time Lisler Judy Brown, and based in AlTo's project area in the Tompotika peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia, the project will combine a hands-on effort to clean up trash along badly-littered beaches and inland areas with a high-spirited, cooperative outreach effort to encourage a new and better way of managing waste in the region.

In this project, 8-10 AlTo Eco-Service travelers from abroad will spend two weeks traveling on a "Trash Bus" from village to village within Tompotika. The group will begin the Jamboree in Luwuk, the gateway city to Tompotika, where a kick-off event will be held and there will certainly be lots of media attention, given the novelty of international travelers coming to pick up trash! Then the group will board the Trash Bus, making a tour of coastal villages. At selected villages, the group will stop and join with a locally-organized team from that village to spend the day picking up all visible trash, focusing first on the beaches but also inland in dwelling areas, in a cooperative "Pantai Bersih" (Clean Beach) effort. The trash collected will be bagged, inventoried according to international Marine Plastics Debris protocols, and properly disposed of. To end the day, there will be an open gathering for all villagers and visitors with food, skits-featuring animal costumes and lighthearted dramas illustrating the effect of trash on wildlife-and more community-building and awareness activities, underscoring the sense of celebration for the event. Trash receptacles will also be provided to remain in each village.

These efforts are aimed at raising awareness of the tremendous problem of improper trash disposal and marine plastic pollution, and at encouraging new habits of proper waste disposal to benefit people, wildlife, and the environment. After the Trash Jamboree, when the visitors have left, AlTo's local staff will follow up with these villages on an ongoing basis, checking back with schools and village leaders on how the new waste disposal regime is going, trouble-shooting, and supporting positive change so that the effort is not simply a one-time clean-up.

This project is part of AlTo's other efforts to promote nature conservation and sustainable living, Which includes projects for endangered maleo birds and sea turtles, a new rainforest preserve, and an ongoing Conservation Awareness Campaign. In addition to the Trash Jamboree, the eco-service travelers will have the opportunity to view unique and endangered wildlife, snorkel the world's richest coral reefs, and visit informally with local villagers. Lislers interested in joining the group should contact AlTo Director Marcy Summers for more information: The Alliance for Tompotika Conservation, 21416 - 86th Ave SW, Vashon, WA 98070 USA; tel/fax: +1-206-463-7720; ompotika@tompotika.org; www.tompotika.org

Connecting Children: Bridging Cultures of African Decent

This project is designed to establish a global cultural connection between children from Detroit, Michigan and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Third and fourth grade students will travel to the Dominican Republic to visit their pen pals at the Punta Cana Educational Center and exchange cultural experiences through language, food, dance/music and art. African Americans and Dominican Republicans both share the commonality of an African bloodline. The purpose of this project is to establish a global intercultural connection among children of African decent. As our world and communities become more culturally diverse it is important that children of different cultures have the opportunity to come together and bridge cultural gaps. Through this experience each child will develop a positive sense of self-concept, and acquire the skills of cultural awareness and diversity.

We have established communication with a local school in the Dominican Republic and want to allow the children the opportunity to meet face-to-face. Due to the economic downturn in the United States and the decrease in tourist travel to the Dominican Republic, there are economic issues as well. The school officials have informed us that they are in dire need of school supplies and clothing for the children. To meet this need we are currently collecting items through clothing and school supply drives within the Detroit community.

A total of 30 people, including students and parents, will travel to the D.R. in February, during Winter break, so that the participating children will not miss any scheduled/required school days. Goals for the program are that both students and parents will become more aware of the importance of global community and will establish friendships and lifelong communication networks. Students will have the opportunity to use and develop bi-lingual skills, and learn respect for cultural, racial, political and religious differences. Parents will hopefully realize the value of children knowing more than one language and be able to nurture the relationships that the children establish abroad.

We as educators and parents to this group of students want nothing more than to see our children have the opportunity to contribute to the unification of global community and at the same time gain the skills needed to become productive human beings who respect life and all of its wonders and differences. In order to make this trip a reality, the children have put in hard work, by actively holding weekly fundraisers in their school and individually within the Detroit community and have managed to raise nearly $3000. This grant from Lisle will ensure that both the children here and abroad can get the most out of this experience and at the same time flourish academically and socially.

In 2011, we are sponsoring a trip for the children of the Dominican Republic to travel to Detroit, to gain first hand experience of the U.S. culture. Through our communication we have already begun to exchange educational ideas and support, and share our cultures through not only language, but art, family, religion and politics.

Jamaica Cultural and Educational Exchange Program

This project will link two prior Lisle Seed Grant awardees (Expanding Lives and Jamaica Service Project) through an interactive educational and cultural program that will be held in Chicago, Illinois during July 2010. The goals of the program will be to provide women from Jamaica a chance to experience leadership, educational and cultural interaction with Expanding Lives participants from Niger, West Africa and local high school students and community members through joint experiences in language, technology, music, art and various other experiences.

The Hanover Parish Development Council develops opportunities for the local community. A primary objective is to bring unique experiences to the community and to provide reinforcement for the education of community members who might not otherwise have opportunities to link the Hanover community with the world. The focus is on women from the parish, and since the goal of this project is to empower these young women to be leaders and role models in their home communities, the people impacted by the project will be much broader.

In addition, because they will live with American host families who have younger children and participate in social activities and discussions with American high school and university students, they also impact American understanding of African and Caribbean issues.

Three young women from different communities in Hanover parish will be invited to participate in the program. Expanding Lives conferences last for six weeks from the beginning of July to the middle of August. The HPDC participation portion of this project will last two weeks. Prior to travel to the US, participants will work with the Jamaica Service Project members and leaders in preparation and orientation.

Those who participate in Expanding Lives' conferences will have a better chance of finishing their formal education and help other girls to continue their education. They will better be able to make confident decisions to affect positive career and personal choices and, through community development activities, lead others to do the same.

HPDC will work in conjunction with Expanding Lives to provide both formal and non-formal educational techniques to accomplish its goals. Formal courses include English, French and Patois language courses, computer classes, health courses and HIV/AIDS awareness and advocacy for victims, and courses which focus on the responsibilities and rights of individuals in a democracy. In addition, short courses on subjects of interest to participants will be conducted. These may include bicycle and car maintenance, music, cooking, peer mediation, and sporting activities.

Non-formal learning experiences will include a weekend camping and environmental workshop in Indiana, a weekend farm visit with host families in Wisconsin, a visit to an organic farm, and a service learning project.

The cultural ambassador program will allow area high school and university students to act as guides to museums and other art events in the city with the goal of making personal connections. In this way, Chicago area participants will also gain knowledge of the culture of young Jamaican and African Muslim women. Future programs will include members of some of the same communities in order to build coalitions of leaders. In addition, we hope to add girls who have previous participation experience with the Jamaica Service Project and possibly Benin to develop relationship, cultural awareness, and problem solving skills of other Caribbean and other West African nations.

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Winter Interaction is available

The Winter 2010 Interaction can be read by clicking here. We are beginning to have color photos in the web version of Interaction.

If you are not on the mailing list and would like to receive a copy please call the Lisle office at 800-477-1538, or email lisle2@io.com.