Push the Future

The final installment of Rash IV closed PUSH 2008.

Jenni began by speaking about her third year in Rwanda - she was based in the capital, Kigali. Things were worse then they had ever been and the gap between reality and her imagination was getting thinner. The rash continued spreading throughout her face, and she doesn’t love Bernard unconditionally anymore.

After spending three years in Rwanda, she resigned – only to find out a couple of weeks later the U.N. was kicked out of the country.

Jenni sits down on stage with her knitting and talks about moving to Haiti. The situation there was similar to that in Rwanda. Her relationship with Bernard was disintegrating with pointless discussion. After two years she left Haiti because it wasn’t big enough for the two of them.

In the next few years Jenni worked in 25 different countries. Her dad would prelude each trip with “Are you sure it’s safe Jenni?”

She explains that she began knitting to manage her stress better. She started measuring flight distances with knitting lingo and her biggest challenge was getting her needles through airport security. It was her first time she didn’t have itchy feet and she realized she didn’t want to start her life from scratch anymore.

Jenni signed up for a UN training program in a forest in Germany – it was a little late for training on what to do if you are kidnapped.

The stage went back to the well-known gunshots and she explained a familiar scene that was present in each installment of the play. People ran out from the trees, dragging them out, covered their heads and interrogated them. Jenni has a gun to her head. She starting yelling saying she was pregnant and married.

During the debriefing she was told that talking saved her life - she was told the same in Rwanda. That is when she realized what she wants is not what she needs. She was going to always have to deal with her inner conflict. “Is that selling out?”

She sat down to knit again discussing her flight to JFK airport. She was exited to be in New York, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. She landed her dream job - working for WITNESS. She is not working on the front lines, but she is working for those who are.

She ends the play by saying she is surrounded by knitting cafes to manage her stress and it was the first time her dad stopped asking her when she was coming home. She is still living in chaos, but she loves it.

Then she gets a call from the same familiar voice at the UN asking her if she would leave for Sudan in a couple of weeks.

She answered, “Maybe not right now, but what about the future? I’m still wavering.”

Posted by Melissa Turtinen

Michael Furdyk, one of North America’s leading technology entrepreneurs, closed out the presentations for PUSH 2008 discussing the challenges we face and how technology can empower us to improve health, the environment and education.

Furdyk started his career in technology before he entered high school - he launched his first web site in eighth grade. He has co-founded and sold two successful internet-based companies- Mydesktop.com and buybuddy.com. His most recent venture is TakingITGlobal, which connects youth globally and helps them get involved in projects to better their local and global communities – changes that are affecting the planet.

“If we can inspire them at the right age there is no amount of change that can’t happen,” said Furdyk.

Furdyk and his partner developed the idea of a web site where people could go to learn about global issues. That was the start of TakingITGlobal.com. It was the world’s first social network for social good.

TakingITGlobal developed training programs for teachers and students. At a school in West Philadelphia TakingITGlobal gave a laptop to every child and introduced a social network that exposed peers around the world. Teachers said that many of the students became unlikely friends. They created bonds across the country and world with the people they had met through the site.

In 2006 almost one half of students dropped out of high school because they were bored. 90 percent of dropouts were passing students. What is wrong with that? TakingITGlobal works to teach students in a fun, challenging way to keep them intrigued. If the dropout rate is lowered 1/5, the U.S. would save 18 billion dollars annually.

TakingITGlobal has many different features to fulfill its mission - to inspire, inform and involve. Features include: a global gallery, Commit to a Better World, downloadable guides to action, educational classroom games, a page on issues and lastly 3.5 million pages about countries, states and cities around the world.

The user base of TakingITGlobal is worldwide and only increasing. Thirty-one percent of users are from North America, 22 percent of users are in Africa and 20 percent of users are in Asia. TakingITGlobal is working to make information available off-line, by SMS text messages and textbooks – textbooks will reach 8 million people in the next decade.

Studies show that on average teenagers are as competent as adults. There is a proven link between their being treated as a child and behavioral problems. Young people are capable and competent - teachers need to engage them because they have great ideas.

TakingITGlobal has been on-line for eight years. 2.5 million people used the site in 2007. The site is available in 12 languages. It has had 250,000 downloads and over 35,000 actions have been taken through the site in a six month period. Youth are engaged from every country on the planet.

If young people are learning this much from TakingITGlobal and becoming involved with important global issues, think about how it is going to change the world.

Posted by Melissa Turtinen

Dr. Beth Kolko, an Associate Professor in the Department of Technical Communication at the University of Washington, has discovered a time machine… that looks exactly like an airplane. To study the “developing world,” a term she dislikes (try “resource constrained community”), Dr. Kolko travels forward in time via plane to places like Uzbekistan and Cambodia where she examines the creative-technology potential (patterns of adoption and adaptation) that countries like these hold. Her research can then be imported back to places like the U.S. where developers make good use of Kolko’s information that can ultimately influence design.

The focus of Kolko’s talk is on the kinds of responses to technology that people create around the globe. “Technology,” she says, “derives its meaning from culture, content and use,” and showcases the mobile phone to illustrate how undeveloped areas respond to one particular technology. Many of Kolko’s most frequented countries lack basic landline infrastructure, so citizens commonly turn to the prepaid mobile to solve their communication needs. In countries where most information is spread by word of mouth, the mobile is the next logical step for advancement in personal communication. In this capacity, the cell phone can satisfy a multitude of needs including not only communicative ones, but also knowledge (where’s Main Street again?), democratization of knowledge (how much is this fish really worth?), and financial needs (Mom, please send me $10 via cell). These usage patterns show how people are creatively using technology to satisfy their own needs and desires.

A point to consider is Kolko’s mentioning how technology has traditionally been something shared in developing countries – one car, one TV, one family phone. With the advent of the omnipresent cell phone in places otherwise technologically challenged, the “group” precedent is sure to be pushed, and social patterns that are being tested everywhere by technology could face amazing changes – social and other – in these resource constrained communities.

Posted by Anna Wool

Rwandan-American Antoine Bigirimana, co-founder and managing director of Thousand Hills Venture Fund (THVF), kicked-off the technology section of PUSH 2008 by discussing how technology has started to advance Rwanda into the 21st century.

After the Rwandan genocide in 1994 when 1.2 million people were killed in 100 days there was an incredible opportunity for technology advancement throughout the country.

Starting in 2001, anything was possible for Rwanda. The economy was destroyed after the genocide. A virgin economy was available, offering opportunities across the nation that were ready to be embraced.

“Every time there is a problem there is an opportunity,” said Bigirimana.

In 2003, Rwandan President Kagame decided to reinvent the future using technology, with a vision of making Rwanda the technology hub of Africa. The early increase of technology created Rwanda’s first chance at a democratic election.

Vision 2020 was also developed. This idea was that by 2020 Rwanda would be a middle-income country - an idea that all Rwandans could base their future around.

Rwanda offered ample opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses. People came to the country to work, but credit was a major issue in Rwanda. In 2004, Bigirimana co-founded THVF. It allowed people to get a variety of loans, some interest free, and investments to start these businesses.

As businesses and wealth come to Rwanda, it will continue to get closer to reaching the goal of Vision 2020.

Looking into the future, Rwanda is creating 1000 telecenters. There will be a variety of services offered including: literacy, computer literacy, job listings and information on commodity prices for all national markets.

THVF is looking to bring in 1.2 million One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computers, and hoping to have this localized by August 2008. The social impact of OLPC will be huge; the young will teach the adults how to use the OLPC, bringing access to information and knowledge that was not accessible before.

The access to information and technology needs to be available to 100 percent of the people in Rwanda, thus eliminating inequality and preventing another genocide.

Posted by Melissa Turtinen

Kiss the Ground is a recent partnership, just named today, between a cellist and a veena player/vocalist. Cellist Michelle Kinney, a specialist in new music innovation, has collaborated with a wide range of musicians and toured worldwide. Veena player and vocalist Nirmala Rajesekar who specializes in Carnatic music, a classical music system with origins in South India, has 25 years of experience collaborating with artists of other genres.

They explained that the name of their collaboration comes from a line in a Rumi poem: “There are many ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” This was the first time Kinney and Rajesekar had performed in public together.

Their first piece, “Seeking,” written by Rajesekar, is about journey and process, inspired by the challenges posed by two people from very different musical traditions communicating with each other on what they want to achieve together. “We are really reaching toward each other,” Kinney said.

The result is an ethereal sound, sometimes plaintive, sometimes rhythmical. They take turns as the lead instrumentally or vocally, then play in unison. At one point, a counterpoint develops during which the cello takes the lead while the veena contributes rhythmic percussion, all using scales that sound distinctively Eastern.

The second piece, by Kinney, incorporates a raga (think Ravi Shankar) and adds another layer of cultural complexity, a West African drumming rhythm.

The performance, bridging East and West, reinforced the very global nature of The Fertile Delta.

Posted by Wallys Conhaim

“Who are the polarizers?” asked Anthea Butler, an Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Rochester who specializes in African American religious history, American religious history, and women and gender studies.  

Basically, the polarizers are the people who monopolize the airwaves and mislead you into thinking that religious people are crazy: the Ted Haggards, the Jerry Falwells, etc., etc. Thus Butler boldly introduced a politicized conversation and invited us to consider the opposite – that “religious people aren’t crazy” (or ignorant). We must allow ourselves to understand that the individuals popularizing the notion of deep religious divisions are much more peripheral than the more taciturn men and women who represent the religious core.

The non-crazies who represent the middle ground are serving humanity under the guise of religion because it is what they know best, and religious institutions provide ample opportunities for potential partners in civic engagement. Not only have religious institutions capitalized on technology, but they have also created extensive local and global networks, advanced education and grown human capital. As such, these religious institutions and individuals are ripe for outside investment, collaboration and inspiration.

So instead of focusing on the divides and the periphery, Butler asked us to consider the center – the fertile delta of religion – to transcend denominational boundaries and focus on the virtues instead of the values, the consensus instead of contentions, and inclusiveveness/globalization instead of isolation/nationalism. Dr. Butler cited the following examples of religious institutions that are providing effective community outreach:

The Dream Center in LA

Save Africa’s Children

West Angeles Community Development Corporation

National Association of Evangelicals

Saddleback Church

Posted by Anna Wool

Dr. Eboo Patel followed the Redeemer Kids perfectly with his discussion on the importance of religious pluralism and its significance for the future on Tuesday morning to start the last day of PUSH 2008.

Patel is the founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core. He wrote the book Acts of Faith and co-wrote the book Building the interfaith Youth Movement with Patrice Brodeur. Patel is an Ashoka Fellow and has been featured in various types of media including NPR, CNN and the Chicago Tribune.

“Muslim extremist murders Christian pilgrim.”

Most people read that headline as Muslim | Christian. Patel believes that people need to start reading that line extremist | pilgrim.

“If we read the line Muslims against Christians…” said Patel. “We are all going to be lost.”

That is one example of the faith line that is bound to destroy people in the 21st century. There are many factors leading to the faith line.

• The unexpected religious revival that we have experienced in the last few years   

• The youth bulge – the majority of the world is the youth.   

• The breakdown of socioeconomic trends – including the difficulty for many to get viable employment in traditional jobs.   

• The increased interaction of people from all different backgrounds living together   

But what does this mean? The youth is the most influenced age group in our society because they are looking for a clear identity and to have a powerful impact on the world, but still haven’t made up their minds on where they want to go in life.

“My fear is that the people who have figured out the energy at these four convergent trends [factors leading to the faith line] are religious extremists,” said Patel. “Every time you turn on the television you see someone murdering someone else to the soundtrack of prayer.”

How old are those murderers? Why is religious extremism a movement of young people taking action? It’s because religious extremists build from the youth.

Patel explains how vulnerable some young people are with a quotation from the late Chicago African-American poet Gwendolyn Brooks: “I shall create if not a note, a hole; if not an overture, a desecration.”

Bin Laden was 14 years-old when he was recruited to Al Qaeda. He was on a soccer field at an elite academy. How does this happen? It’s because religious extremists understand the power they have to influence the youth.

On the other hand, how old was the Dali Lama when he started his movement – 19 years-old; Martin Luther King Jr. was 26 when he led the Montgomery bus boycott. Youth can be influenced with extremism or pluralism.

What is going to make a difference in the way the world goes? Patel believes it is youth, his basic idea behind the Interfaith Youth Core.

The Interfaith Youth Core believes that we need to build religious pluralism and institutions nurturing young people can make that happen.

“The central challenge is to have young people be the leaders in religious pluralism and be the architects of a society in which people from different backgrounds live in equal dignity and mutual loyalty,” said Patel.  

Posted by Melissa Turtinen

For the third time, Jenni Wolfson returns to the stage and picks up her knitting. After her encounter with the rebels, she ponders what did  happen versus what didn’t– she didn’t get killed.

Jenni then travels back home to Scotland where she hears on the news that a Rwandan ambush has led to the death of two of her close colleagues. This startles Jenni into realizing that her dream job could actually be fatal, but her passion for her work is undiminished and she decides to return to Rwanda.

In her relationship with Bernard, cultural conflicts abound. Bernard and Jenni visit Jenni’s family in the “neutral territory” that Israel provides, and her parents doubt the validity of their future.

Posted by Anna Wool

Tuesday morning, PUSH 2008 began with Cecily Sommers announcing a newly established partnership between The Push Institute and the Redeemer Center for Life, a program of Redeemer Lutheran Church, which serves a mostly segregated area in North Minneapolis. This special relationship with Redeemer developed through the Institute’s part-time intern, Karis Thompson, who is also a Redeemer staff member.

The collaboration will involve a scholarship program that will make possible the participation of Redeemer youth in the annual PUSH conference as well as a year-long curriculum, in which The Push Institute will find partners to help the Redeemer Center host events, develop mentor/mentee relationships, and assist in meeting other community needs.

The program is modeled after the award-winning Harlem Children’s Zone, which covers a 100-block area within Harlem and delivers education, health care, job skills training and parenting classes, among other services.  Currently, 80% of its $35 million budget is from private contributions.

The Redeemer Kids group, which included some youth leaders, presented the audience with three multidisciplinary pieces.  The first was in rap style, performed by a young man who introduced himself as the group’s host.  He said it was a journey rather than a poem, even though many of the lines rhymed.  Here are a few of the verses:

“I was born within the valley of peace ….”

“Hands reaching out for freedom, but it never seems to come ….”

“Hands through the clouds ….”

“They clipped my wings before I had a chance to fly ….”

“A dream is a silly thing to put your hope in ….”

“What happens to a dream deferred? ….”

The rapper was gradually joined on stage by other members of the group, including a break dancer who seemed to spend as much time on his head as on his feet.

The second piece, urging problem solving, collaboration, dialog and activism and led by a young woman, was a slower rhythmic recital composed just for PUSH 2008 :

“Some people say stop these tears ….”

“With no struggle there can be no gain ….”

“Some people in this system test our lives ….”

“If we don’t want to right it, then we must be insane ….”

“It’s time for the rich and the poor to join hands ….”

“All you people here together are powerful ….”

“We should know by now that nothin’s ever been solved with a gun ….”

“So don’t sit back ….  With your Push ….”

“If we sing it together we can never come unglued ….”

The last piece, about faith, had the audience standing up, swaying and clapping their hands above their heads in time with the music. 

The enthusiasm generated by the Redeemer Kids was truly contagious.

Posted by Wallys Conhaim