STUDENT Showcase
A WORLD WE DARE TO IMAGINE
EXCERPT from The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz:
Today we are redefining the geography of community and accepting shared accountability for common human values. We have the chance to extend the notion that all men are created equal to every human being on the planet. This will require global structures and products we are only beginning to imagine.... Each of us in his or her own way can contribute something by thinking -- and acting -- like a true global citizen. We have only one world for all of us on earth, and the future really is ours to create, in a world we dare to imagine together.
The final assignment of the semester is a series of three blog posts. In the first, I ask students to think about this quote and then write about what their first step in making the world a better place might be. Based on initial responses, I group students fairly loosely into "affinity" groups of four or five, then for the second post I ask them to comment on each other's "better world" ideas. For the final post, I ask each student to write a "pitch" for an organization that would help their "better world" idea manifest. On the last day of class, students stand with their affinity group and deliver their pitches to the rest of the class. It can be a pretty powerful experience.
Here are links to a couple of pitches from previous semesters:
There were two pitches from two young women in two separate sections of the Fall 2014 Semester -- the first semester I offered this project -- that were so moving that I had to reproduce them here.
The She Shelter
An organization targeted at changing the lack of value placed on women in cultures biased towards men. We will achieve this through creating safe places for women and girls in communities to go and talk to one another, as well as have access to educational activities and medical resources. These educational activities will include classes in finance and money management, entrepreneurship and other life skills.
Jacqueline Hamilton '15 is a native of Seattle majoring in business. "The day I find a job where I am able to be creative, feel challenged, help the world, travel, and still afford life-changing meals and finely aged wine, I will have truly made it."
Medical resources will include therapists, rape kits and birth control. The main room will be cozy and filled with books and other development-inducing activities. I feel passionately about this subject because the thought of any young girl being sold into prostitution, or not knowing what opportunities exist outside their community, make me sad and sick. How anyone could want anything but the best for a little girl is beyond me, but these deeply rooted cultural perceptions exist and aren’t evolving fast enough.
This will be a place where girls feel safe, supported and encouraged to reach for their dreams beyond the lives that have been predetermined for them by their family, caste, or environment. So many girls and women don’t even realize the respect and love they deserve and often miss out on. They need a place to go and escape from the struggles of their everyday lives, which can include sexual assault, rape, banishment from schools and other crimes that are hard for us to even imagine.
Our organization is unique in that it is a “one stop shop” for women and girls and can help them with a variety of needs. It will also stand out for its reputation among the community as a safe place or “haven”, immune to the gender rift that exists beyond its doors. At first the organization will be run by volunteers from the US, but will then train local, respected women in the community to take over. It it important that these women are involved so that women in the community feel comfortable starting to come in, and don’t perceive the organization to be a group of Americans that think they know what’s best and are hard to relate to.
She Space is the first organization of its kind and will make a difference in the lives of women and girls everywhere. For these girls to be able realize how much they are worth and to see what they could possibly achieve will be the first step in them knowing what to expect and what they deserve and to stand up for those rights. Women need these resources and to have them in one place will change their lives. This organization will bring them hope and light in their lives, which can always use a little more good.
The Institute for Cross-Cultural
Collaboration Between Women
Our mission is to bring bright, talented young women from different cultures and creeds together to solve problems common to women across the world so that each young woman can improve and impact her own environment and circumstances in a positive and meaningful way.
Unfortunately, no matter which country a girl grows up in, there is no country in which she will grow up seeing a woman truly socially and economically equal to her male counterparts. This institute would not only teach girls valuable tools available to help women lead healthy, full lives such as sex education
Mallika Dhaliwal '15 (center) is a double major in Collaboratory for Advanced Computing and Simulations and Creative Writing. She plans to work in the film industry as a writer, director, producer. "I work with at risk thirteen-year-old girls through a USC program called Women and Youth Supporting Each Other (WYSE)."
and exploration of future options, it would expose its teachers, mentors, and participants to a wide variety of cultures and hopefully open their minds to new ways of thinking. Additionally, through classes and clubs offered during the program, participants would ideally be able to get to know each other personally and explore what they are passionate about.
Many organizations such as WYSE focus on impacting a particular group of girls due to the scope and long-term goals of the organization. However, this Institute would focus on a short-term month-long gathering of women and girls from around the world and would expose them to a variety of cultures, including the culture of the host nation which would hopefully change each year. The girls could then take their skills back and implement them on a local level.
I think an understanding of all the diverse cultures in our world is essential to any possibility of meaningful change and this Institute focuses exclusively on cross-cultural collaboration to impact on both a global and local level.