From time to time, my inbox is graced with a link someone came across and thought I’d be interested in checking out. More often than not, the sender is seeking my opinion on the contents of the link. I guess myself and the smartaid crew on Twitter have kind of gotten a reputation for not slacking on criticizing bad aid practices. Guess I am guilty as charged. When I read this piece on Mashable, I did a double-take before pulling out my tried and true aid-snark criticism.

But before I do that, let me first ask a question. What separates us from our money on our way to doing something charitable? Is it because we love the product or because we love the cause that the product’s proceeds support? I took part in criticizing TOMS’ ‘buy one, give one’ campaign earlier this year. I’ve generally not agreed with any initiative that falsely claims that giving things for free solves endemic problems. I think this is a fairly elementary understanding of good development.

So why am I pausing before I criticize Sevenly’s new t-shirt initiative? At first glance, I thought, ‘now here is something that I can get behind.’ But the more I think about it, the more I am torn about this little variation to the status quo.

Sevenly stretches its gimmicky name to it’s logical conclusion. It partners with a deserving non-profit organization. They design a shirt, and put in on sell for seven days. Seven dollars from each sale goes to support the partner organization. This is a little different twist from the TOMS Shoes BOGO model in that it is a strictly financial donation to a non-profit organization on the sale of a T-shirt (see also (Product) RED).

Again with my question: What separates us from our money? Surely you can find a T-shirt at your nearest Banana Republic or Old Navy for the same amount. It is also reasonable to assume that you can find a charity as the recipient of your hard-earned $24. Apparently, the problem is that we are doing more of the latter and very little of the former. Here’s why Sevenly was founded:

Co-founders Dale Partridge and Aaron Chavez were motivated to create the site after seeing the amount of worthy non-profits that shut down within their first year open. The problem isn’t apathy so much as a lack of following, funding and awareness.

Sevenly is attempting to address donor apathy by rolling charitable giving into consumer habits. As I write this, a ‘poverty-porn’-laced video from World Relief highlighting rape in Congo is playing on the home page. I am left asking myself exactly how giving $7 to World Relief is going to stop that little boy in the video from getting raped. At this question I am lifting my hands off the keyboard asking myself why I would be so heartless as to question World Relief’s efforts to stop(?) rape in Congo?* But really, how is selling a shirt going to stop the rape of over 1000 men, women, and children today? How much of that $7 is actually reaching the ground? Do you really really care when you hit the buy button?

Like TOMS, Sevenly has simply figured out a better way to sell shirts and make a profit, not a better way to help non-profits stay sustainably relevant. Which is another way of arranging a mutually-beneficial backscratching. The non-profits are just a beneficiary cog in the marketing machine. By targeting your heart strings, philanthropic e-commerce has found a new way to separate you from your hard-earned money and leave you that much more separated from the cause du jour. If this strategy had any merit at all as a philanthropic initiative, Sevenly should have reversed its share of the piece of the pie by giving away 2/3 and finding a way to operate on 1/3. Any initiative that leans heavy in favor of self-sustanability is just pulling your chain. I’d be impressed if the company designing and manufacturing the shirts for this week actually employed a subset of the recipients in the Congo. I highly doubt any of that is happening.

Sigh. So much for thinking there was something to like about Sevenly. Seems to me it is just a continuation of the status quo. Yes, yes
I know what you are going to say:

“At least it is better than nothing.”

That, my friend, does not make it right, now does it?

*For more nuanced analysis of the complexity in Congo (and to put into context why a $7 donation isn’t going to help rape victims), please start reading Dr. Laura Seay’s excellent ‘Texas in Africa‘ blog.

I dedicate this blog posting to all the victims and survivors of natural and man-made disasters.

Yesterday morning I woke up to the horrifying news about the earthquake in Japan, which as if that wasn’t enough, was followed by a tsunami, possible radiation exposure and forecasts of another, and most likely, more devastating earthquake.  As I write this piece, I send prayers for those affected by the devastation and hope that the situation does not escalate beyond the unimaginable damage and destruction that has already occurred.

Houses swept by a tsunami smoulder near Sendai Airport in Japan. (Reuters)

At times like these, we question the value of life which can be interrupted or even destroyed without a moment’s notice — robbing us of precious opportunities to communicate for the last time with loved ones.  Case in point is the well-publicized natural devastations our planet has suffered in less than ten years, including: Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2006 tsunami in Asia, and last year’s earthquake in Haiti.  Please note that I highlight the aforementioned, recognizing that there are numerous other natural devastations, and countless man-made conflicts that have and continue to devastate our precious Earth.  Many have and will continue to say that these natural and man-made disasters are signs of disapproval from God, Mother Nature and/or our planet — about the way we increasingly mistreat one another and abuse our planet.  Whatever your belief, my opinion is that we had better put our differences aside and start learning lessons from what is happening globally, to find a safer way forward.

Personally, as I kept reading about the escalating situation in Japan and environs throughout yesterday, I was inspired to think about how those of us outside of the immediate devastation could use it to prepare to do some good for others.  From what I understand, many places in Japan have been leveled to the point where the country is effectively at par with if not below those so-called third-world countries has been disrupted if not completely destroyed, which seriously impedes search and rescue efforts.

While researching topics for an emergency and disaster preparedness forum I organized in 2005, I learned that in short- and long-term crisis situations, communication is one of the most important tools for people.   Through communication, affected people are able to determine the severity of their immediate condition, gather and share information that can help them and outside help to improve their situation and mitigate further threats.  Specifically, a woman survivor of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, needs information that will (a) enable her to understand if she was in the epicenter of the earthquake (b) if there are any aftershocks predicted (c) if there is criminal activity around her, against which she needs to safeguard her family (d) what she needs to do to signal for assistance (e) if rescue and relief are on the way.  Similarly, an African woman survivor of civil unrest living in a village that is off the communication grid, needs to communicate in the same manner as her Japanese counterpart described above.

The challenge is how will the women in the aforementioned scenarios obtain and share vital information when the communication tools that those of us in unaffected areas take for granted are not available to either one of them?

Mobile communication via SMS messaging is one viable answer.  Earlier this week, I fortuitously served on a panel organized by a colleague Marcia Stepanek, at New York University’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, entitled: Philanthropy 3.0 Speaker Series: Mobile in Advocacy The Next Frontier.  During the panel, I shared with and learned from my fellow panelists, insights about how mobile communication has and continues to be used to further causes.  We learned about the great work that FrontlineSMS is doing to increase vital information flow in various African countries, through the use instantaneous SMS two-way communication.  We also learned about the impact Ushahidi’s free and open-source, crisis mapping software has made on disaster situations, during conflicts and the tracking of political activity.  We also learned about the importance of the Twitter and Google’s Speak-2-Tweet service to information exchange –despite the Internet blackout– during the Egyptian revolution.  While all of these are incredibly enabling technologies, it is not possible to use them in situations where the vital communication grid necessary to transmit voices or even data, has been destroyed or never existed.

What would work in my view, is the use of satellite, for emergency disaster situations any where in the world and for off-the-grid areas in developing countries.  I know that satellite communication is successfully used by military personnel in conflict situations requiring off-the-grid communications and believe, we need to learn from them.  Specifically, what I propose is that governments identify vetted people in various locations including the remotest areas in their respective countries, known as connectors or influencers, to be the safe guarders of satellite phones, which in most situations should work.  Such people (with backup people for redundancy), keeping the video phones on them at all times, implanted with satellite transmitters, and trained to effectively serve as contact points responsible for communicating within and without their respective communities (aided by a support network), any vital information that would help ultimately save lives.  Should the safe guarders die, they and/or their phones could be tracked via satellite and the video switched on remotely, to record surrounding activity.  The same information would be quite useful for off the grid communities — enabling the tracking of threats, facilitating rescue missions and monitoring activity.

I welcome any ideas, suggestions and  innovations that would benefit the two fictitious women I mentioned above.  So while we are unable to change what has happened, I believe we are able to take action today, to make a better future.  I really do hope that we come together as a human race to effectively address our common problems.

Please feel free to share your comments and/or connect with me:
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My last couple of blog posts on Project Diaspora have focused on best practices to improve service delivery on the continent and mobile solutions to potentially improve visitors’ experiences when they travel to Africa.

San Bushman man from Botswana. Photo Credit: Ian Beatty from Amherst, MA, USA

As I contemplated this current blog post, I looked through my notes to find an inspiring idea. I wasn’t inspired by any of them. So I revisited a Wikipedia search for Africa, which I recently conducted.  What I found was seemingly pretty basic: history, geography, politics, etc.  What struck me, however, was that the overall entries about contemporary Africa were quite negative in general, supported by images of a San bushman from Botswana, Beja Bedouins from Northeast Africa, a rural woman from Benin and a street musician from South Africa.

Beja Bedouins from Northeast Africa. Photo Credit: I, Jpereira

While none of these photos are particularly derogatory, they fail to accurately reflect what the continent has to offer, in terms of its educated urban population and its market potential.

As a diasporan born in Uganda and raised in New York, this all stirred up negative emotions within.  I grew up in New York during a time when it wasn’t cool to be African and I struggled with my identity, despite having gone to the United Nations International School – a very inclusive and empowering academic institution — and living in a community of mostly multicultural families.  At the time, it was much easier for me to assimilate as an African American (a group with which I still very heavily identify having grown up in the US) trying to bury my “Africanness”.  It’s only when I got to Syracuse University as an undergrad and took a few Africana studies courses that I began to develop pride for my heritage and to seek out additional sources to reinforce that feeling. So while the title of this post is about the kid in Podunk, I believe that what I’m proposing below is important also for the African kid (a) living in the diaspora, (b) who is fortunate enough to access the internet in Africa and even (c) whose friend and can teach him/her about who he/she can become as a result of hearing about his/her fortunate friend’s discovery online.

I must stress that my issue in post isn’t actually with Wikipedia — “a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.” The question then is “who should bear the responsibility for the inaccurate portrayal of Africa?”  Is it an individual, an organization or African governments?  Who stands to benefits most from a more inclusive and therefore positive branding of Africa?  You may in turn ask “why this is important?”  Well here are my two cents:

Children, the future leaders of the world, are generally quite impressionable.  So what they’re taught as children influences the decisions they make as adults.  Exposure to correct information about Africa would therefore lead them to recognize Africa and Africans are valuable partners in the global economy rather than the current perception of Africa and its people as a lost cause.

Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model, maternal health advocate, clothing designer and actress who has appeared three times on the cover of US Vogue. Photo Credit: Ed Kavishe, Fashion Wire Press

It’s imperative therefore that Africa and Africans amend the Wikipedia pages on Africa and the African Diaspora, to reflect more inclusive images of Africa and the African Diaspora, given the intrinsic value of the latter both to the continent and the countries where they reside.

Below is a very SMALL sample of diasporans of note who could potentially be spotlighted.  I used the following methodology to find them:

1. I searched Wikipedia for diasporans with whom I am familiar and then used links from their profiles to identify others. I was mindful about the need to reflect talent from the whole continent.
2. I excluded people on the continent making their mark, purely as a means to remain focused on Project Diaspora’s mission: to promote African diaspora engagement in sustainable economic activities within Africa.
3. For simplicity sake, I narrowly defined Diasporans as those who currently reside outside of Africa and who were born in or have parents from Africa.
4. I linked to the Diasporans’ existing Wikipedia pages and grouped each sample according to primary industry.
5. Finally, I used photos from diasporans whose Wikipedia pages had rights-free photographs.

African Diasporans of Note

Arts / Entertainment	Akon || Johannes Anyuru || Michael Blackson || Chiwetel Ejiofor || Idris Elba || Safi Faye || Edi Gathegi || Haile Gerima || Namugenyi Kiwanuka || Boris Kodjoe || Sal Masekela || Peter Mensah || Tom Morello || Ntare Mwine || Thandi Newton       Photo: Thandi Newton, English actress born to Zimbabwean mother and British father. Photo Credit: gdcgraphics”
Education	Ilesanmi Adesida || Kwame Anthony Appiah || Patricia McFadden
Fashion	Amsale Aberra || Ozwald Boateng || Iman || Kiara Kabukuru || Liya Kebede
Financial Services	Mo Ibrahim || Dambisa Moyo || Adebayo Ogunlesi
Journalism	Sade Baderinwa || Ron Mwangaguhunga || Hoda Kotb || Dinaw Mengestu || Adaora Udoji
Politics	Peter Bossman || David Soares
Hospitality Management/Travel	Dorinda Hafner || Marcus Samuelsson         Photo: Marcus Samuelsson, Ethiopian-born Swedish chef and co-owner of Aquavit and Red Rooster restaurants in New York City and C-House Restaurant, located in the Affinia Hotel in Chicago. Photo Credit: Tduk Alex Lozupone”
Religion	Rev. Peter Gomes* || Archbishop John Sentamu
Science & Technology	Kwatsi Alubaruho || Cheick Modibo Diarra || Chinedu Echeruo || Gebisa Ejeta || Ave Kludze || Noah Samara || Window Snyder
Sports	John Amaechi || Kelenna Azubuike || Yinka Dare || Obinna Ekezie || James Ihedigbo || Ruth Kasirye || Mathias Kiwanuka || Dikembe Mutombo || Emeka Okafor || Hakeem Olajuwon || Betty Okino       Photo: Dikembe Mutombo, retired Congolese American professional basketball player, who last played for the Houston Rockets of the NBA. Photo Credit: Keith Allison”

In conclusion, while Wikipedia is a great tool for cataloguing a part of Africa’s reality through its Africa and African Diaspora pages, they need to project the other side of the story.  The basis for this is currently available as individual dots on the Wikipedia site.  What’s needed is for these dots to be connected and given a little bit of context to make it easy for a kid anywhere in the world to access a more inclusive picture about Africa.  I am pleased to note that individual Africans including: Mo Ibrahim, G. Kofi Annan, Sophie Bekele, Ida Horner, Mariéme Jamme, Sheila Ochugboju, Emeka Okafor, Alex Okosi and Joshua Wanyama , are some of the many already working towards the rebranding of the continent.

My hope is that this post will inspire others to join this vital effort.  I welcome any feedback or suggestions for other Diasporans or Diaspora-related items to feature.

Please feel free to connect with me:
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*Rev. Peter Gomes passed away on February 28, 2011

A boy reads a book in the new Community Learning Centre in UVira

One of these days Project Diaspora will mature into this massive database of African development projects helmed by Africa’s Diaspora. The database will feature coverage of socially relevant projects from Cape Town to Rabat, all undertaken by Africans for Africans. But, as with all goals big and small, every vision must start with a first step. As such, it is with no small amount of pride that we present to you the first entry into the DAW database.

Bear with me if there are some hiccups in the quality. The audio isn’t the greatest, so you might need to turn up your speakers. Soundslides video on the next page.

While traveling in Norway this summer, I made a detour to a small coastal town of Kristiansand, Norway. Acting on a tip, I found the nearest Peppes Pizza and made my way to the basement. There I excitedly found a board meeting for Project Uvira about to begin. The project is the brain-child of DRC Diaspora member, Janvier Nzigo and friends Hilde Larsen and John Reidar Torgersen. They had a vision to build a community library in small town of Uvira in Eastern Congo. I caught up with John and Janvier after their board meeting for an impromptu interview about Project Uvira. Well it’s less a traditional “interview” in a sense, and more like an impromptu discussion on the Diaspora at work. It’s also happened to be my first journalistic interview since my glory days as a high school newspaper staff reporter.

I also managed to have a brief chat with international development student, Christian Slaaen, who is spearheading the upcoming documentary (in Norwegian) about the project. As a Development Studies major with a penchant for film, it was refreshing to hear some of his impressions on his first time visit to Africa. He also shared some thoughts on the difficulty of Africans depending on themselves instead of Western AID and the work of NGOs.

Interview with Christian (mp3)

SOME FACTS ABOUT PROJECT UVIRA:

Project City and Country: Uvira, Democratic Republic of Congo
Project Base Country: Norway
Project Age: 2 years

Contact Info:
http://uviraproject.wordpress.com/ [In Norwegian]
Contac: Hilde Larsen
Email: uvira.project@gmail.com
Phone. +47 46371216

If you want to learn more about the reading challenge visit Dave… and he will tell you all about it!

King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild
So far this reading challenge is turning into a crash course in African history. I must space these books out more carefully. Going from one book of death and disaster to another is playing hell on my mood, leaving me both cranky and sad (or maybe that is the flu!) At any rate, going from War torn Nigeria/Biafra to Colonial Africa was not the smartest thing I ever did. It is not that I was unaware of the horrors of colonialism. I come from the original Banana Republic after all, but I don’t think I had ever confronted them quite so baldly as I did reading this book.

I am a big fan of this kind of Historical writing, it is a fast read, you get a good sense of the personalities not just the events and the dates. I was as engrossed in this book as I was with Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman. I think these books share a similar esthetic in terms of the writing. They build a narrative for us, do a little foreshadowing and build suspense as best they can given that all of the events are a forgone conclusion. Since I am mostly a reader of fiction, I appreciate this style and makes me feel more comfortable with the language and structure of the book. However, for a history Mr. Hochschild was extremely prone to editorializing and opining. He pointed out flaws in all the characters as a good historian should but then was quick to excuse them if they were on the right side of the battle against Leopold. I think the evidences he gave us were strong enough to allow us to draw our own conclusions. I am not sure I needed to know his opinions on the relative weight of their flaws versus those of another. I did find his portrait of Stanley the most human. We saw all sides of his character, and in this instance Hochschild does let us draw our own conclusions.

The history itself covers alot of territory. He starts far enough back to really give a sense of the scope and sheer tenacity of Loepold’s will for dominion over his own personal colony. No matter where really. No one place was better than another as long as it gave him power and wealth. It is interesting that in giving us a picture of Leopold’s family life growing up and again as an adult, how little connection with actual real human affection he ever had. While Hochschild again gives us his opinion on what shaped Leopold, I think there is alot more to be inferred that was not stated. It is also another glaring how boring evil really can be. There is always this idea that evil is a rush of energy and almost sexual excitement, crazed lustful violence with all the florid language that goes with that. But the truth is here like in Nazi Germany it was a machine, a bureaucracy driven by paperwork, forms, quotas, weights, measures and money. It is methodical and the people who performed the atrocities just sort of got used to it. Which is infinitely more scary than all the florid phrases in the world.

In the end history teaches us, (and this book) that it is not hate that brings us down. It is indifference.