BANGLADESH:
Location: Dhaka
On July 3rd. Dhaka City Corporation Councilor of 24 Ward, Mr. Niser Uddin Ahmed
Kajol, distributed the school bags, school uniforms and the June stipend, to 30
street children under the project supported by TUC Japan, Surjodoy Sangsad and
ICA Bangladesh. Ripon, Aziz, Nurul, Fuad and their teacher were present in the
Surjodoy Sangsad.
Shamim and Mizan visited Chandpur Ghoramara Project on 2nd. and
3rd. of July. Mizan is helping Iqbal in implementing the Micro-action project on
HIV/AIDS in the Ghoramara Project. Selina implemented her own micro project, on
HIV/AIDS awareness-raising training, among Garment Workers on 1st July in Dhaka.
Fuad and Ripon helped her in implementing the project in the Peerless with more
than 70 participants.
Pintu developed a poster to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS at the grass roots level. It is to be distributed to barbers in Tangail Municipal Town on July the 5th.
An NGO called Padakkhep, working with Street Children in
DhakaCity, called Aziz on 5th. July. They are hoping to share their work and interest, and possibly partner
with us.
Staff admin@ica-bangladesh.org
MENA Middle East and North Africa (Egypt):
Location: Bin Sueif South of Cairo 120km
Last Tuesday, ICA MENA, seized the opportunity made by Voice of America, celebrating 30 years of working in Egypt, to hold a cultural event among 60 Youth both male and female from schools and the university. The event became a competition by playing CDs of interviews with top Egyptian writers, musicians, artists and other famous cultural figures. We then explained to the Youth how to write articles, and gave them time to write about what they had listened to and to add their own information or background. This was done through an instructor specialized in the field. We started at 10am and finished at 5pm. The competition was for Egyptian Youth from all over Egypt. The winners will be rewarded.
Due to the efforts of our ICA staff in Binsuef, it was a very successfully day for the promotion of ICA activities, and to the building of a good relationship with American organizations.
We returned to Cairo in the evening with the temperature at 42 degrees and no airconditioning. I had to take the items for the break one day before the event.
Now, as this past event turned out to be so successful, I think we should organize other cultural events on a monthly basis, as I believe in doing so we will be able to promote more Development work.
Assem Kamal assemkml@gmail.com
PERU:
Location: Lima and Azpitia
We have just completed the first week of another AVANZA PERU 3-week leadership
formation program, this time with a very mature and motivated group of community
leaders from the Sierra of Ica. They have great ideas for their communities
which have been greatly impacted by the mining in the area and in need of a
diversification of income and the restoring of the iniative of the people to
sustain their own lives.
Meanwhile, Luis Tarazona has begun work in Lima and is
working on an exciting new project in Complementary Currency Systems for local
communties. Shu Sun will be arriving soon from the UK to volunteer for a month
and join in the development of this new venture.
Staff admin@ica-peru.org
TAIWAN:
Location:
We began a study series on the book 'What Got You Here Won't Get You There,' and held
our regular 'Truth About Life' dialogue on Education.
Dick and Gail continue
with personal mentoring.
The whole team, including local colleagues, is working on
the new Group Facilitation Module 1, to be launched for the first time in mid July.
Larry finishes mentoring and facilitator training in Jakarta, Indonesia and is
on his way for the first UN leadership program in Santiago Chile which will
include a couple of days with ICA Chile colleagues.
Gail West icataiw@ms69.hinet.net
UNITED STATES:
Location: Chicago IL
Planning for the future
As the month of June rolled in, more than 40 ICA-USA
colleagues, board and staff, gathered in Chicago for a weekend long strategic
planning retreat to plan and prepare for ICA-USA's future. Colleagues Cheryl
Kartes and Sheila LeGeros led this important organizational meeting of the
minds.
Using ICA methods, attendees discussed a variety of unique ways ICA-USA
can work to extend its reach. Among the ideas documented was online ToP training
and the introduction of day long, intro to ToP courses. In true ToP fashion,
attendees worked to create a Wall of Wonder, a technique traditionally used in
ToP training to help participants visualize change over time. Begun virtually in
advance of the retreat, the Wall was completed during the retreat and displayed
in the main meeting room. Notes from the retreat will be compiled into
recommendations at the end of the summer and presented to the ICA-USA Board of
Directors for review.
Preserving the Past
ICA-USA colleagues Terry Bergdall, Beret
Griffith, Cheryl Kartes, Jim Litton, Evelyn Philbrook, Marge Philbrook, David
Scott and Sandra True, along with ICA-USA Executive Director Nino Tillman and
ICA-USA Director of Resource Development and External Affairs Karen Sims, were
among those who met in Chicago at the beginning of June to map out a plan for
preserving ICAs rich history. The Project is designed to both preserve and
transform the collected wisdom of the Ecumenical Institute, the Order Ecumenical
and the Institute of Cultural Affairs. In doing so, the Project team hopes the
information contained in the Archives will inform social justice activities
around the world. The Archive Possibilities, Solutions, and Undertakings PSU
Task Force, made up of colleagues old and new, are working to create a plan to
accomplish this huge and historically important task. The group has decided to
use the Global Community forums, town hall meetings in every county in the U.S.,
as a pilot project, documenting the process to demonstrate how the various
archival methods will be used to make the entire collection usable.
Venita Griffin vgriffin@ica-usa.org
ICAI:
Location: Montréal
The auditing process is finally coming close to an end. The auditors spent a full day at the office going through all of our 2008 activities. While they were very satisfied with their day’s accomplishments, we are expecting them to come by the office again next week, in order to finalize the process. Julia has been actively contributing with the auditing process, communicating and exchanging relevant information with the auditors.
Michael and Renée attended a meeting with the Montreal School Board, regarding the new Global Citizen School Program that we have developed. It is designed to guide and empower our youth, and provide them with the skills needed to provide global leadership in their adulthood. The meeting went very well, and Renée is currently working on an action plan for the program.
Since Lambert’s return from the Forest Dialogue in Switzerland, he has been actively continuing his work regarding the implementation of the REDD program and the challenges it faces.
Michael has been invited to attend an International meeting of conference organizers in South Africa, where they will explore ways they can support us regarding the organization of future conferences. He will also take time off to visit members of ICA South Africa. He left this week, and will be back in the week of the 13th of July.
Julia Bergel jbergel@ica-international.org
