Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.....If you wish to SEND a report...send to your ICA contact person OR...go to the members section on the ICA International website

ICAI Leadership Team Report:      June 01 2012

News
Regional gatherings with all three regions (N/S America, Africa/Middle East/Europe, Asia Pacific) - Topics: Reports, Nepal prep, General Assembly Input, GLT nominees, and ICAI finances Team in Canada prepping for Audit of 2011 (Bill and Daphne)
Winds and waves team is inviting articles on "methods that work"
Nepal working on ICA Book, chapters are being sent in

Concerns
All dues are due by June 30, last year Audit due by June 30 - several deadlines which the GLT can not impact but can feel anxious about
Still missing a 4th nominee
Success of involving more nations in South America raises the question of how we involve developing ICAs.  Same question with our African colleagues, how do we make sure they are connected - in the peer to peer how much are we to depend on ICAs to drive the connection and how much should the GLT reach out

Next steps
JUNE 16 General assembly

Larry Philbrook           Larry@icatw.com

ICAI Leadership Team Report:      May 01 2012

News:
Nepal Theme Leaders continue preparation
ICA UK has become an associate member of ICAI; Larry met with them
Moving towards the Audit for 2011
Three possible candidates being worked on by election committee (Still need one more so any statutory members please share immediatly if you have a candidate)

Peer to Peer:
Met with ICA USA, ICA UK
ICA Spain ICA Nepal ICA Associates Canada are working on a proposal to Enhance the study and practice of Social Economy and Social Capital in higher education

Challenges:
Connecting with everyone to prepare for the May dialogues and June GA

Still fine tuning our structures and report framework for finances with colleagues in Canada

Next Steps:
May 18-19 global dialogue
June GA
Nepal conference recruiting

Larry Philbrook           Larry@icatw.com

BANGLADESH:          May 01 2012

An ICAB board meeting was held on the 7th of April 2012. The Board discussed the Action Plan for 2012 and the 2012 budget, with board members, to focus on a local fundraising mechanism.

Our COO Zaki wecomed Sylvia on April 21st and said goodby to her on behalf of ICAB. Sylvia came to Dhaka for an assignment with the, Management for Health Sciences, to work with John Hopkins University and the Health Ministry in Dhaka for a USAID funded alignment workshop. Fuad got an opportunity to work with her for the scheduled April workshop which has now been rescheduled due to the political issue in Hartal, (strike). Chandpur community project signs were in place and the staff are ready to install this week. Zaki took the initiative to raise funds for the Ghoramara school furniture and Tapan, Aziz, and Zaki announced their contribution.

Zaki          admin@ica-bangladesh.org

EHIO Tajikistan:         June 01 2012

1. News:
A new project: Theatre For Peace Building and Conflict Prevention has been signed for six months by the British Embassy which is going to be implementing its activities in the Sogd region of North Tajikistan.

2. Challenges:
The situation in Tajikistan has changed over the past few years. A lot of local NGOs in Tajikistan now have a reduced income and they have difficulties with their finances.

3. Coming events:
Three days of training were conducted from the 10th of May to the 12th of May for the project TSEP on the topics of, Starting a business and managing taxes. This was in the Asht district of jamoat Kirkuduk.
Four days of training were conducted from the 14th of May to the 17th of May on the topics, Basic management, Starting a business and managing taxes, for the farmers in Garm and Tavildara of Rasht Valley.
From the 24th to the 26th of May a three day training course was conducted on the topic of, Starting a business and tax management, for youth in the Sahrituz region, jamoat Hudoikulov.

4. On the project for the World Bank:
On the 2nd, 11th, and the 17th of May we conducted training on the topic: Plan for making sustainable use of water, in the Nurmuhammad, Sulaimonhuja, and Holiksarkor districts. And also on the 3rd, 18th and 28th of May we conducted training on the topic: Planting a new garden, and the care for a young garden of apricot, in Nurmuhammad, Sulaimonhuja and Holiksarkor districts. On the 4th, 16th and 22nd of May we conducted training on the topic: Planting of cucumbers under pellicle, and on the 8th, 15th and 23rd of May we conducted training on the topic: The method of getting full value from young cotton varieties.

Nigina Sadikova           nigina7811@rambler.ru

EHIO Tajikistan:         May 01 2012

1. News:
In the past month representatives of the World Bank have paid a visit to Khujand. They monitored our NGO activities regarding the Fergana Valley Water Recourses project, for the year 2011. The representatives visited the demonstration plots situated in our target area, Dehkhan Farms (districts). For the same period our NGO successfully past the governmental testing on the implemention of the project within the FVWR framework.

2. Challenges:
The situation in Tajikistan has changed over the past few years. Many of the local NGOs in Tajikistan now have reduced financial support and they have difficulties in meeting their objectives.

3. Next steps:
A number of new ideas were suggested, as a result of the monitoring by the representatives of the World Bank, about the continuation of our NGO's activities within the framework of the Fergana Valley Water Recourses project. These were mostly in regard to using new water supply technology in the field of vegetable growing and gardening. We also keep developing new projects

4.Past events:
For the TSEP project, training sessions were conducted from 2nd. of April to the 5th. on the topic: Negotiation process, and two days training on the topic: Mediation. These were held in the Shahrtuz district.

From 17th. of April to the 19th. training was conducted on the topics: Starting up a business and taxes, for the youth in Kubodien district, jamoat Navoobod. This same training was also held from the 24th. to 26th. of April in the Isfara district, jamoat Lakkon, by trainers Boiboboeva R. and Abduvalieva M.

Nigina Sadikova           nigina7811@rambler.ru

INDIA:            May 01 2012

Our Residential Tribal School has successfully completed the 12th standard in, 'Initial computer training,' with the help of Nelson Stover, who came to India to launch the project.

The Women's Empowerment Project in Mulshi, Pune, began successfully, with the new coordinator, Mayumi Tateishi. We have already conducted several 5 day Business Training sessions for over a 100 women, also 3 day sessions in Empowerment Training for 44 women. Last week we began a computer training institute for farmers and students and a Tailoring Institute for women. Both the projects were started in Khamboli village. This is going to be a very intensive pilot program in the setting up of income generating projects for women, therefore, Ms Shizuyo Sato, Director of ICA Japan with her supporter, Ms.Takako are coming to India in May to launch the project.

Shankar Jadhav           icaiindia@vsnl.net

JAPAN:          June 01 2012

This month Shizuyo was asked to participate in three projects, after returning from two others. Thanks to Skype, it seemed to our Japan staff that she never left the office in Japan. A further report will be provided after she returns from the Somalia border with Kenya after putting in place a pipeline, delivering emergency water to those displaced, starving and thirsty people.

Meanwhile most of the staff worked with Chimaki, preparing paperwork in order to become certified to receive donations from large corporations. Motoko and Gaku were recently hired to provide quality assistance and timely information to our funders and the project staff, also to write proposals, reports, update the website, and to maintain a dialogue with the various people in our projects.

Yuichiro continues to work with Americare and is planning an extension of the project of aid to the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami region. This extension will be to provide psychosocial care for families and to engage those people in farming activities, forest care and a variety of other activities.

Our projects continued, near Pune India, and in Vietnam and we began the Bihar India Community Recovery Project with ten villages though there were small hiccups along the way,

Motoko, Wayne, and Jean Watts worked with Catherine Tornbom to write "users stories" for the peace segment of both the virtual and on-site forthcoming global conference. This refreshing method produced the following for the communications team preparation: (Sample only - see the attached file for the full list below)

• As a content provider I would like my information to be easily shared with both onsite participants and virtual participants.
• As a theme leader I hope for peace-building actions to be a result of the conference.
• As a participant at the conference I look forward to integrating the information that will be shared during the virtual meetings prior to the conference.

We experimented with "user stories" for ICA Japan and it opened us up by thinking of our users (stakeholders):

• As a board member, I would like to know of ICA projects on a timely basis.
• As a peace mediator, I would like to facilitate group meetings to resolve conflicts.
• As a staff member, I would like to consolidate ICA work.
• As a JPF funder, I would like to satisfy our funders by providing timely information, and have peace of mind with ICAJ.
• As a project partner, we want short process time for report submission so that we will have more time to discuss the next project.
• As a member of an organization, I would like to seek access to flexible income to run activities better.
• As a NPO member, I would like to negotiate with government bureaucrats and politicians in the Third World to get their assistance for our activities.
• As a person in a refugee camp, I would like to have my story broadcast to the people in Japan, enough times to generate compassion and understanding, so that we will become partners.
• As local ICA staff, I would like to have more flexible money to learn as we work and to run sustainable projects.
• As a resident in a disaster area of Japan, I would like ICA to accomplish what ICA announced ICA could do.
• As a youth resident in a slum, I would like to have a better education in order to work for my community.
• As a web browser, I would like to have interesting and appealing things, such as pictures and media, so that I can tell everyone I know, about ICA's greatness.
• As a company, I would like ICA to have certification, so that we could make substantial donations.

Please see our website in about a month for a positive update!

Here is the full "user story" conference communications team suggestions attachment:
http://globalbuzz.ica-international.org/attach/user-stories.htm

Staff           staff@icajapan.org

JAPAN:          May 01 2012

During March and April 2012, Shizuyo, Naomi and Takako went to Kenya to assist with emergency aid distribution of food and pipe, (to bring water from lake Turokana), for Ethopia and Somalia drought refugees.

Shizuyo and Eiki also traveled to Vietnam working on lake water purification, using floats holding vegetables (their giant roots "eat" the dirt and purify the water).  About 100 other Hanoi lakes are now copying this natural lake cleaning method.

Shizuyo brought 2 businessmen to Hoy An city on Chami Island researching solar energy and windmills for providing electricity for around 5000 villagers.

Mayumi is now in Pune assisting with our partnership project, intended to raise women up, enabling them to have small businesses, by taking development training.  Another partnership project began in Bihar State to raise up the lowest class people who were severly affected by the flood created when the dam broke in Nepal. Our plan is to build ten mulitipurpose commuity centers and provide capacity building training.  Takako will go there around mid-May to coordinate the project.

Chimaki in assisting ICAJ with the paperwork necessary to apply for "NPO Certification" so that we may receive tax free donations from the private sector.

Motoko and Gaku began working for ICAJ the end of April, and enthustically joined our international development team.

Yuichiro continued applying for an Americares grant to do healing work in Tohoku.  Their joint proposal is to take displaced people to "Bath" in the mountain and to plant small plots in the lowlands as a means of engagement and healing from damages caused by flood and Tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Wayne worked on finances, and towards supporting the global conference Peace Building Theme, along with Keli from Taiwan, Ishu from Nepal and others.  They also began again to complete our new bi-lingual web site at www.icajapan.org.

PERU:          June 01 2012

Last Saturday we closed out the second AVANZA PERU 3-week formation program for the Conga Project, and Pedro Aburto and Karina Yachtayo will soon be heading back to Cajamarca for an Implementation program. The company has told us that they want us to be a continuing presence in the communities which will be a new role for the ICA and our staff.

Jesusa Aburto just returned from facilitating a workshop on Project Design for a group of 35 tribal federation leaders meeting in the deep jungle city of Iquitos. Alex Borjas and Fabiola Valdarrago just returned from highly successful recruiting trip to Huanuco where they worked with 14 communities in the very high sierra to bring a group of 30 new leaders to Azpitia on 3 June - they made presentations in communities for 3,500 up to 5,700 meters altitude, which is truly headache country!

Alex and Fabiola will be returning on Friday to bring the 30 participants to Azpitia to begin their 3-weeks of formation training on Sunday. This week Marisol Sanchez has taken on the new responsibility of leading an Implementation Program in Ayacucho with Fredi Gomez which is generating strong results in this old battleground area of the Shining Path. On Friday Gloria Santos and Luis Tarazona head into the mountains of Ancash to do a site visit in 8 communities in preparation for a 6-month program beginning in July.

Informal mining is going on all over Peru and currently employs about 100,000 people directly, and another 400,000 indirectly. This type of artisan mining creates heavy pollution, leaves a devastated landscape behind and operates our side of the laws and control of the government, so it is of huge concern to many people. As an extension of a recent UN study, ICA-Peru is being asked to collaborate in the design and implementation of a demonstration project of leadership training and team formation to move a group of these miners into the formal sector with adequate oversite, where in turn they will gain access to capital for much needed equipment to improve their profits. This is truly a win-win-win situation which is the way we always choose to work.

Ken Hamje           kenh@ica-peru.org

PERU:          May 01 2012

During April we discovered the risk of working with the high-profile Conga Project in the northern Region of Cajamarca, where strikes and demonstrations caused the rescheduling to May of our April AVANZA PERU 3-week trianing, and the loss of a month's income. However the Community Self-Development (Auto-Desarrollo Comunitario) program concept based 100 in the ICA methods is catching on here and we are now contracted out through August along iwth lots of prospect to fill the calendar for 2012.

The open time in Apirl gave us and opportunity to build staff skills, deepen our curriculum preparation and do a wonderful 2-day work-day at the Training Center in Azpitia to finish up the newly remodeled bathrooms and put a fresh coat of colorful paint on the seminar rooms and staff bedrooms. The center is now ready to welcome another 30 eager community leaders beginning the 6th. of May, closing out a week of having 6 people in the field in three Regions. Life is good!

Ken Hamje           kenh@ica-peru.org

TAIWAN:         May 01 2012

• Larry did UN programs in New York, Ethiopia, and Germany with stops in Paris to work with Lan Huong facilitation group.
• Evelyn and Gail worked on preparation for Hua-Guang Girls High School program in China with Jorie Wu and Jackie Chang
• Jessie, Jorie, Jester, Eva and Luis conducted the 3rd in a series of Social Intelligence Programs with Sichuan Elementary School teachers without Larry
• Dick held DreamWorks monthly meeting with new participants and Truth About Life  on Heath Care Systems

• Nepal Theme Leaders continue preparation.  Evelyn met with both the global team and held Adobe Connect training for small Nepali team and discovers helpful bandwidth report.
• Larry continued his Appreciative Inquiry ToP virtual class with the US ToP network
• Larry met with ICA USA and ICA UK and sends out announcements for regional meetings and General Assembly next quarter with election coming up for ICAI board.

• Expanding Taiwan and China market contacts while focusing on Nepal and China conferences, and ICAI global connections and scheduled events

• Dancing with Jump Time Zones

• Truth About Life May 6, 9:30 am-12:30pm
• ICA-Nepal Conference Theme Leaders Meeting, May 10,16: 4-5 pm Nepali Time Zone, Adobe Virtual mtg.
• HuaGuang, Nanning, Guanxi, China Imaginal Learning May 12 & 13
• Asia Regional Meeting May 18 or 19th Virtual meeting
• Dialogue program May 26 & 27 Tien-mu, Taipei

Evelyn Kurihara Philbrook           joyful@icatw.com

UNITED STATES:         June 01 2012

CSU Students Contribute to AC77
Students from Chicago State University (CSU) came to the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) building at 4750 N. Sheridan Rd. to give presentations on their participation in ICA's Accelerate 77 (AC77) project. Daniel Block, associate professor of geography at CSU, brought more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate geography students to give their findings, which included PowerPoint presentations and question and answer sessions. Each group of two to three students discussed the two community areas they researched, covering each area's demographics, local issues and community-driven sustainability programs.

The class is one of a number from Chicago area universities that are contributing to Accelerate 77, the effort to find and catalog local sustainable and environmentally supportive efforts in each of the city's 77 community areas. Classes and individual students from DePaul, Northeastern Illinois, Loyola, Roosevelt, and St. Xavier universities have also been active. As of May 10, 2012, 55 community areas have been covered by almost 200 students. The goal of AC77 is to increase the role and positive impact of local communities in realizing objectives of the Chicago Climate Action Plan. The hope is to connect them with one another to inspire new ideas, practices, self-consciousness and motivation through peer interchange, while also engaging residents in systematic learning, planning, and collective action. The project is anticipated to accelerate environmental sustainability in a bottom-up fashion driven by practical action, expanded imagination, and greater organizational capacities among local groups.

Austin ICA Colleagues Gather for a 50th Anniversary Celebration
George and Wanda Holcombe hosted a 50th Anniversary Celebration for colleages in the Austin, TX, area. ICA President and CEO Terry Bergdall joined the festivities. Terry spoke about events in ICA's past, what activities it is currently involved in and future possibilities. The event is actually part of a long-standing series of gatherings of colleagues in the Austin area going back 20 years. In fact, one of the couples has been involved with some of the earliest work with ICA in Chicago. Al and JoAnn Williams, now residents of Austin, were among the first families with children to move into Fifth City in 1963. The event was Terry's first chance to connect with the couple.

Tom Wray           twray@ica-usa.org

UNITED STATES:         May 01 2012

ICA Board, AC77 Meet at Chicagos Field Museum
The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) Board of Directors and the Advisory Committee for Accelerate 77 (AC77) met at The Field Museum in downtown Chicago on Friday, April 20, to hear updates on progress with the citywide project to connect community sustainability projects.

A total of 55 people from both groups were able to attend the presentation. Among those speaking included Advisory Committee Chair Jim Troxel of Millennia Consulting, LLC, The Field Museums Mario Longoni, and Aaron Joseph, the Deputy Sustainability Officer for the City of Chicago.

Aaron said that sustainability is a priority for the city and his office. He added that the Chicago had won the Business Civic Leadership Committees national Sustainable Community Award in the large city category the same week as the meeting.

Chicagos government is putting its support behind the AC77 project. We're really looking for ways to reach out to the community and tap into what the communities are doing and elevate that up so others can see what the communities are doing at the very local level, Aaron said. That's what I think is so important about this project and why Karen Weigert, the Chief Sustainability Officer for Chicago and the mayor are very interested in seeing Accelerate 77 succeed.

Mario spoke about the Field Museum's Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo) program, which is also identifying community sustainability work in the city and looking for ways to encourage others to get involved with the cause. The museum has established the Chicago Community Climate Action Toolkit on the web at http://climatechicago.fieldmuseum.org/ to highlight what communities have done and encourage and inspire others to do the same.

Nina Winn, program coordinator for Resilient Communities, and Seva Gandhi, program coordinator for Service Learning, both spoke on the progress of cataloguing sustainability projects in each of Chicagos 77 community areas, getting summer interns for AC77, and preparing for the Sharing Approaches That Work conference on September 15, 2012. As of April 20, 55 of the citys community areas have been researched.

We're really trying to make this a student-led initiative, Seva said, talking about the internship program for at least 40 students this summer. She also reminded the audience that while there is a lot of work leading up to the Share Fair in September, its only just the beginning. The real work begins after September 15th, she said. That's when connecting and creating a community between the citys sustainability groups and programs will begin.

Remodeled ICA Kitchen Open for Business
The community kitchen on the sixth floor at the Institute of Cultural Affairs building in Chicago is open and ready to use! The remodeled kitchen at 4750 N. Sheridan Rd. took six months to finish, but according to those attending an inaugural potluck dinner celebration, it was worth it.

ICA Facilities Manager Lesley Showers said the kitchen before remodeling was outdated and not very welcoming. The room, meant to be used by residents of the intentional community on the seventh floor, had been designed as a commercial kitchen and was not practical as a community space. The plumbing and wiring were redone. New energy efficient appliances and cabinets made with eco-friendly materials were added. The kitchen also received a hand-built greenhouse for growing leafy greens and herbs. There has been a very positive reaction from those living and working in the building. More than twenty residents, colleagues and staff attended the potluck dinner in the new kitchen.

"I had been watching the kitchen go through the transformation and it was fantastic to look at," said Assistant Facilities Manager Tyra Taylor, who attended the potluck. "Not until the potluck dinner did I realize what a catalyst the kitchen could be to make a group of people into an intentional community." Lesley said that she's already been getting requests to use the kitchen for gatherings and fundraisers.

Tom Wray           twray@ica-usa.org