Our friend Zahra over at archiTEXT, a design think tank dedicated to social change, is in the running for two Pepsi Refresh grants. So, we’re hoping you’ll sign in, vote, and then vote again every day until August 31.

community.design.initiative:

The East Scarborough Storefront Community Design Initiative is exploring design and its ability to act as a mechanism for change. Focused on poverty reduction, it’s enabling young people in the Kingston-Galloway neighbourhood-designated as one of Toronto’s thirteen Priority Neighbourhoods for Investment-to conceptualize, design, and steward the creation of a community resource building. The mission is a legacy project, designed to articulate a national precedent and model for participatory design, creativity, and innovation in architecture through the engagement and empowerment of the community. Residents of Kingston-Galloway have identified that their community will emerge from its challenges if the capacity for services and programming are increased at the East Scarborough Storefront. The Refresh Grant would be allocated to the completion of Construction Phase One-the community kitchen and computer resource centre.

architecture+food+community:

Crescent Town, a priority neighborhood with the least amount of infrastructure investment in the city, where 10 out of 11 youth in the city say that there is not enough programming for youth in the community (and that the programs they would like to see are around healthy eating and cross-cultural interaction) will benefit from engaging with the process of designing for a community as well as with the education around where their food comes from.

The project will build a greenhouse to not only engage youth in one of Toronto’s thirteen priority neighborhoods in conversations about participatory design, the science of greenhouse architecture and growing food, but through experience – we have found that using design and architecture as a mechanism for engagement in challenged neighborhoods, bringing kids into this seemingly inaccessible discipline. It is also hoping to respond to emerging issues in this neighborhood.

So yea.  Vote now!  For both projects: architecture+food+community and community.design.initiative.

Click on the image above to see the full graphic on McCandless’s website. This visual breaks down the amount of money that the world has given to the disaster relief in Haiti, updated as of January 24, 2010. The information that McCandless’s used is also available on his website. The great thing about this graphic is that it not only shows you the breakdown of dollars given by country and region but it compares the donations to other recent natural disasters like the tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2006.

While the information is dated in January I think that it is a great way to understand donation numbers in a comparative way. How often do we get to compare numbers so easily and so visually. What do you think? Do the numbers tell a better story when they are so in your face like these visuals? Hope you enjoy McCandless’s drawings as much as I do.

Gaming for Good:

Extreme philanthropy
“Brian Jones has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, walked across the Sahara Desert and skied to the North Pole, all to raise money for needy groups in Fredericton. But this winter, he simply pulled on some wool socks and a pair of old sweatpants, kissed his daughters goodbye and found a comfortable patch of frozen pavement. Mr. Jones, a 40-year-old investment advisor, recently spent three days as a homeless man, wandering through his own city to draw attention to the plight of street youth….”

Photo from Moriza’s Flickr.

So Go Check it Out! It’s a great website full of relevant information for HIV/AIDS patients, workers and anyone interested in learning more information on the subject.

FILM FESTIVAL: The 7th annual Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival takes place February 24 to March 6, 2010 in Toronto, Canada. All films, excluding the Opening Night Gala screen at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto.

http://humanrightsfilmfestival.ca/schedule/

Monday, February 22

LECTURE: Financial Crisis And Opportunity Forum on forging a new global order of peace and justice with KAIROS’s John Dillon. 7 pm. Free. Dovercourt Baptist Church, NW corner Bloor and Dufferin. davenport4peace.ca.

Tuesday, February 23

LECTURE: Energy Security in the Asia-Pacific region: beyond the security of supply with Vlado Vivoda. 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM. Munk Centre, University of Toronto. 108N, North House

LECTURE: Immigration, Identity, & Islam: A Conversation with Ali Eteraz
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Munk Centre, University of Toronto. 208N, North House

BENEFIT: Pride Uganda (Pride Uganda Alliance Int’l) Benefit dinner and reception for LGBT Ugandans at risk of persecution. 6-10 pm. $75. Bright Pearl, 346 Spadina. chairman@pua-int.org

MEETING: Amnesty International In The Beaches Meeting and letter-writing 7:30 pm Free. St John’s Norway Church, 470 Woodbine. smith.brigham@sympatico.ca

LECTURE: Edward Burtynsky The Manufactured Landscapes photographer talks about his work. 7 pm. Free. Reference Library, 789 Yonge. torontopubliclibrary.ca.

Wednesday, February 24

LECTURE: East Africa - Nairobi To Cape Town Travel talk. 6:30 pm. Free. Intrepid Travel, 523 Bloor W. intrepidtravel.com.

FILM FESTIVAL: The 7th annual Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival takes place February 24 to March 6, 2010 in Toronto, Canada. 6:30 p.m. –- Opening Night Gala, Isabel Bader Theatre – Last Train Home. All films, excluding the Opening Night Gala screen at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto. http://humanrightsfilmfestival.ca/schedule/

READING: Residents Without Borders Book Club. Book to be discussed: Indra Sinha’s “ANIMAL’S PEOPLE”.  6:30pm – 8:30pm. 7 West Cafe, 7 Charles St. (http://www.7westcafe.com/) (map)

Thursday, February 25

BENEFIT: African Canadians For Haiti (Red Cross) Performances by African Guitar Summit, Jean Fojeba, Show Do Man and others. 8:30 pm. $10 min. Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas W. 416-588-0307.

BENEFIT: Grassroots Fundraiser For Haiti (Médecins sans Frontières) Entertainment by DJ Pooyan and others, live mural painting and a silent auction. 9 pm. $10. Floorworks, 365 Dupont. miguelvdo@gmail.com.

BENEFIT: Recipe For Change (FoodShare) Evening of fine food, beer and wine with tip local chefs including Fabio Bondi and Donna Dooher. 6-9 pm. $100. Foodshare Centre of Innovation and Education, 90 Croatia. 416-363-6441 ext 226.

LECTURE: The Walrus Eats (Walrus Fdn) The Walrus Magazine celebrates with a talk by author Jeff Rubin (Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller) and food by chef Jamie Kennedy. 7 pm. $125. The Wine Bar, 9 Church. walrusmagazine.com.

LECTURE: David Lewis Series: Naomi Klein Talking about climate debt. 8:30 pm. $20, stu/low income $15. Trinity-St Paul’s United Church, 427 Bloor W. policyalternatives.ca.

LECTURE: Infrastructure as Political Catalyst: The Case of ‘Second Generation Reform’ in Uganda with Christopher Gore from Ryerson University. 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM. Munk Centre, University of Toronto. 108N, North House.

FILM SCREENING: Negrito, De Donde Vienes? Black Identity and Anti-Racism in Peru. Speakers: Gabi Rodriguez and Eshe Lewis. 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Munk Centre, University of Toronto. 108N, North House.

FILM SCREENING: The 7th annual Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival. 7:00 p.m. — Canadian Premiere – Triage. Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto. http://humanrightsfilmfestival.ca/schedule/

Friday, February 26

FILM SCREENING: The 7th annual Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival. 9:00 p.m. — Be Like Others. Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto. http://humanrightsfilmfestival.ca/schedule

Saturday, February 27

FILM SCREENING: The 7th annual Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival. 7:00 p.m. — Welcome. Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto. http://humanrightsfilmfestival.ca/schedule

BENEFIT: Haiti Heal The World (Heal the World) Performances by DJs Kim Davis, Melanie Durrant, Nick Holder and others raise money for Haiti earthquake relief. 9 pm-3 am. Donation. College Street Bar, 574 College. 647-222-7178.

Sunday, February 28

FILM SCREENING: The 7th annual Toronto Human Rights Watch Film Festival. 8:00 p.m. — My Neighbor, My Killer. Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto. http://humanrightsfilmfestival.ca/schedule

Now is the Time to Fix Inequalities in Haiti

Anthony Jenkins/The Globe and Mail

Robert Muggah and Robert Maguire offer four strategies for Haiti’s success: decentralization, a service corps, improved state institutions, and cash for the poor.

After the earthquake, how to rebuild Haiti from scratch

Jeffrey Sachs calls for a bank account that Haiti can draw from throughout rebuilding, rather than having to negotiate with numerous donors.  He puts a dollar figure to the rebuilding: between $2 to $3 billion per year for the next 5 years.

How to rebuild Haiti after the quake

Boyce Watkins argues for investment rather than sympathy.

How to rebuild Haiti

Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, says the usual: long-term commitment, coordinated aid, leadership, and that “Haiti can’t be reconstructed by well-meaning outsiders.”

Eight ways to rebuild Haiti

The New York Times calls on eight experts to give their prescriptions for rebuilding Haiti, including an architect, an expert on informal cities, a former special envoy to Haiti, more cities experts, a water expert, a businessman, a Harvard professor, and a Columbia professor.

How to help Haiti to rebuild

Paul Collier, Jean-Louis Warnholz, Michele Wucker, Clare Lockhart, and Dan Schnitzer comment on “nation-building, economic development, and emergency aid, and how best to help devastated Port-au-Prince.”

Canada calls on nations to forgive Haiti’s debt

We must rethink the rebuilding of Haiti

]]> http://www.unpackingdevelopment.com/2010/02/17/haiti-seen-as-a-crisitunity-who-says-what-about-rebuilding/feed/ http://www.unpackingdevelopment.com/2010/02/17/haiti-seen-as-a-crisitunity-who-says-what-about-rebuilding/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnpackingDevelopment/~3/HwKTMp7Ad4Q/ http://www.unpackingdevelopment.com/2010/02/16/some-thoughts-on-pepsi-refresh/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:35:06 +0000 http://www.unpackingdevelopment.com/?p=679 This year, Pepsi decided to forgo its annual Super Bowl commercial in favour of supporting an social media charity initiative called Pepsi Refresh.  Obviously, Pepsi’s interest is the bottom line, so the idea that a social media charity project is on par with a super bowl commercial in terms of advertising value is AMAZING to me.

But, at first glance, I wasn’t super impressed with their approach.  Apart from the usual debate about whether corporations can truly participate in charity without changing some of their own business practices (namely, a focus on the bottom line), there are a couple of things about the site that rubbed me the wrong way.

I must admit, I’m pretty stuck in my ways when it comes to the type and focus of charities I support.  I like grassroots charities that support communities to take initiative themselves, and also charities that focus specifically on the social determinants of health and HIV/AIDS.  So, as soon as I went to the Pepsi Refresh site, I clicked on the health icon and started viewing the projects in this category to find one that met my criteria, so that I could vote for it.  The projects were displayed in a list of 10 per page, with the option to load more (reminiscent of a twitter feed).  After I hit “load more” a couple of times without finding what I was looking for, I tried to search for some of the charities I’ve supported in the past, but there was no search field to be found.

It is tedious to keep reading these projects after a while, and I bet others think the same thing.  And because the projects are ranked in order of most votes, the projects that are in the top 10 or 15 are the most viewed, and therefore probably also the most likely to continue receiving votes.  The projects that are at the end of the list may be great projects that would be popular, but they are virtually invisible because no one is going to scroll through every single project before voting.  Those who get a bunch of votes initially have the advantage in the long run, not because they are better projects but because voters are lazy!

I didn’t end up voting because I got so turned off by the projects that were available.  Currently, the second most popular health project (in the $5000 category) is funding to fund a fundraiser.  There were lots of example of this kind of thing, with people submitting projects to get start up capital fund their internet self help company, etc.  I understand that start ups should get their money from somewhere, but I think its really important that Pepsi hold their grantees to a very high standard before giving the funds.  Maybe this feeling also comes from my bias towards NGO delivered projects, which is certainly not a perfect model.

I can understand why this approach was taken - let the voters choose what’s important to them - but until the interface is more democratic, the process won’t be democratic.

ReplyForAll has taken a different approach which I think is pretty cool when determining where their charity dollars will go - they’ve selected 8 causes (cancer research, animal rights, HIV/AIDS, climate change, poverty, education, children’s rights, and education) and then worked hard to select one charity for each that is doing exceptional work in this area.  This recognizes that people are largely interested in the issue not the charity, and does the leg work about deciding who is working effectively in this area so the lay person doesn’t have to.  (Maybe I would be less cool with this approach if I didn’t already support Partners in Health, which is their HIV/AIDS fundraising recipient).

Pepsi has defined these “causes” but I feel that the projects available in each cause don’t represent my conceptualization of what the health cause needs to move forward.  Hopefully they can be better in the second round.  I urge anyone doing awesome things in health to submit their projects so that I can vote for them!  I recognize I have quite a bit of bias here, especially against passing off seed capital as charity and in support of an ngo model.  But still, I think that Pepsi can do better to make a bigger impact with the considerable funds their are providing, at least by my measure!

While conducting an HIV/AIDS and gender workshop for a group of women in a rural and predominantly Christian Orthodox community in Ethiopia, I encountered what I call a classic clash between traditionalism and modernism within development work.

After a two day workshop on preventative measures to transmitting HIV, I asked the ladies in the workshop what they thought was the best method to preventing HIV, and whether there was a cure. A response from a young woman sitting in the corner of the room was “holy water”.

A bit flustered, I collected myself and inquired more. I was very curious about what she meant by holy water. She explained that the best way to “prevent and cure any disease was through drinking holy water”, and that she did not see HIV as a threat “because if god has put an obstacle in our way, he has also provided a solution” – in this case, holy water.

After probing a bit as to whether or not aside from holy water there were any other ways to prevent HIV, I ended that day’s workshop with a lot of confliction and confusion. How do I, a modern young woman, convince a proud young woman who believes so firmly in her faith that there is NO cure for a disease that could kill her and her loved ones? How can I explain to someone who believes so affectionately in the benevolence of a superior being, that according to modern science he is not responsible for preventing or curing this disease? Why should she have to believe in modern science when it emphasizes the role of the individual in self-care and self-protection, something so contrary to her philosophy of life: worship of a superior being, and obligations to communal living, where everyone, including god, and all members of the community are responsible for the well-being of others.

My logic versus her logic.

But in the end, how do we compromise these two rationales? Is there a “safe” middle line?

Is it holy water or wholly AIDS?

(photo: Jetheriot)

It’s International Development this week in Canada. Join in Toronto, for lots of Interesting and Challenging discussions, films and of course plenty of benefits for you to go and donate your money to a worthy cause while having a fun time!

FEATURED EVENT:

TED 2010 live at CSI

Join us at CSI for three promising days and listen to world visionaries’ dreams, fears and hopes for the year ahead. TED 2010 features an amazing line up of speakers including Jamie Oliver, Bill Gates, Andrew Bird, David Byrne, Eve Ensler, Ken Robinson and Steward Brand among other.

See the schedule online (all times +3 hours). Wed. Feb. 10, 2 pm to 3:45 pm (Big Screen), and then continuing until Friday Feb. 12, 3:45 pm on the small screen. Free. 4th floor, Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON

Tuesday, February 9

BENEFIT: Eat, Drink & Give (Médecins sans Frontières) An evening of food and wine supports Haiti relief. 6:30 pm. $100, adv $75. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe. eatdrinkandgive.com.

BENEFIT: Humber College International Development Program Haiti benefit (Save the Children Canada) Music by Vicious Guns and Bellevue, raffle, food and more. 7 pm. $10. Swan & Firkin, 2205 Bloor W. 647-993-9025.

BENEFIT: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (Haitian earthquake relief) Music by Northern Primitive, Hue and others plus auctions and a raffle. 9 pm. $5 or pwyc. Supermarket, 268 Augusta. 416-840-0501.

LECTURE: Capital: The Foundations Of Marxist Political Economy Socialist Action group study session on crisis. 7 pm. $4. OISE, 252 Bloor W. 416-535-8779.

LECTURE: Combining Art And Activism Talk by New Orleans-based artist Jackie Sumell. 7:30 pm. $10, stu/srs $7. Prefix, 401 Richmond W. 416-591-0357.

LECTURE: The Global Economy Discussion and post-Keynesian analysis of current events. 7:30 pm. Free. OISE, 252 Bloor W. 416-340-1865.

LECTURE: Live Green Toronto Program Scarborough Garden & Horticultural Soc meeting and talk. 7:30 pm. Free. Scarborough Village Community Centre, 3600 Kingston. gardenonatrio.org.

Wednesday, February 10

LECTURE: Climate Change, Conservation And Distributed Leadership Lecture by energy consultant Peter Love. 4:10 pm. Free. U of T Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks. environment.utoronto.ca.

LECTURE: Transport And Energy Turmoil Seminar. 4:10 pm. Free. U of T Faculty Club Seminar Rm, 41 Willcocks. environment.utoronto.ca.

FILM SCREENING: The Community Arts Practice Certificate invites you to join us for a screening of John Greyson’s acclaimed film FIG TREES on Wednesday February 10th at noon in the Nat Taylor Cinema (Ross N102). This is the second in our screening series “Documenting Community, Art and Activism”.  For more information check out the UP Events Calendar.

LECTURE: Sustainable Buildings Breakfast - Greg Allen HOK from 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM (ET). Toronto, Ontario http://sbcbreakfast.eventbrite.com/

Thursday, February 11

LECTURE: Community Responses For Equitable Transition To A Low-Carbon Society Lecture. 4:10 pm. Free. Health Sciences Bldg, rm 108, 155 College. environment.utoronto.ca.

LECTURE: Resilience In The Face Of Climate Change And Peak Oil Seminar. 4:10 pm. Free. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, rm 108, 155 College. environment.utoronto.ca.

FILM SCREENING: Trans Film Event Screening of the documentary She’s A Boy I Knew and discussion. 6 pm. Free. U of T Centre for Women and Trans People, 563 Spadina. 416-978-8201.

Saturday, February 13

BENEFIT: Love Bowl (Toronto People with AIDS Fdn) Valentine-themed team bowl-a-thon with prizes for best and worst bowlers. 1-5 pm. Pledges. Thorncliffe Bowlerama, 45 Overlea. Pre-register lovebowl.org.

BENEFIT: Love Story (Toronto Youth Theatre) Evening of song, dance, striptease and cirque with Les Coquettes and others. 7 and 9:30 pm. $25-$50. The Lot, 100A Ossington. lescoquetteslovestory.eventbrite.com.

FILM SCREENING: Under Rich Earth (Ecuadorian community organizations) Documentary screening, guest speakers and a Q&A. 6:30-9:30 pm. $10. Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor W. 416-516-2331.

BENEFIT: Valentine Ball 2010 (Canadian Red Cross/Youth Day 2010) Haiti relief Valentine ball with dancing, a celebrity auction and more. 9:30 pm-2 am. $25. Westin Harbour Castle, 1 Harbour Sq. 416-813-0909.

Sunday, February 14

BENEFIT: Show The Love Valentine’s Concert For Haiti (Canadian Red Cross) Paul Schillaci, Hank Furman, Brenda Webb and others perform. 2 pm. $20. Royal York United Church, 851 Royal York. 416-231-9401.