Children & Burundi

By Annie Fikes, PR and Events Intern

Last week, I had the opportunity to work at Summer Blast, my church’s mini K-6th summer camp. I am the leader of the 3rd and 4th grade group, the Blue Dolphins. I couldn’t be more excited about Summer Blast. I am all about singing songs, doing dance moves, playing games, and chasing after 8 kids with my clipboard and team sign in tow.

It was lucky that I was stoked to be part of Summer Blast because the Blue Dolphins are loud, excited, energetic, competitive, and talkative. It was imperative to them that I knew that dolphins aren’t actually blue, and that even though sharks could eat dolphins (5th and 6th graders are in the White Sharks group), we would be okay because “dolphins have bigger brains than sharks.” After a talking-to because of some unfortunate behavior during their games session, the Blue Dolphins remained loud and energetic, but proved that they could listen and follow directions while having fun. I had a great time talking to them about God, the Bible movies, books, and World Cup Soccer. Being present while children learn about God never ceases to amaze and inspire me.

A few months ago, another intern, Stephanie Rudeen, blogged about Burundi’s civil war and path to recovery. Burundi was plagued by 40 years of ethnic conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi people that live there. Hundreds of thousands of people died and even after peace was achieved in 2006, thousands of refugees remain impoverished and homeless as they attempted to return to their homeland.

Although the conflict is over, the 2009 United Nations report on Children and Armed Conflict states that the Parti pour la libération du peuple Hutu-Forces nationales de libération (Palipehutu-FNL) continues to recruit children, even after it declared an end to hostilities with the government in 2008. Sexual violence against children is frequent in Burundi, and is even committed by members of the National Police, National Defense Forces, and FNL members.

The U.N. report states that there is “no formal action plan” to stop the recruitment and abuse of children in Burundi, but attempts have been made, some of which were successful, to demobilize children and reunite them with their families. The FNL currently refuses to discontinue the recruitment and use of child combatants.

Stories like this break my heart, but are unfortunately common. I think about children in countries such as Burundi and how they are no different than the Blue Dolphins. Those children deserve to be safe, play games, do crafts, and learn about God just like children here. I’m very glad that Plant With Purpose is working in Burundi. As refugees learn to farm their new land in sustainable ways, discover God’s love for them, and become empowered through Plant With Purpose’s work, Burundi will become a more stable and peaceful country. Burundi can become transformed into a nation that is safe for children through such operations.

For more about Burundi, see Stephanie Rudeen’s blog from Thursday, April 8th, 2010 or this U.N. link: http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/burundi.html.

Say Hello to James Ellett, our New Grant Writing Intern!

by James Ellett

Allow me to let you in on a little secret.

It's hard to find a job right now.

It hasn't been publicized very well, I know. It hasn't been in the headlines for the past few years, but trust me when I say that places are not hiring. If I didn't know better, I would say the so-called "economy" is, what the experts call, "not doing very well."

"But James," you may say, "only a few years ago people could get houses for no money at all! Surely that's a sign of sustainable economic health if there ever was one."

I hear you, astute reader, but I am telling you, something is not right.

A bad economic situation naturally makes one think hard about one's future, and that's exactly what I, two years ago, ended up doing. I thought about how I, a Cal Poly graduate with a degree in mathematics, was supposed to pursue my new-found dream of working in the nonprofit international development world. Where was I supposed to look when nobody wanted to hire anybody? Well, the President of the United States told me to go back to school, and, like any good patriot, that's exactly what I did. I enrolled myself into the Masters of Business Administration program at Chapman University in Orange, CA. Once enrolled, I decided that it would be a great idea to get involved in some way with an awesome nonprofit--perhaps a Christian one that works in 6 different countries pursuing a holistic approach to sustainable development (or, you know, something like that). Well, God provided, as God always seems to, and through a long series of lucky (divinely ordained) events, dropped me right into this Grant Writing Internship at Plant With Purpose.

I feel truly blessed to be working with such a fantastic organization. I have been given a heart for the poor and oppressed in the world, and have a passion for using what I've been blessed with to restore this world to what it was intended to be: a world of peace, love, and perfect relationships between human and human, human and creation, and human and God. I am excited about the approach that Plant With Purpose takes to healing the land and its people, and I can't wait to see this amazing work carried out.

As the Grant Writing Intern, I will be helping grant writer extraordinaire, Aly Lewis, in her quest to raise funds for Plant With Purpose through researching and applying for various grants from various foundations. I will also be a regular contributor to this very blog, giving you, the faithful reader, all the updates and Plant With Purpose information you can handle.

Thanks for your continued interest in Plant With Purpose, and happy reading!

A Brief History Lesson

by Corbyn Small

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, everyone knows it because 90% of the time people mention Haiti's plight they insert that fact somewhere in their commentary. Did you know that the island of Haiti once contributed to 25% of France's wealth? It’s true.... Did you know that Haiti was the first slave nation to gain independence from an uprising against one of the world’s most powerful nations? Also, true... So what happened?

I have been preparing for my trip to the Dominican Republic for the last few weeks and in preparation I picked up a book called Collapse, by Jared Diamond. The book contrasts Haiti and the Dominican Republic's beginnings as nations. Diamond's book focuses on societies through history that either succeeded or failed, and why. I wanted to share a little bit of Dominican and Haitian history with you all (Keep in mind this is a brief summary and many details and events have been left out.)

Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic today, was originally inhabited by Taino Indians. In 1492 the famous Spaniard who sailed the ocean blue stumbled upon an incredible land which included gold, valuable timber, and fertile soils for sugarcane production--all of which could be mined and harvested for little or no cost to the Spanish just by conquering the indigenous Taino tribes. Tragically, the Taino's population dramatically declined in the early years of Spanish rule because of Eurpean diseases and poor treatment, so much so that the Spanish began importing slave labor from Africa to mine and farm the island's valuable resources. Spain set up colonies around the island that used indigenous labor and exported Hispaniola’s natural resources abroad.

Spain's interests and the interests of its conquerors were moving on however. Columbus found riches beyond his wildest dreams as he conquered lands on the Americas’ mainland like Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. In the 1700’s, as Spain’s attention was elsewhere, France began conquering the Spanish colonies on the western end of Hispaniola and started importing African slave labor to work the land, creating a major export center to the rest of the world (in 1795 France had 700,000 slaves compared to Spain's 30,000 on the other side of the island). At one time, present day Haiti provided 25% of France's incredible wealth.

In 1795 Spain ceded its less than valuable land and small scale economy to France and the entire island was under French rule for a short time. The slave populations on the island far exceeded the number of French who operated the colonies (by 91%) and in 1791 and 1801 slave rebellions broke out. France’s armies suffered heavy losses trying to maintain control and as Diamond explains, "In 1804, having sold its North American holdings to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, France gave up and abandoned Hispaniola. Not suprisingly, French Hispaniola’s former slaves, who renamed their country Haiti (the original Taino Indian name for the island), killed many of Haiti’s whites, destroyed the plantations and infrastructure in order to make it impossible to rebuild the plantation slave system, and divided the plantations into small family farms.”

From then on, there was a whole political history that severely affected the downward spiral that Haiti has faced and the forward progress that the Dominican Republic has seen in the 19th and 20th centuries. Haiti’s foreign policy has been one of seclusion, removing itself from the global economy and focusing on subsistence farming, in addition to making it illegal for immigrants to own land. On the other hand, the Spanish reacquired control of the eastern end of the island shortly after Haiti’s independence was declared and they immediately began allowing foreign investment and focusing on rebuilding the Spanish side of Hispaniola as an export economy. The environmental policies adopted by each of the countries' respective leaders also played a huge role in the direction that the landscapes took. (picture of Haiti DR Border) The Dominican

leaders started protecting forests from logging and slash and burn agriculture and eventually subsidized propane and natural gas to decrease the market for charcoal. Meanwhile, Haitians, with twice the population and half the amount of land as the Dominican Republic, continued deforesting the land as a way to provide for their families when subsistence farming was not enough.

‘One Island, Two Peoples, Two Histories’ makes for a most appropriate title for Diamond’s chapter on the island of Hispaniola, and I would highly recommend reading it if you are interested in learning more. I am so grateful to be working for an organization that is effectively addressing root causes of poverty in both

Haiti and the Dominican Republic, working with the land and its people towards transformation.

Sources: Jared Diamond, Collapse

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Corbyn Small serves as Plant With Purpose’s Outreach Coordinator. He cultivates relationships with donors, churches, artists and musicians to generate interest and enthusiasm for Plant With Purpose’s life-changing programs. He is also responsible for the volunteer and intern opportunities in the Plant With Purpose office. corbyn@plantwithpurpose.org

It's Complicated

by Aly Lewis

We’ve been seduced.

According to development blog, Tales from the Hood, in the recent post, Cost, “we’ve become totally seduced by the belief that solving the basic problems of the world can be done cheaply and easily.”

And the seducer?

NGOs. Charities that flaunt such irresistible slogans as “ ‘98 cents of your dollar goes directly to beneficiaries’, ‘your $100 buys a poor family a cow and gets them out of poverty’, or ‘feel good about making a difference while on vacation.’ ”

Saving the world is just one click—and your credit card information—away.

Whether the starry-eyed romantic or the diehard cynic, we’ve fallen head over heels with programs that boast of tangible results, low overhead, and quick fixes to the world’s problems, but the truth is, it’s complicated.

As a staff member of an NGO that writes about the difference Plant With Purpose is making in the lives of the rural poor, I can’t figure out if I’m the seducer or the seducee (not to be confused with the Sadducees of the New Testament). When I report on the use of grant funds I want to tell funders that we’ve met all of our objectives, that lives are being transformed, that their money is already making a difference. I want to say X number of families no longer live in poverty and no longer have hardships.

But it’s just not true. Sometimes we don’t meet all of our objectives because of drought or economic downturn or political unrest. Sometimes responding to immediate needs or adapting to a rapidly changing environment is just more important. Sometimes we make mistakes, but we learn valuable lessons from our mistakes as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe Plant With Purpose’s programs are making a remarkable impact on the lives of those we work with—I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. We do report real stories of progress and transformation. Families are improving their nutrition and increasing their income and sending their children to school. Your donations are making a difference.

It’s just that oftentimes reality isn’t some ride-off-into-the-sunset-happy-ending. That’s not reality in my life, or the lives of most people I know, and it’s not the reality of the people we serve.

While we may not be able to give you glorious results all tied up with a pretty bow, you can rest assured that Plant With Purpose is committed to working with rural communities to engage in the process of empowerment and transformation, no matter how messy or complicated that is. At Plant With Purpose we wholeheartedly believe in empowering the poor to take charge of their own lives and solve their own problems. Yes, we provide technical assistance and training. Yes, we plant trees and administer microloans, but the real, often intangible, result of our partnership is a restoration of people’s dignity as they gain the skills and confidence they need to work toward a better future.

And that is something I think we should all fall in love with.

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Aly Lewis is Plant With Purpose’s Grant Writer. She researches funding opportunities, writes proposals, and submits progress reports on funding received. She also writes the content for Plant With Purpose's Sponsor A Village program.

Meet Annie Fikes, our New Public Relations and Events Intern

By Annie Fikes

Today is my second day as Plant With Purpose's summer Public Relations and Events intern. I'm a little nervous but mostly am incredibly excited and feeling very blessed to work and learn here this summer! Last Memorial Day, Scott Sabin spoke at the Palomar Christian Conference Center about Plant With Purpose and their mission to empower people to solve problems facing humans and the environment simultaneously.

In the past, I’ve been involved in both human aid and environmental advocacy organizations. I have usually seen these two types of missions presented as separate goals with different ends. Sometimes I even felt as though a choice had to be made between the “people-loving” side of me and the “nature-loving” one. Plant With Purpose’s ideas about how human and environmental well-being interact and are mutually dependent seemed so obvious to me after Scott presented them! It makes so much sense to me to use God’s beautiful creation respectfully to empower His people. Upon my return home, I researched Plant With Purpose and read about their efforts and actions across the world and their summer internships. It didn’t take me very long to decide that that was what I wanted to do this summer.

I see public relations as important because communicating with media outlets and donors is what allows Plant With Purpose to continue to function, and because media attention in newspapers and blogs spreads around the ideas that attracted me here in the first place. I’m very excited to help Plant With Purpose show people how they are loving God, people, and the planet.

Plant With Purpose Villages are OK Despite a 6.5 Earthquake Near Oaxaca

As you may have heard, there was a 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit near Oaxaca this morning. We heard from our Oaxaca Program Director Luis Castellanos Lopez and thankfully he reported that the staff and their families are well with no property damages. Although we haven't heard directly from all of the communities we work with, the government reports no deaths or damages.

Luis also said that they have received heavy rains from tropical storm Alex. They have saturated the sewage systems and have led to flooding around the city. Our office was flooded for awhile, but the damages were minimal.

Please pray for protection for the communities we work with in Oaxaca against the downpours and that they would be spared from any after shocks from today’s earthquake. As always, thank you for your prayers and support!

To Dominican Republic and Beyond!

By Corbyn Small

I am particularly excited and especially busy this week as I prepare to lead a group of individuals on a Vision Trip to see some of our programs first hand! In six days I will be heading to the Dominican Republic with a group from the Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe. They are going to learn more about how Plant With Purpose works and how they can return to the U.S. as stronger advocates to their friends and families about how Plant With Purpose's Dominican program is making a difference for so many.

I would appreciate your prayer and support, as we will be gone from July 5th-12th. It's going to be hot, sticky, and loaded with insects that love the sweet nectar of my blood, but I am so excited to meet my Dominican co-workers, learn so much more about our programs in the country where Plant With Purpose was founded, and hear wonderful testimonies from farmers who are providing better lives for their families. I wanted to share one of those testimonies with you now and I can't wait to share more upon my return!

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Cristiana Polo Luis and her husband, Milciades Medina, have four growing children to support. Through the help of Plant With Purpose, Cristiana has seen her and her family’s lives transformed! Cristiana owns a small clothing business that has been greatly improved through Plant With Purpose. In 2005 Plant With Purpose first began helping Cristiana with a loan, and since then she has increased her income, finished building her home, and has seen her children’s lives improved immensely. Plant With Purpose also helps Basima (the community where Cristiana and Milciades live) as a whole, and has helped the community construct a new drinking water aqueduct and plant a variety of trees in reforestation efforts.

Cristiana and her family have received great benefits from Plant With Purpose materially as well as spiritually. Cristiana now prays that Plant With Purpose continues helping the community and that God strengthens her and her community spiritually. Plant With Purpose also has supplied her local church with much needed Bible study materials.

Cristiana says, “Thanks to Plant With Purpose my family is more fulfilled, I finished building my house, and my business is much larger!”

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Some things we'd love you to join us in prayer for:

• safe travels to Santo Domingo and north into Piedra Blanca
• great group dynamic, open minds, flexibility and celebration of cultural differences
• continued growth and blessings for each of the communities we will visit: Basima, El Café, La Represa, Los Arroyones
• a growing understanding of God's grace, love, and the work He is doing in the hearts of the Dominican staff and farmers, as well as in our own hearts as we visit.

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Corbyn Small serves as Plant With Purpose’s Outreach Coordinator. He cultivates relationships with donors, churches, artists and musicians to generate interest and enthusiasm for Plant With Purpose’s life-changing programs. He is also responsible for the volunteer and intern opportunities in the Plant With Purpose office. corbyn@plantwithpurpose.org