Summer 2008 Newsletter
A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
As the new Executive director of Village Earth, I want to introduce myself to our “family”. I have served as Vice Chair of Village Earth since March of last year. Over that time period, I have gotten to know the staff and the programs of Village Earth and the many challenges in front of us. With a small but highly motivated staff, Village Earth has had remarkable accomplishments. When the Board asked me to assume the Executive Director role (Ed Shinn, who had served as Executive Director remains a Board member of Village Earth), I pledged that I would transition Village Earth into a more mature organization with added capacity to impact the development world.
As a former Peace Corps Volunteer (Philippines 1965-67) I find the mission of Village Earth to be affirming of the wisdom and knowledge that local people have, which often is not recognized by aid agencies. Village Earth’s approach to development results in sustainable development controlled by the people, not by an outside agency. How refreshing to bring this perspective to the development world which has so often made financial aid the primary contribution to villages around the world. How much better to empower the people to be their own advocates and shapers of their destiny. If I had been trained in this philosophy 43 years ago when I went overseas as a PCV, I am sure that my small contribution to my town would have been more lasting than it was.
I joined the board of Village Earth in January 2007 after a chance encounter with Maury Albertson, who was very persuasive about my being a part of Village Earth. After a few free lunches with Maury in which he gave me the background and promise of Village Earth, he had me hooked.
I hope to meet as many of our supporters as possible in the coming months and look forward to working with each of you to strengthen Village Earth and to broadcast its empowering message to peoples living in the hundreds of thousands of villages throughout the world.
Dr. Maury Albertson’s 90th Birthday Gala
On August 23 Village Earth will honor its co-founder Dr. Maury Albertson on his 90th birthday with a Gala event at 6 p.m. at the Fort Collins Marriott hotel. The Birthday Gala will honor this extraordinary man and the many selfless contributions he has made over a remarkable career in the engineering and international development field. Maury’s contribution in establishing and fostering Village Earth is well-known, but Village Earth is only a small part of his illustrious career. He was the founder of the Bangkok Technical Institute, author of the initial proposal for the organization and operation of the U.S. Peace Corps, Vice President of the CSU Research Foundation, and Centennial Professor at
Dr. Bernard Amadei, Professor of Civil Engineering at
Music for the event will be provided by the
Village Earth welcomed 13 participants from around the globe for our latest Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development, or PPSD, training. Community workers, government program coordinators, NGO administrators, and field workers came together for two weeks to share ideas and build their toolbox in the area participatory sustainable development. With workshops that put the Village Earth guiding philosophy of participation into action, as well as case studies that illustrate both the practice and the flexibility of the Village Earth approach, participants and facilitators alike gained a new perspective on their role as development workers.
Some things participants had to say about the training…..
- “I learned it is more sustainable and impactful when the people, or communities who need help, are actively involved in the process of gaining development.”
- “I learnt that involvement/participation of the members of the community in identifying their needs leads to suggestions/ideas/opinions from them on how to develop and move a community forward. In addition, by active participation/recognition a project is sustained even without a catalytic agent.”
- I learned that …”That communities are different and have different structures and so it is important to learn and understand how they function first.”
- “…the Village Earth model is flexible, interactive and a useful way to organize and re-organize your way into another world culture.”
- Using the vision we have, we are able to identify the major factors that contribute to our vision, then we are able to raise questions, see how we can implement them, line out a task after which we are able to evaluate.
- “ …people are ready to embark on discussion, to defend their ideas and speak from their experience. So it is difficult not to lose the vision, the end goal, and end up in a never ending discussion. The importance of a good facilitator who engages the group, knows how to promote exchange of ideas and channel the energy of the group towards a common goal.”
Our participants came from many different countries and brought many different experiences and perspectives to the discussions. The dynamic nature of this special two week workshop, along with the practical skills developed and shared, made this another successful training at Village Earth.
For updates about Village Earth's Projects on the Pine Ridge Reservation, visit the blog: http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Pine_Ridge/pineridgeblog/index.html
For updates about Village Earth's projects in the Peruvian Amazon, visit the blog: http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Peru/perublog/
When: October 28-31, 2008
Where: Colorado State University, Fort Collins
REGISTRATION OPEN
For more information click here or contact Nancy Murray (nancy@villageearth.org) or +1-970-491-5754.
NEW SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS
For more information click here or contact David Bartecchi (david@villageearth.org) or +1-970-491-0633.
(Sept 12-Oct 17, 2008)
Registration deadline Sept 9
- Approaches to Community Development
- Community-based Disaster Management
- Community-based Forestry
- Community-based Mapping
- Participatory Project Preparation and Research Methods
Thanks for your continued support of Village Earth!
The Village Earth Family
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