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1.
OVF Nigeria Reaches Several Milestones in June and
July
2. OVF USA Develops Further Collaboration with the
Institute of African Art and Culture
3. AIDS Marathon in Kenya Set for November 27th
4. OVF Kenya Country Director Kennedy Onyango attends
Conferences in New Zealand and South Africa
5. Jukwa Farmers Cooperative Successfully Obtains
Palm Processing Plant from Ghana Government
6. OVF USA Signs Memorandum of Understanding with
University of Education - Winneba, Ghana
7. oneVillage Blog Up and Running!
8. The Learning Ethics Game
9. PlaNetwork Interactive conference (June 5-7,
2004)
10. oneVillage Foundation Founder Joy Tang Presents
at Two Conferences in June
11. Indigenous Global Development Corporations (IDGC)
to develop Sustainable Projects on Native American
Lands
12. Sustainable Resources Conference in Boulder
from Sept 30th to Oct 2nd
13. EarthDance Unites People All Over the World
in a Celebration of Peace
14. About us
15. What you can do
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OVF Africa Updates
1. OVF Nigeria Reaches Several
Milestones in June and July
Olaposi Abiola Country director of OVF
Nigeria has been working hard to get OVF Nigeria up
and running in Nigeria. One major component of this
effort has been the completion of the paperwork establishing
oneVillage Nigeria as an officially registered organization
in Nigeria. Another challenge has been to ensure adequate
funding. OVF Nigeria is not unique among start-ups,
in this struggle. However with the signing of a contract
to serve as a major distributor of Fan Milk PLC, OVF
Nigeria is taking an innovative step by establishing
itself as a social enterprise. Fan Milk distributes
frozen dairy products through street vendors. The OVF
Nigeria/Fan Milk project is intended to demonstrate
how social enterprises, as for profit businesses can
generate profits to fund vital services and infrastructure
to underserved communities.
2. OVF USA Develops Further Collaboration with
the Institute of African Art and Culture
OVF Nigeria signed a MOU with the Institute
of African Art and Culture (IAAC) in April to provide
ICT training for the Abudi Unity Center. As an extension
of this collaboration, OVF USA has been meeting with
Adeife and Aderemi Omotade of the (IAAC) on a regular
basis. At a meeting on the 30th of June, we signed a
memorandum of understanding to confirm the collaboration
between OVF USA and IAAC to implement and develop a
comprehensive self-sufficient settlement in Nigeria-
Abudi Farm. The MOU also stipulates that IAAC will serve
as the fiscal agent for OVF USA, handling various accounting
and tax exemption services as required for nonprofit
organizations. We also agreed that the OVF USA team
would design a website for the IAAC and develop a joint
webpage to be located on the oneVillage website featuring
the IAAC ecovillage project - Abudi Farm - in Oshobo
State as Unity Center Nigeria. This webpage will be
a joint project of both organizations with links to
both the oneVillage and the proposed IAAC website. We
have also been discussing the steps and specifications
for creating Unity Centers and we presented a proposal
to Adeife and Olufemi for the Abudi
Farm Unity Center.
3. AIDS Marathon in Kenya Set for November
27
Francis Opiyo of OVF Kenya has been busy working with
the World Aids Marathon Team helping to organize a World
Marathon in Kenya on the 27th of November 2004 to benefit
those affected by AIDS. Until there is a cure or vaccine,
we cannot eradicate this epidemic, but we can slow the
daily death rates by providing the proper education,
medication, and basic health care services to those
in need in Africa and throughout the world. Please,
come join the World AIDS Marathon Team today. Train,
Run, Walk, and help raise funds to fight against AIDS
and help give hope to those who are suffer from AIDS.
You can go here to get more info on how you can help.
4. OVF Kenya Country Director
Kennedy Onyango attends Conferences in New Zealand and
South Africa
At a conference about "Using Radio to Alleviate
Poverty in Africa" in South Africa (July 2), Kennedy
Onyango listened to BBC's Radio Script expert Yvonne
Archer speak about economic opportunity. Archer says
any effective program to address poverty needs to overcome
the poverty mentality that makes people feel they have
to depend on others to sustain them. Communities that
thrive are able to create the right mix of innovation,
creativity and technical skill. This critical mass of
skilled, entrepreneurial people in turn, attracts more
skilled workers, creating more economic opportunity.
Go here
for more about the South African conference. After the
conference in South Africa he then flew to the Third
Pan-Commonwealth Forum, in Dunedin New Zealand
(July 4-8). This conference explored how innovative
ICT can help reach the United
Nations Millennium Goals. Kennedy had a chance to
make a presentations about a model for development that
shifts the development paradigm away from what developing
regions lack and instead concentrates on how we can
add value to existing assets to rapidly build capacity
in underserved communities. Central to this process
is the effective organization of people, resources and
information, so that the potential of each is maximized
in harnessing the productivity of underserved communities.
One of the things he talked about at the conference
was how Virtual
Learning Environments (VLEs) enable not only distance
learning but enhanced and augmented learning processes.
More about New Zealand Conference.
5. Jukwa Farmers Cooperative Successfully Obtains
Palm Processing Plant from Ghana Government
Kafui and Godfed Prebbie of OVF Ghana reported that
after lengthy discussions the Ghanaian District Directorate
of Cooperative and Agriculture, approved the delivery
of a "Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil Processing Plant"
to the Srowri Mixed Farmers Cooperative. OVF Ghana has
been working with the farmers in Jukwa to improve the
economic viability of the coop as well as promote more
ecologically sustainable agricultural practices. The
option of a multipurpose modern oil mill was carefully
chosen, as there are none in the local area and for
this reason it has the potential to generate substantial
income for the cooperative. Kafui and Godfred said the
farmers were very grateful for the moral and financial
support they received from the oneVillage Foundation.
6. OVF USA Signs Memorandum of Understanding
with University of Education - Winneba, Ghana
Joy Tang, Founder and President of the oneVillage
Foundation USA on August 22, 2004 signed a memorandum
of understanding sent to her by Professor F. A. Joppa
director of the Office of International Relations at
the University
of Education, Winneba Ghana. This MOU will facilitate
collaboration and the exchange of information and expertise
in various areas of interest. A major focus will be
on information and communication technologies. Collaborative
efforts in this joint venture will include: human capacity
training to enhance the capability of ICT educators;
development of open source approaches and training services
in Ghana; ICT resources framework and process design
with global research and academic bodies; and the establishment
of relationships with Silicon Valley IT social networks.
Collaboration
and Alliance Building
7.
oneVillage Blog Up and Running!
Thanks to the efforts of our technology advisor -
Red7
Communications CEO Jim Schuyler - we have a new
oneVillage blog
site. The change was very timely too because the previous
blog had suffered from several unrelenting porm spam
attacks. Updated to the latest movable type "blogware,"
we can now blog about our onevillage experiences with
renewed confidence and vigor. The blog is a way for
us to link together different projects and networks.
Come take a look and give us some feedback.
8. The Learning Ethics Game
The Dalai
lama foundation helped to organize "the Ethics
in the New Millennium Conference" on April 16th
at UC Irvine. This event was attended by thousands of
teens and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama as part of the
Tour
for Peace . One of the projects featured was a gaming
platform developed by Jim Schuyler of Red 7 Communications
(also CTO of Dalai Lama Foundation) called the Learning
Ethics Game. This game is designed to promote world
peace and ethics for students. Jim has been exploring
how the game could be used as a tool to train sales
people to develop ethical business skills. We are looking
at how this game could be used as a training tool to
develop our educational program. For more on how this
game might be related to our work read about Networked
Improvement Communities or NICs.
9. PlaNetwork Interactive conference
(June 5-7, 2004)
The June 5th PlaNetwork
Interactive Conference focused on using innovative
social networking tools networking to create positive
social change. Conference goers were allowed to define
the agenda before the conference by making suggestions
at planetwork site. People with computers at the conference
could also make comments or add commentary about events
and speeches. In addition conference goers were encouraged
to continue to add to the wikis after the conference
as well. Gail Taylor and Christina Carpenter of Tomorrow
Makers helped ensure the interactive sessions ran smoothly
at PlaNetwork. The Identity Commons I-Name platform
also featured prominently at the conference. For more
check
out Jeff Buderer's blog post on Planetwork.
Professor Raoul Weiler and Rolando Burger spoke at
the conference about the Club of Rome/UNESCO
sponsored Bridging
Digital Divide Conference. They discussed the role
of information technologies (ICT) in enhancing education,
promoting sustainability and bridging the income divide.
The Bridging Digital Divide Conference will take place
in April 20-22 of 2005 in Europe as a follow up event
to WSIS 2004 and a precursor event to the World Summit
on Information society (WSIS) November 2005 meeting
at Tunis. Mark Roest and Joy Tang have been selected
as members of the "GDLN Network & Regional
Committees."
10. oneVillage Foundation Founder Joy Tang
Presents at Two Conferences in June
Reforming
the UN was the topic of the panel discussion Joy
Tang participated in at the UN-SF
People's Assembly meeting (June 27th). At the UN-SF
conference she noted that the Forty
Million Hopefuls presentation she gave to Congress
last year was based on this theme. This presentation
was the basis for the development of the oneVillage.biz
website, which emphasizes social entrepreneurship. The
June 30 panel discussion at the Global Women Leadership
Center Launch focused on how women entrepreneurs in
developing countries can obtain access to new technology,
business education and contacts. At both conferences
she talked about how people are increasingly using ICT
integration tools to map out and build global networks.
Our approach stresses the importance of a proactive/whole
system approach to world urgent issues such as AIDS.
The GWLC presentation showcased The Brain Software as
one example of an "ICT integration tool."
Later at the GWLC conference she had a chance to talk
with Barbara Waugh, the keynote speaker who is also
the co-founders of the HP e-inclusion Program. See our
Field Reports
page for more about the conferences.
Ecology
and Sustainability
11. Indigenous Global Development
Corporations (IDGC) to develop Sustainable Projects
on Native American Lands
IGDC
provides strategy, financial and investment tools to
deliver economic development, education, empowerment
and financial self-sufficiency for Native Americans
across the U.S. and for indigenous people worldwide.
IDGC's purchase
of natural gas from the Thunderchild First Nations
Tribe is an example of how indigenous tribal
companies can utilize treaties and their sovereign status
to trade commodities across the United States and Canadian
borders. A portion of the revenue stream
that IDGC generates through the export of natural gas
from Canada into the US will be invested in the development
of renewable technologies and sustainable development,
on Native American reservations.
Reinhold Zielger who is now director of
renewable energy at IDGC has been taking the Eco-estates
development model he has developed to Native American
tribes as part of a strategy to effectively leverage
their natural resources to promote ecologically and
socially sustainable economic development. One of these
tribes is the Northern Cheyenne Tribe
which authorized
IGDC to develop a strategic financial business plan
to create economic self-sufficiency including long-term
debt restructuring on behalf of the tribe. The Northern
Cheyenne Tribe has vast hydrocarbon resources but, it
has chosen to take a development direction using alternative
energy resources that would be more environmentally
responsible and culturally appropriate for attaining
socio-economic self-sufficiency and independence.
oneVillage
Networked Meetings and Conferences
12. Sustainable Resources Conference
in Boulder from Sept 30th to Oct 2nd
The Sustainable
Resources Conference will feature a Expo representing
a diverse cross-section of industries, workshops focusing
on sustainable development, lectures by leading sustainability
leaders and panel discussions on such topics as the
future of sustainability and putting "global
partnerships into Practice.” The Global
Plan Initiative is helping to sponsor the event.
Its goal is to develop a long-term plan for humanity
combining the voices of like-minded individuals and
organizations to persuade our leaders of the need to
create an all-inclusive vision to solve the global problems
humanity faces today .
13. EarthDance Unites People All
Over the World in a Celebration of Peace
On September 18, 2004, the annual Earthdance
event will unite 120 cities in 50 countries in conscious
celebration of the possibilities and means for a peaceful
world. The Northern California hub event - the Dancing
the Drum Awake Festival - will again be held
at the legendary Black Oak Ranch north
of San Francisco. September 17, 18 & 19.
About
us:
The one Village Foundation seeks to assist
people in Africa in overcoming the AIDS pandemic by
addressing immediate needs such as in the construction
of treatment centers and orphanages, while also providing
a proactive and whole systems platform to promote sustainable
development in Africa…and beyond. We seek to promote
social enterprise solutions that integrate ICT with
sustainable development in both developing and developed
regions of the world. We are dedicated to increasing
collaboration and access to ICT in under-served communities
all over the world as part of a process of building
local problem-solving capabilities, and increasing the
level of economic opportunity for all who share our
commitment to socially conscious and sustainable economic
development.
What
you can do:
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to the oneVillage Foundation.
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