Following Iran's presidential election last Friday, where Iran's state media declared that incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the election with 66 percent of the votes and that his main challenger, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, had won just 31 percent of the votes, protests and riots broke out all over the country.
Iran has seen no protests of this magnitude since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. I spoke to two people in Iran's capital, Tehran, about what they have observed in the city since the presidential election. The interviews were conducted on June 16, about four days since the fallout began.
Have you ever ridden your bicycle on a park’s bike path? It’s probable that one or more people are living in a makeshift shelter or tent inside the woods along side the bike path.
Have you driven over a bridge? There could be someone living underneath.
Notice empty beer bottles, bags, or shopping carts in an area? It’s likely that homeless people panhandle in the area.
Results from Ohio’s 2008 Point and Time Count show that over 12,000 Ohioans were homeless during a single 24 period. Many of these people reside in shelters—places like the YMCA, Open Shelter or ministries.Others are unsheltered. Due to their sometimes-remote locations, they’re often unnoticed by the average person.
In hopes of gaining a better understanding of the conditions that thousands of Ohioans live in and to learn about how they ended up in their situation, I spent three days interacting with the homeless in the area.
Since some homeless individuals are mentally unstable, substance abusers, or live in unsafe areas of town, I did not go on my journey alone. I was accompanied by Maryhaven Engagement Center’s Brian Hall. Brian is an outreach coordinator for the homeless. He locates those living on the land and interacts to help them find better living alternatives.
Day One:
We first drove through an abandoned parking lot towards woods behind a building. Brian and I went to assess the situation before bringing my video camera, as we did not want to frighten or intimidate anyone.
We lifted up branches and created our own path to get through the woods. We finally found the homeless person’s shack. It was a one-room shelter that appeared to be made of plywood. Empty beer cans and trash surrounded the structure and a knife was stabbed into the ground.
Brian had been there before and knew the person who lived there by name. No one was outside when he got there, so Brian yelled, “This is Brian Hall with Outreach. Anyone home?” An angry man came outside and screamed, “GO AWAY! GO AWAY!” Brian asked the man if he needed any blankets or food. The man slammed his door shut. We left.
This was my first indication that some homeless people do not want the help from others and that some people are more assertive or angry than others. After leaving this location, Brian explained to me that the man’s reaction was not unusual.
"What is most disturbing for me is to see people decide they don’t want the help at that particular time. But we’re not satisfied with that. We continue to engage people. That’s our job,” Brian said.
Our next stop was in a similar location as the last. A person lived in a patch of trees behind a building in a one-room shelter. His “yard” was a lot cleaner than the first person’s.
This man’s name was Jim Mills.The shelter, which he said he built himself, was made out of wood, siding, tarp and a screen material. He used to have a neighbor, who lived in a similar shack, but the person doesn’t live there anymore. Jim said that he built his shack on private property and is not supposed to be there.
Jim was very quiet, but a nice and friendly guy. He used to live in another campsite and also lived in the YMCA for six months. He gets his food from church groups and food pantries. He has no stable income, but finds temporary work when he can.
“Oh, I can do all kinds of things. Concrete, dry wall, siding,” Jim said.
He was kind enough to give me a short tour of his home. Watch the video below to meet Jim and see the tour of his shack.
We left Jim’s home and drove towards Confluence Park in downtown Columbus. Once we were near the park, Brian drove his car onto a bike path. This was surprising.
I asked him where he was going and if he was authorized to drive on the bike path. He explained that many homeless people live inside of the trees along the bike path. Because of the nature of his job, the police allow him to drive in locations that the average person cannot.
We stopped in the middle of the bike path and walked through the woods. A person’s tent was next to a river. I asked the man who lived there if I could talk to him about his life and how he ended up in his current situation. He was very apprehensive to speak to me. He agreed to talk if I did not show him of video or disclose his full name. His first name is Aaron.
Perhaps what was most fascinating about Aaron was his life before becoming homeless. He went to college at The Ohio State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He held several reputable jobs, was married, and owned a home. He said that he lost his job, had no back up plan and consequently lost his house and everything else he owned. Now he lives by himself in a tent.
He told me that one of the greatest challenges that he faces is the weather.
“When it’s lightening out here, you really shouldn’t be out here with all these tall objects around here...but there’s not much you can do,” Aaron said.
Day Two:
We started off the day walking through another wooded area to get to Israel Dominick’s tent.
Watch this video to see the path we took to reach Israel’s location. NOTE: the playback speed of this video has been increased.
Israel has lived in the same location for three years.
The area is very quiet and peaceful. His tent is covered with a clear tarp and sticks. He explained that wild animals—especially raccoons are a big problem for him.
Israel said that he has no income and has never had a job. He said that he shovels driveways in the winter for free.He hopes to get out of his current situation, so Brian talked to him about finding an apartment.
After leaving Israel’s, we spotted some panhandlers sitting next to a building in Columbus. About five people gathered in the area, only one was female.From my observation, most were drunk. I spoke to the oldest man in the crowd. His name was Kenneth Page. Kenneth has been homeless for seven years. He used to have a job, a home and was married, but lost everything after he went to prison for assault. He has no shelter to sleep under.
He doesn’t want a job, because he makes 50 to 60 dollars a day holding a sign. He calls this flying.He says that he gets drunk every day and has no plans to get out of his current situation.
Day Three:
Across from a library in Reynoldsburg, Ohio in a patch of trees behind a Carpet Cleaning Company business, a homeless man lives in a tent. This was one of the most industrial and functional setups that I saw while exploring different living situations.
The individual had built cabinets on trees, used tree branches as a place to hang clothes hangers, and probably had more cleaning supplies than I have in my own home. The man was not there when Brian and I arrived, but Brian had interacted with him many times before. Apparently, the man is very reclusive and spends each day at the library where he reads.He has no plans to move into an apartment.
View the slideshow below to see pictures of his campsite.
The next place we visited was the most fascinating. We stopped the car on a bridge off the freeway and got out of the car. We ventured underneath the bridge, which was located next to a golf course.
My jaw dropped as soon as I stepped underneath the bridge. Each structural column underneath appeared to have a different residence inside. There were four or five cubbyholes that had mattresses, blankets, dirty clothes, and trash inside each one. There was a very intense odor of urine and feces.
I was kind of frightened at first, because from the angle that we were standing, we could not tell if anyone was there. Brian yelled, “Is anyone here?” and no one responded. Because we couldn’t see anyone, we walked further underneath. I wanted to capture footage of the situation, so I went down the slope—next to the river.
I looked up from below and noticed a man sitting in a chair in one of the cubbyholes. He sat still and said nothing—just stared at me. I tapped Brian’s shoulder, as he had not yet noticed the man. My heart pounded, while waiting to see how the man would react to our presence. Brian walked towards him and began to engage in conversation.
The man, who did not disclose his identity, agreed to talk to me. He lives under the bridge with about four or five others. He has two children and is struggling to pay child support. He is an ex-convict and therefore cannot secure a job. He gets everything that he needs—including food—from dumpsters. He said he keeps up with the outside world using his small handheld radio, but often cannot afford batteries. He bathes in the muddy river or goes up to a nearby laundry mat to use their sink.
The conditions under the bridge were terrible. In another cubbyhole, someone was using a old seat from a car as a couch. View a slideshow of pictures below.
Following our experience underneath the bridge, we drove to another wooded area next to railroad tracks. We followed holes in the ground--which served as steps--up a mound. We were then greeted by Mike. Mike is a homeless man who lives in a one-room shack on property owned by the state of Ohio. Immediately after our arrival and after he understood that he would be on camera, he got out his "Pledge" dusting spray and began cleaning the coffee table inside his shelter.
His shelter is made of wood, fences, tarp, and other materials. He built it himself and even painted the wood blue. Here's a picture below.
Compared to the living conditions underneath the bridge, Mike's home and yard were immaculate. Behind the shelter were lawn chairs and a make-shift grill. In front of the shelter, a large American flag blew in the wind. He had a bed and night stand inside. A picture of a model hung on his wall.
Mike said that he is unemployed, but formally built residential homes and mansions for others. He has no source of income, but isn't looking for a job either. He said that he's content in his current situation. He was very talkative and friendly. He even asked Brian and I to come back sometime for a meal and soft drink--welcoming us as if we were lifelong friends! I asked him if he ever gets lonely. He said the birds are his company.
In MEXICO.
In Columbus, the living conditions of the homeless that I met were vast. Some lived on the streets, others in makeshift shelters, and some in tents. Some of these conditions were better than others.Yet, all of these people were still considered homeless.
In other parts of the world—like Mexico—entire families live in comparable shelters to those that I saw in Columbus. The difference is—these people aren’t considered homeless, they’re considered poor.
I spoke to Jason Barger about the different standard of living in Mexico. Barger has spent much time building homes for the poor in Tijuana, Mexico and also started a project to assist the unsheltered homeless in Columbus.
“What you find [in Mexico] are people crowded together in these shantytowns. Nine, ten people living in a rotted, leaned to, self-made wooden structure in the dirt that may only be 8 feet by 8 feet or 10 feet by 10 feet,” Barger said.
Amor Ministries, a non-profit Christian ministry based in California, mobilizes volunteers to build new homes for many in this situation. Amor has built nearly 16,000 homes since 1980. Each house is 22 by 11 feet. But Barger said that even the new homes built by Amor might not be considered homes in the United States.
“Within our North American brains, if you were to see a picture of the houses we build, you may have that first reaction—that’s not a house, it looks more like a garage. But really when you put that next to what they used to have, we’re giving them a space that’s twice as big—or even three times as big as what they used to have,” he said.
Katie Haar, communications coordinator at Amor Ministries, explained that the families in Mexico who receive a new home must own their land.
“We don’t consider them homeless. They have a shelter and they have a place that they can call their own, but their housing is far from adequate. The places are usually made out of scraps that they are able to collect or things that have been given to them—old garage doors, tires stacked up, all sorts of things—even tents with tarps,” she said.
Haar’s description of the housing arrangements for the poor in Mexico seem nearly identical to that of Jim, Israel and others that I interacted with in Columbus.Haar acknowledged that the situation in Tijuana is comparable to the “homeless” situation in the Untied States and attributes the different standard of living to the “American dream.”
“Everyone wants to have a house and a car and a white picket fence. Less than that is put on a ranking scale. We sometimes have the mentality that ‘Oh, that’ll do for the people in Mexico because it’s Mexico or South Africa or any developing country.’ It’s like things aren’t acceptable for America, but its okay for a country that’s developing,” Haar said.
Samuel Gonzalez, who works at an orphanage in Tijuana, said that he considers “homeless” people to be those in Mexico who sleep on the streets, steal food and steal copper to make money. He agreed with Barger and Haar about the status of those who live in man-made shelters or tents.
“Here [in Mexico] they’re just considered poor. You see a lot of good people, you know. A lot of people haven’t had a break. They have children, they have kids, and mom and dad are there. It’s usually a complete family—that’s why we don’t consider them homeless.”
View pictures before and after the homes were built. (Photos courtesy of Amor Ministries)
One of our graduate students actively involved in the activities of the Institute for International Journalism (IIJ), Ms. Stine Eckert, has received the inaugural international reporting fellowship from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Stine will travel to Bangladesh this summer to investigate food security issues or the rights of women rights in that country. Stine joins five other journalism students from other universities across the country to investigate international crisis issues in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Honduras, Ecuador, and Denmark.
Stine’s interest in global issues and her unerring desire to confront international crises as a correspondent is an exemplar of the mission of the IIJ, which is to promote the mediation and resolution of conflicts through a well intentioned global “media agenda”. One of the reasons she was selected was because of a story she reported in our Foreign Correspondence course about the struggles of women in that country.
Stine came to the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism as an exchange undergraduate student from Leipzig University, Germany. The exchange is part of a special arrangement between the two journalism schools at Ohio University and Leipzig University. The IIJ has played a central role in that exchange of journalism students and faculty visits.
As a reporting fellow for the Pulitzer Center, Stine will have an opportunity to spend several weeks in Bangladesh investigating food security challenges and the rights of women in that developing nation. Expenses for that international assignment are provided by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. She will also receive a cash award of up to $2,000 from the Pulitzer Center.
Stine was one of the IIJ director's brightest and most engaged students in the foreign correspondence class. She was also the editor-in-chief of the first volume of The Globetrotter international newsletter, published by the IIJ. Stine also contributes international stories to the IIJ’s online edition of the International Special Reports project. In April 2009, Stine was announced as one of three recipients of our competitive John R. Wilhelm Foreign Correspondence Internship scholarship, which is a separate international reporting opportunity administered annually by the IIJ. Stine will spend another three months reporting for Aljazeera international television from Washington, D.C. to complete her IIJ Foreign Correspondence scholarship. She plans to undertake this latter project when she returns from Bangladesh.
The Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University is a member of the Pulitzer Center’s Campus Consortium. The IIJ is the primary coordinator of the Campus Consortium between the Pulitzer Center and the Scripps College of Communication. The E. W. Scripps School of Journalism with the support from other departments in the Scripps College of Communication contributes $10,000 to the Campus Consortium of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The role of the IIJ in that partnership is to fulfill the Pulitzer Center’s educational outreach programs by fostering the debate on global crisis issues through OU campus visits by international journalists fresh from the field; and to enable student interaction and engagement in international issues reporting.
As Americans witnessed failure to elect their first female president in 2008, Bangladeshis elected a female prime minister past December for the fourth time. Sheik Hasina is one of 11 female heads of state worldwide according to the Council of Women World Leaders. But many of the roughly 76 million women in Bangladesh are still facing discrimination and violence.
“Women of Bangladesh are guaranteed equal rights in the constitution…in practice [they] generally remain far from enjoying equal rights,” responds Qumrunnessa Nazly in an e-mail interview. She works for Ain O Salish Kendro, an organization in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka that provides legal aid to women and advocates women rights.
She says women face discrimination in education, employment, and access to resources and services, in particular healthcare. The legal position of women, she explains, is still ruled by religious laws when it comes to inheritance, marriage, divorce, and child custody. Religious laws are privileged over constitutional guarantees, she says, working against the interest of women. Ms. Nazly says that secular state law is also highly patriarchal and discriminatory. Some have not changed since colonial rule.
“Women are part of the patriarchy and they are trained by men,” writes Ayesha Banu, Chair of the Department for Women & Gender Studies at Dhaka University in an e-mail interview. “Elections don’t really follow the democratic process; inheritance plays a role,” she says. “Just because you are a woman doesn’t make you a good woman leader.”
Ms Nazly explains that attitudes in society still stand against gender equality. Very often women are not aware of their rights, she says. “Even when they are, women who depend on male protection are convinced that it’s not in their best interests to claim those rights.”
Concluding the first Universal Periodic Review for Bangladesh this February, the United Nations Human Rights Council urged the Government of Bangladesh to reform discriminatory laws and to take a comprehensive approach to violence against women. Ain o Salish Kendro raised other concerns such as the continued failure to advance the National Women’s Development Policy of 2008 and to enact existing laws to prevent and punish especially domestic violence. The 2007 Human Rights Report on Bangladesh states that up to 50 percent of Bangladeshi women have experienced domestic violence at least once that year.
Similarly, Dr. Gitiara Nasreen, a journalism professor at Dhaka University, writes in an e-mail interview that despite the creation of a separate Ministry of Women in 1979 and formulation a National Women’s Development Policy in 1997 no specific action has followed. The policy, she says, was changed again in 2004 and 2008 but “has been talked about more than it was acted upon.”
Part of the problem is the low visibility of women in media. In her 2005 report on Women and the Media for the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Dr. Nasreen writes only 6 percent of Bangladeshi journalists are women. In Bangladeshi media, she writes, women appear mostly as victims in the news or in entertainment shows. Especially Bangladeshi movies portrayed women as sexual objects with “submissive acceptance of physical violence.” Dr. Nasreen says that cruelty is often presented as a natural expression of ‘angry’ man.
An exception to this might be Sisimpur, the Bangladeshi version of Sesame Street. It is funded by the U.S. government agency for development aid (USAID), Harvey Sernovitz of the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka writes in an e-mail interview. “Sisimpur shows women as role models and successful women in non-traditional professions for Bangladesh.”
Since 1971 the U.S. government has provided more than $5 billion to Bangladesh. “Gender equity has always been a key goal,” says Mr. Sernovitz. Currently USAID runs several programs to help women including projects against human trafficking and training for local level female leaders and 1,850 female preschool teachers.
Just recently Ms. Banu and her department celebrated International Women’s Day with a rally and open-air music. She says it is the only department of its kind in the country. About 300 undergraduate and graduate students study women and gender issues in 60 classes. “[International Women’s Day] is very, very important in Bangladesh,” writes Sazzad Hussain, Program Coordinator at Odhikar in an e-mail interview. Odhikar is one of the leading NGOs in Bangladesh. He says March 8 is not only a universal day to stop violence against women but also a day for people to show solidarity.
Odhikar recently became runner-up for the 2008 Freedom Defenders Award of the U.S. State Department. The organization publishes monthly reports on human rights issues. They state that between January 2008 and February 2009 over 496 women and girls were raped and 80 women and 26 children became victims of acid attacks, which are often connected to refusing marriage or sexual relations. Another 297 women became victims of dowry related violence. Odhikar suggests actual numbers are even higher because only incidents that were reported could be counted.
Laws against these crimes exist but are poorly enforced. For instance almost 30 years ago, in 1980, the Dowry Prohibition Act made the taking or giving of dowry illegal. But a Bangladeshi student in the United States, who wants to remain anonymous, says in a phone interview giving dowries is still a common tradition. The student tells of the love marriage of an acquaintance from a higher social class. The parents of the groom asked the bride’s parents for about 100,000 Taka ($1,450) as dowry. Asked why dowry is a tradition even in families who don’t need money the student answers with a Bangladeshi proverb: In this world the person who wants the most, is the person who already has a lot.
Ms. Banu says the implementation of the National Women Development Policy should be a pressing issue for the new government. Dr. Nasreen concurs: “I can only hope the present government would put this issue in its priority.” After 12 years it still needs to be passed by the parliament.
The GLOBETROTTER is an international news and current affairs newsletter. The investigative special reports and other features in the second issue of 2009 are originally investigated, reported, written, edited, and published by students of the Foreign Correspondence class, in conjunction with the Institute for International Journalism at Ohio University. Click here to access the newsletter.
International Correspondents & Datelines (Class of 2009)
Jeff Bennett - BRAZIL Carolin Biebrach - TURKEY Natalie Cammarata - ITALY Yilei Cheng - INDIA Sally Cruikshank - QATAR Aerin Curtis - ZIMBABWE Kristin Eckert - BANGLADESH Jung Lee - SOUTH KOREA Cristina Mutchler - COLOMBIA Ellen Schnier - UGANDA Celia Shortt - CAMBODIA Lu Tang - PERU Michael Barajas - LEBANON Jacqueline Best - FRANCE Maria Fisher - KENYA David Flores - REP. OF GEORGIA Michael Hess - JORDAN Natalie Jovonovich - SERBIA-MONTENEGRO Meghan McNamara - CHILE Taylor Mirfendereski - IRAN Emily Mullin - SIERRA LEONE Veronica Norton - D. R. CONGO Gregory Stephens - RUSSIA
Jason Motlagh is an international freelance journalist currently based in Washington D.C. He studied Foreign Affairs in college and upon graduating from his university spent time as a fisherman in Alaska. Journalism was a career that he later fell into.
“At the time, it seemed like a chance where I could explore a lot of different fields and have access to a lot of different people and places,” Motlagh said. “It was a vehicle that would give me greater mobility to pursue things more in depth. That’s ultimately why I decided to pursue it.”
He got his start in the profession by securing journalism internships.
“I really just learned by doing. I was very rough in the beginning, but had easy access to seasoned professionals who I could learn from. There was a real immediacy when I was learning so I think that whole process was accelerated and I picked up the trade very quickly,” Motlagh said.
Motlagh has reported from about 35 countries. He started his career in West Africa and has extensively covered Central Asia and the Mideast. Over the past two years he has spent a significant amount of time covering the war on the ground in Afghanistan.
To hear from Motlagh about his experiences as a freelance journalist and to gain some advice about freelance and international reporting, watch the exclusive interview with him below.
Economic disparity is what drives people to want change. Those who have been oppressed by either the government or another group react most strongly when they are not able to put a roof over their families' heads or provide ample food. In covering stories involving such skirmishes, simply covering the issues of poverty, homelessness, and the hungry bring it to light. These types of stories rarely make it into the news, let alone the front page.
Reporting on the many people affected by war as individuals, as opposed to a general overview of the conflict, gives voice to the underrepresented. In any country, seeking out sources to fill in the gaps and contextualize the war provides readers with full information about the nature of the crisis. It is the details and personal stories that capture the interest of the public. If, for instance, a middle class American sits and reads about an international war in the newspaper, offered only the details of battle, he will not understand or be moved by the situations of the poor. It is a journalist's responsibility to raise awareness of the world's poor, especially those in Third World countries. The only way to tangibly improve the lives of those in dire poverty is through investigation and exposure, which would lead to action.
Throughout this course, I have become aware of the issues that exist in other countries. Through beat report presentations, I have learned so much about other nations--what their economic and cultural problems are, and story ideas to bring some of these issues to light. In addition, the videos we have watched and critiqued have given us a new sensitivity for working in such countries. Jim Nachtwey, for example, has made it his life's work to address the needs of the poor and has risked his life to tell the stories of the underrepresented. He serves as an example of finding the underlying story and not settling for the position of the government and the details of each crisis. He humanizes each story in hope of bringing changes in the system of economic inequality.
Though some of these stories may be out of line with the U.S. government's official foreign policy positions, the United States has a freedom of the press that allows for dissension. Because of that, journalists can enlighten those with uninformed, nationalist thinking, to help the world's poor. In the past, stories that bring to light tough issues, such as economic oppression, have led to reexamination around the world. In the future, we as journalists must continue this cultural and economic examination in support of those who cannot speak for themselves.
As a future international correspondent, the first way I would help make tangible improvements in the lives of the underrepresented people in whatever area I am in would be to represent that group accurately to my audience. The first step in change is making people aware of what needs to be changed. Audiences may not be aware of issues pertaining to certain groups. Knowing those issues can bring about the change that is needed. I have learned through this class that every person, no matter how poor, no matter the government’s interest or disinterest, has a story to tell. Each of those stories has the power to impact people all over the world. Just because a person or group of people is poor does not mean that what they are going through is not important. International correspondents should not let government’s interest or any other factors of that nature stop them from telling these stories.
The most powerful weapon journalists hold is communication. In order to make tangible improvements in the lives of the underrepresented people in the Third World, journalists should make full use of this tool —to bring information both into and out of the Third World. Give people in the Third World information that will help to develop their countries. At the same time, tell people in developed nations how those in the Third World are living. Draw attention to the Third World and gather elites around the world to work together to help address problems like poverty and inequality.
The more I learn, the more I feel that there aren’t black and white answers to covering global inequality. A journalist may not fully contextualize a topic like poverty because he is affected by his own nationality and background. It is a journalists’ mission, however, to promote the interests of or give a voice to the world’s poorest, even when those interests are not supported by official positions and nationalist thinking. This is one of the things that inspired me to become a journalist. It’s easy to idealize but hard to practice. If a global issue you want to cover is in opposition to your nation’s interests, you may be convicted to report it, but you may decline due to national pressure.
Conversely, just because it is in the interests of your country, it may not be in the interests of the news organization you serve. For instance, since some Third-World stories do not attract enough ad dollars and are therefore excluded from publication.
Covering such issues can be very dangerous as well. In August, 2008, a female journalism student in England was raped while trying to conduct an interview in a makeshift camp in Calais by immigrants attempting to reach Britain. This is a very extreme case, but it is important to be careful when investigating such stories. All these factors contribute to the difficulty in covering inequality in underdeveloped nations, but as journalists, it is our duty to persevere for the benefit of the global society.
Young African Leaders' Initiative Connect Camps Underway in sub-Saharan Africa
The purpose of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Connect Camps is to invest in the next generation of African leaders through intensive executive leadership training, networking, and skills building, which will prepare them to make social change in their communities. The core Ohio University team working jointly with The Collaboratory at the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has designed a program for the YALI participants called Connect Camps taking place in sub-Saharan Africa to pursue the following goals:
1) Give up to 160 young African leaders the opportunity to collaborate, learn, and network with U.S. and African resource experts and with each other during the eight YALI Connect Camps; to develop innovation strategies that build on their professional skills, engage in hands-on experience with low-bandwidth technologies, conduct community outreach, and buildtheir capacity through mentoring, networking, and using strategic civic leadership for social change.
2) Use a stimulating canvas model of leadership to develop skills in entrepreneurship and creating social change by engaging in five-days of facilitated interactive sub-group workshops, and fostering mentorship relationships between the Mandela WashingtonFellow alumni and their chosen mentees for the Camp.
3) Demonstrate some community-oriented enterprises using applied technology that supports innovation and collaboration in community development and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, and public management.
4) Develop leadership skills among delegates through mentoring relationships, between themselves, as well as with American and African facilitators.
5) Provide participants with opportunities for face-to-face networking and to facilitate a collaborative, innovative project or projects that further YALI goals.
Various U.S. Embassies in Africa have been instrumental in the selection and coordination of hosting the Connect Camps. The YALI Connect Camps are funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs and administered by the Institute for International Journalism (IIJ) at Ohio University.
