On November 16, 2011, I had the privilege of addressing a class of students at SUNY Farmingdale. The class, Community Health Nursing, is for students who are already Registered Nurses. The focus of the class was Sexual Violence as a Global Pandemic.  The discussion that ensued was informative and compelling.

During the part of the discussion that focused on violence against women in Congo, one student made an observation that forever changed me.  He said that people do not come to the United States for the reason that most people think.  He said that there is a basic level of safety just walking down the street that does not exist elsewhere around the world. This is a normalcy that most Americans take for granted.  I now know that that feeling of safety that I experience for myself and my family when we leave our front door is a gift and a blessing and I will never take that feeling for granted again.  Working with this group of healers was a profound experience, and I am grateful for the work they continue to do in the world.

On the evening of December 2, 2011, we were invited to Northport High School to participate in their Rescue Me Rally.  The event, on a Friday evening, was held in support of their work with Invisible Children, an organization that uses film, creativity and social action to end the use of child soldiers in central Africa. We were invited to attend by teacher, David Storch, whose work at Northport led him to be named a “Distinguished Teacher 2010” by the Harvard Club of Long Island.  The Rescue Me Rally brought students together to learn about the plight of women and children who are victims of war and violence in central Africa, especially Uganda.

We gathered with the students at 7:00 p.m. We presented our work in Congo and Rwanda, including updates on our upcoming event in Congo in March.  Robin Deluca-Acconi shared information with the students on conflict minerals and how they fuel the violence in Africa. She stressed the importance of conscious consumerism and how the choices we make can affect the lives of people around the world.

The next presenter, Robyn Deutsch, told of the work Miracle Corners of the World, a non-profit organization formed in 1999 with the vision: “Local Change Through Global Exchange.” Their mission is to empower youth to become positive agents of change in their communities. Robyn’s message to the students included the advice to stay informed, get involved locally and globally and travel to expand their personal vision.

Next, we viewed the short film, Rosaline's Story, which tells the story of one of the “Invisible Children” whom we come to know through the film. It was a sad, yet hopeful, story. The students’ reactions to the film were equally powerful.  In commenting on a particularly graphic scene where we meet a woman whose face was mutilated by soldiers, Amanda an Azure observed that they thought the graphic nature of the film was what made it powerful. They felt it made them face the reality of the world and it made them want to get involved and do something. A young man named Jason was struck by the fact that the simplest parts of Rosaline’s story revealed the complexity of life.  He thought that any one of the students at Northport could have been born Rosaline. She loved to sing and dance, and wanted to be a doctor. Jason observed that these things were true of the students gathered at Northport. He believes that everyone shares a collective responsibility for what happens in the world.

After the movie, students created a large paper chain on which each student wrote an action they would take to create positive change in their community.

We are thankful to David Storch and the Northport community for including us and supporting our work. We look forward to a continuing partnership with this extraordinary teacher and school community.

On March 24, 25 and 26, Liz Gannon Graydon and members of the What BETTER Looks Like community joined with teachers and students from SUNY Farmingdale to stage a production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues. This powerful play tells the very personal stories of women’s experiences with their vaginas.  A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality.

The opportunity to participate in the play was very important, because it was at Eve Ensler’s conference on Women, Power and Peace in 2007 that we first met Christine Schuler Deschryver, who told the graphic stories of violence and rape of the women of the Congo.  It was here, after we became aware of the plight of women in the Congo that we began our current work to raise awareness there. The production helped us to raise both awareness and funds for our work.

Having realized the epidemic number of urban students who have been turned off to education, dropping out in record numbers, and headed for a life of underachievement, a group of us got together and took of the challenge to create a school that would actually engage and energize  these  same students.  Research shows that students drop out for many reasons, but three issues seem to dominate.  First, there is the absence of a caring adult who demonstrates that somebody in the school actually cares about the student as  a human being. This issue is compounded by the low expectations the school has for these students and student performance can be directly proportional to student achievement.  Second, the student needs to see how the school experience is relevant to his or her life, especially since many of these students know more people who have been to prison than  have been to college, and third, the student learning experience has been mind-numbingly boring.

And so Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability was born. It is the brainchild of Chris Barriteau, Nicole Morris and Howard Rosenberg,  the founders of The Artisan School Center, a non-profit launched to innovate education.   We  designed the school and found a stellar principal in Jennifer Connolly to lead the school, which opened  September 2010 in Rockaway, Queens.  Our vision is to provide  struggling learners with strong  individual attention and  educational solutions that assist students to secure the critical 21st century skills necessary to thrive in our global village.  

The learning curriculum is experiential, meaning that the students will be collaborating on hands-on projects that bring to life the educational lessons.  For example the students will be practicing organic farming as a cornerstone to learning about how nature can provide food and economic sustenance.  This will be especially meaningful since it has been shown that the nutrient deficient diet of inner city youth living in "nutritious food deserts" negatively impacts their ability to learn.  These urban farms will be able to bring jobs and good food into the city to the people who need then the most.

The curriculum (math, science, language arts, and social studies) will  integrated around the theme of sustainability so that students will be able to understand through experience the connection between their educational lessons and the world in which they live.  The students will have the option to go to college or directly pursue a career in culinary arts or green construction, both of which  will have a strong sustainability component. 

More information can be found at www.artisanschool.org