WBEZ | Global Activism

Worldview: Obama's trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, development in Sierra Leone and copycat architecture

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:59:00 -0500

Global Activism: Pan African Rural Health and Social Services aids Africans in dire need

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:27:00 -0500

Pan African Rural Health and Social Services (PRHeSS) aids rural Africans in: maintaining clean drinking water; sanitary living conditions; poverty alleviation and opportunity through education. The group was founded by Chicago area physician Sam Kormoi and his wife, Mary. Dr. Kormoi pays close attention to his native Sierra Leone, a country devastated and traumatized by years of civil war. Dr. Kormoi, along with PRHeSS Board Director, Lesta Woods, will share stories about the people and communities they're helping to transform.

This Saturday May 4th, 2013, PRHeSS will sponsor a Walk-a-Thon of doctors and nurses for food, clothing, medical and school supplies for rural Africans.

Global Activism: Tikondane helps communities in Zambia

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:19:00 -0500

Coming off a successful 2013 Global Activism Expo, we visit with one of this year’s attendees. Elke Kroeger-Radcliffe, founder and director of Tikondane, a “community uplift organization” based in Katete, Zambia, tells us about her latest projects and the people involved with her work.

Global Activism: Bright Hope International gives aid and comfort to the extreme poor

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:05:00 -0500

Join Worldview on Saturday, 4/6/13 for WBEZ's 6th Annual Global Activism Expo, hosted by the UIC Social Justice Initiative.

Bright Hope International helps faith communities provide aid and assistance to the extreme poor in some of the world’s most devastated countries. The group aligns many of its programs with the UN Millennium Development Goals. Some of Bright Hope's primary goals are in: extreme poverty and hunger eradication; universal primary education; combating infectious disease and promoting environmental sustainability - all this with a focus on gender equality, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Bright Hope recently started a program to rescue girls from the sex trade in northern India.

We’ll talk with Bright Hope's CEO and president, C.H. Dyer about the group's work. Dyer has encountered a number of memorable people in his travels:

Justine Nkandu is a single mother of six from the rural area of Samfya, Zambia. She is thriving after being given the opportunity of a microloan through Bright Hope in 2009. From three years on the program, Justine increased production of beans by 300%. Last year, she harvested 84 gallons of peanuts and used the profits from her farming business to build a house and iron sheets for her roof. “My vision is to save money for my children’s education before they reach high school, and to maintain food security for my family,” she said.

Justine now feels that she has made enough capital to stand on her own and has requested that the leadership from her church allow her to step aside from the microloan program so that others may benefit. “My family no longer worries about where our next meal will come from. We are not poor anymore. Now we can bless others. I thank the Lord for giving me knowledge and wisdom to make me reach this far in sustaining my livelihood and my family,” she said. Justine is expecting to double her harvest of peanuts, cassava, and maize this year.

Global Activism: LIFT-USA making a difference for families in India

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:52:00 -0500

Reese Mugerditchian heard Father Jamels James on Global Activism, in 2010, talk about his group, Leading India's Future Today (LIFT). The NGO provides education and leadership training for children from various religious and social castes. It changed her life. Since then, Reese has been to India several times to work for LIFT. Mugerditchian and Dan Quinn, director of Operations for LIFT USA, are back from recent India trips.

You can see Reese and hear more about the work of LIFT and LIFT-USA at the 2013 Global Activism Expo on Saturday April 6th at the UIC Forum.

Reese said the Expo had a profound effect on her:

"In 2011 while driving to an appointment I listened to an interview Jerome McDonnell had with Fr. Jamels James. I've always had a passion for the children of India and dreamed of getting involved with an organization there. Something in that interview spoke to me. Luckily the [Global Activism] Expo was coming up and LIFT was planning on being there. After the Expo I attended a LIFT meeting. Fr Jamels asked me what had motivated me to come to the meeting, I told him I wanted to volunteer in India. And just like that he extended the invitation for me to visit LIFT. I'm not sure what I expected from my trip, I knew I wanted to volunteer, lend a helping hand - find a way to contribute in a meaningful way. I found so much more. The students of LIFT are amazing young adults. They are fiercely dedicated and joyful even though their lives have given them every opportunity to give up. These children are talented leaders and are making such a wonderful impact on their community. I really believe that they will be part of a great social change in India. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for worldview and WBEZ. Your program is doorway to the world for all of us dreaming to get out there and make a difference. I have since been to LIFT 4 times. Each visit allows me to connect with more of the children, learn their inspiring stories, and encourage them to continue their hard work."

Here's a video of two LIFT students talking about the program.

Global Activism: Sharing meals and cultures, too

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:27:00 -0600

Chicagoan Jason Savsani believes that sharing a home cooked meal with someone is one of the most intimate things you can do. For Global Activism, Jason will tell us how eating and sharing tales from their respective homelands inspired him to create “Meal Sharing,” to help people eat healthier, waste less and break down cultural barriers.

For Jason, a magical night in Cambodia inspired the idea:

"What solidified the idea to create Meal Sharing was while I was traveling in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I had the unique opportunity to be hosted by a Cambodian family for a meal in their home. It was such a magical experience to be in their home...The best part of the evening was when the host busted out his Casio keyboard and played some classical Cambodian songs.

Another important component to Meal Sharing is our drive to bring awareness to the current food situation. Growing up in an Indian home, I was always eating wholesome home-cooked Indian meals. There was always a disjunct between home cooking and food in restaurants/fast food. Home-Cooked was always healthier and a more meaningful experience. In my adulthood, I came to a sad juncture where I was constantly eating out and becoming increasingly unhealthy. My excuse was “I am too busy to cook”, like a fair amount of people around the world. This logic only led me down an unhealthy path and perpetuated mindless eating. Since Meal Sharing, I have cooked more at home, eaten out a lot less, and meet many wonderful people around the world.

Meal Sharing's goal in the next few years is to have more hosts around the world then the top 3 major fast food restaurants locations. That would really say something if we succeed. That the world stood up and said, "I would rather trust my neighbor for food, then a major food corporation". With enough people Meal Sharing, we will have people eating healthier, wasting less, all while breaking down cultural barriers."

Global Activism: His Wheels International sends bicycle parts to the disabled overseas

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:19:00 -0600

Alice Teisan, a former nurse at Rush Hospital, was an avid cyclist before she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 1992. Despite her major health setback, she channeled her passion for bicycling into helping others suffering from disabilities globally.

In 2005, she created His Wheels International out of her own home, which recycles old bicycles to send overseas.

Teisan’s book Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall Off is available on Amazon in paperback and in Kindle format. She will offer the Kindle download for free until February 2 as a gift to WBEZ listeners.

Initially, she had small goals.

"My initial goal back in 2003 was to give away 100 bikes in my lifetime. In 2005 after being challenged by my mentor, then 90, I founded His Wheels International. Since then His her group has distributed 1,600 bikes and hand-pedaled trikes to people affiliated with 88 countries. We have prototyped 22 different trike prototypes. Our trikes have been assembled, fabricated and manufactured on five continents."

Global Activism: WGN’s Randi Belisomo in El Salvador for Living Water International

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:45:00 -0600

Consider this…every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. And also, more people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet.

Randi Belisomo reports for WGN-TV. And we talked with her in 2011 about her work for Living Water International in Haiti in honor of her late husband, Carlos Hernandez Gomez. And she’s back with us just off a trip she took to El Salvador for the group. Living Water International implements water solutions in 25 developing countries.

Meet Global Activists like Living Water International at the 2013 Global Activism Expo.

Global Activism: Bookfriends International delivers books to kids in Africa

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:28:00 -0600

Wauconda couple Steve and Paulie Kutschat have a deep love for books. After a trip to Africa, the Kutschat’s founded Bookfriends International, a nonprofit providing educational resources to secondary school-age children in Africa.

Bookfriends gives children text books, library books and reference materials in short supply. Donated books come from middle schools, high schools, libraries, individuals, book drives and book publishing companies.

“It is not our goal to change their culture, their ideas or background. We are simply providing the student’s opportunity through books to see the rest of the world,” the Kutschats say.

You can meet Global Activists like the Kutschat's at the 2013 Global Activism Expo.

Global Activism: Operation ASHA wants to stop Tuberculosis from making a comeback

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:22:00 -0600

Tuberculosis is making a comeback — but in places you’d least suspect. The number of cases in a city like London has surged 50 percent in the last decade. Tuberculosis kills more adults than any other infectious disease besides HIV/AIDS.

This is cause for great concern, as one of the UN Millennium Development Goals is to reverse incidences of infectious diseases like TB by 2015.

Sandeep Ahuja and Dr. Shelly Batra run the NGO Operation Asha. They bring tuberculosis treatment and health services to the poorest of the poor in India’s urban slums and rural villages. Recently, they have expanded into Asia and Africa.