So I'll probably just send out the link to the article in our e-news. But I wanted to say something about the CSM to introduce it. What do you think of this?
quote: The Christian Science Monitor is a daily newspaper known for its coverage of global issues.
I honestly don't know how the CSM is viewed by the world at large. I know I've always found the articles insightful and well-written; I've never subscribed but I used to read it when it was in my lunchroom at an old job.
(random additional note: I'm typing this with a pesky cat on my lap who is licking my arms as I type, so I blame her for any typos.)
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The CSM is probably the most even-handed and fact checked newspaper in print today. I like the Financial Times slightly better, but they have more lean.
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The CSM seems to be involved a lot with NPR, and I love NPR. So I'd have to say I have a favorable opinion of them, though I don't know much about them past their stories/coverage on NPR.
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What fugu said (well, about the CSM, anyway. I've only started looking at the Financial Times since they broke the story on the Chinese gov't hacking their way into the DoD's networks). I'm curious, fugu, what kind of lean would you say that the FT has?
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European economic liberal (which is more towards libertarian here than either Democrats or Republicans). It doesn't so much bias their reporting as describe who they are and who they're talking to, but it definitely is reflected in their editorial content.
The FT is a newspaper for world leaders, rich people, business leaders, and those who want to keep tabs on the same sorts of things those people do. It is not a newspaper for the normal person (though it sometimes has some articles of considerable interest for normal people), and it doesn't try to be. This has also made it the only non-US paper delivered daily to the White House (at least as of a report I read a few years back).
It is a superb international paper, and one of the few newspapers having little problem keeping readership. It has been expanding its international correspondents instead of contracting them.
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That's a very cool organization, CFL. Can you tell us more about how they approach a community, what they do, how it actually works?
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I wikied CSM a few weeks ago, and they gather the news themselves, not relying on the major media bureaus. They have struggled financially in the wake of a multimedia initiative back at the turn of the millenium.
I find it interesting how their worldview relates to the Christian Science theology, that human misery is not God's will and that truth sets us free.
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quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: That's a very cool organization, CFL. Can you tell us more about how they approach a community, what they do, how it actually works?
It's really evolved since I was over there with them five years ago, and not being there it is sometimes hard to stay in the loop. (yes, it is hard to put together a newsletter when you are not in the loop! Also, the U.S. arm of the organization is in Arizona and I'm in Georgia so I don't get to go to meetings or anything)
That said, what they essentially do is evaluate communities in the area around their headquarters and look for those with the greatest need and fewest resources. One of their communities has very few men, so the families are women- and child-led. They approach existing community leaders, such as they are, but I haven't heard a lot of details about how that actually works. I suspect they also look for key people within the community who are willing to take initiative.
A lot was made in the article about the staff being Mozambican, but Joao Bueno, the African director, is Brazilian and the organization is still essentially an American one. There have been tremendous problems finding and keeping good Mozambican leaders but there have also been tremendous strides in that area in the years since Joao took over the African operations. Ana Micas, quoted in the article, is a nurse who initially volunteered her time in a clinic helping see dozens of people a day -- she would come in after her shift at work in a hospital to help for no pay just out of the goodness of her heart. She is an amazingly kind, strong and patient woman, who is now works full time for CFL (dont' remember her title).
CFL also sends over American volunteers each summer who do humanitarian service, so there is that side of the organization that still exists, but honestly that is more about helping youth here have a chance to serve and have their eyes opened more than it is about the long-term mission of the organization. FPP is what evolved based on the work of a woman named Jolly Nyeko in Uganda; the then leaders of CFL went to visit her organization and came away with a new vision of how to become sustainable, and FPP is based on her program.
I believe that the organization currently can handle about 5 communities at once, in different stages of progress. The goal is to be in and out of a community in (five? or three?) years, I believe.
The website is horribly outdated, but there's some info at careforlife.org. Unfortunately, most of the material on there probably predates the FPP initiative described in the article. It is still largely a volunteer organization--donations go to Africa, not administration--and it's been hard to keep good web people, etc.
Let me know if you have any specific questions; I need to brush up on my info anyway, so it will do me good to find the answers!
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Sounds great! This is rather close to the sort of thing I have been thinking about in terms of third world development projects. I'll remember them.
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