Message-ID: <mailto:9506100306.AA23652@cr-df.rnp.br> Date: Sat, 10 Jun 1995 00:06:05 EST From: Companheiros das Americas <mailto:poa-bsb@CR-DF.RNP.BR> Subject: Brasilia e-news # 15 To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L
Dear Partners,
Last report:
ORGANIC COMMUNITY GARDENS:
we are becoming involved with a lot of gardens.
The ones we have started amd others we are invited to help with.
All our other social projects always involve community gardening.
I think it would be very interesting if we could bring international
support for these gardens, not just to help them, but mainly to have
a consistent program to work together, to reach the populations,
to make media and government aware of our capacities and commitment.
As you know, we are waiting for the seeds and the small grant available
since January.
We are also waiting for the North counterpart for our Farmer-to-Farmer
project, involving urban agriculture and the city's youth-at-risk.
I suggested to the DC Chapter the name and address of
a 4-H National program leader I know, but I don't know if some Partner
of mine did the contact. We are sure that Virginia Gobeli would like to help with this
international community gardening project...
SOCIAL BANKING:
With your collaboration (and the Internet daily surfing) we are gathering
precious information about Grameen Bank and other agencies lending
productive money to the poorest of the poor. Unknown friends help us to
prepare letters and questionnaires to deepen our knowledge about those
institutions' operations and results. We are helping the organization of
two programs on social banking. One federal, the other local. Both
governments demand our information, but there are some problems that
I would like very much to discuss with you, related to the cultural
differences between our population. Unfortunately, Brazilian population
will need a cultural revolution to learn they need work together, trust
each other, and believe in their own capacities to overcome our historical
tragedy.
To have all this information available, I have set a data bank in Access 2
with all the msg.s on that issue (and on others), their senders, their
e-addresses, the subject and the file where they can be retrieved.
CITIZEN-NET
We are planning to settle a community network to foster their/our
sustainable development. We are in contact with Dr. Leonardo Lazarte,
the man who has settled the Internet in Brasilia (through the National
Research Network), and with governmental officers (federal and local) also
wishing we succeed in this objective. We already have a lot of information
to broadcast through this CitizenNet, which could be organized as a
BBS or as a WWW homepage, or as a Gopher server, etc. We could
get some free 286 PCs from the Central Bank (where I work), mainly if
the Solidary Community Federal Program (the chairperson is the First
Lady) asked for them. We appreciated very much John and Cathy's
initiative to foster social networks, dedicated to people development.
We have a great job to do about that.
LEADERSHIP SCHOOL ON CITIZENSHIP
The Brazilian Minister of Culture (Francisco Welfort, a former
leftist sociologist as the President) asked our Brasilia Partners
chapter to organize a seminar to train - at first - 130 volunteer cultural
leaders transmitting them contents not usually seen together here:
information about leadership, project elaboration, fund raising, youth
development, community mobilization, coalitions and people feasibility.
We have edited recently two books on these issues: Community
Development and Youth Leaders (the contents of the First International
Seminar in Brasilia with youth developers from the US and Brasilia,
January 93), and Building Coalitions (material from the Ohio Center
for Action on Coalition Development). The Minister also wants that we
organize the same Seminar to be broadcasted in all the 4,300 Brazilian
municipes. We will need your help, my friends. Would you please?
Best Wishes, Joaquim
____________________________________________________________
Youth and Citizenship Committee - Brasilia Washington
Partners of the Americas