Exciting News!

Summer has FINALLY arrived and boy, am I excited! I have so much to tell. Take a deep breath…and GO!

1. A cool idea that I dreamed up: a guidebook/project guide to universalize our Dodge Malaria! dodgeball tournament.

The toolkit that Lacey Stone (MNM’s marketing associate and my contact who has been indelibly helpful and supportive) sent me has really helped and I figured specifying it to fit with dodgeball might help other schools. It was a complicated process to get the tourney going and anything (seriously) will help! I also have this weird fascination with little projects (though, this time I WILL finish one…I’ll have to!) and so I’m really excited for the process to encompass collaborative input and actual creation.

I’ll definitely need help, though! Specifically, input from you on improvements, strengths (other than those that I’ve outlined in the post Approach to Tourney 2.0 -look below!) and other considerations would really shape the guidebook to be just that, an effective guide for hosting a Dodge Malaria! dodgeball tournament. A key to this is that is must be able to be implemented in a variety of school environments, that is to say, it must be universal but still helpful to different situations. Like I mentioned in the aforementioned post, we’ll need devil’s advocates and others who feel they have good suggestions. As the ultimate test of the guidebook’s success, we’ll use it to coordinate our tourney for the 2010-2011 school year (I have to take the time here to shout: SENIORS!). So, if you like the idea of a guidebook, holler at me and I think we can make it into something useful…maybe even something of merit to be posted on Malaria No More’s website! How cool is that?

2. I know, the above seems enough (and way too long for a blog post). BUT, I’m going to New York in July to shadow at Malaria No More’s offices for a short while! I’ll finally be able to meet the awesome, brilliant, and incredibly supportive employees/visionaries and get a first hand glimpse at what they do operationally. Worry not, I’ll be sure to outline all my adventures!

3. Aaaand the week after: I’ll be shadowing Dr. Nancy Degnan, the executive director of Columbia’s Earth Institute’s Center for Environmental Research and Conservation! She’s written papers on sustainable development, education initiatives, and microfinance- all things I’ve been really interested in! I cannot wait to meet her and see how she pursues her goal of emphasizing the bridge of progressive science education with schools- imagine the results of higher scientific knowledge in schools across America. Maybe that oil spill would be fixed…

www.cerc.columbia.edu  (Also, check out www.earth.columbia.edu– about the Earth Institute/development/wonder/my calling…future post…)

Well, those are my summer adventures. Let me know via facebook or this blog if you’re interested in helping out for the guidebook! Enjoy summer!

P.S. “Like” Dodge Malaria! on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dodge-Malaria/209478118721

Ideating

I wouldn’t normally post something solely motivational but an on-point mindset is conducive to productive and merit-worthy work. When I feel excitement, I’m at my best academically and socially and I think IDEATING just happens! This concept of ideating is what I’d like to discuss. Some excellent literature on this is Ideas: A History by Peter Watson (well, that’s the abridged title.) Definitely check this book out if you’re interested! I think a history detailing the “invention” and impetus of ideas is a great background to some extensive thinking. Another piece of literature that deals primarily with business but can apply to other areas is Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small by Barry J. Nalebuff and Ian Ayres, from Harvard Business Press. Using nonlinear thinking, this book involves circumspecting ranging from  What Would Croesus Do? to Where can this solution be applied elsewhere? The book “teaches” creativity and gets the cranium juices going- in a good way (I’m writing this during Spring Break, spare me deep thought)!

While ideating is a general concept, an emphasis on it could yield great methods of thinking and solutions: the global health crisis, entrepreneurship via products and services, new methods of approaching present systems, education, social policy, and combinations of all these areas! This is obvious, yes! We’re ideating as we think (duh), but an awareness of this grand human feat could get young thinkers to act on their ideas and turn those abstract and far-reaching thoughts into society-helping realities!

Which brings me to (cue the trumpets) the Idea Translation Lab at Harvard. I discovered this through a long line of linkage that started from Malaria No More’s website and somehow became The Laboratory’s page. (I’m not even going to try to remember the sequence.) This lab is part of an engineering course at Harvard that encourages students to fuse the arts and sciences into bringing their ideas into life. It could be scientific research, a consumer product, a sustainable water solution for a developing country, or (my favorite) inhalable chocolate.  Essentially, it is an official place (can’t get more official than Harvard, eh?) that is a breeding ground for unofficial, normal, random, but wonderful ideas! If you didn’t get this, I love ideas!! How cool is the concept of a think tank? While I’m on the tangent, Benjamin Franklin formed his own Junto group where each Friday members would come to discuss points of informative interests and means of success: imagine how these open discussions aided him in his manifestations of civic service through the invention of the fire station and public library. (On yet another tangent, the concept of open culture is a worldwide open discussion that is both accessible and opportunistic- check it out!!)

Extensive but relevant to solution-making

Anyway, these are things I have been thinking about, yet this one blog post cannot cover all the discussion I’d like to have on this. Contact me and we’ll discuss! Or leave a comment! A discussion on ideas and ideating, I fully believe, is the most essential part of every solution and to be at the forefront, to admire, or to start to feel like your ideas and thoughts can benefit our world is the most wonderful, exciting idea of all.

The Laboratory at Harvard: oh, it's real

Dodge Malaria! a success

Check out www.dodgemalaria.org for all the tourney details and pictures!

Congrats to National Honor Society, our Dodge Malaria! February champions!

Clubs and Faculty Team Postings

Clubs Participating:  Key Club, MAO, National Honor Society, Robotics/SECME, Juniors

Faculty Participating: Ms. Formoso, Ms. O’Brien, Ms. Hester, Mr. Snow, Mr. Scales, Ms. Lambert, Ms. Soffer, Mr. Collazo, Ms. Schuler, Ms. Carter

TICKETS ON SALE A & B LUNCH IN THE ROTUNDA!  If you buy B Lunch, Mr. Snow is offering a Buy 1 Get 1 Free Deal…and extra credit! I’d say this is the ideal win-win solution!

Dodgeball Tournament Updates!

Hello all!

The Dodge Malaria! Dodgeball Tournament is well underway!  And a fun bonus:  a faculty team will be joining us!  Hitting your teachers to combat malaria? A win-win solution! The tournament will take place February 22-24, 2010 in the Deerfield Beach High School gymnasium after school at 3:00pm.  Only a dollar to watch the matches!

Which club will win? Or will the teachers rule?

Come see for yourself!

Announcing Dodge Malaria! Website

I must be seriously lucky to have a web designer for a mother.  She and her friend/business partner, Rupa Nadkarni, have generously donated their time out of their web designing business, KR Creations, Inc. and the domain and hosting fees to make this website live and running. Check out their work at:

www.krcreationsinc.com

To make the event information and details a little easier to access, we have created a Dodge Malaria! website where you can find team, registration, rules, and event information.  From the website, you can also become a fan on Facebook of this fine tournament and find a link to this very blog.  Here’s the site:

www.dodgemalaria.org

India: Part 3

I wrote before about how I went to Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity and the Ramakrisha Mission to donate nets.  These nets will the be able to reach those in need in places I’m unable to go.  Before I detail my experiences, I’ll briefly outline the histories and ideologies behind the two charities/missions/lifesavers.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 with this quote on the doings of the Active Sisters : “A Missionary of Charity is a carrier of God’s love especially to poorest of the poor, setting all on fire with love for Him and one another, a healing touch that cures all diseases; a soothing smile of God that warms all hearts; God’s own language of love that all hearts understand.” 

 I really don’t think I even need to comment on the perfect beatitude the quote resonates. 

 

 The picture below was taken in the courtyard of the Mumbai location of the Missionaries of Charity.  We weren’t permitted to take pictures with the nun who helped us so I figured the Mother Teresa’s statue wouldn’t mind! 

My eyes were closed...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897 with a spiritual manifesto: “Atmano mokshartham jagad hitaya cha,” — “For one’s own salvation, and for the welfare of the world”

 

Our first stop was the Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity.  The entrance looked like a big blue wall with a trick door opening.  Once we got in, it looked like Shangri-La.  Trees, flowers, colorful tiling, and the most affecting sight, a statue of Mother Teresa, made it real.  I was here!  We walked into a small room and met the nun we spoke to on the phone.  In the distinct blue and white habit that all Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity wear, she appeared markedly reserved (and fittingly so.)  I couldn’t help but wonder at this young lady, maybe 10 years older than I, and her chosen life.  She lives by a vow of chastity, poverty, and sefless love.  I pictured myself in 10 years and saw that I was not as brave as her. To fully relinquish the sense of self for God and others, peace is really made.  Apropos of this introspective feeling, I was emotionally overwhelmed (especially compared to her.)  Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t cry or think I was some social crusader.  I couldn’t think of that feeling of gratification. I couldn’t allow myself that satisfaction with self when I was in the presence of this nun who gave up all material ties to focus spiritually, religiously, and wholeheartedly on the concept of pure love for God and humanity.  And to end this dramatic monologue, the picture of Mother Teresa staring down at me wasn’t helping either! 

 

After counting the amount of nets and clothing we brought (why not hit two birds with one stone?), I signed a record book detailling my donations and also put Malaria No More’s name in the book.  If you want to see a video of me signing it (…), click this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/collectivesolution/3792852375/

 

Check out more pics of the Missionary of Charity and the rest of my trip by looking up and to the right.  Under Blogroll, click Photo Album: Distributing Nets in Mumbai, India.  Enjoy!

 

Next stop: Ramakrishna Mission. We went to the Ramakrishna Mission Hospital actually.  The first thing me and my brother noticed was the sign cataloguing the various and ancient spiritual exercises and doings that accompanied the white pills of modern medicine.  Yoga, interviews with swamis, etc were some of these exercises.  Here’s the sign:

 We walked in through the outside corridor to meet the Swamiji who was accepting our donations.  I explained and answered questions for about ten minutes about the nets and the work of Malaria No More.  He wrote us the following letter: 

 

Okay: knowing where the nets are going is AWESOME.  Go tribal village in Sakwar!  Go Ramakrishna Mission Go!  

 

This is at the end of this post because I’m becoming aware of my surprising ineptidude at technology:

Spy entrance to Missionaries of Charity!

 I tried to post other pictures here, but WordPress (or my brain) is acting on me.  Please refer to the orange Flickr link provided to see the pictures of the Ramakrishna Mission hospital, donating the nets to the Swamiji, the rain, and other memories of my trip. 

India: Part 2

I left off from the post, “India: Part 1,” with the plan of distributing nets to those my grandparents knew personally from the service sector (a rikshaw driver, a bread maker, a maid, the building watchman). While in Mumbai,  I saw these people on a daily basis on my trip and our family began to grow really fond of them.  So, this post will detail the distribution of nets to these five central figures (well, to our family anyway).  I really think that these people are a fine representation of the working class in Mumbai and it was wonderful to take some time for the “photo shoots” with them and their nets.

 

 

AVDHESH

Avdhesh was probably my favorite Mumbaiker.  Everytime we’d walk out of the building or into, my dad would always make small talk and joke around.  Any time we had leftovers for dinner, we’d call him up to have the rest (I was glad I couldn’t finish my Pizza Hut pizza, which by the way IS AMAZING in India.)  As the building watchman, Avdhesh (pronounced Au-daysh) spends his work day, a 24/7 job, outside in the moquito-ridden swampy air.  The pictures below show his bed, which is stationed a little way in front of the elevator.  Imagine my delight when we first arrived at the building from the airport and saw a bed net already!  His bed net, however, had holes and was visibly old.  So we gave him a new one.  The best part?  Coming home to that building every night and seeing him sleep in the new net. And as for the cell phone he has? EVERYONE IN MUMBAI HAS A CELL PHONE.  Even my grandpa.  Believe me, that’s a stretch.

  

SAVITA

Savita was our maid (everyone in Mumbai has a maid, too!)  who helps my grandma maintain the apartment (Motimummy has swollen feet and cleaning is a tough thing to do.)  Everyday she comes to sweep, mop and deal with all our crazy American messes- a.k.a Archie Comics, our untouched textbooks, etc!  And in her petite beauty and constant toleration of us, we took a few pictures while giving her a net at the same time:

 

 

KAVITA

Kavita came and made the roti to go with our lunches (to assist my grandma in dealing with all us, did I mention, crazy Americans?)  Roti is like tortillas.  They are a flat bread that we eat along with our shaak or vegetables.  And I’ll say it: rice and curry!  She made some sick rotis and theplas.  I was never a fan of Indian food and with her rotis and my grandma’s shaak and chundo (a sweet pickled condiment), I actually became a fan.  Really, this is as much of a stretch for me as for my grandpa owning a cell phone (he’s very good at using it, by the way.) 

ANIL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is not Anil by the way. Just an example of what a rikshaw looks like.

 Rickshaws are the coolest rides ever.  If I was a millionaire, I would buy one of these to scoot around in my mansion. (Actually rikshaws, I think, are about $300.)  For ten rupees and upward (on average a 25 cent ride- take that, New York taxis!), rikshaws are the transportation of choice.  But, sometimes drivers will say no to you! If you’re going to a  place where potential customers won’t be or the opposite of where they’re planning on going, you’re not getting in that rickshaw!  Anil drove us around all day and waited for us so we wouldn’t have that problem which made the weather bearable for us as we didn’t have to wait outside for a rikshaw. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His uniform is standard for all rikshaw drivers.

A Malaria No More intern, Nikilesh, is working on a project in Hyderabad, India  to record and take pictures of those who receive nets to bridge together donors and the cause.  It’s not merely a “give ten bucks and just have faith that your money will help.”  Nikilesh is spearheading a communications project on the intimate level where those ten dollars go to a place deeper than the hope that you’re making a difference.  It’s proof. 

And in a sort of parallel with his wonderful project (I wish, wish I could have worked with him while in India!), giving nets to these people who for three weeks I saw every day and interacted with was proof that a difference was made. you can see the highlight in the picture below.  The global health and malaria crisis can be represented by numbers that spur action, but it can also be the stories and individual people that affect us to make humanity simply that, an intimate and compassionate connect between humans. 

 Stay tuned for India: Part 3!! (with the Mother Teresa Missionary Charity and the Ramakrishna Mission)

If you want to see more photos from the trip, look up and to the right (under Blogroll) and click “Photo Album: Distributing Nets in Mumbai, India”

 

 

 

 

Picture of the Year

Refer to India: Part 2 Post

Look to your Right!

Yes, from this very page, look to your right.   ————————————–→

Under the tab Blogroll, I’ve added Photo Album: Distributing Nets in Mumbai, India.  The link will lead you to my brand-new Flickr account (sure Flickr’s been around for a while, but with creating a blog, hearing endlessly about the tweeting phenomenon with Twitter, and barely getting a handle on technological advances as new ones constantly replace the old, I feel like quite the tech-savvy information sharer.  I don’t have a Twitter, though, and will never have one.  However, Malaria No More does!) 

So after an hour of uploading pictures and figuring out how to share them, you can access them with a click!  Just LOOK TO YOUR RIGHT!  And if you’re reading this by the time it’s considered an old post (in today’s time, about an hour after publishing ha), LOOK UP AND TO THE RIGHT.  Or just look under Blogroll, whatever suits you.  One thing for sure, it’s on the right! RIGHT. 

Check out the album of my work in India and again, leave your feedback.  Shukriya! (Thank you in Hindi)