Mobilizing in Ghana

Marlee Furman is a member of the Board of Directors. She is currently part of a refugee aid team operating in Ghana.

Hey out there! (and if you were here, we would shake hands, pull each other's middle fingers, and snap…as is the standard greeting)

Amongst the heavy rain and deafening thunder, this week has been full of various activities and accompanying emotions. Everything is still a little jumbled in my head, and I am reaching the stage where things are starting to come together and I am grasping the concept of what it all means. I will tell you some disjointed stories I have come across.

Last week, some of the volunteers took the kids up to the "fee" (i.e. field) to kick around a soccer ball and throw some frisbees. One girl, about 5 years old, carried her little brother, 8 months old, up the hill and asked me to hold him while she played. I thought it was only fair to give her a rest from looking after her brother so she could run around. For about an hour, I held the boy while talking to the rest of the kids and tossing the frisbee. Sure enough, I went to hand the boy back to the girl, and I had one big pee stain all over the front of my shirt! It was funny at the time, but looking back, I realized I have seen very few children with diapers. Obviously little kids cannot control themselves, so it wouldn't be surprising if they often went to the bathroom on or near themselves, therefore spreading disease like wildfire. What we think of as basic hygiene just doesn't exist. The vast majority of establishments on camp do not have a toilet. A dumpster to dispose of any type of waste can be as far away as a 15-20 minute walk to areas that are dangerous at night.

The amount of disease on camp is out of control. Just yesterday I was walking down the road and saw a kid bent over on all fours coughing up mucus. This is a common cough we have been hearing around camp, and we are afraid TB may be floating around. It's hard to diagnose anything with only 5-7 doctors on the entire 42,000 person camp. At night we often sit around reading various travel health books to help identify things that kids approach us with. Ringworm has also had a consistent presence lately. The boy that lives next to us has these awful looking flaky rings on his scalp. And the other day we had a mother bring her little boy by who had a cut on his head (from when she shaved the boy's head to, ironically, keep it clean) that got infected. Keeping in mind that most people use the same bathwater, from free wells on camp, if there is a water-born disease spreading…chances are an epidemic is about to happen. This happened a couple of months ago when a lot of people on camp came up with cholera. It's unfortunate that I have a gut feeling of hesitation when I go to hug the children or pick them up because of the fear that I may catch something. Every time I enter the house, I go to eat, before and after I go to the bathroom, I need to scrub my hands clean. Even after showers, I never feel clean. This is an issue that we deal with every minute of the day, but certain precautions are becoming second nature and you learn how to make your interactions with the kids safe, but simultaneously natural and nurturing.

Sometimes I forget the non-visible horrors that follow people when they flee their home country. People are not only striving day by day to survive, but they also must deal with traumas of their past and attempting to think about their futures. One man came to one of the volunteers asking for help the other night, showing him some sort of police report. The volunteer inquired a little more about the story, and it turns out that the man who approached him is a Liberian who hadhis entire family killed in the war and he fled here for safety. Turns out the rebel who was responsible for killing his family in Liberia also fled here. The rebel recognized the man, chased him with knives, and now the man sleeps with friends out of fear the rebel will find him at night. We are still brainstorming on if and how we can help this man. Unfortunately, sometimes the hardest part is acknowledging the fact that there is nothing you can do.

In general, there has been a constant asking problem lately that the volunteers have been discussing in our meetings. Although I was asked a lot when I first got here, I have not yet faced very difficult asks because I am still forming relationships with people. But most of the volunteers are asked by their colleagues that they work closely with for money for food, rent, medicine, etc. It is incredibly difficult to stay the course and give blanket no's. Often volunteers findthemselves giving, then word gets out that they give, and magically there are more and more asks. It is a vicious cycle and takes a united cold hearted approach to stop it.
Sometimes there are situations that cannot afford to be turned away. Last week, a girl named Beneta, came up to one of the volunteers, Liz, and told her that she had taken blue tablets and wanted to kill herself. Beneta became too weak to walk, and she was eventually wheel barrowed to the top of camp to the UNHCR clinic. Liz stayed with Beneta for hours while the drugs wore off and her family came to the clinic. This is an incredibly long and detailed story, but basicallyBeneta is 15 years old, is not in school, lives with her aunt (the rest of the family is in Liberia), prostitutes to get money, and has been starting to influence some of the other girls around the house.The next night, she came back to Liz saying she had taken three more tablets and still wanted to kill herself. Lucky for me, Beneta requested to speak to me. Through much talking and maneuvering, we got her to give us the tablets and agree that she would make it through the weekend so she could think clearly without the drugs.

That night Erin, our coordinator, found a mental hospital in Accra that would accept Beneta if she was in danger of overdosing and provide her with psychological services. Beneta agreed to go to the hospital and we took the 90 minute taxi ride there. Sure enough, we get to the hospital and the workers had gone on strike that afternoon. Yup, they locked the patients in the ward, and walked off. Exhausted and flustered in this overly exasperated situation, we calmly took the taxi back to camp and decided to seek out services on camp. As of yet, our luck has been minimal, but we are still trying to construct a program of our own to help Beneta turn her life onto the right path.

From under the mosquito net,
Marlee

The end of the beginning...

Youth06. It’s a cool name, a good idea, and an awesome initiative. It suggests that we, the youngest generation of American voters, can make anyone who runs for office this year accountable to us.

We held a conference call yesterday, a few of our newest members got a chance to talk to other Mobilizers about their plans for the fall: galvanizing the youth vote, building coalitions, and getting in contact with the people who want our votes.

The ballot box is great, it’s the symbol of our democracy and of our rights, but it is only a symbol. Elections don’t happen every day, and campaigns only run for a few months. We need a movement that makes constant progress.

Youth06 is fifty teams strong, it is pockets of civically minded youths uniting under one name, once concept, and many goals. Some of us want to make college scholarships more competitive, others want to unionize workers, still more fight for tuition remission: this is truly an explosion of youth empowerment.

Many of our most active Mobilizers are actively pursuing a noble cause: the completion of another academic school year. For some, it will be for the last time–for others, the fall will bring the beginnings of a college career.

The fall will bring something to all of us, though: a chance ignite a flame, one that flared in 2004, when we saw the biggest surge of youth voters in over a decade. We have goals in 06, things we would like to see changed, and those changes are enhanced by one thing: the notion that we will actualize our desires, that we will flex our political muscle. There is a lot to be excited about, and there is so much more to do.

Visit www.mobilize.org/youth06 to read more, or contact Maya Enista (at maya@mobilize.org) if you want to DO more.

DP

Safe haven in the big city

DC is a very busy place. It is spring break for most schools across the country, so there are families everywhere (not to mention the thousands of 8th graders on their annual school trips). Amid the hustle and bustle of the city, I found my way to the quiet little office with all of the people I know so well: the Mobilize.org HQ.

The office is in an impressive looking building in a bustling area of the city. Upstairs in the Common Cause office, though, it is a bit more friendly and welcoming. Only two rooms house the big ideas.

I’m in DC for a reason. I’m coming to college here next year at GW, majoring in Political Communication. Maybe I’m a bit biased, but I think that there is nothing more important to politics than communication. And it is a two-way street. Not only must the politician communicate with the people, but the people must communicate with the politician. And I mean ALL of the people, regardless of age.

Mobilize.org has just started the Youth06 Initiative, which is going to allow people our age to do just that; communicate with their politicians. The idea is that we can open up a dialogue with a politician and see where he or she stands on the issues most important to us. We can also urge the politician to get behind issues that we favor, like a new federal student aid program.

Youth06 is part of local politics, too. Maybe your town needs a better after-school program for the elementary school kids, or funding for a new library at the high school. Youth06 is bringing the people back to the politics. It is giving all of us voices so that we can tell politicians what we want to see happen in OUR country.

Take a minute and check out the Youth 06 part of the site. It’s the simple idea that can make a difference. And, if you’re ever in DC, be sure you check out the Mobilize.org office. It’s a little safe haven in a big, bustling city.

For more info on Youth06, visit here: http://www.mobilize.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=497&parentID=487&nodeID=1

HD

(Hope Ditto is a mobilizer from San Clemente, CA).

DC is a very busy place. It is spring break for most schools across the country, so there are families everywhere (not to mention the thousands of 8th graders on their annual school trips). Amid the hustle and bustle of the city, I found my way to the quiet little office with all of the people I know so well: the Mobilize.org HQ.

The office is in an impressive looking building in a bustling area of the city. Upstairs in the Common Cause office, though, it is a bit more friendly and welcoming. Only two rooms house the big ideas.

I’m in DC for a reason. I’m coming to college here next year at GW, majoring in Political Communication. Maybe I’m a bit biased, but I think that there is nothing more important to politics than communication. And it is a two-way street. Not only must the politician communicate with the people, but the people must communicate with the politician. And I mean ALL of the people, regardless of age.

Mobilize.org has just started the Youth06 Initiative, which is going to allow people our age to do just that; communicate with their politicians. The idea is that we can open up a dialogue with a politician and see where he or she stands on the issues most important to us. We can also urge the politician to get behind issues that we favor, like a new federal student aid program.

Youth06 is part of local politics, too. Maybe your town needs a better after-school program for the elementary school kids, or funding for a new library at the high school. Youth06 is bringing the people back to the politics. It is giving all of us voices so that we can tell politicians what we want to see happen in OUR country.

Take a minute and check out the Youth 06 part of the site. It’s the simple idea that can make a difference. And, if you’re ever in DC, be sure you check out the Mobilize.org office. It’s a little safe haven in a big, bustling city.

For more info on Youth06, visit here: http://www.mobilize.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=497&parentID=487&nodeID=1

Delivering the Future

"Finding the future isn’t enough, you also have to deliver it"

Of all places to find that odd tidbit of inspiration, I found it while sitting on the floor of the B. Dalton book store in the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, reading a book entitled The Apple Way: 12 Management Lessons from the World’s Most Innovative Company.
It’s raining and I’m cold, but the above quote will keep a smile on my face, passion in my heart, and purpose in my words because it embodies exactly what Dave and I are doing in California, what the Mobilize staff in DC is working on, and what Mobilizers across the country demonstrate to their peers--we’re delivering the future.

It has been a week since we’ve been gone...and it’s been an unbelievably exciting one. I spent last Saturday in Memphis, TN doing a youth organizing training for people who could be teaching me (It was a challenging, rewarding, and inspiring experience, as always). Then it was off to Los Angeles and the all too comfortable bed of the Ditto family (our OC mobilizin’ headquarters). Our time in Los Angeles was brief, but packed. We met with Christian from Arsalyn, who is always looking to do new and empowering things for our nation’s youth, and the Liberty Hill Foundation, whose commitment to Los Angeles County is to be celebrated. We also had breakfast with Michael Davidson, a young man with a sense of humor that matches his sense of duty.

Our afternoon was spent in Long Beach, driving around with Bob Cabeza of the Long Beach YMCA. Expect big things from him and every young person that has the opportunity to work with him and the rest of the amazing staff of the Youth Institute. We traveled downtown to meet with Bill Mundell and his political team to hear about the strong coalition that he is building around ensuring fair and competitive elections in California and beyond.
We left Los Angeles the same way we found it: rainy, and drove up to darn near paradise, Paso Robles, to see Dave’s mom and to again sleep in a guest bed that I’ve become very comfortable with.

We were on the road at 5 am the next morning, looking forward to spending the next 2 days with Mr. Marston, a friend and mentor. Our time with Mr. Marston , as always, was positively challenging and further ignited our excitement and enthusiasm as he encouraged us to the strive to become the "better angels of nature." We saw a clever and witty play called The Rivals at the Geary Theater and I highly recommend both the play, and the company.

ME