During the last week of June I was in Haiti with a group of seventy people from all over the country. It was our 8th Annual Open Space meeting. They’re all impressive people—working hard for change in difficult circumstances. Click here to browse hundreds of great photos.

These meetings are a time of hope, joy and creativity, not to mention deep learning and trust building. Important work gets done. During the days small and large groups convene all around the guesthouse campus to address topics hot on people’s minds like “How Can Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) improve their/our impact” and “How we’re funding teachers’ salaries with social enterprises.” In the evenings we set up the projector and laptop and did Internet training, a session on self-evaluation, and viewed an exciting presentation about man-made lakes in Haiti that feed people (fish production) and reduce flooding.

Eric Graham, a retired Haitian and professional photographer has committed to participating in our meetings and taking pictures. In addition to having beautiful photographs his involvement also connects us to a wonderful initiative of Haiti’s private business sector called “Mwen Renmen Peyi m” (I Love My Country). Eric is a founding member and is making sure that there’s good cross-pollination between our networks.

There are so many exciting things happening. We couldn't be more grateful for the generous support and encouragement from so many.

ARE ORGANIZATIONS IN HAITI WORKING TOGETHER?

Each week I talk with various people from throughout the US who are somehow involved in Haiti. They contact Beyond Borders or me specifically by telephone or email knowing of our long history in Haiti. So often I hear, especially from people who have recently visited Haiti, “There’s all these organizations doing different things but nobody seems to be working together.”

Thanks to the good folks supporting our work and that of others who are promoting collaboration and an alternative approach to leadership and education, there are all kinds of organizations throughout Haiti working together to stretch resources and increase impact.

The most recent concrete example of this is the 3-year learning program that we’re launching this month for 40 Haitian teachers, community leaders, several members of international organizations (example: Save The Children and Concern Worldwide) and even a representative from Haiti’s Ministry of Education.

Our 3-year learning program, made possible through a generous grant from Vista-Hermosa Foundation, will bring these folks together three times a year over three years for training and will also make it possible for them to do exchange visits to see first hand one another’s work. As part of the training, they’ll be equipped with collaboration skills and tools. Click here to download the grant proposal describing the training.

APRIL HAITI TRIP

Click here to see photos from our time April trip.

The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500

Gary Hamel, the old management guru, has published an impressive description of the net
generation and the philosophy of Web 2.0. Below are his 12 points. There's a link at bottom to see his entire article.

The concepts he articulates are consistent with those of Open Space. In fact, Open Space meeting format and principles provide a concrete way to live into this new way of leadership, just as web 2.0 tools and applications do. Open Space is a way to do it when it's face to face.

Our work in Haiti, which is primarily face to face but supported online with emails, list serves, wikis (in past) and now Google Sites is about leapfrogging Haiti from archaic to innovative leadership notions and practices.

1. All ideas compete on an equal footing.
2. Contribution counts for more than credentials.
3. Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed.
4. Leaders serve rather than preside.
5. Tasks are chosen, not assigned.
6. Groups are self-defining and -organizing.
7. Resources get attracted, not allocated.
8. Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.
9. Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed.
10. Users can veto most policy decisions.
11. Intrinsic rewards matter most.
12. Hackers are heroes.

Click here to read article.

LEARNING BY DOING

I stepped into a researcher's world this week and had the great opportunity to participate with Jim Engle-Warnick, PhD, in conducting a decision-making experiment with human subject volunteers that tests the affect of participation on social learning. Learning By Doing is the name of the experiment. In particular, we're looking at the affect of social learning in preferences toward risk and ambiguity.

With this laboratory study, people have the opportunity to discuss decision-making problems that reveal their preferences. In one case people participate in their social learning experience and in the other case people view a past social learning experience.


This experiment is being conducted at CIRANO, a Montreal-based think tank, where Jim is a VP.

35 LAPTOPS TO HAITIAN EDUCATORS
An invitation to help us:



CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND CONTRIBUTE

INVITING YOUR HELP

Would you like to help us? We're trying to raise $30,000 for 35 or more laptops for key members of our network. These Haitians are teachers and community leaders who will go through a 3 year learning program with us. They come from parts throughout Haiti and are working with us to change the education and leadership paradigm in Haiti from one of extreme authoritarian to one of empowerment.

We're thankful to Mark Dowd and Steven Walchek of BrainPark for launching the fundraising effort for this critical project.

Click here to vote and to get involved haitiedu

What a blessing it is during these trying economic times to have so many people maintain their support.

I’m happy to report that a family foundation has just awarded us a $180,000 grant to be disbursed over the next three years.
These funds are going to help us increase the capacity of 35 key leaders in our network. 28 of them who do not already have a computer will receive a laptop and all 35 will participate in a 3-year learning program. They will also work with other groups to share their new knowledge. In the short term, this will result in over 100 additional schools, churches and organizations integrating these participative and empowering methods. In the long run, this will be another bold step toward our goal of establishing a new leadership and teaching paradigm in Haiti.

We are grateful for all who are a part of this work. Thanks to many good people, we are making significant progress even during these difficult times.

Happy New Year! Our country-wide network continues to grow and flourish in the midst of challenging circumstances—when 90% of people in Haiti are living on less than $2 a day.

My meetings with Haitian colleagues in late December were extremely productive. We are blessed to be working with such committed people.

Here are some photos of work being done in schools during the past several months.

In partnership with Concern Worldwide, our colleagues did open space meetings in 48 schools during the last two months. These meetings were organized so that parents could talk with teachers, which is very counterculture, about education of the students. It was an effort to integrate parents into the life of their children's school and to help them in the critical role they play in their children's formation. It was an opportunity to acknowledge and honor the parents as key stakeholders.


Virtually no schools in Haiti are free. Teachers are poorly paid and schools operate on shoestring budgets and are forced to close if fees are not paid. Often, parents failing to pay their children's school fees, which is very common, is more about feeling alienated by teachers and principal than it is about economic hardship.

Of the 48 schools, 29 are in remote areas. 19 are in a very poor neighborhood in Port au Prince, historically known for violence. There were more than 3,000 participants in all during the last two months. More than 12,000 children go to these schools. Thus far, the outcomes of these meetings are extremely positive. Some of the stories like parents feeling heard and paying past due fees on the spot are quite powerful.

Part of the strategy to integrate parents into the life of the school, encourage partnership between them and teachers and principal, and engage them more in their children's education also includes multiple sessions using our reflection circle method.

Here are pictures from one of the meetings that my co-worker Kent and I were a part of this past week.

In light of a multitude of hardships, our Haitian colleagues are playing an important role in shaping Haiti's future. Their work in hundreds of schools and organizations and with the involvement of many international organizations is rippling out. Without support from many good folks in the U.S. this wouldn't be possible.