Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Maggie Doyne
Mendham, NJ: Maggie took off after high school to see the world and when she was trekking through the Himalayas, she stumbled upon hundreds of kids living in the streets, orphaned by years of human rights violations and war. Maggie knew she could stay and make a difference in these childrens' lives, granting them the rights that every child around the world should have. She built and now runs Kopila Valley Children's Home in Nepal, housing these innocent victims and saving them from lives of instability and hunger.
Through her work, Maggie has given shelter to 24 kids, sent 60 others to school, and assisted in the placement of over 700 orphans in the region. She has tackled human rights issues in the region, improving the lives of children affected by violence, child labor, sex trafficking, and poverty.
Volunteer projects
BlinkNow.org- Kopila Valley Children's Project
Submitted by maggiedoyne on Sat, 02/28/2009 - 08:09.
Last updated on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 17:50.
Vital Stats
Project Type: ongoing project
Start Date: 06/01/2006
People Impacted: 5000
People Involved: 15000
Money Raised: $161,000
Project Photos
Project Video
The Problem
After my senior year of high school, as my friends were heading off to college, my parents dropped me off at Newark Airport where I boarded a plane and set off to travel the world. It was just me and my backpack on my first solo trip away from home. Four countries and 20,000 miles later, I was trekking through the Himalayas in war-torn Nepal, where I began to meet hundreds of orphan children. I fell in love with their bright eyes and beautiful smiles, but was shocked to see them barely surviving without the most basic things that I had grown up with as a child. As I shared my dream to build a safe home for these children, with my hometown in Mendham, NJ, I was astounded by the outpouring of support. In January of 2008 I officially opened the front door of Kopila Valley Children's Home, built brick-by-brick, by me and the local community in Nepal. There are now twenty children living in our home. We have been able to enroll sixty children into school, facilitate life-changing operations for children in need, and create a village outreach program to improve schools in remote areas. I truly believe that if every child in the world is provided with their most basic needs and rights—a safe home, medical care, an education, and love, they will grow to be leaders and end cycles of poverty and violence in our world. I have grown and learned more in the past two years than I could have ever imagined and created The BlinkNow Foundation (blinknow.org) to share my ideas with other young people, especially children in the U.S. I believe that in the blink of an eye, we can all make a difference. As young people in this world we are truly limitless! There is so much to do. Please join me—lets “do something,” together! Love from Nepal, Maggie
Why It's Important
Our home is located in a small trading-post city at the foothills of the Himalayas. Most local villagers work as subsistence farmers, small shopkeepers, and laborers. Our home was built FOR and BY the local community. In fact, over 250 members from the community have taken part in construction. Our team included community architects, masons, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and many local village women who carried the materials and worked to build the actual house itself. When you walk through the front gate at Kopila Valley Children’s Home it doesn't feel like a typical "orphanage." I always stress that this is a "children's home" and it’s important to me that it feels just like any other home of any healthy and loving family anywhere. When I found and met the children who are now living in my home, they were living in desperate conditions. Most of our girls had been sold and were working as domestic servants in other peoples’ homes, or in small roadside hotels. None of our children had been to school, some had been abused, and most lived their lives not knowing when the next meal would come. On top of this they had had to cope with the loss of their parents, siblings, and family members. Some had witnessed war, others only knew a life on the streets. None of the children I accept into our home have parents. Kopila Valley Children’s Home is located in Surkhet, Nepal in the mid-western border region. War, widespread disease and extreme poverty has left an estimated 45,000 orphan children left to fend for themselves in Nepal. Thousands of children are homeless, deprived of education, basic medical care, clean water and healthy food, and are often times sold into child labor. NGOs, (non-government organizations) peace organizations, government officials and resident villagers working in the midwestern border region of Nepal agree that one of the biggest issues facing Nepal is the lack of facilities, education, and medical treatment for destitute children.
The Plan Of Action
Kopila Valley Children's Home has been operating for over one year. There are 25 children living in the home and 60 children have been enrolled into school through our Kopila Outreach Program. We have also provided life changing medical support for 15 children in our local community. Our children have already learned to read and write. Many of our girls will be the first women from their village to become literate. Most of our children will be the first members from their family to attend primary school. In our home we have our own garden where we grow much of our own food for consumption. We also have 8 chickens, 4 goats, and a cow. The children all take part in the running of the household and have gained these practical skills as well. They have even begun to learn to sew their own clothing and cook daily meals. Many of them have seen things like running water, toilets, light switches, soap and shampoo for the first time in their lives. We run an after school tutoring program where by older children from the community come by to help younger children with their school work. At night our house also runs on solar energy. The children are learning what it means to love and care for the environment by composting and hosting village clean-ups in our neighborhood and local park. I have grown and learned more in the past two years than I could have ever imagined and created The BlinkNow Foundation (blinknow.org) to share my ideas with other young people, especially children in the U.S. I believe that in the blink of an eye, we can all make a difference. As young people in this world we are truly limitless!
How Can Others Get Involved?
Website: http://www.blinknow.org/">http://www.blinknow.org/
Please see the how you can help page on our website. Thanks! http://maggiedoyne.squarespace.com/how-you-can-help
Project Updates
David Burstein: Political Activism
Weston, CT: In 2004, David was watching the presidential election with his friends, and noticed that the big news story of the night was the absence of young voters at the polls. Disappointed, David resolved to find out why young people weren't voting and rally young people across the U.S. to get politically active. He launched the only youth-run, national multi-media initiative for young voter registration, contributing to the highest registration of 18-22 year-old voters in history. His film, 18 in '08' helped him to register, engage, and mobilize an entire generation of young people.
Learn more about 18 in 08
Ways to get Involved in 18 in '08
* Host a movie screening of 18 in ’08 at your school
* Volunteer for 18 in '08
About Youth Voting and Political Activism
Young people have long been getting a bad reputation for being unaware and apathetic when it comes to politics, but this year young people voted by the millions to do something about this perception. They rallied other young voters and took to the polls to shatter this image.
In 2008, youth voter turnout in the primaries and caucuses leading up to the presidential election almost doubled compared to the 2000 primary season. This year, youth voter turnout rose for the third consecutive presidential election. 23 million people under the age of 30 votes--that’s 3.4 million more young people than the last election!
There are lots of ways to flex your political muscle besides voting in presidential election: being a savvy citizen means being aware of political issues year-round and taking part in elections on a local level too. And, if you take an interest in what’s going on Capital Hill now, you’ll be much more in-the-know when the next election comes around.
Ways to take action
* Register to vote
* Get involved in local politics
* Start a politics club at your school
Darius Weems: Disability Rights
Darius Weems: Disability Rights
Athens, GA - At 15 Darius left his home in Georgia for the first time in pursuit of his dream of getting his wheelchair “pimped.” He became an award-winning documentarian in the process. Darius Goes West has brought the the issue of disability rights to the national stage and has raised $1.6 million for DMD research. Part of Darius’ mission on his cross country journey was to test wheelchair accessibility across America. His findings are relayed poignantly in a scene at a roadside gas station where he repeatedly crashes his wheelchair into the curbside, but to no avail. His frustration is loud and deep.
Learn more about Darius Goes West
Ways to get involved with Darius Goes West:
* Host a screening of the documentary “Darius Goes West”
* Join the DGW forum at www.dariusgoeswest.org/forum
About Disability Rights
Across the U.S., 2.7 million people ages 15 and older use a wheelchair. Another 9.1 million need the help of a cane, crutches or walker to get around. Inspired by the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movement, the Disability Rights movement began in the late 1960’s. The most important legislation to come out of the movement was the 1990 enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act which prohibits discrimination based on disability. But stereotyping of people with disabilities as citizens who don’t contribute to society and are dependent on others remains common, and physical access remains an ongoing need.
Ways to take action
* Speak up when someone speaks negatively or reinforces stereotypes about people with disabilities.
* Learn disability etiquette and school your friends too!
Jessica Assaf
2006 Award Winners
Jessica Assaf 16 San Rafael, CA
http://www.teens4sc.org
Jessica was shocked to learn that many personal care products contain chemicals that have been linked to cancer and reproductive ailments. Working with the Teens for Safe Cosmetics Campaign, Jessica created "Operation Beauty Drop" during which large bins were placed in public malls for teenagers to drop off their toxic beauty products. The collected products were sent back to the manufacturers with a petition signed by the teens demanding the reformulation of products without toxic chemicals. As support for Jessica’s program grew, so did her belief that she could institute change on a larger scale and in individuals' lives. With four of her friends, Jessica lobbied senators and the California governor's office to pass SB484, a bill that requires cosmetics manufacturers to inform the Department of Health Services if their products contain carcinogens or other toxic substances. After the successful and unexpected passage of SB484 on October 7, 2005, she organized a Teens for Safe Cosmetics Summit educating teens from around the country on how to conduct their own safe cosmetic campaigns. Over thirty students took part in the workshops and began their own projects in their communities.
2007 Award Winners
Erica Fernandez 16 Oxnard, CA
When Erica found out that a liquefied natural gas facility was proposed for the coast of Oxnard and Malibu with a 36-inch pipeline routed through low-income neighborhoods, she was outraged. She worked in concert with the Sierra Club and Latino No on LNG group to mobilize the youth and Latino voice in protests and public meetings. She organized weekly protests at the BHP Billiton offices in Oxnard, met regularly with community members, marched through neighborhoods that would be most impacted, reached out to the media, and brought more than 250 high school students to a critical rally. Her passionate testimony at the California State Lands Commission meeting was quoted in news articles, and helped convince the Commission to vote to deny the project. Next, she helped convince the California Coastal Commission to vote 12-0 against the project, and worked on a letter writing and phone call campaign to the Governor asking him to veto the project, just as the commissioners did. Erica’s community organizing and dogged determination played a crucial role in helping her community to resist a multinational billion-dollar corporation.
Timothy DenHerder-Thomas 21
2008 Award Winners
Timothy DenHerder-Thomas 21 St. Paul, MN
Timothy demonstrated that climate solutions are bold opportunities for economic profit and community building as opposed to personal sacrifices. He spearheaded the creation of the Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF) at Macalester College, a student-designed financial pool for campus initiatives that funds profitable sustainability projects that repay and grow the fund. It has empowered students to generate innovative projects, saving the campus hundreds of tons of carbon and tens of thousands of dollars annually. Beyond campus, Timothy helped to create Cooperative Energy Futures, a cooperative company that fosters community-level innovation and entrepreneurship around climate solutions. Viewing the climate crisis as a societal design challenge offering vast opportunities for economic innovation, Timothy has helped convene labor groups, non-profits, local business, St. Paul officials, and students in designing a sustainable, mixed-use development plan for the site of a soon-to-close Ford factory. He has also supported other students' leadership in creating Macalester's EcoHouse, building social networking systems for the climate movement, and forming a state network of youth climate leaders. In his own words, Timothy constantly "seeks to convince people that climate solutions are opportunities for innovation that demonstrate the clear benefits to a sustainable future."
Adarsha Shivakumar 16
2009 Award Winners
After demonstrating the conversion of Jatropha seeds into biofuel, Adarsha redistributed the biofuel so that farmers could test it on their irrigation pumps. The results were clear: the biofuel burned cleaner and worked smoother than the diesel that had previously been used. Armed with this knowledge, farmers set about planting the 1,000 Jatropha seedlings Adarsha had purchased for them using the money he earned by winning the 2006 CA spelling bee.
“Carbon dioxide emissions are local, but their effects are global. Though this project is located in India, it is hoped that it will spearhead a movement that will eventually help mitigate global warming from CO2 emission and decrease the dependence on fossil fuels.” Recently, Project Jatropha expanded its operations and distributed 13,000 seedlings to a wider base of interested farmers.
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