We are making great progress preparing for our October journey to Axim, Ghana. The spirit was alive and well as the 15 delegates, coordinators and trainers came together for the first time in Mt. Vernon, on July 11th. They learned more about the mission of the organization and plans for the orphanage and community center. We are delighted to have a very capable, creative and committed group, who are now beginning to network and brainstorm as they prepare for this transformative journey.

In Ghana, Traditional Development Chief and entrepreneur James Kainyiah and the board of the WCHH have received all the applications and resumes from our delegates, and are working to match them with Ghanaian delegates. Our hosts have specifically asked for assistance in the areas of HIV/AIDS education, development of women’s businesses, education, the purchase of new mattresses for the local hospital and an internet café. We are on track for supporting these goals. For example, our education group will focus on developing ongoing relationships with Todd Beamer School in Tacoma. Teacher Jackie Jamieson hopes to go home with pen- pals and plans for further exchanges with her school. She will be writing curriculum for her social studies classes based on her experiences.

Meanwhile, delegates are finding creative ways to share the ideals of GCJ while raising awareness and funds. Imagine making 100 dozen tamales and netting $1000! Or, if you happen to have an alpaca herd, you could make a $500 donation to GCJ and get the breeding services of prize stud alpaca “Marlon Brando.”

Stay tuned as we, together with the Axim community, further refine our commonly derived goals and bring our collective wisdom to a greater good for all.

From Barbara Gilday, Maryanne Ward and Rich Ward, Co-Coordinators, GCJ Ghana

Learn more about Ghana 2006.
Download a delegate application.

Stay tuned for Sweet Crude--the story of the Niger Delta captured on film for the first time. Several GCJ alums from the Nigeria 2005 journey are returning to the Delta with a film crew led by videographer Sandy Cioffi, who documented our 2005 trip. The film is being produced by Seattle-based Verite Coffee. The group leaves soon and will spend about a month filming in Nigeria.

The GCJ alums are going as volunteers, paying their own way and giving their time to the project. They're currently raising funds to help cover expenses. Why not be part of this groundbreaking film by supporting them? There are some cool thank-you gifts and there’s even a level that gets you a spot in the film credits.

Learn more about the film and how you can help.

As Global Citizen Journey continues to evolve and grow, we are forming a Steering Committee to guide us. We currently have 12 members, all very talented and bringing various gifts to help GCJ become a viable organization. These gifts include international training, citizen diplomacy, project and business planning, marketing and more. We are beginning to identify and address the issues and challenges of building a solid GCJ infrastructure infused with heart and soul and find ourselves excited to be involved with such meaningful work.

We started our last meeting with a “Back from the Future” dialogue to help new members get a sense of the history and vision of GCJ. This dialogue included a vision of a Global Citizen Journey University, with projects linking communities everywhere. Then we began matching our gifts and talents with GCJ’s needs. A lively planning process using Dynamic Facilitation ensued. Through this process we affirmed our commitment to being a Living Learning Laboratory and discovered a need to develop research to track and give feedback to maximize our learnings in every phase of our journeys – before, during and after. We left energized and inspired to work on specific actions to move us forward including surveying our inaugural Nigerian delegates, refining the vision/mission statement and drafting a budget.

There is much to do and your talents are welcome! Please join us at our next meeting on August 1. Contact Susan Partnow (susan@globalcitizenjourney.org) for time and place.

From Marilyn Saunders, Steering Committee Chair and Susan Partnow, Executive Director

There are both good signs and challenging news in the last few months from the Niger Delta. Tensions in the Delta continue, primarily between the ethnic youth, the military and oil company personnel. This has exacerbated fears of a resumption of intertribal conflict. Significant efforts are being made made on many fronts to reduce these tensions. In mid-July, a series of community meetings occurred in Warri between Ijaw and Itsekiri delegations from the Escravos region near the library built by GCJ. This was the first time since the cessation of the 7-year Warri Crisis that these two groups met for in-depth dialogue. The meetings were hosted and facilitated by our Nigerian partner, Joel Bisina. The meetings were successful, and both parties have agreed to continue regular discussions.

Similarly, efforts are underway to create an opportunity for dialogue between the Nigerian military forces in Warri and the militant youth from the riverine area. Chevron Nigeria continues its efforts towards working with the ethnic groups in the area to plan and fund ongoing infrastructure development, and Shell Petroleum is beginning to develop a process for systemic community engagement. Next spring’s presidential elections may create an opportunity for Niger Deltans to have broader representation at the national level for the first time.

We have recently learned that the message of empowerment brought by Global Citizen Journey has had a surprisingly broad impact on the region, especially with the youth. Our grassroots model of partnership has motivated regional groups to ask governmental entities why it is that a small volunteer nonprofit from the U.S. can create a beautiful library – on time and on budget – yet well-funded government projects continue to be unsuccessful. GCJ is thrilled to know we have inspired greater government accountability, and to know that we are considered one of the most trusted groups in the region.

From Mary Ella Keblusek, Nigeria Project Director

The Niger Delta Friendship Library continues to flourish. As we had hoped, the library has attracted a broad level of attention and outside investment. The most significant to date is from the UK Dept for Int’l Development (DFID), who recently place a large grant with our NGO partner NIDPRODEV. The grant is funding a new project called STAND (Strengthening Accountability and Transparency in the Niger Delta) which will bring internet connectivity and computer training to villages throughout the riverine part of the Delta. The pilot locations for the project are the library in Oporoza and a new structure being built in a neighboring Itsekiri village. One interesting aspect to the project is that representatives of the library’s Board of Trustees, which was entrusted by GCJ with oversight on all library operations, has been involved in high-level meetings in Abuja to help determine how best to implement the project. The DFID funders have been impressed that the Board has both Ijaw and Itsekiri members, which will help ensure the success of both parts of the pilot project.

In addition, more books continue to be sent to the library. Six boxes of books have been carefully chosen to fill gaps remaining in the library’s holdings. the books are boxed up and ready to send, awaiting donations to cover shipping expenses. Each box costs $75 to ship to the Delta. If you would like to contribute to getting these books into the hands of the villagers, you can make a donation on our web site or send a check to GCJ. Please specify "Book Shipping."

From Mary Ella Keblusek, Nigeria Project Director

When Global Citizen Journey delegates were in Oporoza last year, several of us had the opportunity to meet with a group of women from the village and surrounding communities. They eloquently spoke of the needs in their villages. From this meeting, a sub-group of delegates, American and Nigerian, got to work to explore the idea of establishing a mcrocredit project as a way to spur economic development in the area.

This has led us to the creation of the Puget Sound-Niger Delta Microcredit Project. Currently we have raised $8,000 in foundation grants and individual contributions to get the project started.

From Peter Titcomb, GCJ alum

Read the full story here.

In our April newsletter we wrote about future GCJ Burundian host Prosper Ndabishuriye's dire circumstances and threat of re-imprisonment due to fraudulent promises from a now-defunct U.S. nonprofit. We are pleased to report things are looking up. Prosper is currently in the U.S. on a West Coast fundraising tour. He's seeking speaking opportunities in California and Oregon.

Get the details.