The GCJ Ghana delegates were sent off in style October 11th, with a festive Seattle gathering that included guest drummers and a Ghanaian dance lesson. They arrived in Accra October 25th, joining trip leaders Barbara Gilday, Maryanne & Rich Ward and Susan Partnow, who had gone ahead to finalize arrangements.

Check out their adventures and follow the journey by reading their blog.

Learn more about Ghana 2006.

After filming in Nigeria for the month of August, the documentary Sweet Crude is now in post-production and gearing up for a 2007 release. For director Sandy Cioffi and the GCJ alum crew volunteering with the film, the project has taken on a purpose well beyond the making of a movie. They hope it will be a mechanism for awareness, education, and action – and a catalyst for change.

The group has been working hard to get the word out about the increasingly volatile and urgent situation in the Niger Delta. Sandy's interview on NPR Marketplace this week is raising visibility and the group is reaching out to a large network of NGOs and U.S. legislators to bring attention to the issues.

Listen to the Marketplace interview.
Read the Seattle Times article.

In addition, the group is helping to bring desperately needed medical attention to Niger Delta children. It started with a visit to the village of Benekrukru, where they met a young girl who had been burned in a fire a year ago. Despite severe injuries and unimaginable pain, Esther had received no medical care. The group decided to donate funds to get Esther and her mother to Warri so she could be seen by a doctor. Kendra, one of the alum group, and Helen, a Nigerian friend who had been helping with translation for the film, were to meet and accompany them to the hospital. They arrived with two other children in tow who also needed medical help. Through Kendra's and Helen's dedication, continued contact and additional funding, all three children have made progress. Their stories will be told in detail in a soon-to-be added "More than a movie" page on the Sweet Crude web site. The group hopes to continue this healthcare assistance on an ongoing basis.

Learn more about the film, the situation in the Delta and how you can help.

GCJ is "featured philanthropic"
GCJ was the featured philanthropic organization for September on the Sacred Visitations web site and executive director Susan Partnow was interviewed. Read all about it and listen to the podcast here.

Report from steering committee chair Marilyn Saunders
We are continuing work on the GCJ mission statement. Our challenge is to convey all that we do in a short statement that communicates. Stay tuned!

A survey is being conducted of the Ghana delegates so that we can document our experiences, grow our collective wisdom and continue to be a living learning laboratory.

Our next meeting will be mid-November. We welcome people who are attracted to GCJ and want to be part of building this new and already influential organization. Contact Marilyn Saunders (msaunders[at]whidbey.net) for more information.

Journey to Pakistan in the works
GCJ newcomer Pat Adams is exploring the possibility of a trip to Pakistan. "This country is rich in history and Islam," he says. "We have a great opportunity to bring distant parts of the world and distant cultures together. Where distance sometimes breeds mistrust, we have a chance to bring closeness, respect and appreciation."

Pat is looking to veterans of the Nigeria and Ghana journeys to share stories about how they chose their partners and projects and what about them worked or didn't work so well. "I'm looking for stories," he says, "because often they hold an intuitive wisdom that can be missing from objective comment."

In our July issue, we reported that some GCJ alums had begun research and fundraising for a microlending program in Oporoza and surrounding communities.

We're pleased to announce the program is up and running. When Kendra and Leslye were in Nigeria with Sweet Crude in August, they had a chance to personally interview the group's first-choice partner for the venture – the Erikpo Community Bank in Warri.

Their credentials, experience and track record are impressive. Before disbursing loans, they offer in-depth training in bookkeeping, marketing, business and leadership development. Their approach is well thought out, encouraging women to build community as well as businesses – emphasizing empowerment and responsibility.

The first meeting with the women is being planned now, with training to begin immediately. It's especially exciting to be kicking off this project the year the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded.

The Niger Delta has found a special place in the hearts of many local teenagers in the Marysville area. Ryan Hauck, Social Studies teacher and Department Chair at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, located north of Seattle, participated in the original delegation to Nigeria in November. Compelled to create a real-life link between his students and those in the Niger Delta, Ryan went back to the village of Oporoza during his spring break to pursue the development of a sister-school relationship.

Ryan feels this is a great opportunity for students clear across the globe to learn more about each other’s cultures – to recognize that our lives are more interconnected than we realize, that our similarities outweigh our differences, and that ordinary citizens can have a positive impact on the lives of others.

Since that time, students have been passionately involved in the following activities:

• Raising money to have the village school painted (inside and out) and installing white-boards over the traditional chalk boards.
• Donating resources for the school and the library.
• Donating a wheelchair for a disabled student in the community so he could more easily get to school during the rainy season.
• Donating and collecting soccer gear – jerseys, cleats, balls, etc. for the school and the village soccer teams (also supported by local community soccer clubs in Snohomish County).
• Corresponding with students via email.
• Putting together a school assembly that will focus on the Niger Delta and people of Oporoza.

In addition to student-to-student projects, Ryan has been working with local teachers in the village on professional development such as curriculum, methods of teaching, using diverse resources and assessment practices.

c. Great Britain