Beirut, Lebanon - Until now, I thought of refugee camps mostly as short-term, makeshift communities serving people who are temporarily displaced—images of canvas tents stamped with blue UNHCR logos and lots of bags of rice come to mind. I understood that even in these temporary refugee settlements, life goes on. Schools are established so children can continue (or start) formal schooling. Health clinics are set up to meet primary healthcare needs. Formal and informal systems help separated families become reunited. I also knew that some refugee camps are operational for much longer than a few weeks or a few months. Here, babies are born. Refugees practice their trades within the camp community. A school term passes, and then another.

Now that I’m beginning to learn the field and have had the opportunity to visit some camps, I’m keenly aware that the situation is quite complex. In Lebanon, and with the decades-long, ongoing struggle of Palestinian displacement, the situation is especially so. Lebanon is home to roughly 422,000 registered Palestinian refugees, and many more who are unregistered. Here, the refugee camps have become long-term, semi-permanent communities whose residents have been there for decades and over generations. Read more

Gurgaon, India - In our World Café session today at the GGI (Grassroots Girls Initiative)/GFC Knowledge Exchange, small groups discussed various issues relating to improving the lives of adolescent girls. My group discussed the skills and tools necessary for adolescent girls to be able to transform their lives. The notion of agency, or self-direction, is critical to this goal. In early discussion, the key elements of this type of empowerment were easily identified: education; economic empowerment; life skills (such as decision making, self-awareness, and self-confidence); reproductive health information, knowledge, services, and supplies; independent mobility; and knowledge of rights.

Additionally, a social network of peers and “navigators” provides a needed source for support, security, and nurturing, while also mitigating the isolation too often encountered by girls of low social status in their families and communities—such as child brides, girls in domestic work, out-of school girls, rural girls, and young mothers. In this context, my colleagues and I also discussed the importance of role models and mentors to provide vision and a sense of possibility. In all settings, but especially in culturally or socially restrictive environments, supporters and champions are equally necessary, providing a safety net so the girls know that “someone’s got their back.” Read more

Gurgaon, India - Today was the first day of the Grassroots Girls Initiative Knowledge Exchange. Bringing together 22 grantee partners from eight countries, this three-day workshop is exploring best practices in reaching and serving adolescent girls. While GFC Knowledge Exchange workshops are typically conducted within one region, this one brings together groups from both Africa and South Asia. It’s an impressive geographic spread—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Zambia. Yet when these groups speak about their individual work with adolescent girls, the language and experiences are quite similar—early marriage, HIV/AIDS, sexual abuse, early pregnancy. Even the participants seem somewhat surprised by the commonality of experience from countries and cultures so far from their own.

While it is early in the workshop, I am already impressed by the fast and strong bonds developing between people who have never met before. I was equally surprised today to see how naturally disparate people found quick affinities. In an introductory exercise, an older Indian nonprofit leader of a certain grandmotherly age expressed her newfound friendship with a young Nigerian professional woman. Shadija from Bangladesh and Paul from Zambia traded tips on working with HIV-positive teens—they were way ahead of schedule, since that conversation is scheduled for tomorrow. Read more

Cape Town, South Africa — In Cape Town, in the shadow of the gorgeous Table Mountain, fine dining, luxury shopping, and proximity to the vineyards are what most tourists encounter. No doubt, it is gorgeous. But the other reality of Cape Town is not far away. As I rode through the downtown area, escorted by Gerry Smit, of GFC grantee partner New Life Community Projects, we headed past the train station to the neighborhood of Uitsig, where a very different picture unfolded.

It is here, from renovated shipping containers serving as offices, that New Life Community Projects runs its operations serving street children in this disadvantaged community. In Uitsig, the houses are small and cramped. A field of latrines spread across an empty lot. Gerry pointed out a drug house and told us that methamphetamine sales are contributing to a neighborhood drug epidemic. A local mechanic was murdered, stabbed to death in an attempted robbery, on the block where we stood. The local gangsters own the streets. Read more

Cape Town, South Africa — South Africa hosts the World Cup in 2010, and with 365 days until the big event, the energy in South Africa is already palpable. This will be the first time that the world’s greatest soccer match will be held on the African continent. That milestone is combined with South Africa’s eagerness to show itself—and its democracy—to the world, 15 years after the end of apartheid. There is a tagline here for local products and businesses, together with a colorful logo; it simply states, “Proudly South African.” And indeed, there is a pride and a swagger to many of the people I’ve encountered here.

Yesterday, I met with Elena Meyer, a South African Olympic medalist and a world record holder in distance running. She speaks with great pride about South Africa and also about her commitment to give back to her country by contributing what she knows best. She is using her retirement from professional sports to start running clubs at schools in townships, through which children in grades five through eight run one kilometer per day. She tells me that the program coaches note improved self-discipline, structure, and increased focus among club members. She also tells me that the kids report being “cleverer.” “And if you feel cleverer, you are cleverer,” she says, with a twinkle in her eye. Read more