Washington, DC — Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop, an outstanding DC-based GFC grantee partner since 2006, serves male juveniles who are charged and incarcerated as adults at the DC Jail. Of the boys that Free Minds works with, 92 percent are African American and 8 percent are Latino. On average, these 16- and 17-year-olds read at about the fifth-grade level, and most of them have already either dropped out of or disengaged from school. The majority come from crime-stricken, impoverished neighborhoods and have parents or other family members who have been incarcerated.

The Free Minds book club meets every week at the DC Jail, and any juvenile inmate who chooses to attend can participate. At the book club, they come together to discuss a work of contemporary literature—an exciting experience for youth who have often had little meaningful exposure to books. Last week, my colleague Vineeta Gupta (program officer for South Asia) and I were given the opportunity to attend a book club session in the jail. After the long, slow process of entering the jail, we finally made it to the book club—a room full of loud, excited, and engaged teenage boys. Had they not all been wearing orange jumpsuits, we wouldn’t have even known we were “on the inside.” Read more

Karjat, India It’s been nearly 20 years since I last went to summer camp, but it’s not difficult to pull up vivid memories of those childhood experiences, especially making new friends and bonding with them in such a way that there will always be something special, unique, and almost secret between us because we experienced camp together. Even the memories of sleeping in rooms full of bunk beds, waiting for what seemed like eternity for a turn in the bathroom, and following a strictly planned routine of activities and meals conjures up nostalgic feelings that overwhelm me. As millions of children in the US are currently embarking on their own summer camp adventures, I’ve traveled halfway around the world to the Magic Bus Centre for Learning and Development to participate in The Global Fund for Children’s 2008 Enterprise and Learning Knowledge Exchange. Here at Magic Bus, just two hours outside of Mumbai in an area called Karjat, I have begun to relive my childhood summer camp experiences—and I have also begun to learn from and with GFC grantee partners from across India. Read more

Karjat, India Since the moment the car began pulling away from the Magic Bus campus, I have been thinking about how best to sum up the experience of the 2008 Enterprise and Learning Knowledge Exchange in India. But it’s not an easy thing to do. The blog posts of my colleagues have already conveyed how electrifying and exciting the atmosphere was, how dynamic and innovative the individuals who participated are, and how informative and collaborative the nature of the workshop was. But how can I explain just how great every aspect of the three days was? How can I wrap up such an awesome experience in just one blog entry? I thought about doing some sort of play-by-play. But let’s be honest, a play-by-play of the workshop wouldn’t have quite the same intensity or excitement as the play-by-play of today’s EuroCup game between Germany and Spain. So what about a day-by-day? Read more

Gulf Coast It is the end of day three on our five-day trip to the Gulf Coast, and the experiences that my colleague Katy Love and I have had thus far have been rich . . . rich with diversity, excitement, emotion, and intensity.

Television, newspapers, movies, conversations with people who had visited the Gulf Coast pre- and post-Katrina—I thought all of that had prepared me, at least a little, for what I would see on my first trip to the area. I should have known better. In spite of the damages, challenges, and seemingly endless road to recovery, there is such a strong sense of perseverance and resilience emanating from the communities and individuals we have interacted with over the past three days. It has been heartwarming and inspiring to visit our grantee partners in the Gulf Coast; to talk with them about the great progress they have made in reaching out to children in their communities and to hear about their hope-filled plans for their programs and organizational development. Read more