KINDERENERGY
WWW.KINDERENERGY.ORG
#MoveBrainSaveEarth
Kinderenergy.org California - headquarters@kinderenergy.org - @kinderenergy
September 3, 2014
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#MoveBrainSaveEarth is a high school program designed by KINDERENERGY which inspires youth to be social entrepreneurs and global health actors by turning a social problem in the developing world into an international business case project that is completed by them before the school term ends. KINDERENERGY believes that youth have the good will, intelligence and technological background to save Earth. How it works: The students are shown various photographs in class which highlight problems other children in developing countries face on a day to day basis. The photos might be showing anything from a lack of adequate drinking water in Africa to playing soccer barefoot in India, to having three babies sharing one crib in Mongolia. The mentor/teacher challenges the students to analyze the different situations and think of simple solutions, pointing out what global health issues are involved and how simple soccer shoes can 1. serve as an incentive to go to school, 2. protect feet while playing and 3. help relieve the burden of disease in children (i.e. wearing shoes can help fight soil transmitted helminthes; clean water & toothbrush can help fight NOMA disease; clean water & soap can help fight respiratory infection and diarrhea, the two deadliest diseases in children). The mentor/teacher might ask the following questions: “what is going on here?” “do you think we can help them?”, “what can we do?” Accepting the challenge, the students choose to work on one of the development problems they are shown and turn that problem into an international development case project, emulating a real business case with a proposed solution they have designed. In their proposal, they determine geographic location, country fact list, types of diseases affecting children in that area, budget, logistics, foreign currency issues, language differences, fundraising, marketing and possible manufacturers (preferably local manufacturers). With the help of a faculty member or university mentor, the students set out to complete their project before the term ends in June. The students realize that the more people they get involved in the project, the greater the chances are that the project will be completed successfully. The students are encouraged to be very creative and are given an enormous amount of freedom when it comes to creating a fundraising and marketing plan. Anything from classic bake sales, performing a concert, to online crowd fundraising is allowed. 100% of money earned by students for projects goes to fund project. If more money is fundraised than is needed, that spill over amount goes to KINDERENERGY. If the target amount is not reached, the project adapts to the circumstances. (Failure is ok when they learn from their mistakes.)
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With the continuous guidance of the mentor/teacher, they are able to turn their wish into a reality. After much hard work and skillful planning, they see the fruits of their labor. The children they had seen in photos months before will receive the item(s) they were lacking, (a new water well + soap + toothbrushes, new soccer shoes or a couple of new cribs). The US high school students experience tremendous joy and self-esteem when they see that they have been successful at changing, and perhaps even saving, the lives of people in another country. They experience the “Circular Impact Effect”; the happiness they hoped on others comes back and affects them positively too. “Double impact, double joy” is the powerful result of giving oneself freely, with nothing in return expected. On top of it all, they have learned some very valuable entrepreneurial skills, which will become very useful in the future!
Helping villagers map out, build & maintain a new water well in Sierra Leona.
Teaching a mother to read. Sierra Leona - 2013
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Marketing photo used by high school/university pilot project completed in Spain
Working on a problem abroad that helps alleviate concerns at home. Much effort is being made to increase the academic competence of our students at home, inspire a greater number to enter STEM fields and to stop the downhill trend in overall academic performance of students on an international scale.1 #MoveBrainSaveEarth will improve math skills, bolster a students interest in international business, engineering, development economics and global health to name just a few. In addition, it will raise self-esteem, teach empathy and stimulate them to use new technologies to look for innovative ways to save the Planet. Let’s get to work and help them propel change! 1�US
High School Students Slip In Global Rankings�.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304579404579234511824563116
Understandably, the problems facing the US educational system are worrisome however, we must not lose sight of the fact that students are eager to learn, full of innovative ideas, show a keen interest in international events and are enormously talented and creative when it comes to using technology. #MoveBrainSaveEarth combines teaching empathy, volunteerism, international relations, global health and technology to stimulate interest in international development work.
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Kids in Ankleshwar, India Trying on the soccer shoes they just received. 2013
This is what we hope to do. Last year KINDERENERGY successfully completed its first pilot project of #MoveBrainSaveEarth in India with the help of students from a high school in Spain and undergraduate students from the local university acting as mentors. The project was initiated as described in the introduction and the students chose to work on a project in India, which entailed supplying 500 pairs of soccer shoes to young boys who always played soccer barefoot. The project was completed at the end of the term but since fundraising was more difficult than they had expected, only 250 pairs of shoes were funded. The project, nevertheless, was a huge success. Joy was felt on both sides of the globe, which resulted in the same students asking for another project to do this year. Expansion is on the horizon. Parents with high school students in the following states have shown interest in the program: California, Oregon, New York, Maryland, Texas, Arizona and Illinois. The initiative is slowly spreading by word of mouth and it is our hope to get projects under way soon at high schools in Illinois, California and New York. This initiative can be incorporated into the Business, Geography or Civics curriculum or as an after school/extra credit activity. The amount of hours needed to work on the project will depend on the
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type of project designed. The important thing is to have the project finished by the end of the school year. Undergraduate students pursuing a degree in business, economics or finance are ideal mentors given the fact that a basic understanding of Excel, marketing and management skills are to be taught to the high school students. High school students and university mentors could very well count the time spent with these international development projects as community service hours.
Kinderenergy Kinderenergy is a 501c3 environmental charity born in Moraga, California and based in Los Angeles, California, which builds awareness that children are Earth’s most important natural resource. Kinderenergy believes that children and youth possess the necessary brainpower (intelligent energy) to provide innovative solutions to Earth’s social and environmental problems. Its founder, Elisabeth Anne Delgado conceived the idea of Kinderenergy during a sabbatical year at her Alma Mater, UCBerkeley, in 2009. Kinderenergy was initiated into the Social Media world by two Stanford University undergraduates during the Stanford’s Social-M Blitz Bazaar in 2010 (under the baton of Lloyd Nimetz). Kinderenergy educates children of all ages to be excellent stewards of Earth’s natural and social environment. With #MoveBrainSaveEarth Kinderenergy aims to prove how important and capable youth are in saving Earth. We are now operating in India, Sierra Leone, Uganda & Cambodia. Kinderenergy was granted Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 2013.
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Kinderenergy is a volunteer. If you are interested in having this initiative started at your high school or have any questions about its implementation, please contact me. Thank you for following us on Twitter @kinderenergy. Elisabeth Anne Delgado Executive Director & Founder Kinderenergy Inc. www.kinderenergy.org elisabethanne@kinderenergy.org
Kinderenergy is in Special Consultative Status with the UN ECOSOC