Tomorrow’s exhibit is the result of a year-long photo training with students from two Indianapolis high schools – Southport and North Central. Their photos document life in their new country, covering everything from school to home to play.The photographers will be on hand to discuss their images with the public. Don’t miss this special opportunity!

What: Project Einstein photo exhibition

Where: The Indianapolis City Market farmer’s market – 222 E. Market St, Indianapolis

When: Wednesday August 10th from 10:30am to 1:30pm

To learn more, read the press release and check out images from the spring photo exhibition at North Central High School, taken by my mom, Freddi Stevens-Jacobi.

Its an honor to be invited to speak at the White House . Its especially exciting to see an administration that understands the power of youth and works to pull in our voices.

The White House was pulling together 20 “awesome” youth leaders to discuss the future of international foreign aid. The conversation was between us, the head of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) Raj Shah, and the internet. It was broadcast live on the White House website, with a realtime conversation happening on Facebook and on Twitter, hashtag #USAIDyouth.

For instance, in the Middle East, almost 65 percent of the regions’ people are youth. In many places, they’re stuck under oppressive regimes and increasingly frustrated by the lack of positive prospects for their future. In Egypt and Tunisia, this came to a head. Politicians around the world took notice. The US government is starting to realize that despite its large foreign aid packages, youth were not involved in the decision-making nor in the reception of this aid, despite being a majority of those affected by it.

A 48 starred flag, painting of George Washington, an eagle, and the golden chandelier lent the air of authenticity to remind me that this building has stood for hundreds of years and that this conversation can, at its best, change the course of history. 20 eager youth, experts in the fields of environment, health, security, and technology all sat with intense looks in their eyes. The groups varied from Truman National Security Project, National Center for Global Engagement, 350.org, Americans for Informed Democracy, Bamyan Media, The Millennium Campus Network, and others. We were ready to take up the challenge.

Many of the ideas bouncing around the room seemed to agree that there was a need to fund the best and most innovative groups, not the ones that were just the best at writing applications and getting funded. The tension is how to do that successfully while doing large-scale support and making sure that they money trail is transparent and trackable.

There’s also an interesting tension in the perception of this aid to the American people from which its coming. Recent debates about cutting the US economy have targeted wings of the government such as this foreign aid. It’s not surprising why, when the average American sees it as consisting of 20% of their taxes. The reality is that it accounts for less than 1%. There’s not much room for innovation when under fire.

It’s important to be able to see how investments in science, technology, education and math (STEM), as well as green technology, are going to have a positive impact on our own economic prosperity in addition to those people working their way out of poverty around the world. But for the innovative and impactful ideas, it’s the youth who are closest to the new solutions and can help usher them in with the right support.

We all went to the White House, and were excited and honored to have been invited, but not for the photo op, but rather to make some changes. I’m encouraged by the dialogue but hope that we’re able to.

Please see the video below and visit the USAID YouthImpact site for more information about the initiative.

We’re proud to announce the launch of our brand new book created by the Project Einstein South Africa youth. It’s designed by Smitha Alampur who is currently in South Africa delivering the books to the children and with writing help from our intern Ellen Knuti.

Project Einstein South Africa tells the story of thirteen young people who live in two shelters in Pretoria, South Africa. Over the course of five days, they learned how to take pictures with digital cameras and edit the images on computers. They chose the themes of Happiness, Peace, History and Culture to explore through photographs and audio interviews.

Read the book below and/or order a copy for delivery. We’re looking for schools elsewhere in the world to pair them with through our digital pen pal program so let us know if you have any leads. Thanks!

That’s the distance I’ve been driving every day this past week to work with two communities of refugee youth living on opposite sides of town in Indianapolis, Indiana. Many of their experiences – moving to a new country, resettling in the US, adapting to life at an Indianapolis high school – are quite similar, yet they aren’t connected in a way that they are able to talk with and support one another. And many other people in the community aren’t even aware that several thousand refugees from Burma have resettled in Indianapolis, much less do they know about the hopes and dreams of these newcomers.

The distance between the two high schools

We’re working to change that.

Project Einstein Indianapolis is over two years in the making, as we first had the idea to recreate Project Einstein in Indianapolis with Burmese refuges in the summer of 2008. In the meantime I’ve remained in close contact with schools and refugee leaders in Indianapolis, and watched as they’ve struggled with the challenges of adapting to a very different life in the US. This year, thanks to support from the Clowes Fund of Indianapolis, we’ve launched Project Einstein Indy to celebrate the lives of Burmese refuge youth in Indy as well as connect them and their classmates to students in Burmese refugee camps in Southeast Asia

I’ve been working with these youth every day for the past week. It’s been inspiring to watch them draw maps of their communities, learn basic digital photography and work on photo essays about the topics most important to them, including life in Indianapolis, how they get around and their faith and values.

This week, we’re reviewing the photos and creating exhibits to be displayed at their schools for their classmates to see, and then in central locations in the community for folks in Indianapolis to learn just how many refugees from Burma now live here. One exciting aspect of this is that we will be bridging the gap between the refugees on the north  and south sides of Indianapolis, who have been so geographically separated yet have gone through such similar experiences.

In this episode of DdTv venture back with us to January 2008 to see the origins of Project Einstein. Mark and Emily spend several days working with youth in Kutupalong refugee camp in Southern Bangladesh, home to thousands of Rohingya refugees from Burma. Stateless, the Rohingya, a muslim ethnic group from Western Burma have fled to Bangladesh to escape the human rights violations they’ve suffered in Burma, where they are also denied citizenship.

In the camp, Mark and Emily train a group of youth ages 9-14 in digital photography skills, enabling the kids to explore where in their lives they encounter such universal themes as peace, happiness, the disabled and sadness. See their photographs, listen to them as they reveal their dreams, their hopes for the future, and become the inspiration behind the creation of Project Einstein.

We’ve since expanded the project, working with youth in Pretoria, South Africa, a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand, and the town of Gros Monde in northern Haiti.

Young Guatemalan girl. Photos by Emma Hulse.

What’s next? Project Einstein Guatemala, in partnership with longtime friend of Digital Democracy Emma Hulse and local organization Proyecto de Desarrollo Santiago (PRODESSA). Last week, we sent cameras to Emma in Guatemala City, who is leaving soon for an isolated region of Guatemala known as the Zona Reyna. In the Zona Reyna, she’ll be working with indigenous women’s groups for the next few months on literacy projects. Additionally, she’ll be using the cameras and Project Einstein curriculum to do a two-month long photo project with youth in the community.

I’ve been collaborating with Emma for more than a decade, since our youth journalism days at Y-Press. Since last fall she has been living in Guatemala as a Fulbright Fellow, learning from the folks at PRODESSA. In closely working with indigenous communities she has seen the need for opportunities for youth to participate in their community and broader Guatemalan society. Here’s how Emma described the Zona Reyna and her goals for the project:

Located in the mountains of Quiché, the Zona Reyna symbolizes the complex opportunities and challenges that face Guatemala. Culturally rich and resource poor, the majority of the 94 communities in the Zone were first settled by Q´eqchi´ Mayans fleeing violence in the neighboring Verapaces during Guatemala´s brutal civil war. Today, the geographic isolation that once provided shelter instead perpetuates poverty. Residents lack access to essential social services and economic infrastructure is limited. Yet the Zona Reyna is also characterized by vibrant community, a wealth of tradition and a growing population of educated young people.

Challenging these inequalities requires developing communication tools that can overcome barriers of language and distance while building upon the community´s resources. Project Einstein Guatemala seeks to provide these tools by training youth to use photography and new media to tell the story of their community.

Photos will be exhibited both online and in the community at the conclusion of the project. Depending on student interest, Emma will also work with participants to explore how available technology could be used to establish exchanges between students in Lancetillo, young people elsewhere in Guatemala, and Latino youth in the United States, using the Roebling platform that Digital Democracy has developed for our digital penpal programs.

Ultimately, Project Einstein Guatemala seeks to spark dialogue both within the community and with youth and adults elsewhere. Photography provides a medium accessible to all members of the community, while new media allows youth to insert their voices in national and international conversations about education, indigenous rights and development.

Mark and Emily travel to Mae La refugee camp in Northern Thailand to launch our digital penpal program Project Einstein with Burmese youth. Students from the Leadership Management Training College, never having held a camera before, are taught the fundamentals of digital photography, including composition and editing, and choose themes from their lives to document with the cameras: Internally Displaced People, A day in the life in the camp, youth life and School life.

While giving the training, Mark and Emily stream live for the DdTv audience: a tour of the camp’s facilities, and conversations with the students on topics of technology access in the camp, and how digital photography has the potential to change their lives. Watch this episode of DdTv and see what this refugee camp looks like through the eyes of the youth living there.

A participant in Project Einstein Thailand

Digital Democracy is delighted to announce that we have been awarded a grant from the Clowes Fund of Indianapolis, Indiana. The grant will support the launch of Project Einstein Indianapolis, a digital penpal program that teaches 21st century skills while facilitating cross-cultural dialogue. Project Einstein will connect young Burmese refugees and their classmates in Indianapolis with students in Burmese refugee camps in Southeast Asia.

We’ve been working with Chin and Karen refugees in Indiana since spring 2008, and I’m excited to be working with schools in my hometown, where thousands of Burmese refugees have been resettled. Our goals for the project are three-fold:

a) Create a space for the Burmese youth and their classmates to share personal stories and forge new friendships,

b) Create a map of community resources – charted by the young people – that will be available for Burmese refugees as they are resettled into the new communities,

c) Spark community engagement by offering opportunities for community members to learn the stories of the refugees and discuss concepts of citizenship, freedom and democracy.

Too often, resettled refugees feel divided from their new communities. Indianapolis-based youth journalism program Y-Press has reported on the situation, quoting a young refugee who said “I don’t really hang out with American kids so much because they don’t seem to like us. I thought people would welcome us, talk to us, hang around and have tea.”

We will be launching the project with two Indianapolis-area high schools in the fall. We are excited to facilitate the photography projects, connection with youth in Thailand and India, and community storytelling aspects of the program. We applaud the Clowes Fund for supporting the immigrant and refugee communities in Indianapolis, and are honored to be among their grantees.

About the foundation: The Clowes Fund is a family foundation established in 1952, in Indianapolis, Indiana. It makes grants in Indianapolis; Seattle, Washington; and northern New England to support human services, education and the arts. We are grateful for their support and excited to launch Project Einstein Indy!

A refugee from Burma displays his "Hoosier Works" card that connects him and his family to Social Services.

Government slogan in Ruili: “Speak Civilized, Act Civilized, Be Civilized.”

In 2008 Digital Democracy sent a team of researchers to China to investigate the state of Kachin youth in community-based and human rights organizations and their use of technology on the China-Burma border. The team conducted interviews with Kachin youth leaders and educators and led new media literacy and photography trainings. We are now releasing the results of that research and our recommendations in a new report.

For more information about our work there, please see the following report:
Digital Democracy China Report 2008

This report details the findings of their research, gives an overview of the Project Einstein curriculum adapted for Haiti and provides recommendations for how training young people will be a critical aspect of reconstruction, providing 21st century skills and an infrastructure of empowerment by monitoring aid and corruption.

Project Einstein Haiti

The project on the ground was led by two students at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Joshua Haynes and Chrissy Martin. Chrissy had this to say about her experiences:

Project Einstein Haiti developed out of a serendipitous meeting in New York with Mark.  I was leaving for Haiti in a few days to conduct research with youth on their attitudes towards finance.  Despite experience working on and researching financial inclusion and mobile technology, I didn’t know much working with youth.  As a result, I reached out to Digital Democracy, aware of their work with youth and digital photography.

I walked away from the meeting with a research methodology, four digital cameras, and the nicest phone I’ve ever used: a Nokia N97.  The Project Einstein methodology was an ideal way to accomplish my goal of understanding the youth attitude towards finance in an engaging and fun manner that would be rewarding for the participants as well as the researchers.

The two days that Josh and I spent with the twelve high school students in Gros Monde were extremely rewarding.  We spent time discussing the power of photography to tell stories, as well as time discussing how difficult it is to earn money in their community. I was extremely impressed by their enthusiasm and the ease at which they engaged with a technology that they had never used before.

I could not be more thankful that I had the opportunity to work closely with this group of Haitians before their country was destroyed just three days later.  A few pictures survived, although I regret that their photographs did not.  I can only hope that they will again have an opportunity to tell their story through digital tools that will allow the rest of the world to hear.

Because of tools such as photography, Twitter, Facebook, and SMS, Haitians have been able to contribute to the international coverage of their own crisis in a way that would not have been possible just a few years ago.  Mainstream media sources including CNN and CBS News have relied on these alternative sources for aspects of their coverage, giving voice to locals rather than relying solely on international journalists. In addition, new tools such as Ushahidi allowed international organizations to plan their response based on near real-time mapping of reports from Haitians through a wide variety of media sources. Amidst the devastation, I find hope in the possibility of leveraging these technologies to give Haitians a voice in their own reconstruction as well.

For more information about our work, please download the following report:

Digital Democracy Haiti Report 2010