Hello world!!

I am very proud and excited to have joined the GP team this January as part of my coop for Northeastern University. I have really enjoyed familiarizing myself with the GP curriculum and having a hand in editing the workshops, facilitating meetings with the Youth Facilitators, and most importantly, working with Hannah, Aubrey, and the students!!! Tomorrow I will be sitting in on the fundraising workshop at EMK and cannot wait to get to know the kids better. I have already met the third phasers a few times as well and am blown away by their projects.

In just five more days I will be off to Paris to join Sarah Gogel and the France team. I am beyond ecstatic to help bring GP over seas this year. 2012 is going to be full of great things!

Sarah Marie.

Bonjour à tous, hola a todos!

I decided to write this blogpost about our awesome new logo and our emergence as an organization in 2012. Also, I wish for us to write more about the amazing amazing happenings that occur throughout the year too as an organization, locally and not only during the summer international cultural exchange program that we carry out – which also is fascinating!

So, expect many awesome blogs after this one, written by our 100% volunteer-run staff in Boston, New York and….in 5 days, Paris!

As many of you know, Global Potential is going to pilot its same NY and Boston model with a new class of 10-15 youth in the banlieues of Paris, in collaboration with PlaNetFinance, starting January 23, 2012. I will be in Paris for the next 6 months to lead this project, with an amazing team made up of Margot Clavier (Présidente), Nicole Borofsky (Vice-Présidente), Elizabeth Craig (Secrétaire) and Papa Diop (Trésorier). Check out the rest of our amazing team here: http://global-potential.org/staff-2011-france. Especially cool is a Northeastern Undergraduate Sarah Marie Saydun who will come to Paris with me to spearhead this for the next 6 months, as part of her required co-op internship! Please keep up with all the amazing changes that are happening with our organization, and join the movement! SO EXCITING (eventhough I am going to miss dearly all GP youth and staff in Boston and NY:(

GLOBAL POTENTIAL EMPOWERS YOUTH AND COMMUNITIES TO ENERGIZE EACH OTHER

THROUGH EDUCATION, INTERNATIONAL SERVICE WORK AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE.

So, here is more info about our logo evolution! In December 2011, Global Potential acquired a new look thanks to Boombox, Inc., Magda Losonczy and Leah Ruff and their whole

team there who tirelessly exchanged hundreds of emails with us to find our perfect new logo!  They are really great, http://www.boomboxinc.com and we are so grateful for all

their work they did for us pro-bono.

After almost 4 years since 2008’s first class of 10 Brooklyn youth who travelled to the Dominican Republic, with now over 300 youth fellows who have graduated and who are entering into GP, we have acquired a new look to represent more the INFINITE global nature and potential of its work. We will forever cherish our old logo in representing connecting urban and rural youth (shout out to my sister Rachel Gogel for having designed it!:), but guess what? In 2010, we started doing rural-rural exchanges between the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nicaragua as well as urban-urban exchanges between Boston and New York! …

So….It was time to represent more on a global scale what we organically and strategically have transformed ourselves into.

2007-2011 logo:

2012-beyond logo:

Here is how Boombox described our new logo: “a small action can have a big impact. In chaos theory, the phenomenon known as the “butterfly effect” suggests that a small initial change at one place in a complex system can result in large, lasting effects elsewhere. For example, the presence or absence of a butterfly flapping its wings could lead to the creation or absence of a hurricane. This isolated movement has the potential to become a catalyst for significant change.”

“One person doing one good deed today can create positive effects for entire communities for years tocome. This idea of an individual’s role in global goodwill is at the heart of Global Potential’s mission. Like the butterfly, the youth involved in Global Potential’s programs undergo a personal transformation that inspire them to better themselves and, in turn, reenergize communities in need at home and around the world. In this logo, the G and P become the wings of the butterfly, which evokes the intended movement and transformation. The butterfly rests on a circle, alluding to the idea of the world itself.”

They said it all! Indeed, the transformation of youth attains emergence into another layer of life with new skills. The words that come to mind are “reach”, “materialize” and “surface”, “actualize”, “fulfill”, “accomplish”, “flourish”. As we know, the potential is already there. Global Potential reignites and sparks the rebirth of youth and communities into a more secure and confident being & place! The warmth and preparation process necessary for re-emergence that GP provides our youth and staff (all volunteers by the way, if you never knew that:) is what allows them to grow and “be-come” a new them.

Tellement de changements incroyables! See you all in Paris in a week!

Sarah Gogel

I was looking through the old blogs from the summer. It made me feel great I realize when I was in El Hatillo I had so much energy. I was willing to be a part of anything everything. I knew I was a part of the solution. However since I been back there been a cloud following me around I actually been letting myself down. I haven’t been testing my skill I been laying back on the skill not using them to make them grow to the potential i know they can grow to. I became lazier. Yeah, I have people pushing me and I still won’t move (Stubborn) but I realize now why. Giving back to your community isn’t easy. You may think it easier because you lived here you whole life but that’s the problem. You so use to it being this way you tell yourself it’s not going to change no matter how hard I try. With this mind set you weaken you soul. Then you have negative around you not helping you either. You just got to set yourself aside and remember with it feel like to overcome something. For me I made change before so I know how it feels to know you did something you could be proud of without anyone saying it. I know it all worth wild fighting for. My time and effort when put to good use. I know I can accomplish great. I want that feeling again and I know actually what I have to do to get it. My back bone is weak but I can feeling waking up from the haze it been in. strong again it will become and I’ll will go for the change that I will and can only create without the fear of disappointment.

Everyday when I am walking down the streets of Bonfim in the lower city of Salvador, Bahian people mistake me for African. Why that is I do not know, but I am eager to find out.  People of African-descent throughout the diaspora need to dialogue with one another, so I asked aloud  “why do you think I am African”, and their answer was,” you are Black”.

Reflection with self: “Then, if I am not Bahian, I have to be African, as if there are no other Black nations in the world.

We are living in the 21st century where we should be doing something meaningful about race relations but we are not, we prefer to be “post”….

As John Lennon once said ” Power to the people”. I am thinking: “do these people I live amongst now have power?” I doubt it. Well, I do not let the fact that some do not know that there are Black people all over the world put me in a irascible mood.

Distracting self:  I am upset with the bloodsuckers on Wall Street that draw on the Dollar bill with my hot veins, these folks on Wall Street are buying LAMBORGHINIS, while 65% of young people like me do not have a good education, or even know where Haiti is located.

I live in a house here in Brazil where sometime I do not have running water, I have to use a small bucket of water to shower. As a Black, young male I realize I have to go through pain in order to become myself.

I am not trying to judge you for what you are doing, but you might have a guilty conscience about somethings.

We as Americans, we are very lucky to have purified water to drink and be able take care of our daily needs. I have witnessed people die from diarrhea. People in Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Haiti and Brazil do not have purified water to drink or running water in the home as you are using running your shower — a bad imitation of a waterfall.

Be mindful about this, but how? I will say the first step is consciousness. You have to be in these people shoes who live on the margins of society here in Brazil to see what its like to be them.  Trade shoes with them to see what its like. For sure there are other steps to accomplish this but you have to start by conscientization.

You, that are reading my blogs, if you are interested in knowing how to accomplish this I will tell you when I find out with the kids at my apprenticeship.

I will let you know. Or maybe even better you will let me know.

Well, it has been a while since I last posted, but that is due to the immense amount of homework that is so graciously given by my professors haha! However, I can say that I wholeheartedly miss Cuchilla and anticipate my return. Leaving Cuchilla, I felt a mixed amount of emotions due to that fact that a part of me was excited to go home and see my family while another part of me was longing to stay with my new family in the DR. The family I had in the DR will be everlasting especially mi hermano Vivo. I’ve always wanted an older brother or one that was the same age as me, and I received that in the DR. I will cherish and remember the relationships that I created in the DR and incorporate the knowledge gained from there into not only my college career, but also my daily life.

About my Cuchilla group, I will ALWAYS remember them and I come to think of them as my own family now. I got my NY sis Rabih, my bros Gilbert and Varney, my Daughter Ling, and my buddy Dennis who I truly miss and hope s doing well! And last but not least DJ Crispy and Christine who the funniest and bestest (yes I know this word doesn’t exist) staff EVER! I know that they had to work twice as hard due to the loss of some of our staff, and I wanted to et them know that I truly appreciate their hard efforts and time. Yes, I know it was hard but I’m grateful for all they done and they were like my parents in the DR even though Chris was the esposa..hehe!

As I venture off into college, I will never forgot those I have encountered and established relationships with, I will never forget my Cuchilla group and my family that I made in the DR, and I will never forget GP! I’m truly honored and grateful to have been a part of this organization. I hope to continue my involvement in with this organization, and special thanks to Sarah, Frank, Adel, and all the staff for there patience with us kids and know we all LOVE you guys!!

For now Se fue la luz and until next time

This is my second full day in Brazil, sitting down by the ocean where I can let nature be my teacher, the ocean sing me a lullaby get lost into my thoughts…..

Sometimes in life we wish we did not do certain things but “hey” what can we do about them. Making my way to Brazil to start my gap year I had to face a lot of challenges. Because of my compassions and willingness to be there I take these challenges in and turn them into opportunities like my Global-Potential (non-profit organization I work for based in New York and Boston. www. global-potential.org) family always tells me. As products of an imperfect world, all of us are imperfect. Each one of us has done something wrong, things we have done or things we should have done. All these things create challenges for us. These things sometimes are things we regret. If we can acknowledging our wrongdoings, it can serve to keep us in a better path in life and encourage us to correct our mistakes when we have the chance and take some actions to correct things in the future.

This leads us to take sometime to reflect on the benefits of life, compassion and kindness, to overcome our lack of opportunities. ” The growing appreciation of compassion, has the potential effect of reducing our tendency towards hatred and increasing our respect for life”. If we do not take the Lack of opportunities to personal, we will diminish them.

All of these personal issues make us think sometimes Life is fundamentally ugly, chaotic and complicated because of our wrongdoings. If we allow our wrongdoings holding on to the memory of our past transgressions, then we all want to be out. This serves no purpose other than to be a relentless source of self-punishment.

Please DO NOT “quote” me on this… an adventure is the only bee that makes honey without flowers…

Hellooo all! I am finally blogging about my time so far with GP, sorry it took so long. Last February, I joined GP and was interested in becoming a mentor. By the end of the month, I was finally paired up with Karissa :]. Within March and April, Karissa and I met about 4 times, roughly once a week or once every other week. We would usually just sit and talk in Marino, or if it was nice out we would hang out on the Centennial Quad right in the center of campus. Meeting up each week varied in time because both of our different schedules. There were some days where we hung out for a little over an hour, or up to 2 to 3 hours. I really love having the face to face communication with Karissa, It makes the relationship between the mentor and mentee much more friendly and I really felt like I got to know her over those two months. When there were weeks that we couldn’t hang out, we would be texting or facebooking about when we could meet next and how our weeks were going. The times that Karissa and I did get to talk and hang out face to face, I got to listen to her concerns and excitements about GP and the upcoming trip, as well as her concerns and excitements for senior year and the college process. I really loved talking to her about this because I felt as though I could really relate and give insightful advice and motivation to get through all of these new and exciting things. I left for summer break at the end of April and until July when Karissa left for the DR, we would text and facebook about our summers and how she was doing with the end of her junior year. While she was away, it was a bit harder to reach her, but we talked a bit after she got back explaining as much of her trip as possible via facebook messaging. However, I can’t wait to see Karissa this fall, once GP gets back in to full gear again and hear her stories first hand. I think the reflection process after her trip is just as important as preparing for it, so I am excited to talk to her about how she has changed and how she feels about the whole experience. I shall write back when there are new things to share!

Erica Howard

As a young Muslim living in NYC, I feel as though when comes down to religion whether Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, one should always do their research. Never allow the media to make decisions for you; we live in a country filled with privileges like Internet access, and literature written on these topics. One needs to utilize these opportunities to look beyond bias sources such as Wikipedia, New York Times, CNN, to form one’s own perspectives, based on valid sources.

With that being said I would like to make evident and blunt by saying that every “Muslim it not a Terrorist.” When those towers were falling Christians, Hindus, Jews, Non-Believers etc innocently had their lives taken, Muslims just as well were under those buildings. Within it all Muslim families just as well grieved. The US needs to remember just as important as it to physically protect our nation from outside attacks, we need social stability, this is a time where we need to unify, to build strength within.

This summer in the Dominican Republic, I noticed how religion was a serious matter in society. I noticed how the people who were Christian weren’t allowed to dance, they didn’t drink and most of the women wore skirts. With my observations I asked questions, making comparison to the culture of Christians in the United States, to the culture of Christians in the Dominican Republic. I began by telling them about my religion; as to why I don’t eat pork, why I pray several times in the day. They were all positively interested but automatically assumed me being Muslim meant me veiling, and not going to the disco to dance Bachata.

I communicated that people all over the world may practice the same religion but have different cultures. The Christians in the Bateys of the Dominican Republic don’t drink, dance at parties, and wear a certain attire; whereas Christians in the U.S. drink, attend parties, and dress to their own preference.

The cultures of Muslims in the Middle East and Asia, women veil 24/7, some smoke hookah and don’t drink. The culture of Muslims that I’m surrounded with in the US veil during prayers, when entering a mosque, and neither smoke nor drink.

To get to the point, religion is the common matter that people share but their cultures are the factors that play into the slight differences in practice. Not to say that one is better over the other but to say one apple isn’t the sole representation of the whole entire tree.

I believe that the reasoning as to why people go about in conflict in society about these issues is related to a lack of education. We as global citizens and peace builders need to educate others to teach them about distortions in the media, to teach them the truth.

Ten years later, in anguish, people in America still wish to define the 9/11 attacks on “Muslims” along the radical fundamentalists rather than solely the radicals themselves. Living in NYC where it all happened, I sometimes go into the city and hear slurs from people after glancing newspapers on the anniversary or even passing by a mosque.

Ignorance becomes bliss when we allow ourselves and others around us to remain uneducated.

Knowledge is the key in anyone’s road to success. Opening up your eyes to the practices worldwide can also help you gain perspective, like I was able to this summer with Global Potential.

Rabih Ahmed

http://global-potential.org/youth-bios/647/rabih-ahmed

After 10 years of the horrible terrorists attacks in New York City, Washington D.C, and in Pennsylvania, I think the young children who were in Elementary school have grown up to be part of the curious change makers who want to correct the falls of 2001. Those falls are that we as a country were united, but we aligned ourselves against Muslim Americans. However, in these last few years, I think that those young children in 2001 who were in Elementary school, like myself, are interested in seeing not only a united country, but a united world that is ready to end all acts of economic, human, gender, social, racial, ethnic injustices.

I think that its important that people know about the Muslim religion, or any culture or religious group, is that one person does not represent the entire community. In the case of Muslims, from my own experience, is that they are victims of hard stereotypes as being terrorists and mad people. These two perceptions are completely wrong because the Muslim religion does not represent neither of those things, in fact, there isn’t a religion that advocates for violence. Sadly, I think, the greatest injustice to the Muslim community is that the media deliberately places the word Muslim and terrorist as synonymous words; where in fact, they are not.

This summer, in my trip to Nicaragua, I never had a thought about the Muslim faith nor was it ever brought up. However, I do understand that prior Global Potential youth, of other faiths, were allowed to practice in their own privacy. In the village of El Hatillo, they never once mocked or made a rude comment about our customs and beliefs. It is key that we start expanding this level of tolerance worldwide to create change.

The majority of Muslims are not terrorists, just like most fundamentalists do not represent religious groups as a whole. The change starts NOW in my generation of youth who fight against these injustices and consequences of blind discrimination. We stand strong with the victims of 9/11 and all other human made terrorist tragedies that have tried to destroy humankind (9/11/73 in Chile for example, 7/7/05 in London…)

Daniel Alfaro