We are Humanism at Work

On this Valentine's Day, in the middle of Black History Month, we'd like to highlight our Education beneficiary, SMASH.

We love the good work they're doing! SMASH is committed to eliminating the barriers faced by young underrepresented people of color in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and fostering their untapped talent. While STEM occupation opportunities overall are increasing, Black and Latinx people remain underrepresented in STEM fields. SMASH is not only an education organization, SMASH’s four programs weave mentorship, social justice, career opportunities, and life skills into their STEM curricula.

SMASH Academy, the flagship program, is a three-year college prep program that empowers students to deepen their talents and pursue STEM careers. In the summer the students attend tuition-free classes at leading universities like Berkeley, Stanford, and Morehouse and during the school year there is monthly programming. The students are coached by instructors of color, which both helps them to connect more deeply with the content and gives them role models representing their potential future.

Thank you, SMASH for the great work you're doing making STEM more inclusive and accessible for all. 

The Tandana Foundation is our first quarter beneficiary in the category of Poverty and Health. They are currently supporting several projects, including a school for literacy among young mothers in Mali and environmental efforts to prevent deforestation in Ecuador. 

Representatives recently reached out to us to let us know they've started ten new literacy classes for new women students in several new villages. There are currently thirty women in each new class. These classes begin with the pretest to assess each woman's knowledge, and then they begin to study their first letters and numbers. 

The student mothers program supports girls from rural villages who are living in the town of Bandiagara so they can attend middle school. They have to find families to host them, and if they get pregnant, the families usually send them back to their villages and they have to drop out of school. This program provides training for the families to explain that they can still host the students even if they are young mothers.  It also provides food and basic medical supplies for the babies, so they are not an extra cost to the families. It helps girls stay in school despite the challenges of motherhood. 

"I can’t even name all the advantages of this support, because they are numerous and have helped me a lot. . . . Learning has become easier at school.  Thanks to this support, I haven’t been late or missed class because I had to nurse my baby.  The parents I live with take better care of my baby. Thanks to your support, I passed from 8^th grade into 9^th grade.”    

– Mariam Doumbo, student mother

We're so honored to support The Tandana Foundation in this vital work. To support our Humanist Grants program, click here. 

There is a cautionary tale that frequently surfaces in discussions about international aid. Women from a particular village walk miles to the river to do laundry despite the donation of a laundry trough circling the village’s water tank. The organization that donated the washing station failed to realize that laundry time serves another function: women-only social time. The laundry trough in the village didn’t offer the women the same respite from men, and the women couldn’t chat with each other around the tank as easily as they could at the river.

I believe that a Humanist Service Corps volunteer could have helped the international aid organization tell a success story instead of a cautionary tale. By observing the women, doing laundry with them, learning from them about their needs, and including them as essential, leading members of the problem-solving team, the HSC volunteer could have helped the locals and the international aid organization co-design a sustainable solution. In a nutshell, this is the kind of work that the HSC does, and this is the kind of engagement HSC asks of its volunteers.

What makes this kind of volunteering rare, and why is it so important?

Sustainable, effective, culturally-responsible volunteering is rare because it’s difficult and time-consuming to build the necessary relationships. Many international volunteering programs don’t see the cross-cultural relationships as an essential part of the mission. The relationships may benefit the volunteers, sure, but the volunteers are already guaranteed to benefit from the experience and cross-cultural relationships aren’t part of the benefit promised to the locals.

It is understandable that volunteers would be concerned about maximizing their impact and might even feel a little guilty hanging out with the locals. After all, international volunteering opportunities often exist only because of global inequalities created by the very countries volunteers are from. When volunteers spend time building relationships, aren’t they selfishly wasting time that they should be spending on improving lives?

No. Emphatically no. Volunteers only perpetuate oppression when they focus on their personal impact to the exclusion of all else. One of the tragically ironic consequences of imperialism is that the exploited are seen as having nothing to offer, even as they are still being plundered. It is a revolutionary act for a volunteer to acknowledge and embrace the benefits they receive when they adapt to another culture. Moreover, when volunteers are focused primarily on changing the environment, they often miss the opportunity to be changed by it. That missed growth is a profound loss, because learning and adapting to the local environment by building real, reciprocal relationships is the key to implementing sustainable solutions as well as the most rewarding aspect of the volunteering experience.

There is a strong positive correlation, not a zero-sum relationship, between the benefits that a volunteer receives and gives. The kind of volunteer work that is most rewarding for volunteers - cross-cultural learning and relationship-building - is also the kind of volunteer work that leads to sustainable solutions. Thus, the only way to serve responsibly and effectively is to embrace the selfishness inherent in service. When we see every interaction not as an opportunity to teach or to give but rather as a chance to learn and receive, only then do we come to understand what strategies are appropriate for the cultural context. If you can see the beauty in that paradox, then I invite you to apply for the 2019 Humanist Service Corps.

To apply fill out the application form and attach a cover letter and your resume. Your cover letter should include why you are interested in volunteering with HSC, a summary of your service, and a summary of your international experience. Your cover letter should be no more than one (1) page, single-space, 11 point font. 

Applications must be submitted by January 15th, 2019. All applicants must be 18 or older and available from July 2019 to July 2020.

Learn more here.

Welcome to 2019 and welcome to our new slate of Humanist Grant beneficiaries!

We are thrilled to announce the four organizations that we will be supporting in Q1. We are excited by the work they are doing and our ongoing partnerships with these organizations.

Poverty and Health: The Tandana Foundation, our 2018 Compassionate Impact Grant recipient, works in Ecuador and Mali to support local community initiatives related to education, health, food security, water resources, environmental conservation, and income generation.

Tandana has a “first-person orientation,” which means their approach is based on respect and responsibility. The members of their community partners define their own priorities, which builds confidence and creates an environment of collaboration. Tandana is committed to following through on their own promises and nurturing friendships and expects the same from their community partners, which creates successful, sustainable projects.

Tandana’s strategies align with FBB’s in many ways: the emphasis on planning initiatives based on community-identified needs rather than implementing projects based on preconceived assumptions; teaching literacy classes in the native Tommo So language rather than a western language such as French or English; and the emphasis on building long-term independence for the women.

Education: SMASH is committed to eliminating the barriers faced by young underrepresented people of color in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and fostering their untapped talent. While STEM occupation opportunities overall are increasing, Black and Latinx people remain underrepresented in STEM fields. SMASH is not only an education organization, SMASH’s four programs weave mentorship, social justice, career opportunities, and life skills into their STEM curricula.

SMASH Academy, the flagship program, is a three-year college prep program that empowers students to deepen their talents and pursue STEM careers. In the summer the students attend tuition-free classes at leading universities like Berkeley, Stanford, and Morehouse and during the school year there is monthly programming. The students are coached by instructors of color, which both helps them to connect more deeply with the content and gives them role models representing their potential future.

The efficacy and impact of SMASH’s programs is underscored by their evidence-based program design and pre/post impact survey results. Their 2017 alumni outcomes are above national average for graduation rates, Bachelor degree completion rates, and majoring in STEM. SMASH also measured social-emotional indicators and found significant growth. SMASH’s model opens doors for low-income students of color and demonstrates an impact on the availability of STEM interest, education, and careers for those students, which is why FBB has chosen SMASH as the Education beneficiary for Q1 2019.

Human Rights: The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project provides free legal services to people, including unaccompanied children, in immigration custody in Arizona. 86% of detained people go through immigration removal proceedings without legal representation because of poverty. The Florence Project strives for all immigrants facing removal to have access to counsel, to understand their rights, and to be treated fairly and humanely.

The Florence Project was founded in the 1980s in response to Central American immigrants, who have no rights to public defense, trying to navigate the US legal process on their own after crossing the Arizona-Mexico border attempting to flee persecution. Through the years they have expanded their programming to include focused asylum case support, empowerment models to help people represent themselves more effectively, and legal services for unaccompanied minors. They also expanded to address social service needs for clients and training for public defenders.

The Florence Project is a leader on this issue with 20 years of experience supporting detained children in deportation proceedings.

Natural World: EcoViva, our 2017 Compassionate Impact Grant awardee, has worked for decades with grassroots organizations in El Salvador to promote environmental sustainability, economic security, and social justice. By working with local fishermen and leaders to develop and implement sustainable use plans, EcoViva has helped communities ensure both the preservation of local livelihoods and protect the ecosystems they rely upon.

EcoViva’s successes have included the implementation of mangrove restoration plans that return mangroves to full health. These restoration plans have been recognized by the Salvadoran government as a model for national coastal policy and rural development.  

The backbone of EcoViva’s approach to implement effective Mangrove Ecosystem resource management within local communities is called PLAS (Local Sustainable Use Plan). PLAS recognizes that the residents of each community are important stakeholders in the conservation of the mangrove ecosystem.

EcoViva continues to empower the residents of villages in Bajo Lempa in the Bay of Jiquilisco to conserve resources, improve their livelihoods, and educate their peers regarding their critically important Mangrove Habitats.

At FBB we recognize the impact ongoing support can make. For that reason, this quarter we are featuring some organizations again. Tandana and EcoViva are both previous CIG recipients who are working on sustainable solutions to complex problems. The Florence Project was a beneficiary of FBB’s Call to Action: Family Separation at the Border. They are featured again as the Human Rights beneficiary this year because the family separation crisis is complex, ongoing, and a blatant human rights violation. SMASH is a new FBB beneficiary whose programming is designed to support students of color with STEM interests for years.

We are looking forward to seeing what progress these Q1 beneficiaries makes in 2019 and beyond. 

If you aren't currently a Humanist Grants donor, you can become one here.