I am honored to be on the board and part of the Ubuntu Education Fund family (www.ubuntufund.org). This amazing organization transforms township children’s lives from cradle to career. We use our 12 years of grassroots experience and rigorous business practices to create a comprehensive, creative pathway out of poverty for each of the 2,000 children we serve. We are a community-based international organization in Zwide Township, South Africa. We are doing the simplest, most basic thing that people have always done in order to prosper: we are raising children. This means going through exams, illnesses, adolescence, clothes shopping, counseling, and so much more. It’s simple because it’s something we all want to do. It’s radical only because very few organizations do this. Most of the children we work with are either orphaned, HIV positive or come from extreme poverty. We become their extended family and support them on all levels until they are able to support themselves. Here is a short video from there.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m glad to see the mainstream media finally giving some attention to the question of whether all these pink ribbons are actually helping the breast cancer cause. The New York Times gave serious ink space to the issue, although largely missed the point, with “The Pinking of America” by Natasha Singer last month. And Friday, Forbes posted this comprehensive piece by Amy Westervelt, “The Pinkwashing Debate: Empty Criticism or Serious Liability?”

Serious liability, I say! (and thanks to Amy for quoting me in the story). As I wrote in the comments, I was dismayed to read that Elizabeth Thompson, president of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, thinks environmental links to cancer are based not on evidence but on “beliefs and emotion.” Ms. Thompson should take a look at the 2007 study commissioned by her own organization with the Silent Spring Institute, which identified 216 chemicals that cause breast cancer in animals that are widely detected in human tissues and in environments, like the home, where women spend time.

Because exposure to these chemicals is so widespread, “the public health impacts of reducing exposure would be profound even if the true relative risks are modest,” the researchers wrote. “If even a small percentage is due to preventable environmental factors, modifying these factors would spare thousands of women.”

I would also suggest Ms. Thompson take a look at the President’s Cancer Panel report of 2010, which states that the “true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated” and calls for immediate action to reduce carcinogens in the environment.  Also on the reading list should be the Breast Cancer Fund’s State of the Evidence report, which documents hundreds of studies linking chemical exposures and radiation to increased breast cancer risk.

Unfortunately, the big breast cancer charities seem to have taken on the mentality of the corporations that fund them — growth for the sake of growth, whatever it takes. The original intent of the pink ribbon as an advocacy tool has long been buried in an avalanche of marketing hype to sell products and goodwill for corporations that are contributing to the problem by selling unhealthy products and/or putting carcinogens into the environment and our bodies.

What do you think? Is there no such thing as too much pink (as Nancy Brinker told the NYT)? Or is it time to pressure Susan G. Komen for the Cure and other big cancer charities to stop partnering with corporations that are part of the problem and start talking seriously about prevention?

I’d love to hear your comments…

More must-read coverage:
Sacramento Bee: “Pink Inc. Has Many Starting to See Red,” by Francesca Lyman
Nancy Brinker’s response: “Too Much Pink? Not while breast cancer still kills”
Marie Claire: “The Big Business of Breast Cancer” by Lea Goldman
Forbes: “Pinkwashing: Corporate Sponsored Cancer,” by Mia Davis, Amy Lubitow
Deseret News: “Are all the pink ribbons helping to cure cancer?” by Sarah Gamble

On Martin Luther King day here in the United States, I thought it would be appropriate to post this moving speech by Qondakele Sompondo at our benefit here in NY last year with Hugh Masekela quietly playing his trumpet in the background:

Jacob Lief, Ubuntu Education Fund’s President and Co-Founder, reflects on 10 years of success helping the children of Port Elizabeth access higher education and quality health care.

From our friends at the Ubuntu Education Fund.

When we founded Ubuntu Education Fund (www.ubuntufund.org) in 1999, we did so with the mission to ensure that the young people of Port Elizabeth townships had access to higher education and employment. For the past 10 years, we have reported the ways in which we serve children and families, but now we can also report on the long-term change we have always sought. Higher-education and sustainable employment have remained our goals, but our way of ensuring the success of our children has evolved into what we call the Ubuntu Model. This Model is:

• People-centered: The word ubuntu refers to the common thread of humanity, that we are all connected to each other. Whatever service Ubuntu provides, we stay focused on what the individual needs and respect the individual’s humanity. We prioritize what our community tells us, not what studies about them have to say. Our staff is part of the community, and actively participates in shaping its future.

• Comprehensive: A child’s academic future is not determined solely by the quality of the academic materials. Rape, disease, poverty, and hunger can disrupt the success of the brightest, most dedicated student. Therefore, we have found it essential to stabilize the home life of the child in order to ensure his/her future success.

• Geographically-focused: Many in the international development field believe in “scaling-up” programs to reach more people, even though this often results in compromised quality of services. Early on, the Ubuntu team chose to remain geographically focused and dedicated to providing high-quality services. We drew a seven-kilometer radius around our office in Port Elizabeth, and we have refused to work outside of that circle. While the area may seem small, within it 400,000 individuals live in dire poverty and only 40,000 are accessing Ubuntu’s lifesaving services. These numbers reaffirm the fact that we still have plenty to do.

The Ubuntu Model is working. We have developed our programs to suit the needs and challenges of the Port Elizabeth townships. Expertise comes from our communities; it is our job as an NGO to draw on that expertise to make positive change. Our communities are preparing themselves for a brighter future. We are proud to be a part of it.

In April of 2009, the non-profit organization Ubuntu Education Fund located in South Africa that I work closely with had a benefit event in London. Baaba Maal graciously offered to be our musical act. It was one of the most moving concerts that I have ever been to, a truly spiritual experience. Baaba’s performance was extremely heartfelt and touching. I have always had a love for Baaba and his music, but ever since that evening I have even a deeper respect and appreciation of his work and mission to make this world and particularly Africa a better place. Let me share my joy with you, watch this video showcasing parts of this wonderful evening.

The EarthRose Institute (ERI), a 501c3 organization, was founded in response to the growing need for disseminating information, providing education, and research collaboration on the environmental links to women’s and children’s health. Preventing exposures to toxic compounds in the home, workplace, food chain, and community are primary goals of ERI.

ERI works with women, communities, institutions, and other organizations, on advocacy and health policy issues related to environmental health on a local and global level. ERI is committed to being a bridge that brings scientific research and information to diverse communities.

The EarthRose Institute is dedicated to two spirited women named Rose. Each one was the mother of one of the founders, Susan Luck and Judy Lane. Each Rose was diagnosed with breast cancer with suspected environmental links. Their memory continues to inspire Susan and Judy to dedicate their efforts in the hope of creating an environmentally safer world.

Some of the programs offered by ERI include:

• Environmental and Nutritional Influences on Women’s Health
• Women’s Health, Hormones and the Environment
• Healthy Aging for Women
• Breast Cancer and the Environment
• Environmental Influences on Thyroid Function
• Environmental Estrogens, Breast Health and Nutrition
• Genetics, Environmental Health and Detoxification
• Environmental and Nutritional Influences on Fertility
• How to Stay Healthy in a Toxic World
• Childhood Immunity and Environmental Challenges

I am proud to be on their advisory board and recommend you check them out their most recent Summer 2009 newsletter covers some great topics like:

• Environmental Exposures and the Global Obesity Epidemic
• Chemicals and our Endocrine System
• Environmental Exposures and the Global Obesity Epidemic

Nestled within the village of Ubud in Bali, Indonesia, lies a remarkable school and living experiment promoting a yogic lifestyle. You would hardly tell you were so close to the busy village, surrounded by beautiful trees, bamboo, running river, a cooling breeze and a stillness far from the touristic traffic.

Named “Satyagraha” – the same name Ghandi gave to his movement – meaning “Truth Force” (living a life in truth) in Sanskrit, the school has been set up to live and embody yogic values.

Currently, the project consists of an organic garden, herbal garden, a school for yogic philosophy and physical asana (posture) practice and a beautiful Wantilan Structure (Balinese style house).

The entire project encapsulates the deeper meaning of living yogic principles. The garden for instance is not just a source of organic nourishment and a healing herbal apothecary, but also a plot given free to villagers for flowers to be grown for temple offerings. In the distant past, women were able to pick flowers from the fields; now they have to buy them from the markets. Food is seen as a medicine so children learn about not just the healing properties of the plants but also the very act of how to harvest them with love and care.

Everything in the project is free for local villagers, and they are asked to contribute back to the project in a ‘receive 10 hours give 5 hours’ ratio. As all land sales for foreigners in Indonesia are leaseholds, the project will return the village to them to carry on looking after the land and taking care of it in the future. Everyone who works there is encouraged to practice yoga at least thrice a week so that it becomes a living example of a place that practices the philosophy of yoga. The food is all vegetarian with soya milk.

The school for yogic philosophy and studies allows village kids an extra curricular deepening in the Hindu religion. In addition to Asana practice, studies include working on the land, showing how a life based on yoga can work and teaching life skills ‘giving them a center into their authentic selves.’

The Wantilan, a traditional bamboo structure and Indonesia’s largest and tallest Balinese bamboo house was made with a mixture of bamboo, palm leaves, ylang ylang roofing, and river stones. All the flooring, steps and structures are made from bamboo. It’s a stunning building, full of beautiful artwork, large river stones and lots of bamboo serving various functions as well as luxurious pieces of Balinese wood craftsmanship. The inspirations for the house are multifold; to demonstrate sustainability in all of its building materials, for rental to guests when the founder is away which will then pay for the running of the school. There is no Air Conditioning; the sliding doors like a tree house capture the breeze, offering a sense of living in flow with nature which the organic feel of the wood and stone also bring out deeply.

The whole project has been blessed by the Hindu High Priest of Bali, Ida Pedanda Gede Made Gunung. He also helped in placing all the deities, shrines, buildings and a healing garden.

The centre is set up by Breath of Hope Foundation, a non-for-profit educational organization. Therese Poulsen, founder of Breath of Hope, says of the charity’s vision is to “really serve the understanding that life is our practice. And within the practice, we have an opportunity to look in the mirror and take responsibility and act accordingly.” Having taught children in the US, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia for many years, she learnt that yoga can strengthen children emotionally, physically, give them a greater sense of control, direction and concentration over their lives. “The future of our world depends on our children. Here we can make the greatest change.”

In 2004, following the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, the foundation went to serve those most traumatized by the disaster.  Through the practice of asthanga yoga, the children were able to find an inner strength and spiritual nourishment that will never desert them. She added:  “We work in orphanages, abused young woman refugees, schools for the deaf; where we trained children and teachers to guide the children through the breathing, poses and meditation as well as the psycho-social system that comprises the practice. In such gentle activity, the children experience the comfort of their own being – many for the first time – and awakened possibilities beyond their current suffering. As strength of body and spirit are rekindled in the child, pervasive anxiety and hopelessness give way to a growing sense of well-being.”

Currently Breath of Hope trains teachers to bring the practices into the classroom has worked with over 13,000 children and hundreds of teachers in Sri Lanka teaching them the 21 month course (interspersed with a three month break in the middle for integration) and there are schools in Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand, Bali and one year ago they started to work in Germany.

A Community Responds to HIV/AIDS

I’m immensely proud and honored to be part of an organization that’s putting their heart and sole into combating the AIDS pandemic in South Africa. When Banks and Jake founded the organization, their vision was to educate children. But in 1999, at a community meeting, a woman stood up and said, “It’s all very well to put computers and libraries in our schools, but our kids are dying of AIDS. What are you going to do about it?”

So in 2000, Ubuntu Education Fund’s, Mpilo-Lwazi Health Initiative was initiated. This innovative health program arms people with the knowledge they need to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and lead healthy lives by disseminating life-saving information through school-based lessons, outreach workshops, case-management and counseling services. Although our primary HIV prevention efforts are in the schools, where we educate 40,000 vulnerable children, we also reach nearly 20,000 adults. Our classes and clinics focus on the development of knowledge, attitudes, values and life skills needed to make positive, health-related decisions.

Malnourishment, a serious concern in Africa’s AIDS epidemic, malnutrition is a major factor, especially for the townships of Port Elizabeth, where we know that children are lucky to get one meal a day. Something drastic had to be done, so this year we developed three organic food gardens on elementary school grounds, plus a nursery and demonstration garden at our Zwide Township headquarters to help provide nutritious food and hopefully income generation in the future for these vulnerable households.

All three of our community gardens have been such a huge success that they’re now providing 900 meals a day for orphaned and vulnerable children in the schools. Each day, the children receive a nutritious stew from the gardens prepared by the gardeners themselves.

Our goal for 2006 is to extend the organic gardening program beyond the school setting. We have been asked to pilot the development of an organic community garden at Kwa-Zakhele Day Hospital, with support group members enrolled in the hospital’s Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program. These members will receive extensive hands-on training during the establishment of the garden provided by the Ubuntu gardening team, which also provides the seeds, seedlings, fruit trees and shrubs to establish the gardens, plus compost to improve the soil. The garden’s harvest will be used to provide a steady supply of fresh produce and income for support group members, as well as a meal for their weekly meetings. This process is well-documented as a best practice that encourages attendance, improves nutritional intake of members and has important psycho-social benefits.

The program can make a huge difference to the health and nourishment of the community. This is crucial because as Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy is beginning to reach the township communities where we’re based, finding effective ways to deal with the malnutrition is essential. Simply handing out HIV drugs to poorly-nourished patients not only proves less effective, but could cause serious side effects.

Ubuntu continues to make a difference

Our Mpilo-Lwazi Health Initiative is also joining forces with local clinics to pilot an innovative Access to Treatment project. The clinics are overwhelmed by patient demand and severely understaffed. To increase their capacity, Ubuntu Education Fund counselors provide voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services in conjunction with the clinics. With our additional human resources we’ve increased the number of people receiving VCT by 150% and reduced bottlenecks in the treatment preparedness phase. The counselors explain that living positively is an entire lifestyle change.

Ubuntu Education Fund is strategically positioned to support a holistic treatment process in Port Elizabeth through our organic gardens, community outreach, counseling and training services. While our work is geographically contained, our program models can be replicated in any community around the world. The food garden at the hospital in particular could become a model for all of Africa, not just one area, as I strongly believe that treating malnutrition is an essential component in HIV management.

Ubuntu needs YOU!

With over 6 million South Africans living with HIV, we mustn’t let AIDS destroy the country’s tremendous progress. I urge you to join us in helping a free South Africa become a thriving, healthy South Africa. Your investment in our worthwhile cause will make an immediate impact in saving lives as we expand our health services, build new gardens and partner with local clinics to provide free access to HIV/AIDS therapy. You CAN make a difference and you can start with Ubuntu. Even a small amount does a world of good. For more information on Ubuntu Education Fund or to make a contribution, please visit http://www.ubuntufund.org/.

Five years ago, a good friend of mine, Barbara Jackson and her colleague, Shirley Fintz–both renowned ceramic artists in Cape Town, South Africa–took a small step that created an amazing chain of events. They simply admired the beaded bracelets worn by Mataphelo Ngaka, an apprentice working in Barbara’s ceramic studio. Mataphelo told them that her mother had made them. Both Barbara and Shirley have a great passion for African art and they found the beadwork beautiful. They also were very aware of the dire need for income among Cape Town’s poorest communities. They suggested that Mataphelo’s mother use her artistic talents to create dolls and fill the void in the market for innovative, original and authentic bead designs.

When Mataphelo returned with several beautifully beaded dolls, the three women immediately realized the potential for both marketing the dolls and reviving the almost forgotten African tradition of beadwork. With that, the non-profit organization, the MonkeyBiz Bead Project, was created as a means for disadvantaged women to make a living. The group has now grown to almost 400 woman crafters in the Macassar community near Cape Town, who are given complete freedom to use personal inspiration and interpretation to create their designs and are paid according to the aesthetic quality of each doll.

The women, many of them the sole breadwinners in their households, make roughly 1,000 dolls, animals and beaded pictures every month, with MonkeyBiz supplying the beads and cotton thread. MonkeyBiz then buys the items and markets and sells them locally and internationally.

In the South African spirit of “Ubuntu”, which is based on the belief that the individual and their community continuously depend on each other for survival, the MonkeyBiz Project is completely community driven. All profits go directly back into these communities for the crafters’ benefit.

Working from home, mothers can look after their families while running successful businesses, giving them a new sense of self-worth, pride and confidence. Often, the women gather in each other’s homes while they bead, creating a social support network strengthened by the bonds of common work. The opportunity to revisit and revive indigenous beading skills is also an important element of the bead-artists’ experiences.

Over the past few years, MonkeyBiz has grown prolifically, and its beaded products have appeared in a wide range of magazines, articles and galleries around the world. The beadwork also has achieved international acclaim from the arts fraternity. In July 2004, the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City exhibited special MonkeyBiz museum pieces. The famous home store in New York,ABC Carpet and Home, has created a MonkeyBiz section in their store. Recently, Donna Karan purchased several pieces for her DKNY store holiday windows.

“Each doll is different and unique in its own way,” said Donna. “It’s a gift that can put a smile on anyone’s face, and it’s for a cause that’s dear to my heart.”

Donna also helped set up a yoga program for the many women crafters who are HIV positive (see photo below). The vast selection of MonkeyBiz products suit all tastes and budgets, from inexpensive promotional love letters to sophisticated sculptures of museum quality. Perfect for the holiday season, the women have made beaded angel ornaments.