My 20-Day Volunteer Trip!
Donation protected
My friends and family, I am going on a journey of a lifetime and I'd love your help getting there! On October 31st I begin a 20-day trip to volunteer and support activism and community work in 3 different countries in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.
7 months ago, I took a major turn in my life. I had a job to monitor legislative and corporate news in the Atlanta area, and every day I viewed articles about politicians and powerful people acting in the best interest of themselves, regardless of what effects this had on their constituents, the planet or the poor.
I wanted to do something to uproot this corrosive behavior. I started working on a non-profit business plan for an incubator for sustainable worker-cooperatives.
Cooperatives are companies that are owned and managed by employees. At cooperatives, employees take part in all major decisions, and their vote counts just as much as the company management's vote. What would make this unique was that these co-ops would be run and owned by high schoolers and college students from marginalized backgrounds.
It may sound far-fetched, but if these causes are successful, they will create a group of young people that are powerful literally because they work together (imagine that ten-fold!).
I took my proposal to the regional director of AFSC, a multinational social justice non-profit, for suggestions on how to begin, and something unexpected happened: the director offered me both AFSC's full support and a job to run the organization's newest initiative, a program that serves Atlanta's marginalized youth with innovative, grassroots solutions.
Now I have the chance to make the idea a reality by observing co-ops and learning more about global economic and social issues in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.
My initial trip will take me to Israel, where we will visit and work with farmers and cooperatives!
From there I fly to Barcelona, Spain, where I will visit Mondragon, the largest worker cooperative group in the world (recently, when times were hard, members voted to take pay cuts instead of cutting hundreds of jobs, and management took the largest cuts. Imagine if we all worked and owned in cooperatives!).
Following this I will attend the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates with AFSC colleagues and other peacemaking activists from around the world. We will convene over issues such as sustainable human development, stopping gender violence, and averting lasting conflicts between cultural groups and nations.
After the summit I will head to Morocco, where I will volunteer with an organization that teaches farming techniques and sustainable practices such as water harvesting and energy efficient construction.
Because they believe in my plan, AFSC is paying for my flight across the ocean and expenses while at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, but I will need to cover costs of accommodations and living expenses while in the other regions.
Help me make this a reality. Not only will you be assisting my dream, but aiding in the beginning stages of a program that can change the lives of many underprivileged youth.
I am grateful to all my friends and family that are willing to help me make this trip happen!
Thank you and much love,
-Joel
7 months ago, I took a major turn in my life. I had a job to monitor legislative and corporate news in the Atlanta area, and every day I viewed articles about politicians and powerful people acting in the best interest of themselves, regardless of what effects this had on their constituents, the planet or the poor.
I wanted to do something to uproot this corrosive behavior. I started working on a non-profit business plan for an incubator for sustainable worker-cooperatives.
Cooperatives are companies that are owned and managed by employees. At cooperatives, employees take part in all major decisions, and their vote counts just as much as the company management's vote. What would make this unique was that these co-ops would be run and owned by high schoolers and college students from marginalized backgrounds.
It may sound far-fetched, but if these causes are successful, they will create a group of young people that are powerful literally because they work together (imagine that ten-fold!).
I took my proposal to the regional director of AFSC, a multinational social justice non-profit, for suggestions on how to begin, and something unexpected happened: the director offered me both AFSC's full support and a job to run the organization's newest initiative, a program that serves Atlanta's marginalized youth with innovative, grassroots solutions.
Now I have the chance to make the idea a reality by observing co-ops and learning more about global economic and social issues in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.
My initial trip will take me to Israel, where we will visit and work with farmers and cooperatives!
From there I fly to Barcelona, Spain, where I will visit Mondragon, the largest worker cooperative group in the world (recently, when times were hard, members voted to take pay cuts instead of cutting hundreds of jobs, and management took the largest cuts. Imagine if we all worked and owned in cooperatives!).
Following this I will attend the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates with AFSC colleagues and other peacemaking activists from around the world. We will convene over issues such as sustainable human development, stopping gender violence, and averting lasting conflicts between cultural groups and nations.
After the summit I will head to Morocco, where I will volunteer with an organization that teaches farming techniques and sustainable practices such as water harvesting and energy efficient construction.
Because they believe in my plan, AFSC is paying for my flight across the ocean and expenses while at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, but I will need to cover costs of accommodations and living expenses while in the other regions.
Help me make this a reality. Not only will you be assisting my dream, but aiding in the beginning stages of a program that can change the lives of many underprivileged youth.
I am grateful to all my friends and family that are willing to help me make this trip happen!
Thank you and much love,
-Joel
Organizer
Joel Dickerson
Organizer
Atlanta, GA