Just before the Holiday Season
By Saul Garlick, Executive Director I can’t believe that I just got back from South Africa 3 days ago; I have just over 1 week to work here in the office, then I am heading out of town for Thanksgiving, and then the annual event is upon us. Whoa. Where does the time go? It … Read more
Walls and Leadership Path to Success
Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow, Fellows There are walls! Construction is moving along. The community hall has walls, and we are thrilled. We even spent the afternoon sitting inside the new building just getting used to it! Azaph Sithole is the senior member of our committee. He is an Elder and therefore is … Read more
Announcing the Impact Corps
What if you could impact 50,000 lives in rural Africa? What if it only took 10 hours? What if you won a free iPod nano for volunteering? Would you do it? ThinkImpact is calling on you to join the Impact Corps – a group of 75 supporters that are committed to alleviating poverty through sustainable development. The … Read more
Anything But Clothes… build community
Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director Fundraising for many people is the least exciting activity they can think of. Most of my friends loathe raising money, even if it is for a cause they absolutely love and believe in with genuine passion. That is why fundraising should be fun. Sarah Whitney and the GW SMRC … Read more
Energy & Goal Clarity – Let’s get to work!!
Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director Working on international development from a cushy Washington, DC office has its challenges. People always say that you must love your job purely because your mission is important to you, and that you feel like work is rewarding outside of yourself. They are correct, but it’s not so simple.
What Dan’s Doing Post-South Africa
Posted by Daniel Armanios, Former Global Development Intern I found that South Africa, especially in the Eastern Cape, suffers from water scarcity, which inadequate infrastructure has exacerbated. My goal is now to help rural communities self-develop infrastructures they can locally manage to ensure a sustainable water supply. This goal directly emanated from what I saw … Read more
Asset Based Community Development
Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director SMRC is preparing an in-depth training program for students on our global development internship. We are seeking to build the capacity of each individual, of course, but we are looking for a way to train them to be catalysts for change when they get to the communities. The most … Read more
What Makes a Brand?
Brand is how people talk about the organization, what people think of when they hear the name “Student Movement for Real Change,” how much legitimacy people feel we have, who we work with, who we are funded by, and so much more. There is no end to any of this, but I ask you, when you think about great non-profits… what makes a brand?
Feeling Inspired…
Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director I was just referred to the work of Eric Greenberg, author of Generation We and host of http://www.Gen-We.com. His story is unbelievable and his commitment to improving other’s lives is admirable. He is a brilliant businessman who has experienced epiphanes that have led him to a fulfilling and meaningful … Read more
Slogans for change?
Posted by Saul Garlick, Executive Director It occurs to me that SMRC does not have a strong slogan – or really any slogan at all. We once used the phrase, “Millions are neglected. Advocate. Empower. Improve.” but that message had inherent flaws. We didn’t like the negative feeling of the first phrase, we aren’t a … Read more
