The Nipigon reading list

I’m heading way up to balmy Nipigon, Ontario today for the holidays, where I’ll attempt to stay warm (good luck) and stay away from the computer. With that, I’ll be going on a blog break, likely until the 4th of January.

Before I head out, I thought I’d share my reading list for the next week. Here are three books that have been recommended to me, that I’m going to attempt to fire through. In no particular order:

‘Soccernomics‘ by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. This blends football with Freakanomics and apparently busts plenty of myths about who does well and why and, I quote, “Why are the people who run soccer clubs so dumb?”

‘Only the super-rich can save us‘ by Ralph Nader (pictured). This is Nader’s utopian fantasy, and through fiction he does his best to convince us that maybe, just maybe, his vision isn’t crazy at all.

‘Eternal Life: A New Vision‘ by John Shelby Spong. Spong is described as the most articulate voice for a new Christianity. And for this weak agnostic, his quest for truth and unwavering hope is something I’m hoping will rub off on me a little.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Athletes for Africa is hiring

We’re going through a bit of a staff reshuffling over here, and to top that off we just lost our outreach and communications guru to The Santiago Times. We just couldn’t compete with that weather. Good luck Eva!

So, we have two posts available and there’s plenty of space here for you to lead and take some risks along the way. In fact, it’s mandatory.

Both positions offer the opportunity for you to make your mark and carve out your own future with us as aim to grow globally in 2010. The sky is indeed the limit.

Click on the links below for more details on both posts:

Director: Partnerships and Development

Manager: Outreach and Communications

Testing, testing…

This week we sent out our holiday emailers, encouraging our supporters to give their charitable dollars this December to our Youth & Cultural Centre project in Gulu, northern Uganda. We also did things a little differently this year.

Our Athletes for Africa email focused on the community and asks you to, “…give a gift that will last lifetimes.” You can see it here.

The second, through GuluWalk, was a tongue-in-cheek poke at our gift obsessions and the fact that not every child wants a video game this Christmas. Instead we ask you to, “give a gift that actually makes a difference.” Click here to take peek.

The second one (pictured) has offended a few people, but so far it’s getting more people to actually click through and make a donation. We’re testing. Trying new things. We’re measuring what’s works and what doesn’t, while keeping in mind our audience, supporters and the passion they already have for our work. What do you think?

Oh, and we’re doing it all with Google Analytics, you should check it out. More on this to come.

Orphanages and entrepreneurs

In Sunday’s New York Times, Celia Dugger shed some much-needed light on Malawi in Aid Gives Alternative to African Orphanages. The point being made: orphanages are expensive, they harm child development and they irreparably fracture families and communities (and we’ve been hearing this for years from community leaders in northern Uganda).

An experimental solution is now in motion in Malawi that provides cash ($4 to $20/month) directly to the extended families who take the children in. It’s more cost-effective, it stabilizes the family unit and promotes independence. So far, these children are healthier, better fed and more likely to be in school. That being said, researchers admit, “the program has yielded ‘fabulous benefits’ but cautioned that the country needed better safeguards to prevent corruption and fraud in the future.”

What struck me most about the article though, was the reluctance of so many governments, foundations and large donors to take a risk with a program like this.

In fact, I just met with a potential donor, and budding entrepreneur, who was equally leery of a new program we’re aiming to seed. His response, and what I’ve heard over and over again, was, “Why not fund what’s already working. I want to be confident I’m going to get a good return on my investment.”

That doesn’t sound all that entrepreneurial.

It’s interesting how we’re willing to take risks at home with the vision of doing great things, but are cautious across the pond. Do we really need to invest only in what’s working (and I use that term loosely) or should we be seeding more and more ‘pilots’ and ‘ideas’ that are chasing something great?

And really, if we’re afraid to fail, are we truly ever going to be a partner in change?

The Government’s Newspeak

Here’s an Op-Ed posted by our friends at The Mark that I co-authored with Trudeau Scholar and all around good guy Taylor Owen.

No slight to The Mark, but we first pitched this to all of the major Canadian newspapers, and no one would touch it. Most inferred that it just wasn’t newsworthy or that it was dated. We beg to differ. But, you tell us. Here’s an excerpt:

It is a curious feeling to wake up one morning and have the focus of your career banished from your government’s vernacular. But this is what recently happened to both of us.

An internal DFAIT email was leaked this summer which outlined a series of shifts in the language of Canadian foreign policy. These changes were politically directed, coming from Foreign Affairs Minister Cannon’s office.

The terms “gender equality,” “child soldiers,” “international humanitarian law,” “good governance,” “human security,” “public diplomacy” and “The Responsibility to Protect” have been blacklisted from government parlance.

While already limited to an unprecedented degree on what they are allowed to say in public, Canada’s civil servants and diplomats are now banned from using certain words.

You can read the complete editorial right here.