Details on Giraffe Heroes International Operations

Giraffe Heroes Kenya Giraffe Heroes Kenya (GHK) was launched on 17 October, 2014. The celebration, which took place at the Waterbuck Hotel in Nakuru, honored and appreciated 23 ordinary Kenyans and one non-Kenyan, from diverse backgrounds, who are ‘sticking their necks out’ for the common good and serving their communities in selfless ways. Present at the event was John Graham, a former USA diplomat and

the Director for Giraffe Heroes International as well as representatives from the County Government of Nakuru. Dignitaries from corporate, academic and religious institutions also attended.

In the next months, GHK will tell the stories of these Giraffes Heroes through both traditional and social media. The stories of these brave and committed people will inspire others to become active citizens themselves in responding to challenges facing Kenyan communities and the nation. Telling the stories of heroes may be an old, old strategy, but, as the Giraffe Heroes Project USA has proven over more than 30 years, it is a powerful way to motivate positive, effective citizen action. Giraffe Heroes Kenya intends to find, honor and celebrate at least 24 Giraffe Heroes every year. Giraffe Heroes Kenya is a wholly Kenyan-run affiliate of the Giraffe Heroes Project, USA and joins global affiliates in India, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Egypt and Zimbabwe. Kenya is the first country in East Africa and the third in Africa to undertake this initiative. Prior to the Nakuru launch, Giraffe Heroes International Director Graham met with many Kenyans from all walks of life and gave presentations to universities, high schools and civic groups in Nairobi, Nakuru and Narok.

Giraffe Heroes Zimbabwe Giraffe Heroes Zimbabwe was launched with the purpose of moving more and

more citizens of that country to “stick their necks out” for the common good, and to give them tools to succeed. The new organization follows similar groups launched over the last three years in India, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Egypt. Although completely independent, all are inspired by the work of the Giraffe Heroes Project, founded in the US in 1982. GHZ focuses on social and economic rights activists although we do not limit the political aspect. The idea is to honor such individuals for ‘standing up’ against injustice or doing something positive for the community. Just like a Giraffe that keeps its neck high so is the GH. GH Zimbabwe strives to recognize “unsung heroes” that have positively contributed immensely in society and we hope to leave a legacy of positivity to future generations through our work. We are now calling upon nominations for individuals from around Zimbabwe whom you think deserve to be honored for their outstanding contributions inasmuch as advocating for social and economic rights as well as contributing positively in communities they reside in. Giraffe Heroes Zimbabwe, as all other Giraffe Heroes programs around the world, will not take sides with any one political party or ethnic group. Rather, it will find and celebrate the work of those citizens whose lives transcend party, ethnicity and class—people whose work is dedicated to the good of all people in the country, from all parties and all groups. Here are a few of the heroes honored to date: Farai Maguwu, Zimbabwe's very first Giraffe Hero, is Director of the Centre

for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), an NGO that fights for the rights of miners in the diamond fields of Zimbabwe. Maguwu is a powerful voice demanding that the profits from the mines be used to benefit the people of that nation rather than disappearing into unseen hands. He's been imprisoned and he's watched constantly, but his CNRG goes on monitoring the mines and sounding alarms.

. Farai Maguwu

Betty Makoni is Giraffe Hero #2 in Zimbabwe. Makoni founded and runs the Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe, determined to see that girls there escape the horrors of Makoni's own childhood. In an overarching culture that devalues and abuses girls, Makoni's advocacy has brought her arrests and death threats—it's also brought healing, education and hope to thousands of girls in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Malawi and South Africa.

Betty Makoni

Tasara Wamambo is the Director of Tokwe Mukosi People's Rehabilitation and

Resettlement Trust and has been on the lead in defending the rights of the people of Tokwe Mukosi since 2009 until now. In February 2014 heavy rains pounded on Tokwe Mukosi in Masvingo Province resulting in flooding which displaced tens of thousands of villagers. Government and humanitarian agencies response to the Tokwe Mukosi disaster was lethargic. Tasara worked tirelessly to highlight the plight of his community resulting in several humanitarian and government agencies working together to alleviate human suffering in the flood hit area. He is a true Giraffe who managed to stick his neck out at a time the community needed an organizer.

Tasara Wamambo

Giraffe Heroes Egypt

GHI has been in contact with the heroes of Tahrir Square since the beginning of the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. GHI Director John Graham went to Cairo in late May 2013 to set the groundwork for launching Giraffe Heroes Egypt (GHE), a new movement whose purpose is to find and tell the stories of Egypt's heroes—courageous men and women whose examples will inspire others to transcend religion and partisanship to build together a new Egypt that is safe, stable, just and prosperous. GHE will help construct what Egypt so desperately needs — a national process of building instead of tearing down. Graham met with key NGO leaders, politicians and educators in both Cairo and Alexandria. All were very enthusiastic about using the Giraffe vision and methods to move many more Egyptians to help rebuild the social and political infrastructure of the country after 30 years of one-man rule. The Library of Alexandria, a secular political party and a human rights-oriented law firm all expressed interest in hosting the new organization. During his visit, Graham gave three seminars on political action, suggesting ways that even people who live in a society as deeply polarized as Egypt’s might find ways to work together to build the secure, just and prosperous society they all say they want. The work is not without risks. 48 hours after Graham left the country, the Cairo Court ordered the arrest of all foreigners “teaching democracy.” A few weeks later the Morsi Government was overthrown by the Army, many Morsi supporters (and many others) were killed and the Muslim Brotherhood leaders were arrested. As the year comes to an end, there is a fragile peace, pending the adoption of a new constitution and new elections in the spring. Meanwhile, plans for the launch of Giraffe Heroes Egypt have been delayed until the dust settles a bit more. The need for this new organization grows by the day. Egyptians have got to find a way to live together, Muslim and Christian, religious and secular. Their heroes can show them how, and Giraffe Heroes Egypt will tell the stories of those heroes—men and women from all religions, or no religion, committed to a free, democratic pluralism. As the continuing unrest shows, the 2011 Revolution may have the easiest part of this enormous transition in Egypt. Most of the heavy lifting—writing a secular constitution that upholds the rights of all Egyptians, developing and strengthening a vibrant civil society, creating a workable parliamentary and court system—lies ahead. But none of it will succeed until Egyptians can talk and work together— discussing, forming and implementing a common vision of their future. By giving them examples of their own heroes, GHE will inspire and support this process. Giraffe Heroes International continues to coach by e-mail

and Skype from the US. Stay tuned.

Giraffe Heroes India Giraffe Heroes India (GH/India) aims to bring Giraffe vision, strategies and tools for change to the 1.3 billion people on the Indian subcontinent – making it potentially by far the largest Giraffe global affiliate launched to date. Vijay Saluja, GH/India’s new Director, hosted Giraffe Heroes International Director John Graham for twelve days in May, 2012, and the two worked together on setting up the new venture. Saluja, like the Directors of Giraffe Heroes Sierra Leone and Giraffe Heroes Nepal, is a Giraffe Hero himself. Saluja was honored in 2004 for his courageous 20-year stand against the mismanagement and unfair and unethical practices in the New Delhi City Government, where he himself worked as a senior engineer. That experience makes him perfect to direct an operation whose purpose is to move more and more citizens to stick their own necks out, working to help solve important public problems ranging from poverty, corruption and discrimination against women to injustices still remaining from India’s traditional caste system. Like all Giraffe operations, GH/India will tell the inspiring stories of the country’s heroes, motivating others to become heroic too. GH/India will also offer practical tools citizen activists need to succeed, as well as Giraffe civic engagement programs in schools, helping young people build lives as courageous and compassionate citizens serving a vibrant India. Saluja and Graham visited dozens of India’s leaders in government, business, media, education and the world of NGOs, seeking their advice and support. Everyone they talked to was very enthusiastic and offers of help have been pouring in. A two-hour meeting with the Maharaja of Jodhpur was important, but the Giraffe idea seemed to resonate among Indians of all ranks, who see the need for building more of the public-spirited courage necessary to take on the country’s daunting challenges. They were gratified by the offers of support and Graham came back very excited by what he saw, and by the energy that Saluja and he were able to generate, even in a short time. One of the many high points for Graham was meeting with traditional village leaders (sarpanches) in the Rajasthan desert, explaining how bringing into their villages stories of Giraffe Heroes—people from all over India solving the kinds of problems they all face—could help them generate enthusiasm and action for local change. Saluja and Graham gave three public presentations, combining Saluja’s inspiring story of his own anti-corruption fight

with Graham’s stories of thirty years of working with and learning from Giraffe Heroes.

Meeting with Village Leaders in Rajasthan A solid beginning was made with India’s major media, including well-placed articles in major newspapers and an offer of support from Governance Now, a prestigious news magazine that has agreed to carry the stories of India’s Giraffe Heroes when they are ready.

Tibet There is no Giraffe Heroes operation in Tibet—the Chinese overlords there would shut it down in an instant. But Tibet represents another function of Giraffe Heroes International—investigative reporting. GHI Director John Graham managed to get a tourist visa into Tibet (no easy feat, given the sensitivities of the Chinese) in October 2012. He traveled westward across the high plateau there for a week, from Lhasa to the Mt. Everest Base Camp to the frontier with Nepal, stuffing notes for his blog into his dirty socks. What he saw and wrote about was eye-opening. He calls what the Chinese are doing to Tibet nothing less than cultural genocide. Read his report, Goodbye Tibet.

Monks in Shigatse, Tibet

Giraffe Heroes Nepal Nepal is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and a ten-year civil war that ended in 2006 stalled development and left many people there uncertain and afraid. Nepal needs the Giraffe message of hope, courage and service. Giraffe Heroes Nepal (GHN) was launched in October 2011 during a ten-day visit to the country by GHI Director John Graham, working there with GHN’s leader, Dr. Sushil Koirala, already honored as a Giraffe Hero for his courageous work with Peace for Nepal (PN), an NGO he founded in 2004 to help end the bloody civil war. When the war did end, PN helped promote the election of a Constitutional Assembly and then, after the elections, organized programs in villages and towns collecting peoples' opinions, suggestions and concerns for drafting the Constitution that ended the monarchy and launched Nepal as a new democracy.

Since then, PN has expanded its activities and focus both within Nepal and abroad, promoting programs that build peace, support development, combat injustice and protect the environment. Under Dr. Koirala’s direction, GHN will find the brave men, women and children who are already making a difference in Nepal, and get their stories told to the nation, energizing others to move into action themselves. GHN speeches, trainings and other tools in civic engagement will help activists succeed. And GHN schools materials will help young people build lives as courageous and compassionate citizens. Over ten days in September and October 2011, John Graham and Dr. Koirala met with key people in government, major donor organizations, NGOs, schools and especially media organizations. All were impressed with the idea of Giraffe Heroes Nepal and all enthusiastically agreed to help launch it. Graham was on Nepal's version of The Today Show, talking about Giraffe Heroes Nepal to a national audience, or at least to its many English speakers. Dr. Koirala and Graham also talked at length to Nepalese language media executives. Graham and Dr. Koirala also spent a half-day at Tilingatar, the largest high school in Kathmandu, talking to groups of students about the adventure of serving one’s community and nation. They strategized with the school's leaders on how stories of Giraffe Heroes, combined with Giraffe coaching in civic engagement and community service, could help young people make a difference in their communities. It was also apparent that these stories would be a great tool for teaching English. GHN’s plan—once a robust program is launched at this initial high school—is to use this model to spread Giraffe schools' programs to other schools in the Kathmandu Valley and then elsewhere in the country. Graham and Dr. Koirala also took GHN to the rural areas, spending three full days in small towns and villages deep in the foothills of the Himalayas. In one poor village, the two spoke to a group of teenagers who had formed a club to help the village solve its problems, including providing safe drinking water. What the kids were doing was great—and could be even more effective with a small amount of Giraffe training and materials.

Giraffe Heroes Nepal Director Dr. Sushil Koirala and

GHI Director Graham at Dashain festival, Nepal

Nepal faces significant challenges including continuing conflicts, poverty and disease, threats to the environment and corruption. But it’s also clear that there are many brave and committed Nepalese already making progress in all these areas. When GHN tells their stories, others will be led to follow their leads. And GHN training programs will help them succeed.

Giraffe Heroes Sierra Leone Sierra Leone is a country the size of Iowa on the bulge of West Africa. It’s a potentially rich country, but impoverished by a brutal ten-year civil war that ended in 2002—think child soldiers and Blood Diamonds. The war killed thousands of people, destroyed infrastructure, and left many more people discouraged, apathetic and fearful. Sierra Leone needs a lot of inspiration, hope and guidance. GHI Director John Graham spent eight days in Sierra Leone in May 2011 and came away impressed not just with the enormous tasks of governance and development at hand, but also with the longing of the people he met—from political leaders in Freetown to war victims in small camps upcountry—to heal the country's wounds and restart development work. Giraffe Heroes Sierra Leone can help by bringing Giraffe programs to the country, providing inspiration and training to people traumatized by the war. For a relatively low cost, GH-SL can help them regain their footing, renew their hope and help solve

the enormous problems the country faces such as poverty, corruption and political violence.

John Graham at camp for war victims, Makeni, Sierra Leone (now the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic)

Everywhere Graham went in Sierra Leone, billboards proclaimed “Na wi country,” which is translated not just as “This is our country” but “This is OUR country.” The signs were symbols of a national pride rooted in the common good and a positive vision of the future that just might finally produce the stability and well-being that have long been promised but never delivered. It’s as if the whole country has discovered that building a safe, fair and prosperous nation can’t succeed unless they build it together. While in Sierra Leone, Graham gave a number of speeches and was interviewed at length by two national radio stations.

Giraffe Heroes Sierra Leone is being launched with the help of three outstanding NGO partners in the country. The lead partner is Hope Sierra Leone, led by John Bangura, himself honored as a Giraffe Hero four years ago for his courageous peace-building work in the aftermath of the Sierra Leonean civil war. John's organization works principally with the military, police and tribal chiefs. Our second partner is the B-Gifted Foundation, led by Andrew Greene, which focuses on war victims, women's issues and the environment. The third partner is Talking Drum Studio, led by Ambrose James, an affiliate of the US-based NGO Search for Common Ground. Talking Drum broadcasts all over Sierra Leone through a network of 26 radio stations. GH-SL hopes to use this network as the principal vehicle for disseminating stories of Sierra Leonean Giraffe Heroes. The country is so poor that cell phones or computers do not begin to cover all the rural areas. GH-SL’s plan is to begin broadcasting stories of Sierra Leone's Giraffe Heroes by early next year. We will buttress the broadcasts with an active series of interviews and speeches by our NGO partners, encouraging the whole country to find, honor and emulate their fellow citizens who are acting with courage and compassion to heal divisions and build a successful common future.

Giraffe Heroes UK Dealing with Muslim/non-Muslim tensions in Great Britain In 2010, Giraffe Heroes International and the Karimia Institute launched a joint program to defuse the disaffection and anger of many Muslim youth in the UK and replace it with a growing sense of competence and hope as citizens of their adopted country. There are over three million Muslims in the UK and half of them are under 25. Most of them live in abysmal social and economic conditions, made worse by a confusion of identity and a lack of teachers and role models. These multiple deprivations lead to a sense of alienation and victimization that then breed anger and frustration which make the kids easy prey for the recruiters of radical Islam. The situation of young Muslims in the UK has become a growing social and security threat. Many of them applaud the violent tactics of al Qaeda. Almost all of South Asian descent, the most radicalized of these young Muslims can end up in training bases in terrorist safehavens in Pakistan. Mainstream Islam in the UK does not condone terrorism, condemns the violence of al Qaeda and urges UK Muslims to participate as full citizens of Great Britain. Politically moderate UK Islamic organizations, such as the Karimia Institute based in Nottingham, struggle to counter the influence of radical clerics among Muslim youth.

The Karamia Institute is a politically moderate Muslim organization whose mission is “to promote moral, social and spiritual development through worship, education and recreation for today's society.” The Institute operates over twenty programs for men and women, boys and girls, including nurseries, schools, mosques, a radio station and a sports center. Its newest program is the Muslim Youth Development Project, working with Muslims aged 16-25 to develop leadership skills and encourage community volunteering. GHP President John Graham and Imam Hussain Musharraf, Director of the Karimia Institute, first met at an international conference in Switzerland in the summer of 2009. They quickly saw the possibilities for using Giraffe themes and programs to support the Institute’s work in helping disaffected Muslim youth develop confidence, self-esteem and self-belief.

John Graham and Imam Musharraf at the Karimia Institute's Radio Dawn Graham went to Nottingham in April 2010 to explore these possibilities and to work with the leaders of the Institute to design a partnership and programs that met the challenge. It was clear from the start that Giraffe programs developed in the US simply couldn't be transferred whole to a much different cultural context in the UK’s Muslim community. While many of the same Giraffe themes and methods that work in tough inner cities in America would also work among

angry Muslim youth in the UK, there were important differences. And the heroes chosen as examples for Muslim youth in the UK clearly needed to be weighted heavily towards Muslims and South Asians. Over four days, Graham: • Trained Karimia Institute staff to set up a system to solicit nominations for real heroes from the Muslim community, select the best stories, then get those stories told by whatever means would be most effective, including Radio Dawn, the Institute's own station. • Explored with the Institute what would be needed to amend the Giraffe civic engagement materials now used by schools and youth organizations in the US to fit the unique context of Muslim youth in the UK. In the plan that resulted, Muslim youth first hear, see or read the inspiring stories of real heroes, credible examples of real people leading exciting, productive and meaningful lives. Then they are coached to become heroes themselves by designing and carrying out projects that help solve public problems they care about. Seeing the positive difference their actions can make in their communities—Muslim youth learn that they are valuable members of society and can live their entire lives as involved citizens. Their communities see them as assets instead of liabilities. Taking part in Giraffe programs helps give these young Muslims confidence and skills. Perhaps most importantly, it gives them hope.

Giraffe Heroes Nigeria The success of an exploratory trip to Nigeria by John Graham in 2008 led to the idea, then the plans and the launch of Giraffe Heroes International two years later. In that 2008 trip, Graham spent eleven days speaking, leading workshops and meeting a wide variety of Nigerians committed to the social and political transformation of their country. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, suffered then and now from corruption and poor governance that for decades have hampered efforts to meet key challenges of social, political and economic development. Blessed with natural resources (principally oil) and a large, educated middle class, the country has made only limited progress since its independence in 1960. Graham was initially invited to Nigeria by the Nigerian Center for Societal Transformation to explore how the Giraffe Heroes Project, with its message of courage, hope and practical change, could help. From Lagos in the south to Abuja in the middle to Kano in the Muslim north, Graham gave nine presentations in eleven days including public speeches, leadership training workshops, training sessions for educators and even preaching in churches.

Everywhere he went, he introduced the Giraffe concept of telling the stories of real heroes as a way of moving others to courageous and compassionate action on issues that they cared about. He talked about meaning as a key motivator for taking on tough tasks and about service as a strong and stable source of meaning. He offered practical tips to Nigerian activists to improve strategic planning and execution. He showed them how to create and communicate a vision powerful enough to attract support from others.

Graham with civic and religious leaders in Kano In Kano, in the Muslim north, a city where Osama bin Laden was a hero to many, Graham told the story of Joel Bisina, a Nigerian hero working for peaceful solutions to deadly violence in the troubled Delta region of the country. In one of the poorest slums in Lagos, he worked with young leaders to improve their efforts to provide leadership for community development. In Abuja, the nation’s capital, he met with senior non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders to explore how Giraffe ideas and materials might help them in their efforts. With a huge percentage of Nigeria’s population under 25 years old, Graham spent much of his visit talking to educators and youth leaders about how to engage kids in service projects, giving them skills and hope for the future. He

urged Nigerians to tell their kids the stories of the real heroes in Nigeria’s rich history, and why it was important to give kids the freedom to explore their powers as agents of change, even when that means rocking a few boats.

Graham with youth leaders in Lagos Giraffe Heroes Project curricula and books proved very popular, especially Stick Your Neck Out, Graham's guide for social and political activists. In an arrangement with the book's US publisher, Stick Your Neck Out is now being published by Rehoboth Books, a publisher based in Lagos. This allows it to be sold at a price low enough to get it to many more activists and change agents who need it all over the country.