Football for Hope

Recently, the world’s first Football for Hope Centre opened in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

This is the first of twenty that will be built in disadvantaged communities across Africa as part of Football for Hope’s 20 Centres for 2010, the Official Campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The center will be managed by Grassroot Soccer, an organization founded by Survivor winner Ethan Zohn, along with professional players from Zimbabwe. It hopes to tap into Africa's love for soccer to educate young people about HIV and AIDS.

At the opening, FIFA president Joseph Blatter declared, “These Football for Hope Centres will use the power of football to address social challenges. Each will provide a platform for organisations that use the game to address social issues such as children’s rights and education, health, HIV and Aids and the environment, and will leave a legacy for Africa that will last long after the final whistle of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.”

The Centre is more than just a soccer field. It is meant to be a community center that will “provide alternatives to crime, violence and drugs for the township's kids.” The facility has, “rooms for educational activities and community gatherings, public health services, office space, and an artificial turf field, where Grassroot Soccer will run HIV and AIDS prevention education for youth. It also includes several all-purpose rooms, for private counseling and testing. A Grassroot Soccer Skillz coach will be staffed on site at all times.”

“The Khayelitsha facitlity is the culmination of a yearlong collaboration involving the Football for Hope movement, Grassroot Soccer, the Khayelitsha Development Forum, and numerous supporters.”

Using the influence (and fun) of soccer, the center - and organizations such as Grassroots Soccer - create games and activities that teach responsible, healthy behaviors in a country beset by HIV/AIDS, unemployment, drugs, rape, and environmental issues. South Africa was a natural choice for the first center, which stands out against the slums and shanties, since the country will be hosting next year’s World Cup.

"The centre can take many children out of the streets and lead them to something else than drugs and prostitution ... it gives us an opportunity and one day we might even make it," said Yonela Mapasa, a 14-year-old girl from the area.

"It's a good game. It teaches you a lot," said 12 year-old Lihle Bonkolo, "Soccer is a good way to learn because it is fun."

South Africa has almost six million people living with HIV/AIDS, the most of any African Country.

To learn more, visit Grassroot Soccer’s page. You can also read some of the press from Sports Illustrated and Reuters.

OneTribe.com is proud to support socially and environmentally responsible organizations.

What can you do? By purchasing a OneTribe t-shirt, you can directly support Grassroot Soccer. Exactly 50% of the sale price goes to helping one child stay HIV/AIDS free.

Learn more at OneTribe.com/GrassrootSoccer

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Change Starts Here

What vision of heartbreaking misery, what manner of dire poverty, what degradation of the human spirit must we all see before we stand up and actually commit to doing something about it? When will we answer our call to action?

It is questions such as these that drive the non-profit foundation PeaceJam.

What is PeaceJam?

Working with Nobel Peace Laureates and youth from all over the world, PeaceJam’s Global Call to Action “doesn’t ask people to simply ‘identify’ problems and ‘spread awareness’ of the issues. The Global Call to Action is about just that – ACTION.”

Having identified ten problems that are at the root of human suffering – challenges such as poverty, racism, clean water, disease, women’s rights, and violence – PeaceJam aims to create ONE BILLION acts of service and peace to solve these pressing issues.

While anybody can take part in the Global Call to Action, "The mission of the PeaceJam Foundation is to create young leaders committed to positive change in themselves, their communities and the world through the inspiration of Nobel Peace Laureates who pass on the spirit, skills, and wisdom they embody."

What is the Nobel Peace Prize?

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded yearly to one or more people who have acted to create a more peaceful world. According to NobelPrize.org, it is awarded to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses"

One Nobel Prize winner was instrumental in getting PeaceJam started. When the founders of PeaceJam met with the Dalia Lama and presented him their idea for their fledgling foundation, he said he would participate – but only if other Nobel winners were involved as well. This would help give global perspectives to participating youth.

Who is The Dalia Lama?

The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his efforts in preserving the historical and cultural heritage of his people in their struggle with China. He consistently calls for nonviolent solutions and embraces the philosophy of peace in working with religious and political leaders around the world as they work to end international conflicts, violence, human rights issues, and environmental problems (nobelprize.org).

The Dalia Lama has “started over 50 large settlements for Tibetan refugees in India and created a Tibetan school system to teach refugee children Tibetan language, history, religion, and culture. He founded several cultural institutes to preserve 2,000 years of Tibet’s arts and sciences and helped reestablish more than 200 monasteries to keep Buddhist teachings alive” (PeaceJam.com). Through all that, he has also found the time to write almost 30 books.

In his own words, The Dalai Lama is still, “…just a simple Buddhist monk – no more, no less.” He lives the life of a traditional monk, waking early to meditate and pray while continuing to deliver messages of compassion, kindness, peace, and universal happiness.

"The need for simple human-to-human relationships is becoming increasingly urgent . . . Today the world is smaller and more interdependent. One nation's problems can no longer be solved by itself completely. Thus, without a sense of universal responsibility, our very survival becomes threatened. Basically, universal responsibility is feeling for other people's suffering just as we feel our own. It is the realization that even our enemy is entirely motivated by the quest for happiness. We must recognize that all beings want the same thing that we want. This is the way to achieve a true understanding, unfettered by artificial consideration."

Recently, Healing Path magazine wrote about the past, present, and future of PeaceJam. To read that article online, click here: Healing Path (click to page 18)

You can also visit PeaceJam's web site at PeaceJam.org

OneTribe.com is proud to profile socially and environmentally responsible organizations such as PeaceJam. Through sales of t-shirts, we help provide a lasting revenue stream by donating 50% of the price directly to this worthy cause.

In fact, the purchase of one shirt helps one youth attend a global leadership training conference with a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Click here to learn more: OneTribe.com/PeaceJam

What is a waterless toilet?

Maybe some of you (guys) have seen waterless urinals in the bathrooms of newer, eco-conscious buildings and thought they were a pretty good idea. Well, for solving world sanitation problems around the world, there is something even better: the waterless toilet.

A waterless toilet, as you can probably guess, does not need any water to function, which is important in countries with chronic water shortages or where the high costs of plumbing are prohibitive. Instead of water and plumbing, these systems use organic compounds to break down fecal matter into compostable material.

Typically, these systems need no pipes or sewer connections, they have no need for a flushing mechanism, they are low odor, and they don’t use chemicals.

As you can see in the diagram at right (thanks to Ecosan), the human excrement falls down a vertical chute (2) and into one end of a specially designed helical screw conveyor (3). Every time the toilet lid (1) is lifted, a mechanism rotates the conveyor. With each rotation the human excrement slowly moves along, taking approximately twenty-five days before falling into a reusable collection bag (4). It takes six months for the bag to fill with dry and odorless waste. Through the uniquely designed ventilation pipe (5), adequate airflow is provided for the dehydration / evaporation, deodorizing process.

Over the course of several months, the human waste is dried out using these 100% contained systems, which keep the environment clean throughout the entire process. Since the waste is mostly moisture to begin with, the dried out material is only a fraction of its original size and is completely odorless.

Once it is dried out, the waste can be easily (and soundly) disposed of, used as fuel, or turned into manure. People can then either use the manure to fertilize soil and improve their agricultural yield, or sell the manure and make money.

Different types of waterless toilets have been “field-tested” around the world with great success. To read one person’s account, click here: water.org.

OneTribe.com is proud to support socially and environmentally responsible companies. When you buy one of our shirts that supports water.org, you supply one person access to clean sanitation for the rest of their lives. To do so, click here: OneTribe/water

Give as much as you gain... OneTribe.com.

Special thanks to EcoSan, Water.org, and Gramalaya for information used in this blog.

Organic vs Conventional Cotton

At OneTribe.com, we sell fashionable shirts. More importantly, one half, 50%, of the price of each shirt is donated directly to a worthy non-profit that supports humanitarian causes.

Not only are we doing our part to be socially responsible, but in doing so, we make sure to be environmentally responsible as well. Our custom-designed shirts are made of 100% organic cotton. This cotton looks and feels great, and compared to conventionally grown cotton, organic cotton has a drastically reduced impact on the environment.

Here are just a few of those differences (thanks to www.AboutOrganicCotton.com):

Seed Preparation

• Conventional: Often used GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds that are treated with fungicides and insecticides
• Organic: Never uses GMO or chemically treated seeds

Soil and Water

• Conventional: Applies synthetic fertilizers; lose soil due to “mono-crop” culture; requires intensive irrigation
• Organic: Builds strong soil through crop rotation and retains more water thanks to more organic matter in the soil

Weed control

• Conventional: applies herbicides to inhibit and control weeds
• Organic: controls weeds through cultivation and physical removal

Pest Control

• Conventional: Uses insecticides, carcinogenic pesticides, and aerial spraying
• Organic: Balances “pests” with their natural predators; beneficial insects, and “trap crops” that lure unwanted insects away from the cotton crop

Harvesting

• Conventional: Defoliates with toxic chemicals
• Organic: Relies on the seasonal freeze and water management for defoliation

Additionally, all cotton sold as organic in the United States must meet strict federal regulations covering how the cotton is grown. Here are some more interesting facts about the differences between conventional and organic cotton.

•Cotton uses approximately 25% of the world's insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides - including herbicides, insecticides, and defoliants. (Allan Woodburn)

•The Environmental Protection Agency considers seven of the top 15 pesticides used on cotton in the United States as "possible," "likely," "probable," or "known" human carcinogens - including acephate, dichloropropene, diuron, fluometuron, pendimethalin, tribufos, and trifluralin. (EPA)

•It takes roughly one-third of a pound of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) to grow enough cotton for just one T-shirt.

•Over 2.03 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizers were applied to conventional cotton the same year (142 pounds/acre), making cotton the fourth most heavily fertilized crop behind corn, winter wheat, and soybeans. (USDA)

At OneTribe.com, we are proud to help provide a steady revenue stream to important charities around the world, and at the same time, stay environmentally responsible in doing so.

We are helping stop mindless consumerism and environmental degradation – one T Shirt at a time! To learn more, visit OneTribe.com

World AIDS Day 2009

December 1^st is World AIDS day. Every year, organizations around the world use this day to create awareness about HIV and AIDS. The goal of this year’s event is address the need for human rights and access to treatment.

According to the World Health Organization, over 33 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in 2008. Based on their joint report with UNAIDS - The 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update - new HIV infections have been reduced worldwide by 17% over the last eight years. In Africa, this amounts to about 400,000 fewer new HIV infections in that time. Asia and Europe have also seen their infections drop by as much as 25%.

Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, says that the evidence of declines is due, in part, to HIV prevention programs.

One of the prevention programs that we at OneTribe.com support is Grassroot Soccer. This non-profit uses the power of soccer to teach HIV prevention skills to at-risk youth in developing nations.

It is important for programs like these to succeed because, even though we are seeing declines overall, some areas continue to explode with new infections. In fact, roughly 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2008. Additionally, there are more people living with HIV than ever before due to population growth and better treatments.

One of the key messages of World AIDS Day is “respect.” By respecting and protecting ourselves and others we can stop the spread of HIV and HIV prejudice.

• To learn more about the fight against AIDS, visit UNAIDS.
• To find out about what you can do on World AIDS Day, visit the official web site.
• To see what Grassroot Soccer is doing to prevent AIDS around the world, click here: GrassrootSoccer.org.

One Tribe is proud to profile socially responsible events and organizations. To learn more about what we do, connect with us at OneTribe.com.