From Labor to Leader: The Child Leader Project

Clinton Global Initiative University

The Child Leader Project has been a two-time representative to the Clinton Global Initiative in both 2008 and 2009, with an invitation to attend in 2010.

In 2009, CLP has also been acknowledged on-stage at the event as an "exemplary approach to addressing a specific global challenge." CLP was then awarded the "Outstanding Commitment Award" with a $4,000 grant to continue its programming throughout Summer and Winter of 2009.

Read the 2009 Press Releases: Child Leader Project Represented at CGIU & CLP Wins Outstanding Commitment Award

For information about CGIU, see their website:
Clinton Global Initiative University

CLP: How do we become more fully human?

According to the Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, education is a right. The UN, however, goes further than that: education shall

“...be directed to the full development of the human personality… it shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship…”

This emphasis recognizes that a education, one that not only honors the intellect but also provides an opportunity to develop a sense of community, is not only essential for full political and social participation, but is also an essential piece to individual empowerment and healthy human relationships. This empowerment through relationship and community-building also provides opportunities to develop a personal sense of independence and self-reliance: all of which are crucial to the eradication of poverty, the dismantling of oppression and the empowerment of the individual for their own wholeness in relationship to the world.

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner for his creation of the Grameen Bank (the first micro finance institution), places great emphasis on the multi-dimensional aspects of poverty—

“(Poverty)… is about people’s lives and their livelihoods… to free people from poverty, all aspects of their lives need to be addressed, from the personal level to the global level.”

Yunus argues that main-stream economic theory suffers from a “conception failure”—a failure to capture the essence of what it is to be human . For Yunus, microfinance institutions re-conceptualize markets: they provide small loans to the poorest, with specific preference for women, operating in a community-based style which requires women to establish support groups and help one another in becoming self-sustaining entrepreneurs.

But what about our schools? Education systems? Commercial enterprises? Hospitals? Citizen's groups? Government offices? Corporations? How can these organizations truly begin to "capture the essence of what it is to be human?" How can we overcome histories of oppression, colonialism, imperialism, separateness and discrimination and weave a new tapestry of justice? How might an international organization truly be "international"-- if not transnational, overcoming the illusion of separateness entirely?

CLP's original partners, Grama Vidiyal Activists for Social Alternatives (ASA-GV), a Tamil Nadu based MFI, have been operating since 1986, with the goal of social and political empowerment of women through microfinance. ASA-GV services address all aspects of poverty in a holistic approach. Since this initial partnership, we have expanded to include child labor rehabilitation organizations, street and slum children organizations, as well as local high schools in Southern California.

CLP is far more than leadership programs in India or the USA-- it is a way in which we operate with one another, a new method of collaboration and honoring of all the things that make us human in our personal and interpersonal lives.

Want to learn more? Visit our "CLP Video Library" and see how far we've come!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

CLP 2010 Calendar of Events

CLP Community Calendar 2010
Updated as of 6 February 2010

FEBRUARY 2010
Monday, Feb. 15-- (10AM-4PM) PC Training #1 (Fundraising workshop, visit to Community Settlement Association for discussion of CLP-USA), $100 deposit due
Friday, Feb. 19-- Book Club Discussion "The Revolution Will Not be Funded: Beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex" (5:30PM Coffee Roasters)
Wednesday, Feb. 24-- CLP Coordinators Meeting (7-10PM) - Anjali facilitates, *newsletter articles due

MARCH 2010
Friday, March 5—Second deposit by CLP PCs due
Wednesday, March 10-- CLP Coordinators Meeting (7-10PM) - Rachel facilitates
Friday, March 19-- Book Club "Three Cups of Tea" (5:30PM Coffee Roasters)
Sunday, March 28—(10AM-4PM) PC Training #2 (A closer study of India/creating an “Indian Context”, introduction to Tamil), *newsletter articles due

APRIL 2010
Saturday, April 10—(10AM-4PM) PC Training #3 (Community-Communication Day, Plane ticket/visa review)
Week of April 11 (Day and time TBA) -- CLP Coordinators Meeting
Weekend of April 15-17: CLP goes to Clinton Global Initiative Conference!
April 17 & 18: CLP Yard Sale in Moreno Valley
Advising Visionary Board Meeting- TBA
Newsletter articles due date- (TBA)

MAY 2010
Sat/Sun, May 15-16: PC Group Camping Trip (Curriculum development), Joshua Tree
CLP Coordinators meeting (TBA)
First Board of Directors Meeting- TBA
Newsletter articles due date- (TBA)

JUNE 2010
CLP GrassROUTES Fundraiser and Community Builder Event (Date/Time TBA)
Saturday, June 19: (10AM-4PM at UCR) Final PC Meeting (Present Curriculum)
Monday, June 21: Staff leaves for summer programs in India!

JULY 2010
Session 1 Team arrives in India: Monday, July 5 and departs Friday, July 23.

AUGUST 2010
Session 2 Team arrives in India: Monday, August 2 and departs Friday, August 20.

SEPTEMBER 2010
CLP Staff, returning to USA weekend of Sep. 10

Thursday, November 12, 2009

December Fundraiser: Book Wrapping Across Riverside!

Help support the vision and fundraise for CLP programs in the USA and INDIA by wrapping books in various locations across Riverside.

You can sign up for an hour, three hours, or days! We appreciate any and all of your support. All funds go towards CLP programs locally and globally that strive to imagine a different world for our universal community.

Sign up here:
http://tinyurl.com/clpgiftwrap

For more information, contact Anjali Varigonda @ anjali@childleaderproject.org

Saturday, October 17, 2009

CLP Yard Sale II - October 17, 2009

Child Leader Project, Inc. is in the process of selling donated items at our second yard sale for 2009. We have currently made $145 dollars towards our goal of $200. At the crack of dawn Samantha, Jessica and Maurine were up and at um to set everything up. Jessica with her bilingual skills and enthusiastic energy helped us move many items before 7AM. Samantha and her generous family helped to keep pulling out favored items for sale. The donuts and cold drinks are starting to go fast. Toby and Emily finally showed up to help answer questions and give moral support. Everyone, thank you for the donations so we have things to sell...we appreciate it all.

We are so grateful for the chance to start a new fundraising year for another summer in India. Join us two times a year for our sales - in April and October each year to raise funds. Every dollar counts!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

CLP wins a $4,000 Pat Tillman Outstanding Grant Award from Clinton Global Initiative. The funds are for our leadership programming this summer and beyond. We are extremely pleased to have won this award as it will guarantee our immediate future. In combination with our program coordinator's dedication in going to India this summer and these recognition we will indeed MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

For further information please read the following links:

http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/Page.aspx?pid=3498