by RitaGoldenGelman on March 13, 2010
So Letsgetglobal.org is up and functioning. I still haven’t done a major announcement yet. Next week.
Next week I’m also planning to spend a day at the Library of Congress searching for foundations who offer planning grants. I will begin with query letters. I need a coordinator…and someone who will work the social networks. (I don’t know how people have time to have a life and keep up with the Tweet/Facebook/blog world.)
I love all the people who have helped me out along the way, most really nice caring young people……….but volunteer work is not number one in their lives. School, jobs, internships, family all come first. I need to have someone on salary! I would like LGG to be the job that they have to show up at every day. And for that, I need to have funding.
I’m about to send out a lengthy listserv letter…probably tomorrow. If you’re not on my list, send me an e-mail and I’ll send you an invitation to join.(femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com) It will be mostly about LGG and what we’ve been doing and what we need. If you want to volunteer, send me a note.
At the moment, I’m looking for around five schools across the country who want to be in our pilot program, high schools that you know would cooperate with letting kids know that there’s an option to going straight into college. Once we have the schools, we will put together volunteer teams to work with the faculty, the students, and the parents. If you have a school-candidate…and if you would like to be on the team, let me know. We’re working on a volunteer kit.
Have to run to the supermarket to get the ingredients for the Vietnamese PHO I’m making for tomorrow’s guests.
See ya. Rita
by RitaGoldenGelman on March 4, 2010
I can’t believe I haven’t written since Feb. 22nd. I’m sorry.
On the 24th I flew to California to spend a couple of days at Scripps College in Claremont. I was hosted by Juliana Lacerda Sobral and her dog, Veggie, who somehow managed to find her way (Veggie, that is) into my bed in the middle of the night on the 25th. She clearly wanted to play!
Scripps is a 900 student girls’ college that is part of a seven-school group all located within a mile of each other. They share both classes and facilities. The invitation came about when Maya Higgins (an RA and a senior) read the nomad book and decided she wanted to meet me. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but somehow she managed to get together the funding for my trip.
I had meals with Scripps students, visited Sycamore elementary school where I talked to second and third graders, and addressed a crowd of around 150. My talk was about my life, my new book, and of course, Let’s Get Global. I flew in on Wednesday and back on Friday and I’m still a little bit jet-lagged. Or maybe it’s just the cold I seemed to have picked up along the way. Anyway, I loved the school and the reception.
I came home to a box of books…the uncorrected bound proofs of my anthology, Female Nomad and Friends. The publisher puts these together to send to media that have a long lead time and to high profile people who might want to write a blurb for the cover. (If you have any personal connections to well-known celebrities, do let me know!!)
I just spent two days writing a letter to someone I’m hoping will want to join us in a partner deal. I’m not saying who, but the letter will go out with books on Friday. If the deal happens, I’ll let you know. As you know…all royalties will go to slum kids in New Delhi for scholarships to vocational schools.
I now have www.letsgetglobal.org up and running. It’s not there yet, but it is a beginning. Now I’m ready to go after some funding. I desperately need a paid coordinator and a social network person; my experience with volunteers is that if they’re not officially employed and paid, they somehow disappear. Can’t blame them; life gets in the way if it’s not a real job.
Enough. I’ll be back. I’m now in the business of collecting names of like-minded family foundations for funding requests. Know any?
by RitaGoldenGelman on February 22, 2010
I just spent two days in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the National Conference on International Youth Exchange. I had a great time. On Friday I talked to 250 high school students about my life and the joy of crossing cultures. At one point five boys came over to where I was after the talk and asked if they could give me a hug. You gotta believe I loved it!
The Charlotte- Mecklenberg schools are committed to preparing their students to be “globally competitive,” and they were one of the sponsors of the conference. The other was CSIET. They were both gracious and on top of everything. Tara, Kelly, John, John, Beth, Lindsay…..great job. Congratulations.
There were people and programs from all over the country and world. The thing that everybody shared was a passion for helping young people extend their education across borders. On Saturday I gave a talk to the conference attendees. Lots of interesting and committed people.
I just launched a website for LGG (it was a big push to get it up for the conference): www.letsgetglobal.org I’m open to comments, additions, suggestions, etc. The more specific, the better. I really do want your help.
Luckily, last week Jeewon Kim walked through my door (after e-mailing me) and saved me. Jeewon is a young lawyer just back from nine months around the world and…here’s the best part for me…not working yet!! She came over several days and got me through the creation of that site, sitting next to me and working her magic on the computer. She spoke the language and was able to communicate with Dave who was creating the site.
Once Jeewon figured out that I am organizationally challenged, she would give me assignments overnight. ” Here are the four things I want you to do before I get here tomorrow.” I loved it. Jeewon, thank you.
I just came from trying to edit the LGG site and messed up a few things…I haven’t mastered the technical part and my saviour, Dave Chase, who designed and got it up and running, isn’t available today. So, if you find links that don’t work, lines that need spaces, type with the wrong size font, and pages without pictures, they will be fixed.
I would love your input on content…what’s there and what isn’t. Please send it to me at: info@letsgetglobal.org. The more specific, the better.
The look and technical expertise (before I messed it up today) has to be credited to Dave. He’s a 20-year-old college student and very talented. We’ve only met virtually. If you’re thinking of starting up a blog or website, check him out. dave@davidechase.com. You’ll be surprised at how reasonable he is….costwise….he’s building a reputation and a portfolio. He certainly gets my vote.
Get in on the ground floor; you’ll be glad you did. He was even cheerful as he answered all my questions, executed all my instructions, and corrected all my mistakes. I just now sent him another e-mail asking him to correct my corrections from today. There were several days last week when we were e-mailing dozens of times a day. He never once alluded to my dumb questions and inability to organize my thoughts. I know there were a couple of nights when he didn’t get much sleep. I’ve been dragging on this for months…then of course it had to be finished tomorrow!
Please go there immediately and have a look: www.letsgetglobal.org. Then write me an e-mail: info@letsgetglobal.org.
by RitaGoldenGelman on February 14, 2010
I have a list of four things to do before Monday. I stared at it all day and did other things, like eat and answer unrelated e-mails. Tomorrow they will all happen: a list of articles, two letters to edit for the website, organization of testimonials, and a program list. Yes. Tomorrow! Definitely.
by RitaGoldenGelman on February 11, 2010
It’s been snowing forever in Washington. My little tiny city backyard is full of downed branches from the southern magnolia tree, huge branches. Those giant leaves caught so much heavy snow that the branches just split off. I find it interesting that the white stuff from above has virtually closed down the most powerful government in the world….not terrorism or bad policies, but snow! Government offices, schools, buses, metros, airports…all out of commission.
I had to get myself to FedEx yesterday to mail the galleys for my anthology, Female Nomad and Friends, Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World, to Crown and I stopped two different strange men and one woman in the street and asked them to hold my hand while I climbed over mounds of snow at crosswalks. People are great in crises.
I’m still trying to get some content written so I can get a partial website for Let’s Get Global up before the National School Conference on International Youth Exchange in Charlotte, NC, next week. I’m keynoting the meeting and also talking to a group of high school students from the area.
OK. Back to the website. I am extraordinarily skilled at avoiding writing; it’s one of my most accomplished talents.
Love, Rita
by RitaGoldenGelman on February 2, 2010
I’ve been overwhelmed. Last week I was in NY meeting with the PR and marketing people at Crown. My anthology, “Female Nomad and Friends: Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World,” will be out in June and we’re planning a PR and marketing campaign. The people who are working on this are wonderfully enthusiastic. It’s exciting. (All royalties will go to send poor kids in India to vocational schools.) I still have to proof the galleys….they’re that 6″ pile of pages here on my desk!
I’m also pushing to get a Let’s Get Global website up before the National School Conference on International School Exchange that CSIET is sponsoring. I will be talking about my life and introducing the LGG project to local high school students and to the schools that will be attending from all over the country. The conference is in Charlotte, North Carolina on the 19th and 20th of February.
Ashley Tacub sat next to me on the bus from NY to DC. We talked a lot on the five-hour trip, and she’s now helping me with the LGG website, researching gap year programs. Sarah LaRosa, a Peace Corps alumna, is working on the parent section. There is so much enthusiasm for LGG. It seems that anyone who hears about it wants to help. I love the new people I’m meeting through this. I know we’re going to succeed!
Be back soon. Rita
by RitaGoldenGelman on January 25, 2010
I just put up a post on Facebook and within twenty minutes I had tons of comments. How come those of you who stop by here aren’t offering your comments?
Here’s the gist of the Facebook post…I’d love to have more thoughts. I’m focusing in on how Let’s Get Global can make that international Gap Year (or six months or even three weeks!) available to kids who can’t afford it. It’s always been done by the rich….I want it to happen for the middle class and the poor as well. And I very much want to collect ideas from all you people out there. Please give it some thought and send me your comments….here, for everyone to see and to my e-mail address as well…femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com
And you might want to see some of the comments on my Facebook page, Rita Golden Gelman. Thanks. Love, Rita
by RitaGoldenGelman on January 17, 2010
We’re still at it, almost non-stop. Yesterday I sat with a woman (friend of a friend) from the Peace Corps office here in DC, along with two PC alumnae who are helping me. She talked to us about strategies for popularizing the Gap Year in the US. (A reminder: Let’s Get Global is not a program; we are a movement that is determined to make the Gap Year a common practice in the US. There are already lots of programs and more will appear when the idea takes hold. Our website will link to the programs that are out there and to the many articles that talk about how significant a GapYear can be.)
We’d love to hear your ideas too. What’s the best way to reach the kids, counselors, general public?
While we are working on the macro level, we are also looking for schools across the country to be part of our pilot program. We want about five or ten schools from different geographical areas and from all levels along the economic spectrum. We’re convinced that local philanthropists, family foundations, corporations, and community businesses will help to fund those kids who need funding help. And we will also provide ideas for the young people to raise part of the money themselves.
Some of our ideas: the creation of a couple of products that the kids can sell to earn money (like a t-shirt that says in the front, I love my country and in the back But we really should be seeing other people), help in putting on events that will earn money, a Let’s Get Global club in each school where they learn about some of the challenges of stepping into other cultures, and more (we’ll help with the content), an exchange of work for a donation to the worker’s Gap Year from places like Home Depot or Target.
But first we need you to suggest schools that are willing to present the Gap Year alternative. We’re thinking that those of you who have a school you think might be want to be part of our pilot project should find a pal and take on the challenge of introducing LGG to that school. It’s not a huge job…especially if you do it as a team: talk to the principal and guidance counselor, work with us to get someone to talk to the kids…and then to the parents. We will have a website (hopefully very soon!), we will suggest people to do the talking, and we will work together to create a plan to get the community behind us.
Crossing cultures creates leaders, develops self-esteem, teaches respect and understanding for all people. It is the best possible preparation for a successful college career…and life in general. I keep reading that 30% of college freshmen drop out…what an incredible waste of money and talent. That’s not the outcome among young people who have matured and developed perspective during that Gap Year. Those kids go into college motivated! They come home knowing and respecting themselves… and focused. I’m hoping you’ll help Let’s Get Global make the Gap Year a cultural norm in the US.
Do think about it. We’ll support you all the way. How about a goal of 1% of the pilot schools’ graduating classes by 2013? When the first group returns, the program will expand dramatically. We can do it with your help! Write me at: info@letsgetglobal.org It will change the kids, the community, the country…..and down the line, the world.
If you found yourself nodding as you read this, write and add your name to our volunteer list. And tell me where you live.
On a personal/professional note: I’m meeting today with illustrator, Mort Gerberg. We’ve put together a book called, Winky, Thinky, Stinky, A Book of Silly Rhymes. I’ve written more than 70 children’s book and this is the first time I’ve ever worked with the illustrator. Mort illustrated More Spaghetti, I Say, which has sold millions of copies. Until now, it’s always been the editor who found and worked with the illustrator. We’ll be sending it out next week in search of a publisher.
I’ll also be in NY on the 28th to meet with Heather Lazare, the editor at Crown who is publishing the anthology, Female Nomad and Friends: Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread Around the World. It will be out in June. All royalties will go to providing scholarships for slum kids in New Delhi to vocational schools. It’s a great read, with 40 authors telling their tales; I have seven stories in the book. I’ll be taking the cheap bus from DC on the 27th and heading back to work more on LGG after our meeting. Life is good!
Best, Rita
by RitaGoldenGelman on January 13, 2010
I’m back at my desk and excited to be working again. Not that it wasn’t fun to catch a four-foot dorado with my grandson! But it’s time to get that website up.
The best news is that a reader from New Hampshire wrote that she was going to be in DC for a while and she asked if she could help. You bet. Jessie Shepard has been my brainstorming partner for two days now and I’ve accomplished ten times more than I would have if she weren’t sitting next to me. I am so much a team person! She’s a former Peace Corps volunteer (Tonga) and is as excited as I am about LGG . We are very much on the same wave length and she’s coming back tomorrow! Hooray!
Content for the website is our main focus at the moment. I’m determined to have it under control in the next two weeks. We’re still looking for pictures of teens interacting in other cultures. So please, if you have any, send them. As soon as the content is in order, it will all go to Dave Chase who is putting it together for us. Send them to: femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com.
Have a look at my speaking engagements in February…one in Charlotte, NC , at the International Study Abroad Fair and another at Scripps College in CA. Details to come when I have them, just in case you happen to be in the area.
Yay. It’s great to be making visible progress.
I am still compiling a list of high schools who might want to be among our pilot group of twelve. We’re looking for schools that represent a broad spectrum of the public school population in the country, schools with counselors and principals who like the idea of kids doing a gap year. (We are suggesting that the students apply to colleges while still in their senior year, get accepted, and ask for a deferral so they can do their gap year.)
By the way, a gap year does not have to be a year. The students can work for, say, six months, so they can contribute to their international programs. I ran into an Australian program yesterday that trains kids to teach English and then places them in schools in China. In the end, the expense would be just getting to Australia, which is under $1,000.
There are a lot of creative ways to do a gap year that make it a possibility for everyone. Can you imagine a country where all the seniors are talking about their upcoming gap year?
See you later. Rita
by RitaGoldenGelman on January 6, 2010
I will be in DC late tomorrow night, ready and eager to get back to Let’s Get Global full time. While in Mexico, I’ve written to a lot of you on Facebook and by e-mail, that I would love to talk with or meet you. I’m hoping to get my act together over the next few days. To those of you who have my phone number, do call. I’m excited that so many of you want to help out… there are many of you who have far more experience than I do in education, PR, non-profits. I need you on the team.
And I should mention, I’m very much a team player. I need people to brainstorm with, others to contribute your expertise, and others to do research, and more to tell me about the schools in your community that you think might be good for our pilot group. We need you, your knowledge, your testimonials………..and if any of you are organizers who can keep lists and do some Excel sheets of our volunteers, we need you too.
Join us in a very important mission. And do read Rose’s comments below the previous post. I like what she has to say! You will too.
Thanks, Rita
