Buying Local to Create a Lasting Impact Future Without Poverty recognizes people worldwide make who make a lasting, sustainable impact on our society. This past year, the pandemic permanently or temporally closed over 110,000 restaurants and bars in the United States—affecting over 2.5 million jobs. While the United States is working towards recovery, there are those individuals and shops who managed to survive the pandemic. Then there are those who not only survived but continued to support their community in the process. Chef Bill Hawkins at the Bluebird located in Stanford, KY, exemplifies buying local to create change and positively impact a community. Chef Bill is the recipient of the lifetime achievement award for setting a state record for purchasing and utilizing goods and services solely derived from Kentucky and the local community.

There is a saying that if your community lacks a doctor—do not complain; become one. If your community needs a teacher, then teach. The community at Pivot Academy in the USA needed an individual and organization to promote local enterprise, explain what is love addiction and feed the hungry—this is what Chef Bill Hawkins and the BlueBird restaurant did and have continued to do. Future Without Poverty is proud to recognize citizens such as Chef Bill Hawkins, who are helping be the catalyst for change in our global society.

Women Recovering from Human Trafficking, Tribal members in USA and Nicaragua, and Veterans in Oklahoma: Southwest Leather being recycled and Tool for Development!

Arise Veteran Foundation (FWOP affiliate) has been linked to Retreaded (www.rethreaded.com/pages/the-mission) in Florida and the 4000 women across the globe for some years now.  Arise and FWOP with it link to SWA has used leather sent to them to make products –thus lowering their costs of production. They sell items on their website and now on the Arise Veteran Foundation website. In 2020, with COVID-19, Retreaded moved to produce masks for the hospitals of northern Florida.

Arise VF has established two additional Women Recovery programs, both under the Unshattered banner.  We are looking forward to expanding our leather recycling program with Unshattered.

https://www.unshattered.org/

Just this month our network has been linked to Refuge for Women (www.rfwntx.org ) that has residential program in various locations.  We are linked to sites in Lexington, Kentucky and Denton, Texas. SWA leather will go to them in January to help them create items to sale.   Women in one location who attempt to escape trafficking do not reside at Refuge in their hometown, instead they are sent to another location.  Pimps may make $12,000 per month from trafficking one women, girl or boy.

In 2021 we anticipate that truckloads of leather will be going from El Salvador to RETUS (Rural Tourism Women Business –  www.retustours.com – ) , various artists and some larger enterprises in Costa Rica. We have leather going out to numerous American Indian Nations and Tribes across the US currently.
Working with the Harvest Initiative (http://www.harvestnic.com/ )   that works with MIskita Tribe in eastern Nicaragua, Arise has been sending SWA leather to Nicaragua. Cobbler in the Tribe have designed lovely shoes and boots from SWA leather now.   Potentially this project will improve monthly income more than 100% for locals.  Visit Arise Veteran website:     http://ariseveteranfoundation.org

Arise has begun to send a bag made from recycled SWA leather, and protective masks and cleaning fluid. Each bags has beadwork from various tribal members in Oklahoma.  The first bags are from the Quapaw and Crow Nations. 

Solar Lamps Distribution
In 2017, we had some 8000 lamps sent to Arise/FWOP in Nashville. The lamps can charge up cell phone as well as light up a room well. Recently, NRS Relief has secured various locations to send lamps around the world. To make sure the lamps work well, residents at the Knowles Home in Nashville have volunteered to check all lamps before shipping. These assisted living volunteers are excited to participate in this global effort and thus improve their own mental and physical well-being.    World Health Organization has secured 1000 lamps from our stockpile and they will be shipped to Afghanistan in December.  Other lamps have been sent to Ghana, Guyana and Yemen.

Their days and lives are enriched by being part of repairing the world one lamp at a time. Seniors checking all 1000 lamps to make sure they are ready to operate!

Air monitoring: STEM Education For Youth Across the Planet
Some new sites will open up in 2021. We are working with three private schools, two in Guadalajara and one in Lyon, Mexico. All three schools are K- 12 bi-lingual business schools.  We will start air monitoring device training at Colegio Union Mexico in northwest Guadalajara in January. , has air monitoring devices in Guadalajara and training will occur in January.  The three schools focus upon sustainable-oriented business development.   https://subire.mx/    and http://colegiounionmexico.com/

Working with a renewable and environmental organization (CERCA) in La Paz, Mexico,   a learning center for air quality education and air monitoring training program is being established.  CERCA has some air monitoring devices operational now in La Paz. https://www.cerca.org.mx/  .    Rural and urban schools and a university is part of their network.

Together with Rebecca Jim, Executive Director of Lead Agency, (http://www.leadagency.org/), and  a local teacher in northeast Oklahoma,   we will support a training program  on air monitoring and air quality issues in early 2021 for some youth in the region.  This is the site of one of the largest Superfund sites in US called Tar Creek. (https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/tarcreek/index.htm).  Soil, water and air pollution are major concern in the area.

FWOP Summit in Mexico in November went well. Dayani Davilla of FWOP is working with two locations to install air monitoring in Mexico.  Spring Break sees her in Nashville helping victims of tornado.

Costa Rica    Our partnership with Denton Rotary has meant that the Sustainable House has been restored, that four aquaponic units have been installed and the women’s rural sustainable tourism  network has been trained in more advanced business practices with allied experts. Two groups of tourists were to arrive in March.  Their first tour arrived March 8.   Some of their activities were, a tour of butterfly sanctuary, learning to make tortillas, participating in cultural and farming activities and making pottery from Costa Rican clay.  A second tour has been postponed until May 9^th due to COSVID-19 outbreak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww59dHU3d54&feature=youtu.be

1.     Harvest Initiative recently received used Southwest Airlines leather from Arise Veteran Foundation.   Local cobbers have taken the leather and produced some lovely boots. First shipment of boots will arrive by April.

http://www.harvestnic.com/ . With a median monthly income of $40,  adding  $10 – 30 per month will be an important contribution to economic wellbeing of a poor native population.

Nashville.  ARISE and FWOP are assisting residents after the tornado that recently hit Tennessee. Some 300 solar lamps that provide light and allow cell phones to be recharged have been distributed.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsYjhDnthqOmYPw1E6iuL3w

Tribal Impact Consortium with a focus on Opioid Abuse has been created some two years ago.  With federal funding, Meharry Medical College, UNT, Chickasaw Nation, Ottawa and  Pawnee Tribes in Oklahoma  and Spokane Tribe in Washington a plan for improving prevention, treatment and recovery programs in American Indian Communities.  ARISE Veteran Foundation and FWOP resources will play a role to expand the overall capacity of the Consortium. Thanks to http://chandler.uptownjungle.com and our upcycling project with SWA leather some interesting partnerships are emerging across the world.  Tarkett, an international flooring company, is partnering up with Rock Construction to expand employment and vocational training in the trades, and thus indirectly expand the overall community economic wellbeing. Thus, supporting the vision and mission of FWOP to eliminate poverty by implementing more comprehensive approaches to improve community wellbeing.

FWOP Summit

Mexico City

November 21^st to 23^rd

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iKbnYOYpeQJJwwOZiY0ymC1nHMq8WviB

A long story and journey!

In 2011, Sylvester Flores and Stan Ingman traveled to Mexico City to meet with the Director of the Women’s Network.  We were invited to meet federal governmental officials because of FWOP’s efforts in the State of Jalisco, especially the community development work in Flor de Campo some 7000 feet up in the Sierra Madre, south of Lake Chapala. According to a legend, Flor de Campo was the place ‘ God had forgot to visit’.

FWOP was invited along with COFIMICH ( Bank and Construction Company In Morelia and Renamu ( Red Nacional de Mujeres Vigilantes Contractoria Social , AC) to meet with Secretary Herberto Felix Guerra , SEDESOL ( Federal Community Development Ministry). Our main agenda was whether a ‘three for one program” could be established to support the expansion of housing program for the poor in Mexico.

The 600,000 women’ s group- RENAMU –  had been stimulated by Vincente Fox , the first PAN President Fox ( 2000- 2006),  after 70 years of rule by the PRI.  Gilberto Huitron, on the right standing, was Chief of Staff for this group. The network had held a regional meeting in Mazamitla some thirty  minutes from Flor de Campo. Some Flor de Campo women attended the meeting and the leaders of the network went to visit Flor de Campo.

During our history in Flor de Campo working with locals, leadership in Mazamitla and our contacts with DIF Jalisco ( Welfare for Poor Families ) progress had been made: a better road into the village was built, a link to grid electricity was installed ( $17,000 grant from US) so for the first time they had regular electricity,  a small textile factory was established with sewing machines, a small dam to allow residents  to drive to other side of the village in the rainy season,  a micro business was created to sell cold drinks,  and finally, an aquaponics tank was built by residents and UNT students allowing spring water to flow  water continuously so as to provide fresh fish for villagers. Leadership of RENAMU  were the major projects completed.    They were impressed so we got the invitation to help RENAMU secure more federal funds in partnership with FWOP to expand their impact.

The second PAN administration ( 2006-2012 ) was supportive of the network but they had their own priorities and it was not a smooth transition for the women’s network. When PRI took power in 2012, support dropped off dramatically. However the network idea did not die according to Emergency Mold Solutions from Orange County. The second largest union in Mexico picked up the cause.   The Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros y Campesinos (CROC) is a Mexican trade union confederation and they back AVANZAMOS http://avanzamos.mx) and their network of some 450,000 women across Mexico. They hosted the FWOP Summit in Mexico City in 2019.

Again, as early in 2011 with the previous women’s network- RENAMU, Gilberto Huitron is a staff person for AVANZAMOS.  In 2014, he came to UNT to study English for nine months. Upon returning home he enrolled in a master’s program in Business Administration in Mexico City. Stan Ingman at UNT was asked to be the outside reader for his thesis, as his college required  one international committee member. In October 2018, he attended the Nashville FWOP Summit. At the Summit, Dr. Eliecer Vargas from Costa Rica who had hosted the 2017 FWOP Summit at CATIE (https://www.catie.ac.cr/),  and Gilberto Huitron asked to organize the next summit in Mexico City in 2019.  We enthusiastically endorsed their leadership!

Some 200 attended the 2019 FWOP Summit in Mexico City.  FWOP made a range of contributions to the event.  First, Dayani Davilla from UNT FWOP demonstrated the air monitoring devices under the banner of citizen science and STEM education for youth in schools. In addition, check out http://www.masterpaving.ie/, she showed  how this can be linked to mapping of locations.  She had participants moving around Mexico City taking PM 2.5 particulate readings of air quality.

See photo of Summit participants taking reading  around Mexico City.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xf8tY1VqktnC3mek7

Dayani Davilla has two locations in Mexico to set up pilot monitoring sites. Further training will start in 2020.

FWOP member Margaret Bates from Houston introduced a simple way to improve breathing for individuals with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) using harmonicas.  Follow-up sessions in Mexico are being scheduled in 2020.

https://www.copdfoundation.org/What-is-COPD/Understanding-COPD/What-is-COPD.aspx.

Dayani Davilla also introduced our FWOP solar lamp program. Lamps are useful when grid electricity goes down and you need light,  and to recharge your cell phone.  Micro businesses to sell lamps is next step in coming year.  Some lamps will go down to Mexico in December to start a pilot project.

Some discussion about a possible on-line store started and we will explore various models in 2020.   An FWOP partner in Guadalajara came up with a surprise. Biobenefits, AC made a contribution of 2000 lbs. of toys to FWOP, and we quickly donated them to AVANZAMOS.

https://www.facebook.com/473499082723868/posts/2506575016082921/?sfnsn=scwspmo

Conclusion:

We hope to expand our partnership with AZANZAMOS IN 2020!  Regional workshop at the Tepehua Centro in Chapala in March is one idea.  FWOP, local Rotary Clubs  and regional leadership from AZAMZAMOS could meet to share ideas for the expansion of educational and entrepreneurial programming. A tour of the Tepehua Centro and sustainable-oriented farm on Lake Chapala operated by the SuBire school  ( www.subire.com )  are two possible tours. Centro has an interesting clean stove program to improve health of residents and many health programs to review.

DIY Air Monitoring Education for a Cleaner Environment

The University of North Texas, UNT, and Future Without Poverty, Inc., FWOP, are partnering to provide a series of STEM and Public Health workshops. During a 2 to 3‐hour hands‐on session we will show students how to build a simple particulate matter (PM) monitor with parts you can buy online and easily connect to a system of monitors in operation around the world (luftdaten). These workshops are designed to engage students in

science and engineering topics while educating our community about the environment and public health.

The workshops are structured with a flexible curriculum that can engage students at all levels and provides many avenues to introduce STEM and public health topics. Wherever a workshop is conducted, we will attempt to establish a single monitor and the remaining

monitors will be given to the students to install in their communities. Any monitors that are built but not installed will be donated to other areas of the world where significant air quality challenges persist.

The primary goals of these workshops are:

1. Introduce STEM and Public Health topics to underserved and underrepresented communities,
2. Educate the community about the impact of air quality on health and the environment at both local and global scales,
3. Establish a network of PM monitors at home and abroad that will provide both a community alert system and a wealth of data for further research, and
4. Have some fun!

This project will be conducted by Constant Marks, a PhD. student in Mechanical and Energy Engineering at UNT, with the help of two undergraduate students and a high school student. The work will be overseen by Prof. Stan Ingman, a Professor of Applied Gerontology, Editor of Sustainable Communities Review and Vice President of FWOP (www.fwop.org).

Several interested parties including the Dallas ISD, Frisco ISD, and Denton ISD, as well as various youth programs in Nashville and St Louis and the CATIE institute in Costa Rica have already been identified and are eager to bring these workshops to their students. We have also contacted a network of other researchers, civic organizations, and NGOs, who would like to be involved in this project at various capacities. These workshops are the initial phase of larger project that will be proposed for NSF funding in the fall.

PM Monitor Assembly Outline

The assembly of the PM monitor is designed so that anyone can do it. With only 7 wires and 2 cable ties, the kit becomes a Wi‐Fi connected PM monitoring station. A photo of the partially assembled monitor is shown below.

PM Monitoring Station

The parts are sourced from AliExpress and Amazon. A group in Stuttgart (www.lufdaten.info) have programmed the firmware that will be installed on the PM monitors and hosts the servers that store the data. Part of the workshop will include teaching students how to connect and install firmware onto the monitor’s microcontroller (NodeMCU) and connecting the devices to the Luftdaten API. The microcontroller is based around the popular Arduino platforms and some of the more advanced modules will include programming in the Arduino IDE.

To assemble the monitors a PM sensor (SDS011) and a temperature and humidity sensor (DHT22) are connected to the NodeMCU. After wiring, the components are secured with cable ties and installed into the housing made from two PVC pipe fittings. Next we configure the stations Wi‐Fi, and then the sensor can be ‘tested’ after about 10 minutes on the lufdaten.info website.

Finally, to make the PM monitors a permanent part of the network, we send some site specific information to lufdaten.info. We will send the students an email with their sensor ID, once the sensor are installed and integrated into the Lufdaten network.

Colegio Union Mexico ( www.colegiounionmexico.com) is a K-12 school in the Los Molinos subdivision, Zapopan, Jalisco – North West Guadalajara Metro Area. Established as a K – 9 school in 2012, by the next year, 2013, it added the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. On December 16th the FWOP team visited, experiencing a very dynamic day, to say the least!

Our FWOP team visited Moonyeen King, the foreign retirees and the families at the poor hillside barrio of Tepehua in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. The relatively new Center ( www.tepehua.org) provided Christmas lunch for some 500 children on December 20th, 2013.

Numerous reports mention the possible elimination of extreme poverty in the world in the near future. At the same time, reports show that the percentage of people under the poverty level has risen from 18% to 22% in the last several years in the USA.
The recent mayor’s election in New York City focused upon the gap between rich and the rest of the New Yorkers that has been increasing, and some wonder if the middle class in the USA will continue to decline further. The Econonmist ( September 21, 2013; p12 ) noted : “ Americans’ income inequality is growing again. Time to cut subsidies to the rich and invest in the young.” Median household income has dropped from $56,000 in 2007 to under $52,000. Implication? Both conservatives and liberal agree this is the most fundamental political issue in the upcoming elections. Debate will be what to do about it?
“The gap in test scores between rich and poor children is 30-40 wider than it was 25 years ago.” The Economist article suggests a focus on early childhood education and more progressive taxes. With the tax code favoring the middle and upper classes, the Economist favors a flat tax. Details on this proposal would be important to follow carefully.

[Email Transcript]

Subject: FWOP

Dr. Preston,

First off, I want to thank you for the recommendation letter you submitted for me a while back.  I just wanted to let you know that I have been granted admission in the the University of Kentucky’s Physician Assistant program, and I have accepted the position.

The program starts the first week of January.  Therefore, I will not be able to participate in FWOP as president of the UC chapter.  I was wondering if there was any way that I could still be involved in FWOP.  I know that you had mentioned that it was possible.  I really feel that just being affiliated with FWOP and being able to talk about the things that the organization was doing solidified my entrance into the UK PA program.

I had spoken with Kirsten about a month ago about ideas to move FWOP forward.  But now that I’m going to be leaving I obviously will not be able to follow through with those.

The part of the program that I will be apart of is actually located in Morehead, KY as a partnership with UK and Morehead State and with the assistance of http://galarson.com/.  The Morehead portion is focused on underserved areas of the population and I would be allowed two internships outside of the country for that purpose.  That’s probably the biggest reason that I feel FWOP was on my side in the interview process.

Let me know if there is anything that I could be apart of, or if I could be involved in spreading FWOP to Morehead/UK.

Thanks again,
Cody Kirschner

BATAVIA, OH (September 5, 2013) – A Future Without Poverty announced Michael “Doc” Preston, Assistant Professor of Biology at UC Clermont College, as the Future Without Poverty’s Breaking the Myth of No Effect 2013 Award recipient. A Future Without Poverty is an international volunteer run non-profit organization founded in 1995 that encourages individuals to make a difference by breaking the cycle of poverty. ….[more]