THE ONE REVOLUTION PROGRAM

"Be the change" in 2012!

We live in a time that many people are calling "The Great Turning" - a time that requires the people of planet Earth to make a shift from a focus on industrial growth to the sustaining of life. The continuation of human life on the planet requires this shift - and there is an urgency to evolve that humans haven't had before.

In terms of abundance and opportunity, Americans are among the most privileged people on the planet. If everyone in the world were to have the standard of living of an average American, we would need SIX planets to support us! What is our responsibility to this level of privilege? Is it "responsible" not to think about this? One Revolution is a chance to learn how people live in other parts of the world – in regions that don’t enjoy our level of affluence and abundance. Through such “deep travel” we can begin to envision how we might respond to global problems, rather than being an unconscious contributor to them.

To be part of the change, we each need to learn skills and new ways of thinking that support the long-term viability and sustainability of life on the planet, while unlearning ways that lead to the degradation of the planet.

One Revolution is a 16-week opportunity to be exposed to people and projects on three continents that are working for this change - learning from them, experiencing diverse cultural settings, and gaining an invaluable perspective on the state of the planet as a whole. In the process of learning and doing on 3 continents we will learn about the 3 levels of change that are needed:

Holding actions that preserve species, ecosystems, cultures, languages.
The creation of new structures and ways of organizing.
Shifts in consciousness that deeply root the new structures.

Deeper Waters Program Map

The Spring 2012 One Revolution group travels to Nicaragua, India and East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania)- spending 4 to 6 weeks on each continent. This is a true pilgrimage, a survey of communities that are serving the world through conscious action. The One Revolution program is punctuated by four retreats for preparation, reflection and integration of the many aspects of this ambitious journey. See the figure above for the structure of the program. One Revolution is an ideal gap year program because it gives you an overview of the whole planet by immersing you in life on three continents, and gives you a glimpse into the future through action in the present - giving you needed perspective for a life of learning and meaningful engagement with the issues of our time.

When in-country, the group will work with several projects - learning about their work and directly helping each organization to increase the impact of their work in their region. The group will be spending significant time directly with passionate local citizens and grass-roots volunteers working hard to make their communities more sustainable and socially just places to live. Below is a further description of what the trip exposes you to:

One Revolution Adventure

NICARAGUA:

We start with an orientation in Granada, one of the oldest cities in Central America, followed by 10 days volunteering on the island of Ometepe in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, with an organization focused on using sustainable farming and microenterprise to help the local community earn sustainable livelihoods and practice environmentally safe agriculture.

Then we transition to the highlands of Nicarague to Jinotega where we will volunteer with the La Bastille Technical High School and support their initiatives running microenterprises and an eco-lodge while living with homestay families.

In both locations, the mornings will be spent learning about and working with local organizations and the afternoons will be dedicated to language study and community exchanges. We spend a week at a family-run fair trade coffee and banana cooperative learning about fair trade coffee and supply chain economics.

INDIA:

After flying to India, students and leaders will travel by train to the city of Udaipur to spend several weeks working with an innovative organization dedication to Sustainability, Alternative Education and “Unschooling.” This organization offers young Indians a chance use social activism and expression as the driving force in their education – a great opportunity for direct exchange, while assisting them with projects including Zero-Waste, Gift Cafés, and many other empowering projects.

Next, the group will visit a more rural area in Rajasthan with an organization that is building Solar Ovens and other Environmentally Appropriate Technologies. You will explore the rigid social caste system of India, the struggles of those at the bottom, and the innovative ways this organization is helping entire communities create new ways of relating by running Multi-Caste Social Justice and Women’s Microfinance programs.

EAST AFRICA:

Arriving in Kenya, the group will travel a short ways from Nairobi to an Agriculture Center devoted to improving the living standards of resource-poor communities and promoting self-sustaining food production using Permaculture and BioIntensive gardening methods. Students will have the chance to assist the organization in planting one of its many project gardens in rural village centers and small schools, and work on local Water Issues and Microfinance projects.

Travel by bus to the south of Tanzania to spend the final two weeks with a small organization putting Gandhi’s call to “be the change you wish to see in the world” into practice. An American-led initiative working with the support of the local community, this organization is creating and building a “Living Example Center.” The center's aim is to create a Model for Cross-Cultural Cooperation and teach Education for Empowerment.

Using the skills they have gained throughout the semester, the group will plan and implement their own final "Be the Change" project for the center.

"I am sitting on a hillside overlooking the sea, watching the sun set. This is the first time since the start of school that I have 'stopped' and re-connected with myself. I am overwhelmed with gratitude - your generosity has changed my life. I am still receiving love, wisdom and support from my experience in India and Guatemala. As school picks up pace, I find I am grounded and open........I don't have it all figured out but I have the tools to find my way. My LEAPNOW semester was a turning point in my life. Thank you with all my heart for it. - Spring 2011 Program participant - now at UC Santa Cruz

One Revolution Adventure Retreats:

Each major transition in the program is buffered by a retreat - three at the LEAPNOW campus in California, and one in India. These give participants time to get oriented and learn vital skills (conscious communication, group agreements, transitions), to breathe and realize how much has happened.

The first retreat will help you prepare for the journey, and give the group some time to come together before traveling. The second and third retreat (in California after Guatemala, then between India and Africa), give time to digest each leg of the journey, and the final retreat back in the U.S. gives time to harvest your learning, take time to digest your experiences, and connect each internship experience to your individual life purpose.

Read about a Spring 2009 One Revolution participant's experience:

"I want to say that this semester has been one of the most incredible times of my entire life. I have had absolutely wonderful volunteer experiences that I will never forget. I have learned so much about life, the world, and myself along this wonderful journey. All three countries have been spectacular and uniquely beautiful in their own ways. Working in the AIDS/TB hospital in Guatemala completely threw me into this experience full time. In my first week I was already interacting with patients who didn’t speak one word of English, administering medications, and giving injections. Here was also my first exposure to the huge amount of HIV/AIDS education still needed in the world. I met grown working men who had no idea what it meant to be HIV +. I watched one of our AIDS patients deteriorate into eventual death in a matter of hours. It was certainly tough working here, but it was also a huge opportunity for growth and exposure to new elements of life. From hearing life stories and struggles of these lower class fruit pickers and ranch hands to gain property and feed their families to teaching them how to play chess (in Spanish…haha) to just sitting with a lonely patient even when we couldn’t communicate; the whole experience was absolutely tremendous...

My India internship was a whole new adventure full of new challenges, realizations, and excitements. Working in the leper colony forever changed my views on the human body and human experience. Serving, working, talking, and interacting with these patients allowed me to experience THE most loving and kind people I have ever come in contact with. They are social outcasts even to this day, but the interactions I had with people at the colony was not that of those who were looked down on by the world; it was of truly alive, vibrant, beautiful people that are absolutely living their lives to the fullest in the truest form of that expression that I have ever encountered. I learned so much about how I want to live my life from their example.

While here in Uganda, I have embarked on yet another wonderful project that serves the outlying and isolated communities. We do HIV testing, counseling, education, and other public health outreach in both schools and in the community. I have been working on updating (pretty much redoing) their two websites, revamping the volunteer system, a mural project on their new school with the orphans that live here, and doing outreach on the islands and in village schools (before their school holiday began). It has been SO incredible to work here doing budgets and spreadsheets and brainstorming how to make this NGO self-sustainable. This is right up my alley because I love to organize, plan, and make things happen.

I am truly thankful and feel so blessed to have been a part of this journey. I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to be a part of this group!! My intention for this trip was to do service, and I ended up learning and experiencing lifetimes more than I ever thought possible. This trip has guided me towards a career path by revealing more about my passions and gifts. I am applying for graduate school fellowships currently and will apply to schools in the fall. My general area of interest is in Public Health with an emphasis in nutrition. I would like to work internationally for a while and eventually come back home to the US and work in high risk, low socioeconomic areas to help make small changes by teaching good health and nutrition.

I really believe that this program is a wonderful opportunity to serve in amazing projects across the world, and to explore the meaning of “service” with in ourselves and humankind. I also really loved the immediate cross-cultural comparison that was able to happen due to the set up and juxtaposition of the countries. It helped me to understand and see similarities between people across the globe, while also illuminating the distinctiveness or “unique medicine” (as one of our leaders says) that each country and people group brings to this earth."