The Road to Innovative Social Entrepreneurship International Competition!

The humble roots of the RISE competition can be traced back to a shared desire to assist Pakistani flood relief efforts in an attempt to lessen the immediate and long-term devastations of one of the largest natural disasters in recent history.

I was introduced to Aliya Bagewadi by a mutual friend who was aware that we both had a joint desire to take action to not only bring light to the tragic aftermath of the Pakistani floods, but to give the young social entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow, found on college campuses around the world, an opportunity to help be part of the recovery process in the region.

My experience with social entrepreneurship and philanthropic efforts coupled with Aliya’s intense involvement in social justice initiatives and humanitarian efforts made for an ideal partnership to help making our idea-- an annual social entrepreneurship competition- a reality. After our initial meeting, we decided we would give the competition a go.

After meeting with several professors, entrepreneurs, NGO personnel in Pakistan and recruiting a passionate Executive Board consisting of University of Chicago undergraduates, we managed to organize a unique and comprehensive annual competition which we named the Road to Innovative Social Entrepreneurship- or, RISE. The board is made up of some of the greatest, most outstanding and dedicated individuals on our campus today... more info on the stars will be posted on our site later this week.

RISE operates under the overarching belief that every college student has the tremendous potential to use his/her skills and knowledge to benefit the greater good. It is only a matter of rising to the challenge.

We hear humanity calling. Will you help us answer it?

REGISTER YOUR TEAM NOW TO RECEIVE MORE INFORMATION at http://rise-pak.com/apply/

VISIT THE COMPETITION'S WEBSITE AT http://rise-pak.com


If you have any questions regarding the competition, contact me at david@akinin.com

Facebook, Twitter: tools for Social Revolutions.

After being wildly credited as the channel through which young rebels were able to organize the social uprising that recently put an end to Tunisia’s 23-year-old government, Facebook may be now facilitating another “spontaneous” social movement in Egypt.

Amid growing social and political turmoil in African countries like Algeria and Yemen, 85,000 people pledged on Facebook to attend a nationwide anti-government protest in Egypt today, January 25. The protest is obviously running on the “spirit” of the recent events in neighboring nation Tunisia. Activists from the 6th of April Youth Movement and Egypt’s Kifaya movement are behind this and other Facebook and Twitter invites.

Ironically, today’s protests will coincide with a national holiday that honors the police forces — instrumental in having kept President Muhammad Mubarak in office since 1981.

According to independent Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egyptian activists are demanding, among many issues, the dismissal of the Minister of Interior, who is blamed for a myriad of human rights violations, and the limitation of presidency up to two terms.

For today’s protests in Egypt, the main Facebook page explicitly points to four meeting places around Cairo. Egyptian activist Khaled Kamel worries that this might have been a mistake: “Because of that, security is going to be prepared,” he told Time magazine. Moreover, mass demonstrations without prior authorization are banned in Egypt; anyone protesting today could be arrested.

Organizing social movements through Facebook makes it too easy for certain governments to track down protests, and thus be better prepared. And yet, it seems that if this protest happens at all, it will already be a huge success for the people of Egypt, and perhaps a wake-up call for authoritarian governments everywhere; social media can help give oppressed people a voice and a tool to come together.

What do you think is going to happen in Egypt? Will people show up? How instrumental do you think Facebook is in helping out with social protests?

Follow the updates on twitter!

--Credit for news: selftest.com

Studying in Paris for the Quarter!

Paris. Je suis là.
Je suis arrivé hier, et ne peut pas obtenir assez de votre air, vos sites, vos gens.
Nous avons trois mois pour connaître l'un à l'autre et tomber amoureux.
J'espère que vous êtes prêt, parce que je viens de finir le déballage.

The Power of Words in Times of War

To fight with words instead of weapons, to resist with truth instead of rocks is to instill civility in the emancipatory process and to question that of the oppressor.