La Isla Foundation Achieves Phase 1 of Strategic Plan

Dear Friends of La Isla Foundation,

We’re happy to announce that we have recently completed Phase 1 of our strategic plan.  The focus of this phase was to produce studies that would provide a set of data from which we can formulate an effective strategy that addresses this evolving public health and humanitarian crisis. During this time we also implemented infrastructural, educational and sanitation programs in order to both serve and engage the community.  This process of empowerment is key, as our goal at La Isla Foundation USA is to eventually put the local operations of the Foundation  into the hands of the community.  
We are currently preparing to launch Phase 2 of the plan. One aspect of our Phase 2 operations is the eventual self-funding of our operating costs, which have never been covered by donations, but have been covered in full by one individual. In time, we plan to generate the necessary revenue through our Spanish school and tourist and educational excursions to pay for our relatively small operational budget. To help get those programs off the ground we need your help.  

When I first arrived in La Isla I encountered a community that had resigned itself to accepting the deaths of its fathers and brothers due to kidney disease as an unavoidable reality.  Women would tell the story of how all the men in their family had died and how their boys were sick too, or were sure to fall ill.  La Isla, as I first encountered it, was a place of shadows where people pulled back the curtains to reveal the sick and dying. The residents of La Isla expected nothing, but nevertheless hoped for something to change.  People had basically given up.   

Within La Isla a lack of options had created a stagnant situation where the end game  appeared to be the slow death of an entire community. Families, robbed of their breadwinners by disease, would be eventually displaced due to economic need. While extreme challenges remain, the dynamics that exist now make it hard to remember such a time.  Today the widows have organized with other community members and are deciding the priority of Foundation programs and engaging their government.  A library has been built, a school and clinic repaired, and a scholarship program begun.  Self-sufficiency is becoming the self-selected focus as some widows are exploring small business opportunities while others are working with the local university to develop a cutting edge organic garden system to provide food for both sale and consumption.

The need for clean water remains. The community, not content to wait for government action, has decided to begin construction on the ditches and basic infrastructure that will be necessary for this water distribution system on their own time, using their own meager funds.  Two years ago residents of La Isla were paralyzed by desperation, but are now calling the shots, organizing their neighbors, and standing bravely together against what was once a impossible situation.   None of this would have been possible without your help.  

There are many stories of tragedy in our world but here we have a chance to make a lasting difference.  With what you have helped put into place we can ensure a meaningful long-term victory. When we have completed our mission it will inform our actions in other affected agricultural communities and serve as an example of what is possible through exchange and empowerment.  What we are doing here is facilitating self sufficiency, while discovering together, a model that will provide the framework for helping other communities.

What we need to make this undertaking a success and to eventually self-fund our own operating costs are fixed monthly donations over the next 18 months. La Isla Foundation is a 501C(3), and your donations are tax-deductible. Moreover, we have arranged for your donation to be directly deposited into our operating account via Paypal. We hope that you will consider a monthly pledge at the $10, $20, $30, $40, or $50 level. We have programmed our PayPal account to process your monthly donations for 18 months, after which time, this fund raising initiative will end.  Simply go here to donate and use the subscribe button.  If, however, you prefer to make a one-time donation, this too is most welcome.  You may make a one-time donation by using the donate button.

Your donations will cover our operating expenses until our trip and school programs are fully functional.  Once up and running these programs will connect travelers, students, and professionals to the people of La Isla and will ensure the continued support needed to help transform this situation.  Our goal is that within 18 months our operating costs will be self-funded and that all further donations will go completely to specific programs.

We understand that times are tough these days. But please know that a affordable donation will go a long way in Nicaragua.   Through small, monthly donations from a broad base we can help the community attain its goals.

I want to again thank you for your support and look forward to your continuing involvement with La Isla Foundation. We’ve got big things to come!

For more informantion on La Isla Foundation, please visit our website.

Sincerely,
Jason Glaser
President, La Isla Foundation

Defining and Measuring Sustainability: Still An Elusive Task - TriplePundit

Yesterday morning at Sustainable Agricultural Partnerships 2010, Sylvain Cuperlier, VP of Worldwide Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability for Dole, set the tone for the day by asking What are the priorities in sustainable agriculture?

Of course, the answer was simple: it depends who you are, where you are, and what you produce. Other panel sessions drew equally nebulous conclusions. While the day’s theme was Strategies and Benefits on Building Innovative Partnerships and Creating Success Stories, the hottest topic became how to measure sustainability and the trouble with metrics.

Betsy Cohen, Nestlé’s Vice President of Sustainability, explained that her company considers different goals and different certifications for different inputs and products. Brie Johnson, Straus Family Creamery’s Sustainability and Communications Manager, relayed that many sustainable practices can’t be measured; for example, we don’t yet know the effects of GMOs or antibiotics. Regardless of the obstacles, there appeared to be a consensus that choosing the right metrics is key, as is the operational context.

In addition to measurement, it seemed that the definition of sustainability was still up for debate. Many speakers used the Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainability – meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – but Erin Fitzgerald, VP of Sustainability for Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), talked about how she visited farmers to determine their definition. Her conversations revealed that sustainability meant anything from reducing environmental impact, to passing the deed to a farm to the next generation, to mere survival – adding that one third of U.S. farmers are currently going out of business. (When asked why DMI chose to pursue sustainability, Fitzgerald and fellow panelist Chip Jones, Senior VP Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability for Dean Foods, cited that the drivers were a push from their biggest customer, NGO requests for data, and dairy producers on the board.)

During a Q&A session, an audience member asked for panelists’ thoughts on local vs. sustainable. Alison Denis, Director of Sustainable Programs for Burgerville, a Pacific Northwest family-owned fast-food chain, offered that it depends on “where local is and what the values are,” pointing to how Oregonians and Washingtonians celebrate the local bounty so Burgerville focuses on local rather than organic. Michael Levine, who is in charge of organics and sustainability for Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy cooperative, chimed in that the term “local” needs clarification since it can be defined as economic or environmental impact.

In sum, it was difficult for these companies to define success in their sustainability efforts and they preferred to characterize sustainability as a process of seeking progress and improvement. In light of learning about these struggles, what does sustainable agriculture mean to you and what kind of information (data, stories) would you like to see used to “measure” it?

***

Ali Hart is a sustainability consultant with a passion for life’s essentials: food, water and media. Her background in the Entertainment industry, sense of humor and MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School are her secret weapons in her quest to message green effectively.