A Red Nose Can Change a Life

Whether they’re juggling many balls at once, riding a unicycle or walking on very tall stilts, youth get a chance to shine on stage with the Prescott Circus Theater in Oakland, California. This youth development non-profit provides skill mastery, physical activity, and positive relationships with peers and adults. Their website, prescottcircus.org, goes on to say “the basic principles to succeed in circus (and in life) are : hard work, teamwork, practice, believe in yourself, and never give up.” Donate to the Prescott Circus and you’ll be sure to bring many more smiles to the world.

Be a Good Citizen

https://www.outwardbound.org/

Rich Chin’s family lived in New York City, pretty far away from any large expanse of wilderness, but that didn’t get in his way. Rich shares his experiences that first made him see how he could be a good in the world:

The Outward Bound Youth at Risk Program really helped many troubled teens get back on the “good citizen” road. I was one of those Outward Bound instructors that volunteered to teach in this life-changing experiment for inner city kids in the late seventies and eighties. It changed my life as much as it did those kids. I saw firsthand that if so-called “bad kids” were given a chance to learn how to respect others as well as themselves, they could contribute very positively and be part of our bright future.

Kurt Hahn founded Outward Bound (Outward Bound.org) on this assumption: “In genuine service to the benefit of others, one best expresses on a day-to-day basis his reverence for life itself.”

Support Diversity in Education

https://www.folkartsrajasthan.org/about

New York-based Folk Arts Rajasthan (folkartrajasthan.org) and India-based Lok Kala Sagar (LKSS)-meaning “local folk arts society”-are nonprofit organizations joined since 2005 by a shared vision of a thriving and just future for The Merasi people and their unique musical culture. The Merasi of northwestern India carry a powerful legacy of 38 generations but they also carry the burden of the still-enduring caste system. To reclaim an identity as storytellers, the Merasi of Jaisalmer have shed the derogatory caste label Manganiyar, meaning beggars. The name Merasi, instead means musicians, and is a symbol of self-determination.

The FAR-LKSS collaborative approach recognizes that education, preserving this intangible cultural heritage, and achieving social justice for a continually marginalized people are mutually dependent goals.

In the face of obstinate hierarchical norms, FAR and LKSS are together nurturing a generation of ambitious and capable youth with their programs. Significantly, two FAR scholarship girls, Sitara and Mobeena Khan, participated in a 2014 US-based international science conference, after their project won awards at both local and state level in Rajasthan. In February 2015, a troupe of Merasi youth traveled to Mumbai to play in the prestigious Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and exchange cultural activities with students at a variety of schools.