F123 – Soluções de grande escala – Botelho & Paula Consultoria

Fernando Botelho, responsible for the F123 Project, has just been selected as an Ashoka Fellow. This honor makes him member of organization that has been supporting social entrepreneurs around the world for more than 30 years. You can learn more about Ashoka at the following link:
http://www.ashoka.org/

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F123 is being tested all over the world; thanks to this we receive information on wonderful opportunities. This one comes from Kanthari, a truly extraordinary organization based in India. Read on and see if this might be exactly the opportunity you were looking for:

Dear Colleague,

Do you need vision to be a visionary?
When I became blind many years ago, I had this dream that one day the world would not connect blindness automatically with charity. I wished to be seen as a potential contributor and problem solver. In our Kanthari Institute we are interested to incubate problem solvers, leaders for ethical social change.

And we are especially interested in empowering talented, creative and energetic blind and partially sighted visionaries who come up with innovative ideas that make the world an equal level playing field for the blind and the sighted.

In order to reach this goal we have developed a very practical, 7 month leadership program with a difference; one that is geared specifically for people with big dreams and passion; people who have overcome adversity in their lives. people who want to help others in their struggles, or develop new solutions for our world problems.

We invite participants from all over the world, and with all levels of education to bring their dreams and motivation; International experts (catalysts) conduct hands-on, practical workshops to help bring those dreams to reality.

We are looking for the following categories of change agents:
Red: Advocates
Red kantharis are firey, courageous, and resiliant. They fight for a world free from discrimination, negative attitudes or harmful norms. Their goal is to provoke a mind set change in their communities through advocacy.

Green: Initiators
Kanthari initiators are innovative, persistent and passionate. They create ethical social change by starting grassroot projects with innovative approaches. Schools for marginalized, training centers for the blind, environmental projects are only some of many examples of initiatives that make the world a better place.

Ivory: Entrepreneurs Kanthari entrepreneurs are focused, determined and analytic. They use business as a tool for sustainable social change. The main goal is not to make profit, but to use business to find ways to create structures that benefit those who are usually left out.

Yellow: Inventors
Kanthari inventors are logical, technical, and practical. They create new products, strategies or concepts for social change. They can be active in the areas of environment, computer technology, accessibility for people with disabilities, agriculture, education and many more. The goal of their invention is to improve the living conditions of marginalized groups or protect the environment.

Purple: Artists
Kanthari artists are creative, spicy, and interested in a major change. They use their creativity and art as a tool for making a difference. Musicians, painters, authors, film makers and many more provoke a positive mind set change through their work.

At Kanthari we don’t make a difference between blind and sighted participants. Everyone is equally challenged and everyone works hand in hand. What counts is an ethical attitude towards people, life and work, a lot of energy and commitment to contribute in ones society and a vision, an innovative idea how to solve old and new problems. We are looking for those who have the strength to be forces of good, not victims of circumstance.

Please apply if you want to realize your own dream for change, and encourage others to look at our website:http://www.kanthari.org
For those who want to listen to our Kanthari newsletter http://media.kanthari.org/audio/Hot-Bite/Hot-Bite-March-2012.mp3

Looking forward to hearing from you,
With best regards,

Sabriye Tenberken
Co-Founder Braille Without Borders – Kanthari

PS Please find below the text of the Kanthari brochure:

Are you dreaming of social change?
Kanthari International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs and Change-Makers
A small chilli can make a HUGE Difference!

Vivekanenda Nagar, Vellayani, Nemom P.O.
Trivandrum, 695020 Kerala, India
Phone: +91 471 2395677
Email:office@iiseconnect.org <mailto:office@iiseconnect.org>
www.kanthari.org <http://www.kanthari.org>
facebook.com/bwbiise

Kanthari in India, offers a 7 month leadership program for visionaries who have overcome adversity, and who are keen to drive social change. This very practical program cultivates credible, ethical and effective initiators.

Why Kanthari?
Kanthari is one of the spiciest chillies in the world. It grows wild in the homes of Kerala and is famous for its medicinal use. Kanthari thinking is fiery, strong, colourful, self-seeding and helpful everywhere. Kanthari action is courageous, innovative and wide-reaching.

The idea for Kanthari was born in the Tibet autonomous Region, PR China. There, in 1998, Sabriye Tenberken (German) and Paul Kronen- berg (Dutch) set up the first training centre to empower the blind.

There were many challenges, but one of the largest was a lack of belief from international experts. “Stop dreaming! Stay on the ground!” But, in only 7 years, and against the odds, the centre had a preparatory school, a Braille Printing Press, a vocational training farm and a self- integration programme.

Paul and Sabriye then understood the urgent need for a unique institute -a “Dream Factory” where passionate people are encouraged to dream big -a place where they can develop all the necessary skills, tools and attitudes to make their dreams real.

Kanthari is much more than a training center. It is a spring board for provocative thinkers and driven doers, for those who want to bring spice into society!

We are searching for talented people who have the guts to challenge the status quo and the spirit to come up with innovative solutions for old and new problems.

Kanthari dreams of a world-wide community: Individuals starting programs based on empowerment, like schools for the blind, or training centers for the disabled; Individuals planning environmental projects, or creating technical innovations; Individuals changing mind-sets by offering new ways of thinking and challenging harmful norms.

Kanthari trains participants in public speaking, finance, innovative project planning, writing proposals, fundraising and social marketing campaigns. Participants learn about legal aspects of starting a project and how to set up effective and ethical programs. All hands-on, practical workshops are conducted by international experts (named “catalysts”).

Kanthari fosters participants from all over the world. Some have university degrees while others have little to no formal education. Some are blind or physically disabled, others have no disabilities at all. Important is a sense of ownership, motivation, creativity, talent and passion to make the world a better place and the strength to be forces of good rather than victims of circumstance.

Apply now: www.bwb-iise.org/apply <http://www.bwb-iise.org/apply>

Examples of projects realized by Kanthari graduates:
Tibet – PR China
Kyila
Kiki’s Kindergarten
Kyila, a Braille Without Borders student and IISE graduate (2009) runs the first inclusive kindergarten on the roof of the world.
www.kikikids.org <http://www.kikikids.org>

Japan
Yoshimi Horiuchi
Always Reading Caravan
Yoshimi runs a mobile library which promotes the joy of reading amongst people in rural areas of Thailand.
www.alwaysreadingcaravan.org <http://www.alwaysreadingcaravan.org>

Nepal
Khom Raj Sharma
Inclusion Empowerment Center
Khom, a blind Kanthari alumni, is running a computer training center and a language school for blind and partially sighted adolescents in Pokhara, Nepal. www.iecnepal.org.np <http://www.iecnepal.org.np>

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F123 has just been selected by Artemisia, an organization that specializes in supporting social entrepreneurs, to participate in its social business acceleration program. F123 Consulting, together with 10 other organizations, was selected from a group of over 100 applicants, to receive strategic help to develop and rapidly expand its activities and social impact.

Fernando Botelho, co-founder of F123, described the opportunity that Artemisia enables saying: “The support we are receiving from Artemisia enables a dramatic acceleration in the growth in the number of blind and visually impaired persons accessing the F123 System and with it, new educational and employment opportunities.”

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Hi everyone,

Last year, the F123 Project, a partnership between F123 Consulting and Mais Diferenças, made a donation to the Gnome Foundation for improvements on the Gnome GUI for low vision users. Specifically, the F123 team asked for cursor and focus area tracking on eZoom, a Compiz Fusion plugin available to the more than 14 million world-wide users of the Gnome GUI.

We have excellent news, Alejandro Leiva, the developer with whom we have been working on this initiative, has just made available Alfa code for developers interested in testing the new and improved eZoom. This is the first step in the process of potential inclusion of these improvements in the F123 System and every other distribution that uses Gnome with Compiz Fusion.

If you are a software developer and would like to test the new eZoom, you can find Alejandro’s GIT repository at this URL:
https://github.com/gloob/compiz-accessibility-plugin

You can also find Alejandro’s version of eZoom at this URL:
https://github.com/gloob/gloob-Ezoom-fork

To give Alejandro feedback, please contact him at this e-mail address:
gloob@litio.org

Thank you in advance for your feedback,

The F123 Team

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A good friend of ours is part of a team that developed an open source software for Android-based phones that uses Morse code to allow deaf-blind persons to communicate. If you or someone you know could help them test the application, please get in touch with Prof. Arun Mehta <arun.mehta@gmail.com>.

Best wishes,

Fernando

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Hello everyone,

I just want to share the link to a recently aired (Spanish language) interview about F123:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzCupHLGQDw

We have also received a request for help from Frederik Gladhorn, the lead developer of the QT-AT-SPI module. This crucial piece of software will, when completed, offer access for users of the Orca screen reader, to many educational applications  available on the KDE graphical user interface.

This has been on our wish list for a long time, and it has the potential of helping many F123 users as well as users of dozens of other distributions. If you are a technically sophisticated user, please test the module and share your feedback directly with the developer or with us on our list. The subscription address is:
f123english-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Best wishes,

Fernando

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Botelho & Paula Consultoria finished its F123 Workshop series with a very successful event in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Representatives from government ministries, NGOs, associations, and community leaders attended our workshop last March 29. Here are some photos of the event.

Best regards,

Fernando and Flávia

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One of the most important web sites for people with disabilities in Uruguay just published one excellent article about the F123 System:

http://www.luzverde.com.uy/el-proyecto-f123-llega-a-nuestro-pais/#more-3422

Best wishes,

Fernando & Flávia

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The NGO Mais Diferenças will be presenting its various projects as well as demonstrating the F123 System at booth E116 of the Reatech Expo this week in São Paulo. You can learn more about Mais Diferenças and the F123 System from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. this April 14 and 15, or between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on April 16 and 17.

Reatech will be taking place at Centro de Exposições Imigrantes – Rodovia dos Imigrantes, 1,5km, São Paulo – SP – Brazil.

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Last March 22 we had the pleasure of giving our F123 Workshop and distributing copies of the software in Montevideo, Uruguay. The event was very successful, with more than 50 participants and a wide variety of questions from a really enthusiastic group.

We want to also share photos of the event and thank Alejandro Machado, Daniela Gonçalez, Roberto Elissalde, Karina Acosta and the Education Ministry for their time, support, and hospitality.

Best wishes,

Fernando & Flávia

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