A wild idea, but hang with me here.

You've seen Vinay Gupta's Hexayurts....basically these easy-structure-homes are built of simple tiles of materials available locally. A home in his book does not need to cost more than $200. http://howtolivewiki.com/

Your trash tile idea could be a real way for kids to turn trash into more stable structures and homes. Tiles become panels of a home, reinforced on the outside with layers of artified plastics and random bits found in the dump. These structures would beautify while also offering protection from weather.

12 kids could make a structure in a day, easy. Groups could sponsor materials sent as part of their PeaceTile partnership swaps to get the structures built and fundraise for that in their own peacetile projects around the world.

interesting, evonne! i have thought about how tiles could be used to create sculptural elements -- peace "towers" and the the like, though not actual "structures." i am interested at base in the root of your idea: ensuring that tiles have some practical impact/use/benefit to those engaged. a very interesting idea and lots of complex details to think about:

• Are there certain climates where this kind of structure would work best?
• How much do you want to "formalize" informal settlements (that's where/how youth dump workers tend to live at least part of the year ie rainy season move back home)?
• Sourcing tile material
• scaling the tile making activity to a volume that would create a structure

Any thoughts/responses? And thanks for jumping in!

Hi folks! I know everyone is probably swamped with holidays, which I hope will be a time for reconnecting, rejuvenation, and celebration for each of you. I am definitely needing the time off from work to play and enjoy my family a little more than I've had the time for recently.

When you get a chance, I'd love your feedback! on something I am working on, and effort to rope in school participation. I am looking forward to making 2007 a year in which Peace Tiles makes deeper inroads with schools in the US, and helps to facilitate fun and rewarding connections with groups around the world. I think there is a really neat opportunity here to use tiles in a way that connects art + learning + service.

Your ideas around language and connections much appreciated!

Happy ohohseven, all!

I can't believe that I forgot to mention: there are now 227 members of peacetiles.net -- so one of the things i'd really like to improve is how to use web2.0 and civicrm to keep folks engaged and in touch.

Hmmmm. <Ned> has 181 members, mainly because of the WDYWWYD? and Ned Rocks events. Really need to get a monthly newsletter going and once that happens I'd love to offer <Ned> Portland a Peace Tiles event of some sort.

That'd be great Mark! It'd also be cool to know what came of the 2006 tile kits shipped. Have you thought any further about the price point for a kit of two tiles - recommended on to keep, one to exchange. Have you been in touch with the Portland contact, Judith Mowry, who runs the Peace Makers conference for youth out there?

Let me ping the two people I gave them too and see if they completed them and can take pix. Regarding pricing, I think that while I can guess I would say test. Get em on consignment in six stores in 3-5 different cities. You'll need a POP display of some sort. Have two stores in each city test three different price points. $9.95, $11.95, and $14.95. Maybe drop $9.95 and add a price point on the top. Your POP and packaging are going to really determine the overall higher price point. Honestly, I cannot remember if I emailed Judith or not...but will ping her again.

The school jamboree seems like a great idea, Lars. Also, didn't realize that the concept of having two tiles was to keep one and give one away. I like that as it solves my question about wanting to keep one for personal inspiration.

My family has a tradition of doing art projects during some of the time around Christmas and this year we've decided to do Peace Tiles! Will let you know how that goes. Should we try to do two each, one to keep and one to trade?

I've underestimated what it takes just to start settling back down in America, and now C-mas madness has descended too, and then a week later is my sister's wedding and my honey's 50th celebrations, and helping my dad move....but I so look forward to calling once I can take some time to breathe!

Happy holiday tiling!

Wow, that is so cool, Pash! I hope you'll share lots of pix, and maybe even blog about is using your peacetiles.net account (a community blog comes with it :)

In terms of how you organize it, start with one each, and encourage trade among yourselves: try to make a game out of it ie the whole 'secret santa' thing or something. if it goes really well, maybe have enough materials so everyone can do two. maybe you can, at a minimum, create a "family tile" to send a collective message into the world?

Irena in Macedonia just uploaded a new tile available for swap ... there are others you can browse online. I could get your tile(s) to South Africa, Costa Rica ...

Can't wait to hear what you decide!

Thanks for the PT tips, Lars. Will see how everyone wants to proceed. I can't wait!!

Oh, forgot to mention, we saw a display of peace-related tiles in the domestic terminal at Los Angeles Airport. Unfortunately, I can't remember what they were called or who they were created by--and haven't received a response to my email inquiry. They seemed to have something to do with (childrens?) expressions through tiles about 9/11 and the desire for peace, etc. The tiles were smaller than the PT, but clearly similar concept.

discovered this gift today:

Kristen Ashburn's BLOODLINE : AIDS and Family. Ashburn’s photographs are heartbreaking. But they also tell us of something more. They remind us of how tenuous our connection is to each other. In doing so, they show that what matters most is the care we give to those in need.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

On my to-do for naughtnaughtsevent is talk to my next door neighbor, who runs the art docent program at our elementary school. Hey, it was on my to-do list this year. (We talk -- just never got to Peace Tiles.) I think that she'd be very interested in incorporating this into things. Anyway, I look forward to helping you out in as many creative, constructive and looney ways as I'm able, Lars. Keep on visioning.

luke, thanks for doing this! i have recently had enquiries from zambia and egypt -- really excellent nodes in our growing network i hope. both are local (not expat) un personnel in these countries, looking for ways to work on youth development. not sure if the age levels match with your elementary school art docent, but it sure would be great to connect the school!

also, i luke forward to hearing what you have in store for orijiro luke. i keep thinking of our chat about children who grow up surrounded by coffee life (on the farms) and how they might tell their stories through photography etc. i was most recently reminded as i sat next to the head buyer for green mountain coffee roasters on a flight to dc. she has a partnership with jane goodall's "roots and shoots" project, which is testing some novel ways to grow coffee in rwanda i believe. told her how cool i thought it would be if children could both be exploring the technical side of these things (conservation of habitat et al) as well as their own stories.

she was interested. so i'll let you know if anything emerges that might produce orijiro card imagery. incedentally, she showed me images of her various trips to places like ethiopia, indonesia, and guatemala where they have pretty meaningful relationships with grower cooperatives. she is a talented non-professional photographer herself!

anyway, that was a bit of a side ramble... more later.

Lars,

I continue to share the Peace Tiles concept with volunteers that I'm working with in hopes of recruiting a team that will take the lead on developing this opportunity.

I also feel there is a good opportunity to help schools and other CBOs to execute swaps among Peace Tiles network members.

One strategy to do this is to find ways to present the idea to schools and CBOs through service learning channels, as well as traditional arts/learning.

As you keep pushing from your end to make these connections happen, I'll keep doing the same from my end. If we can find a team of volunteers who will work with us in Chicago, I have the ability to communicate this idea to hundreds of CBOs via the conferences I host in May and November, as well as my own web site and email newsletter.

The next conference will be May 17 and 18, 2007. As with last year, I'm trying to create on-line forums that push out information from many locations and attract people from around the country/world who never will make it to a conference in Chicago. Thus, if during May/June you can develop an on-line discussion of Peace Tiles, I could tie it into the May conference. You could use it not only to show people how to get involved, but to also invite people to your gathering later in the summer.

In the Tutor/Mentor Forum at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org I host discussions about ways tutor/mentor programs can work together, and encourage you to introduce the Peace Tiles idea there also.

I which you and other O-netters a happy holiday and a great 2007. Keep up the good work.

Daniell, thank you! I think your idea about connecting through service learning is a really strong one: youth creating these empowering messages that, when combined, produce a powerful mural to brighten the walls of a local -- or distant -- beneficiary is a great way to connect learning with service.

I'd love to join you in May/June for a Peace Tiles discussion among your members. Can you set up 'live' chat sessions as well through your system? I find these to be great ways to do Q&A and brainstorm. Also happy to do conference calls...

Anyway, thank you as ever for helping me to push this forward, and perhaps 2007 will be the year we connect!

Looking forward to it. And best to you and yours for the holidays.

lars

Lars Hasselblad Torres said:

• Documentation: 2007 will be the year to create some "how to" videos to stream online.

Lars,

last year I made a bunch of key-phrase acquisitions (many of these are still "available" -- though not exactly at "rock-bottom" prices ;). They include "how to" names (I probably could have gotten names like "how-to-sh*t" or "how-to-f*ck" but for some strange reason I decided not to) and also a bunch of "about" names (please -- don't ask how many ;). There are still many names available in this space (even without hyphens, though I feel in the long run only single words without hyphens will be of any value -- as all of the other stuff will fall into the "brand name" [i.e., what you might find in the "white pages" of a telephone book] category).

If you're looking to build a "killer" site for this kind of stuff (and would like your own "killer" name [since you might want to leave most of your money in the bank, instead of transferring it all into my account] perhaps I can help you out [for a small fee, of course ;])...

;D nmw

[sniff sniff ] hmmm... i am interested, nmw. can you sketch out an acquisition framework that would tantalize me further?

well, as we know: the internet is used for many things -- communication (chat/blog/etc), commerce (shops/trading/auctioning/classified/etc), and education. I think the major keywords / keyphrases in this area are "about", "learn", "how to", "find out", "information" -- stuff like that (for example: http://learn-about.me.uk/ ;). I also think, BTW, that an address under .EDU is very valuable (though this "value" is very much dependant on how well/poorly .EDU is "managed"), and perhaps .INFO will also appreciate in value for such, um, information.

I was amazed when last year I found alot of two-word names are still available (especially with hyphens -- e.g. http://information-networks.com/ or http://order-flowers.eu/ or http://art-painting.info/ ; however, names like "flower-delivery" are pretty much taken across the board). I have no doubt that such names will appreciate immensely over the coming years -- especially if / insofar as they are highly targeted (from that point of view, "art-painting" is better than "painting" -- as it excludes house-painting or something like that).

The key here is to be an exact match for what is commonly searched for. Do you know how some browsers will "default" to the .COM version of a domain? (Mozilla has keyboard shortcuts for .net and .org; I think IE "offers" a drop-down list for com/net/org) I think such "software support" will increase over time (perhaps the German versions of browsers will "offer" .de/.at/etc.) -- such that words written into the url-bars will "search" for the appropriate domains (indeed, this is almost already done with some browsers).

Is this the kind of "answers" you were looking for? (just tell me what you want me to say, along with how much you're willing to pay for me to say it ;)

also, i luke forward to hearing what you have in store for orijiro luke.

Thanks for the interest, Lars -- looking forward to touching base and connecting with you this year. Many good things lie ahead for 2007...

should i have said, "I luke forward to what 2007 has in store* ;)

You said something about workshops. Have you started going to college campuses?

1. Big schools normally have volunteer programs, which are always looking for causes and projects.
2. Big schools also have TONS of co-curricular money to spend.
3. Little schools have lots of heart. You might not be given funds to get there, but you'll have people working with you 100%.

Let me know if you're interested in setting up something at my community college. If so, I can set the wheels in motion and see what happens. I can't promise anything ... except my pulling for you ... but it never hurts to try!

:)

Thasnks alot for the proposal of 2007 as far as the peace tile is concern. peace tile is really very good for the children esp in we centr gulu.were so many children like to parpipate,and its way of nursing out trauma from the children.and potraying there skills.so this should ciontinued even into the camps i thanks all members who contributed and my specail thank to christina who introduces this to our comminity.

kim, so great to have you here! i have had a few experiences with college and university students, though i wouldn't say that i've "targeted" them yet. the best collaboration came through an ally janet feldman who hooked peace tiles up in 2005 with marquette university. they got a sorority involved, and eventually made it possible both for a workshop to take place as well as brought tiles to the upper peninsula children's museum for a world aids day exhibition.

but i love your idea, and would love to see more university activity. while my focus in 2007 will be on high schools, i am absolutely willing to lend support to all quarters where there is interest! if you can be an ally at your college, i'd be happy to lend support -- perhaps there is a way to enable them to be a 'node' for world aids day 2007 -- host an exhibition and produce some of their own uplifting tiles to contribute to a children's charity ... ?

Big picture, let me know what you think would be some ways to approach colleges -- small or large doesn't matter so much to me; as you say, its the energy! -- have you some ideas around strategy? service-learning seems one way, as well as clubs such as those that organize environment activities.

george, thank you so much for sharing your experience with the process. i would love to learn more about the therapeutic aspects of the tile-making activity. what do you think are some good ways to structure a workshop where trauma is being addressed?

thanks so much both of you!

Lars,

Since I learned about Peace Tiles more than a year ago, I've felt that it could be applied in several ways within volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs

1. as an activity/event for youth/volunteers within a program. At http://cabriniblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/holiday-party-huge-success.html you can see photos from our recent holiday party, which show kids and volunteers doing art. This art could have been a Peace Tiles project
2. as an event/activity connecting multiple tutor/mentor programs in the same city, to draw attention to an event, such as the conference we host in May and November, or the volunteer recruitment campaign that kicks off in August each year
3. as an event/activities that is the same as above, but connects programs from multiple cities or countries.

I've not been able to get this going because I don't have enough money to staff it in my own organization, and I've not found a volunteer to own it and incorporate it into an event we organize. Yet, I keep trying.

You'll see that the purpose of the conferences and recruitment campaign is not just to bring people together for networking, learning, or an art activity. It is to create visibility, media coverage, web networking, etc. that draws more attention to tutoring/mentoring, and encourages more people to volunteer time or money.

Thus, if you are able to introduce this concept in the May 2007 period, via an on-line event that could be hosted by any of our partners, I could work with you to show how a Peace Tiles event can help volunteers and youth within a program build stronger bonds, or how it can help volunteers and youth in multiple programs draw more attention, and resources, to what they do.

By doing this in May, we will be recruiting teams of volunteers to launch a Peace Tiles event in either August or November 2007. As we repeat this each year, more people will understand it, get involved with it, and it will extend to more places.

At http://www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com I describe our conferences and have a form that can be filled out by anyone wanting to present a workshop, in Chicago, or via the Internet.

If you'll go ahead and submit this form, we can use space at Omidyar.net from now till May to not only design the workshop, but to attract participants.

To me, this is a strategy that can attract volunteers from universities, high schools, tutor/mentor programs, or other youth serving organizations around the world.