Welcome Letter from the Conference Coordinator

Dear Summiteers,

Welcome to the Global Issues Service Summit Africa 2010 and Lusaka, Zambia! We are a Summit of over 200 people from across the African continent and beyond. Together we will forge new territory as we uniquely merge the frameworks of the Service Summit Africa 2009 and the Global Issues Network (GIN) conferences hosted around the world. We hope to establish a tradition that will continue for many years to come. As we all know, there is no better place to “Seek Sustainable Solutions Together” than Africa.

From its very inception, the GIS Summit has been built through a network of international collaboration that spans four continents. Most significantly, Michael Lees of the International School of Uganda (Service Summit founder) provided support. Mike Johnston of Doha, Qatar (Educare co-founder) and Justin Beddard of Beijing, China (JUMP! Foundation director) have also lent a hand and their advice. JUMP! Fellow, Somoh Supharukchinda, who travelled from Denver, Colorado in the U.S. to help for six weeks has been an invaluable asset in creating the GIS Summit. Wayne Rutherford of Dakar, Senegal helped link us with GIN and Peter Bateman of Nairobi, Kenya (AISA director) has been instrumental in supporting the GIS Summit, both financially and through his resources and connections. Finally, our GIS Steering Committee and Student Leadership Team have clocked in hours of teamwork and worked in concert with our AISL community to host the GIS Summit.

Perhaps the GIS Summit mugs in your conference bag best illustrate how international cooperation can build a road towards a sustainable solution. In order to avoid using plastic water bottles, we wanted to provide a mug that could be reused throughout the GIS Summit. This summer, Kathy Chromicz of Harare e-mailed me and asked how she could help. I asked her to find an affordable source for travel mugs for the GIS Summit and she found a company in the U.S. that makes recycled plastic travel mugs. Our director, Chris Muller, from here in Lusaka, helped secure the sponsorship of the Council of International Schools (CIS) located in England to pay for the mugs and then Pam Ward of the Office of Overseas Schools in Washington, D.C. helped figure out a way to have the mugs sent through the U.S Embassy pouch to Lusaka. Meanwhile, here in Lusaka, our art teacher, Ms. Vandita, creator of our GIS Summit logo, helped reconfigure the design to fit the mugs and Jackie Johnson coordinated the entire ordering process. By the end of January, 200 mugs arrived. Little did we realize we would have over 200 participants! Ahhh… to have a crystal ball to foresee the future.

However, not only are these mugs a model of international networking towards a solution, but they also represent the challenging questions raised about sustainability. Unable to find a viable economic solution locally, we sought a solution internationally. Is the global footprint reduced by not using new plastic bottles actually diminished by using something sent from another continent? How do we balance stimulating local economies with supporting international trade networks? How much energy is used to create a recycled plastic mug compared to a new mug? Will our students save this mug or throw it away? Do these mugs provide sustainable solutions beyond the week? Can it hold locally produced drinks for this week’s Summit and later serve as a reminder for each participant of the importance of making a difference when the mug travels back home with our students next week? These are the questions of the global issues of our day.

In the spirit of sustainability, the special education students of the St. Lawrence Community School made our conference bags and even created the tie-dye fabric. The school raise funds for their programs through products produced in their job skills training program. Our middle school students creatively ‘reused’ the paper on campus to create notepads for the conference; this is the sustainable solution to ‘recycled paper’ here in Lusaka. Your pens are compliments of our generous Courtyard Hotel sponsor and the ideas that you record will lead to sustainable solutions. Please wear the t-shirts, provided by MTN, on the Saturday Service Day and help spread the Global Issues Service Summit message. Our lunches on Thursday and Friday are all made with local Zambian ingredients and we need your support in returning your plates and cutlery to our wash stations at the end of each meal. Please provide your own mugs for your lunch drinks. Likewise, wash stations are set up in all of our bathrooms so that you can clean your own mugs between drinks.

We debated not printing the conference program materials for each participant so as to save some trees, but realized that this paper has a purpose necessary for your success in learning. Please keep them safe and use them profusely throughout the conference. We did choose not to print a glossy program as a compromise, so color your program and create a memento of the conference. Participants are all noted at the end of the program, where you can also find your Sustainability Team. Use our website for more comprehensive information.

There are few clear and simple roads towards sustainable solutions, but I invite us all to open our minds and hearts to what is possible as we seek sustainable solutions together this week. On behalf of all of us at the American International School of Lusaka, I wish you a joyous, fruitful experience and welcome you to the Global Issues Service Summit Africa 2010!

Best wishes,

Susan Lacy, Teacher and Conference Coordinator