Nobelity Blog

The Kenya Schools Fund Needs You (And our Solstice Party does too)

2011-12-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

It's the Building Hope Holiday Happy Hour!

Wednesday, Dec 21 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, 107 W. 6th St. Austin

$5 wine and cocktails/half-price appetizers

Turk will be signing the beautiful new book/dvd of Building Hope

Books are also available online at www.nobelity.org - a meaningful and beautiful Christmas present that supports our work.

In the past year, we've worked at schools across rural Kenya to build new classrooms, water systems, libraries and computer labs. Your support has provided real hope and opportunity for 3,000 students at the Amboni, Bondeni, Daaba, Honi, Mahiga and Mugaka Schools.

There is more work to be done. To make a tax-deductible year-end gift to fill the following needs, please go to nobelity.org/donate:

Library and Computer Labs at the Amboni, Kabiruini or Irbaan schools

$5,000 - build a library or a computer lab (with extra thanks to AMD and Lenovo)

$250 - a shelf full of library books

$25 - 3 library books including classics in English and Kiswahili

Rainwater System and Classroom at the Mutaki School

$10,000 - build a rainwater collection and purification system

$5,000 - build a new classroom (using bricks made by the parents)

Textbooks for Daaba, Mugaka and Mahiga Schools

$25 - textbooks for two students

$500 - textbooks for a classroom/grade

Mosquito Nets to prevent malaria at the Talek School

$10 - a life-saving mosquito net for one student sleeping in the dorm

$100 - nets for ten students

Building Hope Book/DVD Release Party - What a ride!

2011-12-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Wow - what a ride! Fom the end of our successful Kickstarter campaign for Building Hope to the book/dvd party on Dec 11 we had two months to work miracles. Two months to revise and copyedit a manuscript that tells the story of Mahiga Hope High School and The Nobelity Project (thanks to copy editor Dana Frank for a great job). Two months to design a coffee-table book with nearly 200 color photos from my five continent journey on the past three movies (thanks toDJ Stout and Stu Taylor at Pentagram Design for a gorgeous design). Two months that also had to include full-color printing on a giant Heidelberg Speedmaster Press (thanks to Rob Wallace and everyone at The Whitley Group, including the master printers that worked over the Thanksgiving weekend).

The book is now at Roswell Book Binders in Phoenix (the photographs may be from all over the world but the book and the dvd are Made in America). The DVDs of my film Building Hope will be added to each book by hand. On Sunday, December 11, we celebrate it all at the Big Book Bash. Hope those in Austin can join us from 6 to 9 at El Sol y La Luna on 6th Street for cocktails, great food, fabulous music by Carolyn Wonderland and special guests, and the first opportunity to take home a copy of Building Hope - the book and dvd.

Purchase party tickets and order your copies at www.nobelity.org

Thanks to everyone who purchased copies on Kickstarter or at Nobelity.org. If you can't make the party, you can still buy copies at www.nobelity.org. We'll get them off to everyone the week after the big party.

What a ride! turk

- here's the party invite:

Party with a purpose! The Building Hope Book Bash!

Sunday, December 11

6 - 9 p.m.

El Sol y La Luna

600 E. 6th St. Austin

Music by

Carolyn Wonderland & Special Surprise Guests!

Great food and cocktails

$40 in advance ($50 at the door if space available)

$100 for book and bash

A moving and meaningful gift for the holidays. Proceeds support our Kenya Schools Fund - building clean water systems, classrooms and libraries in rural Kenya.

It's a book! Nine months after our new film BUILDING HOPE won the Lone Star Audience Award at SXSW, The Nobelity Project is releasing a book that tells the full story of Mahiga Hope High School and our amazing global journey. And every purchase supports our work with rural schools in East Africa.

Filled with color photos of our work around the world and insights from the Nobel Laureates and other global leaders in our films, this special edition book package also includes an advance DVD of the film the Austin Chronicle calls "Inspirational Redbull for the humanitarian soul."

Can't make the party? Order books by Dec. 18th for holiday delivery.

Thanks to everyone who ordered on Kickstarter! We could't have done this without you.

Love to hear from you if you are interested in making a year-end gift to The Nobelity Project. We have so many new projects underway that every dollar makes a huge difference-from $5 for a library book to $5000 for a library! Contact Christy at christy@nobelity.org or 512-263-7971.

Many, many thanks from Turk, Christy and the entire team at The Nobelity Project--including a couple of thousand kids in Kenya...

ps. Save the Date! March 25, 2012 for the Artist and Filmmakers Dinner

Four Seasons Austin.

Building Hope - The Book! With DVD of the Movie

2011-09-17T14:01:00.001-07:00

As Building Hope continues to play film festivals and win awards – and as we continue to make fast progress on construction projects at ten Kenya schools – we're very happy to announce what may be our most exciting project yet. Why so exciting? Because of the pace that it's happening, because of an innovative new funding model, and because it gives us the chance to tell the full tale of the Nobelity Project and the amazing journey we've been on.

The story of the high school was much bigger than we could tell in one film. The story of the Nobelity Project is bigger than the three feature

films we've made. So we're very happy to announce the publication of a beautiful new coffee table book that is going tell the full story in words and in pictures.

Building Hope - the Story of Mahiga Hope High School and The Nobelity Project is now available for sale through the innovative fundraising platform, Kickstarter.com. You buy the book in advance and we use the funds to pay for the cost of design and printing. The best part is, with every copy of the book you get an advance dvd of the film, Building Hope.

Please watch our new video pitch for the campaign, then choose which level you want to help us reach our goal. Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform. If we don't raise our goal of $25,000, we don't get a dime (and the book project won't happen) so we REALLY need you to step up and buy a book (or many books) for you, your family and your friends.

The book release party is set for Sunday, December 11 at El Sol y La Luna, and we're expecting quite a celebration (Those of you who partied with Dennis Quaid and Marcia Ball at last year's El Sol event know it's a blast!). This book and dvd package is going to be a great holiday gift with meaning, and we're also recommending it to companies who want to buy copies for their clients and employees.

The Kickstarter Project link is also on our website at www.nobelity.org. We've also just launched a fully rebuilt website (way to go Christy!) that has links to our feature films, our shorts, the Kenya Schools Fund and our work in schools. Check it out!

And there are three important dates for your calenders:

Sept 17 to Oct 26 - The campaign to presell Building Hope (the book and dvd)

Sunday, Dec 11 - The Holiday Party/Book Release at El Sol y La Luna

Sunday, March 25, 2012 - The Artists & Filmmakers Dinner at the Four Seasons Austin

2011-09-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

It's 9-11-11, ten years after the attacks on the World Trade Center, and

I’m on the Texas-Mexico border this evening with Joe Klein from Time Magazine and, ironically, the great photographer Lynsey Addario who was tough enough to endure her kidnapping in Libya earlier this year and continues to be one of America’s greatest news photographers. All three of us spent much of the decade since 9-11 filming, shooting photos and writing in a lot of crazy places around the world, and each of our journeys seemed to have been launched by the incredible tragedy of 9-11 and by America’s response to the attack on The World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Like the rest of America and the world, there’s no going back to who we were before. We can’t undo the falling of the towers or the growing tragedies of the Iraq and Afghan Wars, but we’re still searching for the best way ahead through the stories we tell in words and pictures. Much of the diary below is about Willie Nelson and a voice that continues to fill a need in so many people. Willie’s still out there doing what he does. The rest of us can only follow his example to the best of our abilities. One happy note – the diary mentions our upcoming American Masters film on Willie which later premiered to great acclaim and was rewarded with an Emmy Award for the best non-fiction series. Thanks for all the music, Willie. We still love you; still need you.

So here’s my Slate Diary #3 – in the wake of 9-11.

http://www.slate.com/id/116912/entry/117112/

And stay tuned for some great news about my new book, Building Hope - The Story of Mahiga Hope High School. It's going to be beautiful.

2011-07-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

We are just back from Kenya and a fantastic working trip to Mahiga Hope High School. Now part of the Kieni West Education District, the school has a fine principal, deputy principal and a growing staff of teachers. Enrollment in the high school has grown from our first nine students two years ago to over 150, now in grades 9 - 11 with an even mix of boys and girls.

Construction on the last two buildings - the science labs and the new primary school classrooms - is also complete. On the primary school side, both the new preschool and primary school

playgrounds are gorgeous, and we were thrilled to cut the ribbons on the final four stone classrooms. Once and forever, the mud floors are gone! The combined schools now have 600 students, all of them working hard to take advantage of this opportunity for a quality education.

We still have some funding challenges. A desk, chair and classroom materials for one student costs $50. We're almost a hundred kids behind and growing by 100 per year, so it's important to raise $10,000 in the coming months.

The story of Mahiga Hope High School is told in our new feature film, Building Hope, an inspiring work which won major awards at the SXSW Film Festival and at Maui Film Fest. Just like the miracle of the amazing changes that have come to this community, the film ends with a miracle of it's own. After months of no rain in this very dry area, The Grand Opening of the high school and the first basketball game on the RainWater Court were rained out by a beautiful, heavy downpour that nearly filled our 30,000 liter water tanks.

That miracle seemed to repeat itself on this trip. With the entire high school, we gathered in the dining hall/theatre. After the drama club put on their first play for us, it was our turn to turn out the lights and show the

students the film in which they star. The room was filled with laughter and joy as we watched how this community's dream grew into reality. As the film progressed towards the miraculous rainstorm that ends it, I began to hear scattered raindrops on the roof above us. Once again, this was the first rain in an extended period and the local farmers were on the verge of total crop failure.

Within minutes, the rain was pouring down in a giant flood of huge drops mixed in with small hail that had been formed high in the clouds above Mt. Kenya. We turned up the movie to overcome the deafening clatter on the roof but it didn't matter for the sound of rain from the film and the skies above us were all one.

To everyone who contributed to building this school - or who is thinking of contributing - you are a part of great and wonderful miracle. Your faith and partnership in this great community will provide real opportunity to young people for generations to come. That's the kind of miracle we can all believe in.

Turk Pipkin, The Nobelity Project, www.nobelity.org

- Don't forget to watch the trailer to Building Hope at nobelity.org. Our New York premiere is coming up on Monday, July 25 at the Tribeca Cinemas.

Building Hope repped by Ostrow and Company

2011-07-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

With momentum from the Lone Star Audience Award at SXSW Film Fest and Best Documentary at Maui Film Fest, our new film Building Hope is now repped by Ostrow and Company, leading producers representation firm based in Beverly Hills California, led by top rep Page Ostrow.

Building Hope tells the story of The Nobelity Project's partnership with a rural Kenyan community to build the area's first high school. Proceeds from the film support the Kenya Schools Fund, building classrooms, water systems, libraries and computer libraries at schools across Kenya.

The New York Premiere of Building Hope is Monday, July 25 at the Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick St. Tickets are available online at www.nobelity.org.

For more information on distribution rights please visit www.ostrowandcompany.com or call Page Ostrow 310

276 5007

Building Hope at the Violet Crown Cinema

2011-05-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Violet Crown Cinema is Austin's coolest new theatre. It's located downtown on 2nd St., has luxurious seats and great tech, a full bar and appetizer menu, and a lineup of great films.

Following the Lone Star Audience Award at SXSW Film Fest (and some great reviews), Building Hope opens Friday for a week of screenings that benefit The Nobelity Project's Kenya Schools Fund.

Marc Savlov at The Austin Chronicle called the film, "a medicine for melancholy." And we have to admit that it is a rare kind of doc about Africa - an inspiring one.

Show times are:

12:00PM 1:45PM 3:30PM
5:15PM 7:00PM 9:00PM
And 11 p.m. on Fri/Sat

Tickets are selling fast, and with just 50 seats per screening, it's important to buy your tickets in advance at www.violetcrowncinema.com

Thanks to our great partners for helping us spread the word and bringing their own groups and supporters to the theatre. These include:

Friday - Austin Film Society & Origin Magazine

Saturday - Austin Woman and ATX Magazine

Sunday - Results.org and One.org (two amazing groups in the global fight against poverty)

Monday - Bazaarvoice

Tuesday - Well Aware (special tickets for this one at www.wellawareworld.org)

Wednesday - Citizen Generation

Thursday - Bazaarvoice

There's a reception with the filmmakers in the lobby every evening at 8 p.m. If you attend the 7 p.m. screening, we'll be waiting for you when the film ends. If you attend the 9 p.m., the reception will help warm you up for the move. And the Violet Crown is offering happy hour specials every night.

Check out the trailer to Building Hope at www.nobelity.org

You're gonna love this movie!

Nobelity Project Dinner launches Kenya Schools Fund

2011-05-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

The Nobelity Project's Artists & Filmmakers Dinner at the Four Seasons was a fantastic night. We had 40 tables hosted by 40 legendary Texas artists including Ricardo Chavira, Kyle Chandler, Dana Wheeler, Jerry Jeff Walker and his buddy Jimmy Buffett.

Thanks in part to Patron Spirits and Becker Vineyards, the cocktail party was a big boost for our silent auction. We had too many donors to thank them all, but the three hottest items were Carlos Ortiz's BIG Willie Nelson portrait, a UT basketball signed by the basketballer in Chief, President Barack Obama, and a gorgeous John Allison-made Dixie Chicks custom guitar.

You can't beat the Four Seasons Austin for a big charity event, and throughout our great dinner, the crowd enjoyed performances by Marcia Ball, Harry Anderson, and by Shawn Colvin singing with The CourtYard Hounds, Martie and Emily

of the Dixie Chicks!

The evening celebrated the completion of Mahiga Hope High School and the

great news that our new film Building Hope had won the Lone Star Audience Award at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival.

Just before Martie, Emily and Shawn took the stage, we announced The Nobelity Project's new Kenya Schools Fund, building classrooms, libraries, computer labs and rainwater systems across Kenya.

The projects we've been planning are important infrastructure work at Mahiga Primary, Kabiruini Girls School, Honi Primary School, Mugaka Primary and the Daaba School. Special thanks to Kyle Chandler, star of Friday Night Lights and the summer's hottest movie Super 8, for a big contribution to a new library and computer lab for Kabiruini Girls High School. (Attention Kyle Chandler fans - a $500 donation at nobelity.org/donate will add an extra Dell PC to the lab and I'll tell Kyle how wonderful you are.)

Additional thanks for key donations go to the Netri Foundation, Peace Love & Happiness Foundation, Carla & Jack McDonald and many others. During that one great night, we funded all the first phase projects, including work in a very isolated location, The Daaba School, where we are partnering with Well Aware (wellawareworld.org) to build a new water system and classrooms. Check out these photos of young kids climbing into an open 40-foot well to retrieve water, and of the outdoor classrooms where the sun, wind and dust add even more challenges to the difficulty of receiving a proper education. With your support of the Kenya Schools Fund, we can make a lasting difference in the lives of many thousands of kids across rural Kenya.

Three of these projects are already underway and we'll be announcing more school partnerships and good work so stay tuned.

If you missed the big dinner, plan to join us next year. We've already set the date. The 2012 Artists & Filmmakers Dinner will be Sunday, March 25, 2012 at the Four Seasons Austin.

Building Hope - Audience Award Winner at SXSW Film Fest

2011-04-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a wild year for Mahiga Hope High School and The Nobelity Project. One year after we broke ground and began construction on the classroom building and the Rainwater Court, the school is open with 135 high schoolers enrolled in grades 9, 10 and 11. That number goes up every month, and we are well on our way to capacity of 350 students.

While we were working with the community to build the school, I've been shooting the Nobelity Project's third feature documentary, Building Hope. We had a World Premiere at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival - and Building Hope won the prestigious Lone Star Audience Award, and had very emotional response from a big crowd at the recent Paramount Theatre Premiere in Austin.

While we're talking to distributors, Building Hope will continue to play select film festivals. Our goal is to launch a much louder global conversation on the need for universal secondary education in Africa and elsewhere. We've also launched our new Kenya Schools Fund, building classrooms, libraries, computer labs and water systems at rural schools across Kenya. Work on these projects is already underway, so stay tuned for details on specific projects.

Here's what the critics are saying:

‘Building Hope is an inspiring documentary that not only builds hope for the youth of Kenya, but also empowers people thousands of miles away to affect change through small yet significant contributions.’ - Slackerwood.com

‘Turk Pipkin traces the building of the Mahiga Hope High in Kenya with the moving Building Hope. The movie concludes with a rousing grand opening of the school.’ - Austin American Statesman

‘Inspirational Red Bull for the humanitarian soul and proof positive that you – yes, you – can help fix our broken world and make a difference in the lives of countless others.’ - The Austin Chronicle

Thanks all! To receive (occasional) updates on the film and Mahiga Hope HIgh School, send an email to: info@nobelity.org

Mahiga Hope High School – An Incredible New Year!

2011-02-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

It’s been quite a year for the partnership between The Nobelity Project and Mahiga Hope High School. We broke ground last March on the 2-story Classroom and Libraries Building and the RainWater Court, both of which are now complete and operating. But that’s just the beginning of the story. As we worked with the local community, Architecture for Humanity and others, the idea of a model school for rural Africa grew into a reality, encompassing the full infrastructure (and operating model) for what would give every student the best step forward in life.

The news is all good! Mahiga Hope High School is now open and operating as part of the Kieni West Education District. Facilities include the 8-classroom block, a Science Lab Building, the RainWater Court, new Kitchen and Dining Hall/Theatre, a library with a great book collection, a computer lab with 14 Dell and AMD pc's, and an Admin Building.

The RainWater Court has solar-powered UV-purification of the 30,000 liters of fresh rainwater it catches with every two inches of rain. And four more rainwater systems at the school expand our capacity to over 100,000 liters. New toilet blocks are operating and we have hand-washing facilities for proper sanitation.

In January, Christy and I were delighted to meet the schools great new principal, Jane Wainaina, who told us: “Mahiga means stones in our language, and stones are generally obstacles. This school had so many obstacles, but now we have Hope.”

Our Form One and Form Two students (grades 9 & 10) have moved up a grade and we have a big new class of Form One students, bringing High School enrollment to well over a hundred (heading towards capacity of 320).

Our students and our teachers (thanks to Isabel and all!) are enthusiastic about studies and other activities. Scouts Club and a Journalism Club with a focus on environmental work are both active, and the amazing RainWater Court is hosting lots of basketball games, including the Zonal Tournaments. The new soccer field and goals are also complete, with running track space and several athletes gearing up to compete as runners.

Christy and I were asked by nearly everyone we met in Mahiga to say thanks to the individuals, companies, schools and foundations who have helped make this all possible. And our thanks go to architects Greg Elsner and Christina Tapper – who lived so long in the community – and to our Kenyan architects and builders, Julius, Joseph, Bosco and Kariuki from Multiplex Systems, Boslika Construction and Minorah Contractors. In the U.S., Kenya, Spain and elsewhere, this was truly the work of thousands.

We are especially excited about the beautiful new pre-school which has a second classroom/second teacher for a total of 60 kids, ages 4 and 5. And I was very touched by the memorial donations to the Karen Webber Playground, which sits in a lovely wooded spot overlooking the school compound. (A second playground for the primary school kids is under way.)

I’m going to follow this blog soon with details about Building Hope, our new feature documentary about the school. Building Hope has been accepted into the 2011 SXSW Film Festival (out of 4,900 submissions). The SXSW screenings (dates tba) will be followed by a big April 6 premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.

And mark your calendars for the 2011 Nobelity Project Artists & Filmmakers Dinner – April 10 at the Four Seasons Austin! It’s going to be amazing!

- Turk Pipkin, Feb 5, 2011

From Mahiga With Love

2010-08-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

Guest blog by Christy Pipkin

After years of film edits and fundraising for our partner schools in Mahiga, Kenya I knew that my first visit was going to be a great experience. But I had no idea how much I’d be affected by the trip, or how much I’d come to love these wonderful kids and their families.

Though Kenya is a beautiful country and in many places green and productive, Mahiga is a dr
y zone, which is almost intolerable in an agricultural economy. As we drove from Nairobi past the Aberdare Mountains to the school, I could see the poverty rise as the water table dropped. The drier it got the shorter the maise
crops stood, the skinner the cows, and the more kids I saw toting wood and water rather than going to school.
Pulling into the schoolyard for

the first time we saw, rising over the old metal roofs of the Mahiga Primary

School, the new two-story stone classroom building with its beautiful green roof. I thought back to a day when we’d received two envelopes from donors – one with $5,000 to underwrite a classroom-one with $5 from a retired teacher. Both meant the world to me at the time and even more standing in front of the beautiful and very real stone building that will soon house the new high school.

The primary school was letting out for the day and when the kids saw Turk, cries of “Pipkin!’ filled the air. Shy smiles followed introductions to me and to our girls, Katie and Lily. It took a while and a lot of questions for them to figure out that Turk had brought two daughters and not three. Ha! After all these years, I’m the littlest Pipkin.

As I met
the kids, the faces from Turk’s photos and footage came to life. The high school students – studying in temp classrooms while we build the new school - were full of questions about why we were there, about the States, and my kids. Among those students was George, a very bright sophomore who wants to be a journalist. When Turk isn’t in Kenya, George has been shooting video footage of construction with an HD Flip camera.

Our resident design fellow Greg Elsner has been living in the community for a year now and is quite the rock star. “Misch!” the kids call out, using his Kikuyu nickname. Greg is the lead architect of the RainWater Court, a technically challenging build that is now making fast progress toward an October 1 ribbon-cutting. Greg’s girlfriend and fellow architect Christina Tapper has joined him in Kenya and is helming the set-up of the school library and designing a beautiful new preschool. The two of them have taken on monumental tasks under tough circumstances, and they are true heroes to me.

Our longtime community partner, Joseph Mutongu, welcomed us at the school like family. He proudly showed me around the school— pointing out the first tree that Turk planted 5 years ago that is now taller than he is. Like every visitor to the school, I also planted a tree, the first in the High School’s new orchard.

This trip was just a small part of this incredible journey we are all taking together. Thanks to everyone who’s made a connection to these kids through your donations. We’re almost there, and your continued support will really make a difference in the lives of every kid who attends this beautiful new school.
From Mahiga with love, Christy

A Brief Stint on The Sopranos (and in the NY Times)

2010-06-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Very nice to have a feature story in the NY Times that includes our work at Mahiga Hope High School. Framed around my frequent travels and my role as that idiot narcoleptic Aaron Arkaway in The Sopranos, it's already bringing some nice attention to the school effort.

Read the times story here! "The Travel Advantages of a Brief Stint on The Sopranos"

Lots going on in Kenya at Mahiga Hope High School. Check out this new photo from Greg Elsner of the finished classroom walls. More info at Nobelity.org and on The Nobelity Project FB page:

Feed the Peace - with Willie Nelson and more

2010-05-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

What a crazy and emotional, wild and wonderful Spring it’s been for The Nobelity Project. A short update on my trip to Haiti and Mahiga Hope High is below, but first a report on our biggest event ever, The Artists & Filmmakers Dinner.

It was a stellar night at the Four Seasons Austin as 40 Texas stars joined us to honor Willie Nelson, to celebrate the DVD release of One Peace at a Time, and to complete principal funding of Mahiga Hope High School (okay, there are a few things left to fund, and we could use your donations at www.nobelity.org/donate.)

The Four Seasons event began with photos of friends, and it was quite a list of friends. Here are John Paul and Eloise De Joria, Lyle Lovett and April Kimble, and Marjoe Gortner.

Bill Paxton flew in from L.A. and another season of his HBO show, Big Love. Ricardo Chavira got a day off from filming Desperate Housewives to attend with his wife Marcea.

We had nearly 500 people a the cocktail party and some competitive bidding on the auction items. Fender donated a Stratocaster that Jimmy Vaughn signed. Born Free Safaris had a trip to Kenya (that sold twice!) and there was even an Apple iPad loaded with Nobelity Project photos and music. We also want to thank Gibson Guitars and Strait Music for additional instruments that helped make the night a great success. Some of the hottest bidding was for our framed photos and for gorgeous paintings donated by Carlos Ortiz, Bale Creek Allen, Judy Marquez, MM Pipkin and the amazing Katie Rose Pipkin.

More thanks go to the Four Seasons Austin and all their amazing staff for great service, great food and for making it possible for a small nonprofit to put together a world class evening.

Speaking of world class, the biggest thanks of the night go to Annie and Willie Nelson for everything they've done for The Nobelity Project. Willie and Annie's dedication to the idea and reality of Peace is a great inspiration. When Willie told me to "Feed the Peace!" in One Peace at a Time, I don't think he knew he'd be naming his own award. But here's Christy handing Willie the Feed the Peace Award.

A couple of minutes later, Willie helped us present three more FTP awards to the Kunik triplets who raised $10,000 to fund the new kitchen at Mahiga Hope High School. Inspired by these amazing 13-year-old kids - and by Mickey Bice who'd contributed funds to build the Chemistry Lab at the high school - the crowd stepped up with some more big donations. In less than five minutes, we had commitments for the biology and physics lab, a dining room to go with the new kitchen, and to get things rolling on a new pre-school.

That put the real show onstage. We'd already seen show-stopping

performances from Kat Edmonson and Ruby Jane, and now Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely and Ray Benson sat down and began to play their favorite Willie songs. Soon Willie joined in and before you knew it, 500 people were singing along to On the Road Again. Add in Texas jazz trumpet master Hannibal Lokumbe who managed to seque On the Road Again into Amazing Grace, joined by 20 more amazing Texas musicians, and you've got one unforgettable night.

Thanks to everyone who came out, and to our many wonderful sponsors: CSE and C3, Patron, Malibu Family Wines & Shiner Beer, Austin American Statesman & KGSR, Freeman, FILO Productions & Dynamic Reprographics, Four Seasons Austin and John Paul & Eloise DeJoria. And congrats to Mickey and Liz who got engaged during the dinner, with Willie handling the ring! And to Steve Prince for making that great connection to Mickey.

Speaking of work, I left the next day for Haiti where I toured school sites with Architecture for Humanity and Concern Worldwide. Even after all the reports I'd heard and seen, I could hardly believe the damage and the challenges the Haitian people are dealing with. Despite this, I came away feeling we can have a tremendous impact by rebuilding schools better than before. More info to come when we have budgets in hand, but take a look at these kids and ask yourself, “don’t they deserve better?”

In the meantime, check out our latest video which show one amazing day during construction of Mahiga Hope High School. Here is Building Hope - Foundations.

If you don't have a dvd of One Peace at a Time, order at nobelity.org or at Amazon. And don't forget to Feed the Peace!

High School Construction Begins! Mahiga Hope Library & More

2010-03-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

More great news on The Nobelity Project’s work to build Mahiga Hope High School in Kenya.

- Construction is underway and moving fast!

- We hope to complete funding on April 11 at the Artists & Filmmakers Dinner where Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and forty more great Texas artists will help us honor Willie Nelson with the "Feed the Peace" Award.

- Free DVD release party April 9 at Waterloo Records features Kat Edmonson in-store concert and the launch of 1000 Books for Hope campaign!

After a devastating multi-year drought, the rains have finally returned to Kenya and crops in the Mahiga area are growing well. But just as we were ready to begin construction, the road to the school became too muddy for construction trucks and deliveries. A contractor to gravel the road was going to cost thousands of dollars, but the local community had a great solution. Buy six dumptrucks of rock at a fraction of the total cost, and we'll spread it by hand!

One week later, 115 men and women showed up with hoes and shovels and set to work spreading over 100 tons of gravel. Check out this photo - some of the women are carrying children on their backs - and those are kids who we all hope will one day be graduates of Mahiga Hope High.

Construction on the Classroom and Libraries Building started almost immediately. Architecture for Humanity design fellow Greg Elsner, Kenyan architects Multiplex Systems and the local community reviewed all the bids from Kenyan contractors and inspected their work at other locations.

The bid was awarded to Minorah Contractors who beat the heavier rains that are expected soon by digging foundation trenches and getting the foundations above ground in record time.

These great photos from Greg and Joseph Mutongu say it all!

I'm headed to Kenya this week for the ground-breaking of the RainWater Court, for final planning of the science labs, kitchen and dining hall, and to do a little work myself.

I'm also taking Flip Video Cameras and a new Dell laptop for the 9th grade class to film construction progress and archive the footage.

The Nobelity Project Artists & Filmmakers Dinner - April 11 at the Four Seasons Austin

The big event on Sunday, April 11 is going to be an incredible night - every attendee has dinner with one of 40 great Texas artists, and there's an incredible show with Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Joe Ely, Ray Benson, Hannibal Lokumbe, Kat Edmonson and Ruby Jane. This is a big fundraiser at fundraiser prices (more info on buying tables or seats at nobelity.org), and we hope to complete funding for the school and guarantee that it will be open for classes by the end of summer.

Our DVD release week also includes a 5:00 p.m. April 9 One Peace at a time Party at Austin's Waterloo Records. There's an in-store performance by Kat Edmonson, and we're also asking everyone to bring ONE book for the launch of:

1000 Books for Hope

To fill the shelves of Mahiga Hope Library - and other libraries we're planning or partnering on from Morocco to Bangladesh - we’re asking students and adults to donate just ONE book. The key is to donate your favorite book, or a book that has had great meaning in your own life.

Donors are asked to write their name and hometown inside the cover, and a short note about why they love the book, or what it has meant to them. Those names, cities and notes will be the entry to a world of learning and endless possibilities. (A small donation for shipping will also help.)

Mahiga Hope Library will serve boys and girls, men and women, from pre-school to an adult literacy program, so the possibilities for what books would be useful are also endless. Young reader books and non-fiction books about science, technology and the world around us could be particularly useful. Think back to your childhood - was there a book that helped get you where you are today?

Several schools in Austin are participating in the drive, and you're encouraged to bring your book to Waterloo Records for the party (and please buy a DVD of One Peace at a Time while you're there).

You can also make a book Donation by Mailing to:

1000 Books for Hope

P.O. Box 161925

Austin, TX 78716

If you can slip a small cash donation in with the book, that will help us cover shipping to Kenya or another Hope Library!

Thanks to everyone for your incredible support. We couldn't do it without you.

Mahiga Hope High School: “It’s getting real!”

2010-01-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

I just received a great update from Kenya about progress on Mahiga Hope High School. Greg Elsner, our AfH Design Fellow says ground-breaking for the RainWater Court and the Classroom/Library block will be in early February. Hailing from Minnesota, when Greg says "It's getting real!", he means months of hard work are turning into something truly amazing – a modern high school that will change this community forever, and will be a model for schools across Africa.

Check out Greg's amazing design for the Rainwater Court that will house organized sports, an outdoor classroom, community meeting space and provide clean drinking water for the school! Photo below by Greg shows our first class of 9th graders using the age-old 3-4-5 method of laying out a square to site the RainWater Court on the campus. (And note the trees in the background that I helped plant as seedlings 4 years ago.)

After months of hard work in Mahiga, Greg came home for Christmas and I joined him in Fargo, ND for a sold-out screening of One Peace at a Time at the historic Fargo Theatre. It was 11-below zero outside, but warm and welcome inside where we had a great screening response and raised $2,000 for the school, funds that have been designated for the toilet block at the RainWater Court. (Sanitation facilities are crucial – particularly for teenage girls – and it’s not easy to raise money for toilets.) Thanks to everyone in Fargo and to everyone else who's been inspired by the movie to help with this rewarding task.

Two weeks of screenings at Regal's Arbor Cinema in Austin also generated lots of support for the school, and thanks to Bank of America and the Dell Foundation, we were able to buy movie tickets for hundreds of public school teachers, many of whom brought or sent their students to see the movie and get connected to the "real" world.

After 8 months of hard work – with One Peace screenings from Nairobi to Maui and a hundred places between – we’ve funded two of the three main facilities at the school.

– The Nike GameChangers Award is funding construction of the RainWater Court (and providing Greg’s important services on the ground). Big thanks to Nike and Architecture for Humanity!

– Donations from individual classroom sponsors, screenings and a lot of other supporters who care have funded construction of the classroom and library block.

The biggest challenge remaining is construction of 3 Science Labs – Chemistry, Physics and Biology. We are searching hard for underwriting sponsors of these labs.

For a tax-deductible donation of $10,000, a company (or a family) can name one of the science labs and provide a science education for hundreds of students in Kenya. Contact us or make a donation at The Nobelity Project's site, Nobelity.org.

There are no middle-men, no bribes, no government skimming – we work directly with the community of Mahiga and the local education board, and have reliable oversight from Greg and our community partner Joseph Mutongu and hundreds of parents who know this is THE BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR THEIR KIDS!

Two Addition Ways to Support This Work:

• 1000 Voices for Hope – Our fundraising partnership with GlobalGiving.com has raised $17,000 for the school. Watch the Video and you'll be inspired to donate $100 and Join the Choir with Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Emily and Martie of The Dixie Chicks.

1000 Voices for Hope on YouTube

• The 12-year-old Kunik Triplets in Austin have launched the Kunik B'ai Mitzvah Project with a goal of raising $5,000 for the kitchen at the high school. We all know you can’t learn on an empty stomach! Check out their FB project page at the link above

Thanks to everyone for your support, and for all the messages about the inspiring things that are happening in your lives because of One Peace at a Time and Mahiga Hope High School. Turns out that we all need the same thing - each other.

One Peace, One Theatre, One City, One School at a Time!

2009-12-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

What a wild and wonderful Fall it’s been for the Nobelity Project. Here’s a quick sampling of all our great news:

The national theatrical release of One Peace at a Time begins Friday, Dec 4 with two parties in Austin at Manuel’s Arboretum Restaurant before the evening screenings at the Arbor Theatre. $50 Tickets are online at http://www.nobelity.org, with proceeds helping to build Mahiga Hope High School in Kenya.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett, one of the stars of the film, joins us Friday evening as our guest of honor at the 5:30 p.m. reception!

The film continues - 5 screenings per day - from Dec 4 - 10! Tickets for all other screenings available at the Arbor Box Office. Click here for Arbor online sales.

Here are the great partner groups that are helping us turn out a crowd each evening:

Sat, 12/5 - ONE.org
Sun, 12/6 - Austin interfaith night with AAIM and Tom Spencer (7 pm)
Mon, 12/7 - Meals on Wheels
Tues, 12/8 - RESULTS.org and The Austin Kiva Group
Wed, 12/9 - Charity Bash, including a party at Manuel's following the 7:00 p.m. screening (another fundraiser for Mahiga Hope High School
Thurs, 12/10 - Christy hosts Austin's yoga community.

Tickets for Teachers - Thanks to The Dell Foundation and Bank of America, we have free tickets for teachers to all matinee screenings - 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. To reserve your spot, email Melissa@nobelity.org, and please bring your teacher id to the theater.

1000 Voices for Hope – Our fundraising partnership with GlobalGiving.com has raised $13,000 for Mahiga Hope High School. Join Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Emily and Martie of The Dixie Chicks as members of this glorious choir.

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/mahigahopehigh/

Thanks to Nike and Architecture for Humanity for awarding Mahiga Hope High and our RainWater Court as winners of the International GameChangers Award. In addition to over $50,000 in construction money, the award includes the services of Architecture for Humanity Design Fellow Greg Elsner who is living in Mahiga, Kenya as we build this amazing school. Check out photos and designs at:

http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/rainwatercourt

If you’ve seen One Peace at a Time, help us spread the word. There is a better way! If you haven’t seen it, it’s time.

To watch the Ben Harper Trailer, go to: http://nobelity.org/one-peace-at-a-time/

And here are a few choice pics from our Red Carpet L.A. Premiere.

Thanks to Matthew McConaughey and Camilla Alves, Cameron Sinclair, Bono, One.org, Billy Bob Thornton, Dennis Quaid, Peter Fonda and many others who are support the film and our work for a better way.

Help Build Mahiga Hope High School!

2009-07-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

Our work at St. Joseph Mahiga Primary School in rural Kenya has already resulted in clean drinking water and electricity, a computer lab and new classrooms. Enrollment is up and water-borne illnesses are down. Mahiga Primary is now the highest rated school in the district!

A solid primary school is good, but education shouldn't end at the 8th grade.

With no secondary school, a complete education for 700 kids depends upon The Nobelity Project's commitment to build Mahiga Hope High School. The Education District for the area has committed to operate this school but has no money to build it. That’s where we come in. These kids are ready and eager to learn. Let's open the door on a better future for them and their community!

Nike and Architecture for Humanity join the team!

Nike has announced our Rainwater Court as winner of the international GameChangers design competition. Architecture for Humanity will oversee construction of the world's first "net-positive" basketball court that will also collect and purify drinking water for the school, serve as an outdoor classroom, a community meeting space and more. This is a great beginning, but to build the rest of the high school we need your help.

The Willie Challenge! To build twelve classrooms, a library, and computer and science labs

Willie Nelson is lending his hand to our efforts. Take the Willie Challenge and make a tax-deductible contribution to make this wonderful school a reality!

• Every $100 donation receives a copy of Turk and Willie's NY Times bestseller, The Tao of Willie, signed by Turk

• Every $500 donation receives a copy of The Tao of Willie signed by Willie too!

• Every $5,000 donation receives signed book AND your name on the door of a classroom!

Click here to make a donation today! http://nobelity.org/new_pages/donate.html

Or mail your donation to:

The Nobelity Project P.O. Box 161925 Austin, TX 78716

And the Screening News:

One Peace At A Time wins the Audience Award at the Maui Film Festival!

It was a magical evening in Maui with Willie receiving the Maverick Award and singing to the crowd before the movie.

We also had a great premiere in Nairobi, and memorable screening at the World Economic Forum in Geneva!

One Peace is screening in September at the North South International Film Forum at the United Nations in Geneva!

Stay tuned at nobelity.org for more news on many more screenings to come.

One Peace Premiere Report/New Trailer

2009-04-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who turned out for the World Premiere of One Peace at a Time. If you thought it was crowded at the museum (300 people) and at the theatre (1,100/Sold Out!), you were right! The response to the movie was wonderful, overwhelming, off-the-charts.. I don't know what to say (and almost couldn't say anything).

More great news - we have a theatrical trailer and it is fantastic. Thanks Matt Naylor and everyone at 501 Post. Check it out!

Screening news:

Sunday, 4/26 Mexico Premiere at Casa Dorada, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Friday & Saturday, 5/1 & 5/2 Screening at Wild Basin in Austin, tickets at www.wildthingsgroup.org

Tuesday, May 5, Washington D.C. Premiere, honoring Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Caroline Boudreaux and more. Screening at Jack Morton Theater, George Washington Univ; co-hosted by CNN's Paul Begala

Sneak Preview of ONe Peace at a Time

2009-04-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

A Sneak Preview of One Peace at a Time, the title sequence with music courtesy of Bob Dylan. More info at Nobelity.org

2009-03-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Willie Nelson says, "Don't miss the World Premiere of One Peace at a Time!"

Info and ticket links for the April 14 premiere at Austin's Paramount Theatre are below, but first here's Willie and Turk's new psa for the Nobelity Project's biggest night ever!

The April 14 Paramount Theatre World Premiere (7:00 p.m. with music and food; 8:00 p.m. Premiere; 10 p.m. after-party at Ruth's Chris) just 25 bucks for

General Admission Tickets

Support the Nobelity Project and enjoy the entire evening!

6:00 - 7:30 Pre-screening Reception at Austin Museum of Art

8:00 Reserved Seats at World Premiere

10:00 after-party at Ruth's Chris:

$250/person - Click Here!

Feed the Peace!

(Scroll down to the previous blog for more info on the evening and the film!)

World Premiere of One Peace at a Time

2009-03-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

Monday, March 2, 2009

One Peace at a Time, World Premiere Screening on April 14 at the Paramount Theatre

After 2 years, 20 countries and 1 broken leg, we're delighted to announce the World Premiere of The Nobelity Project’s new film, One Peace at a Time. Tickets are now on sale at the links below (Nobelity filled the Paramount for multiple screenings, so these tickets may go fast).

There are three great events on April 14th, and two tickets to choose from.

World Premiere Screening Party - $25/person (Click Here for Tickets)
7:00 p.m. Paramount doors open
Live music onstage
Great food from El Chilito, Mama Fu’s & Amy’s Ice Cream
8:00 p.m. One Peace at a Time screening, followed by filmmaker Q & A
10:00 p.m. After-party at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

One Peace Museum Party - $250/person (Click Here for Tickets)
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Private Reception at Austin Museum of Art Downtown
An unforgettable evening celebrating the new film and our museum exhibit
Our biggest party since Lance, Willie and Owen at the Four Seasons
Catering by Word of Mouth and Becker Wines
Thanks to our host committee: Willie & Annie Nelson, Rick Linklater, Elizabeth Avellan, Nav Sooch, Donna and Philip Berber & Eddie Safady.
7:30 p.m. Walk to the Paramount for the Premiere Screening
Prime reserved screening seats & Ruth’s Chris after-party included in ticket price

Christy and I are tremendously excited about the release of One Peace at a Time. While Nobelity focused on global problems, the new film looks at solutions that are already working, and that could be amplified all over the world. The film asks one very big question - can we provide basic rights – water, nutrition, education, healthcare, opportunity and a sustainable and peaceful environment – to every child on earth?

The solutions I found on five continents had some inspiring Austin connections, including the model Indian orphanages of The Miracle Foundation and water projects in Ethiopia with A Glimmer of Hope. For a sneak preview of the water story in the film, check out our latest edition of Short Film/Big Changes, which is called A Glimmer of Hope!

See you April 14 at the Paramount - or if you can step up big-time for the nonprofit, at the museum.

Good News From Africa

2008-11-24T07:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to the Nobelity Blog, where my motto should be, “Good News… about two months after it happens.” First of all, I want to thank everyone who supported our water and education projects in Ethiopia and Kenya. I’m back from an inspiring trip to Africa and could not be happier about the progress I saw there.

Water (and More) for St. Joseph Mahiga Primary School

I was met in Nairobi by our friend and partner, Joseph Mutongu, who first took me to the Mahiga Primary School three years ago. After we planted trees at the school, Joseph shared his dream of building a water system for these great kids who were walking long distances to collect surface water that frequently made them sick.

I promised that day to help provide clean water for the school, and that promise was in many ways the beginning of The Nobelity Project. For that, I owe Joseph a great debt of thanks, because a lot of good things in a lot of countries have grown out of his dream.

At the beginning of the Fall semester in September, Joseph and I traveled back to Mahiga for the official inauguration of the school’s new water and electrical systems, and a new Nobelity Project computer lab (I had 8 OLPC laptops for the kids in my bags on the flight to Kenya, and AMD’s Matthew Chetty brought a beautiful HP laptop for the teachers from his office in Capetown).

Mahiga kids with new computer

A new building! – The Nobelity Project Computer Lab

Joseph Mutongu with water storage tanks at Mahiga School

Words cannot do justice to the wonderful welcome we received, and for the appreciation of these 346 kids (and a whole lot of parents) for the improvements at the school. The happiest news was that the District Education Manager was also impressed. St. Joseph Mahiga now the number 1 rated school (out of 600!) in the district! Even better, the district has decided to seek funding to build an adjacent high school so that these great kids can continue their education past grade 8 and have real opportunity in their lives.

Looking out at all those wonderful kids, I made another promise – this time that the Nobelity Project will be a full partner for the construction Mahiga Hope High School. More on this great new effort after the New Year, but first we better catch up with the rest of 2008.

Our Six Wells in Ethiopia

After Kenya, I continued to Ethiopia where I had another inspiring experience checking out the work of A Glimmer of Hope. The Nobelity Project is funding six wells this year with Glimmer, and I had the chance to visit several of these wells as they were under construction. One of the wells had just been drilled and hit water at 150 feet. Two of the hand-dug wells were partially completed, and were already deep enough to be producing large quantities of water. Thanks to our major donors who provided clean water that will literally change the future of these six communities.

Short Films/Big Changes

Our ongoing series of short films is having a great impact on the programs we’ve profiled. Caroline Boudreaux and I showed One Child at a Time at a fundraiser for The Miracle Foundation last weekend, and after the screening at Nav Sooch’s home, TMF raised $300,000! to build a new Village Orphanage in India. Congratulations Caroline!

The next film in the series profiles A Glimmer of Hope’s incredible work in Ethiopia, and will be released before Christmas.
We’ll be producing four of these films each year and need all the monetary support we can get to make these films and spread the word about great work that’s being done all over the world.

The next film profiles Wheels for Humanity and their work to provide wheelchairs to disabled children in the developing world. And in February, I’ll be traveling to Cambodia to film sight restoration camps and clinics with the Seva Foundation, who have restored the sight of 2 million blind people.

If you’d like to make a donation to support Short Films/Big Changes, click here. (Support Short Films/Big Changes)

If you’d like to support the Nobelity in Schools program, where we’ll be providing free dvds of Nobelity and One Peace at a Time to thousands of teachers, click here. (Support Nobelity in Schools)

And if you’d like to make the best type of donation for us – one that can be used for any of our work – we pledge to do good things with your support. (Support the Nobelity Project’s General Fund)

An Amazing Summer for the Nobelity Project!

2008-09-01T00:56:00.000-07:00

- The Nobelity Project joins the Clinton Global Initiative
- The Million Student Outreach Initiative
- Nobelity goes to space
- One Peace at a Time set to premier in March, 2009

With summer over, I am back on my feet from my filming accident in the Grand Canyon and looking back at fourteen weeks progressing from a wheelchair to crutches to a cane. I really didn’t want to break my leg in three places, but looking back, I can see that the forced sabbatical has resulted in a lot of great developments for the Nobelity Project.

The big news this week is that the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) has invited us to join its non-partisan convening of global leaders who work together to implement solutions to pressing global challenges. Whether a CEO like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, a Nobel laureate like Desmond Tutu and Wangari Maathai, a corporation like Google, or a nonprofit like the Nobelity Project, CGI members make substantial commitments to take concrete, measurable steps to improve and save lives around the world.

We are very proud to announce that The Nobelity Project’s commitment to CGI is to reach one million middle and high school students in 2009 through a dramatic expansion of our Nobelity In Schoiols program. Since our profit accumulates in knowledge and change, we are going to donate a double DVD package of Nobelity and One Peace at a Time, plus classroom materials and a web-based Circle of Learning program to every teacher who wants to engage their students in the issues that will shape their futures.

One of our core messages to these students is that each one of them can make a true difference in the world.

Membership in CGI is going to be a big boost to our education work, but reaching a million students is going to be one of our biggest financial hurdles to date. The cost of the entire program is $250,000. AMD and the 50x15 foundation have already come aboard as the first sponsor, but we have a long ways to go and need to raise that money sooner, not later.

Other news bringing attention to The Nobelity Project--- Gaming Pioneer Richard Garriott is taking Nobelity into Space. In October, when Richard blasts off in a Russian Soyuz rocket, he’ll be carrying the insights of our Nobel laureates to the International Space Station. The son of an astronaut, Richard has long carried the dream of going to space and we appreciate his willingness to use the journey and the publicity that comes with it to call attention to pressing global problems.

Back on my feet (and cane), as I write this blog, I am wingng my way to Kenya, then Ethiopia, to resume filming on One Peace at a Time. In Kenya, I’ll visit the SIDAREC/Slum Community Center, the winning project design of the Open Architecture Challenge, which I profiled in our short film, The Challenge.

I’ll also be at our partner project, The Mahiga Primary School, where donations by many of you have enabled us to build a water system with UV purification, an electrical system and a new computer learning lab in a new block of secure, stone classrooms. A special thanks to Julian Kink and all of his supporters in helping make this a reality.

I’m carrying a number of OLPC/One Laptop Per Child computers with me for the school and 50x15.org is setting the teachers up with a more powerful laptop for their work. I’ll bring back a report and photos of course, and I could not be more excited about being at the Mahiga school for the beginning of Fall classes in a school that’s better equipped to help them make their mark in the world.

I’ll also be visiting the first of our six well projects in Ethiopia. Thanks to each of you who’ve donated to support this important work through our partnership with A Glimmer of Hope. I hope we can do more water projects with Glimmer next year, but we have also set our sights on building a school.

Christy and I and the Nobelity Project Board of Directors are just launching a major fund-raising effort to enable all of this work. We are searching for five additional partner corporations, foundations or individuals who’d like to share the credit for the Million Student Initiative. We are also searching for annual underwriting of our series, Short Films for Big Changes, and though I don’t mention it often, the ongoing costs of all our film, education and development projects is one of our biggest challenges.

Christy is still talking about the donations that followed my last blog. The same day that she received a check for five thousand dollars, she opened an envelope and found a check for five dollars. Combined, those two donations were the perfect representation of the work we do and the way that we are supported by so many people who contribute what they can because they believe in our work and want to make a difference themselves.

Whether $5 or $5,000 (or $20 or $20,000), we’d love to have you as a partner in the work that we feel so fortunate to be doing.

To make a donation, click here:
http://nobelity.org/new_pages/donate.html
If you want to sponsor one of the big programs, we’d be happy to supply all the details.

One more shout out to Allen Hardin at UT Athletics who adopted my broken leg and put me through a summer of physical therapy UT football style. I wouldn’t be going to Africa without the work I’ve been doing with Allen.

I have to put my computer away. The captain says it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

One Peace at a Time,

Turk Pipkin
Somewhere over the Atlantic
September 1, 2008

Short Films for Big Changes

2008-06-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks for a great response to our partnership with A Glimmer of Hope to fund water projects in Ethiopia. If you’d still like to learn more or want to pitch in, scroll down to the previous blog. We've already funded six wells and would like to step it up next year by building a school.

And we already have more great news! The Nobelity Project is proud to announce the digital premier of One Child at a Time, our new film about the Miracle Foundation’s inspiring orphanages in India.

This is the second in our ongoing series, “Short Films for Big Changes.” The first in the series, The Challenge played at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in a giant global webcast from the TED Conference, and is now approaching 70,000 viewings on YouTube.

We hope that even larger numbers will view One Child at a Time, a beautiful 7-minute film which I shot over the past year during visits to Miracle Foundation orphanages, including the grand opening of the incredible Sooch Village model orphanage. There are 25 millon orphans in the system in India, and millions more living on the street, and we share the Miracle Foundation’s commitment to providing the basic rights to which every child on this planet is entitled.

A digital release means the film is available for anyone to watch free of charge. We think you’ll love this film and hope that you’ll be inspired to help us spread the word far and wide about this important work.

If you're inspired to sponsor an orphan in India or just want to learn more, go to www.miracle foundation.org.

And if you want to support our ongoing series, Short Films for Big Changes, you can make a donation to the Nobelity Project here:

http://nobelity.org/new_pages/donate.html

turk pipkin, June 8, 2008

p.s. Thanks to our editor Chet Hirsch, George O'Dwyer and all the folks at 501 Post in Austin for their great work on this beautiful piece. We could not have done it without them.

Glimmer of Hope

2008-05-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Nobelity Project Appeal - Help us provide clean water for rural communities in Ethiopia

Once again, there is exciting news from The Nobelity Project about our new film, One Peace at a Time. And for the first time, we’re asking our supporters to be a part of our partnership with an organization that’s doing amazing work for a better world. I’m referring to A Glimmer of Hope, an Austin-based nonprofit that has transformed the lives of 2 million people in Ethiopia by providing clean water, schools, health care and economic opportunity. Read on and I’ll tell you how you can join us in this work.

The goal of One Peace at a Time is to highlight successful programs that are producing positive change through efficient and innovative programs. In the past year, I’ve filmed amazing work in India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ecuador and many other countries, but on my recent trip to Ethiopia, I was blown away by the scale, the efficiency and the passionate care with which A Glimmer of Hope is fulfilling a vital mission.

Ethiopia is an extremely rural country with a population of 75 million people living primarily on agriculture. The per capita income for the nation as a whole is about 35 cents per person per day. While the capital of Addis Ababa is pleasant and has a rapidly expanding economy, the rural areas have almost no infrastructure. Traveling with two Glimmer staffers and with representatives of a number of Ethiopian partner groups, Katie Pipkin and I spent many days filming and shooting photos at school, health care and veterinary posts in the remote South Omo region. Driving from project to project for 12 to 16 hours a day, we never saw a paved road, but we did meet thousands of people who turned out to welcome us in grand Ethiopian style at the dedication of new classrooms and other facilities.

Donna and Philip Berber, the founders of A Glimmer of Hope, have put tens of millions of dollars of their own money into this work, but the true key to their success is their philosophy of development from the ground up, rather than the top-down, heavy management and planning approach that has so often failed in Africa.

“We start by visiting rural communities,” Philip Berber explained to me, “and simply ask what it is they need and way. Then we find local partner groups who have the know-how and the ability to help themselves if they’re provided with resources and capital.”

An extended tour of the Tigray region in Northern Ethiopia illustrated that point perfectly. This beautiful mountainous region was devastated by drought, famine and the Eritrean war – and we saw a fair number of soldiers and tanks still patrolling in the area. Among the partner reps we toured with was Tekelewoini Assefa or “Tek”, a hero of the Eritrean War who played a key role in saving half a million people from starvation by walking them from camp to camp on a three-month journey to refugee villages in Somalia. After the war, a similar effort from REST (the Relief Society of Ethiopia) brought these refugees home.

The long-term solution to famine and drought in Tigray stems from the work of groups like REST to bring clean water, education, health care and more to these wonderful people.

One afternoon, we parked atop a tall ridge and began hiking to the valley below to see a new hand-dug well that had been built in partnership between REST, A Glimmer of Hope and the local community of Bet Mekea. This was perhaps the tenth new well we’d seen, and we’d been greeted by incredibly moving ceremonies at all of them - by hundreds of children lined up to sing and clap hands for us; men dancing in circles as they chanted and proclaimed the great future that lay ahead because they now had water. Large groups of women who had selected representatives to tell us how local women – and children - had been walking up to six hours a day, carrying 60 or 70 crushing pounds of water in a jerry-can on their backs to supply water for their families. The hand-dug wells built with Glimmer had changed that forever. Those six hours per day were now time and energy that could be devoted to producing food and to earning an income. For the children, it meant there was now time to go to school for the first time in their lives. (And I saw quite a few 18-year-olds sitting by 7-year-olds in new first grade classrooms.)

And here’s the most incredible part – those wells were built for an average cost of $3,500 each. The simple fact that six dollars per person can literally transform the lives of a community of 500 people is one of the most profound and moving truths I have ever witnessed. This is possible because it is the people of these communities who do the work. The local people build a road by hand that will allow a truck to bring cement and a pump. They dig a well ten or twelve feet in diameter and perhaps sixty feet deep, and they dig it by hand. They line the well with rock and cement, and install a hand pump and chlorinator that they are trained to maintain. Because the water is clean, they are not plagued by illnesses like cholera. It’s been said that clean drinking water is the most important element in education.

At the bottom of the valley at Bet Mekea, the newly-completed well was protected by a sturdy rock wall, and herders with groups of donkeys and goats were bringing their animals to water. For a long moment, I looked up from my video camera and thought that it was the most beautiful spot I had ever seen. There was no visible town, but several dozen local people had gathered to break bread and share their homemade honey with us.

Through a translator, I asked what was next for Bet Mekea. Did they need a school, a health clinic? Their answer surprised me in a very wonderful way. Yes, they hoped to build these facilities, but first, they were concerned about three neighboring communities who did not yet have clean water.

Their compassion and sense of justice was very moving to Katie and myself, and we made an immediate commitment for the Nobelity Project to find the money to fund these three wells for the villages of Grater (300 people), Grakubi (350 people), and Beles (250 people).

This past weekend, the Nobelity Project staged a concert and fundraiser in Fredericksburg, Texas. This wonderful event was sponsored by Mark Shurley who won the auction at our January Austin event for a concert-at-home from the legendary Texas Band, The Flatlanders. With full band in tow, Joe Ely, Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock rocked the house at Hondo’s on Main. Before the music started, we asked the crowd if they’d contribute to our wells in Ethiopia. Christy and I were hoping to fund at least one well (at approximately $3,500). Before the night was over, we had pledges to fund FIVE wells.

This is incredible news for us, but there is one catch. The fifth well is a matching grant from Doug Richards, Dr. Mary Travers and the Foundation for Dreamers. To match that donation and complete funding for six wells, I’m asking each of our supporters to make a donation in any amount for clean water in Ethiopia. It doesn’t matter if you contribute a dollar or a thousand – either way, you’ll be a part of something truly grand! We’ve set up a special donation button for these wells on our donation page, or you can make a donation by check. Just click here.

http://nobelity.org/new_pages/donate.html

100% of these donations will go directly to A Glimmer of Hope and construction of the wells. Thanks for being an important part in our efforts to shine a light on solutions that work. By working together, we truly can build a better world, One Peace at a Time.

Turk Pipkin, May 13, 2008

MORE GREAT NEWS

The Nobelity Project’s film on The Open Architecture Challenge is a huge hit! “The Challenge” played at the World Economic Forum in Davos, at the TED Conference during their live global webcast, and has almost 70,000 viewings online at youtube.

Our deepest thanks goes to Caroleen Feeney and FACT for their contribution of $35,000 to the Kallari Association in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador. These funds that have already been used to purchase the land for Kallari’s organic chocolate factory which will support their work to preserve the rainforest. This was the first of many great things to come from “The Challenge.”

On June 1, I’ll be in Capetown, South Africa for the 50x15 Partners Summit and the World Economic Forum Africa, and we’ll be announcing the winning design and community from the Open Architecture Challenge!

I’ll also be continuing to Kenya to visit our partner school, the Mahiga Primary School, where work is underway on a rainwater collection system to provide clean drinking water, on an electrical system, and on a sturdy and secure new classroom that we hope will soon house a computer learning lab for the school. Thanks to AMD and 50x15 for their efforts there, to Julian Kunik and everyone else who’s made a contribution (and we’re still looking for donations to fund the new computers).

Next Month – watch for the official release of “One Child at a Time” our new short film about the Miracle Foundation orphanages in India. This film includes our journey by train with 120 orphans for the grand opening of the beautiful new Sooch Village Orphanage.

In the meantime, you can learn more about The Miracle Foundation at:

www.miraclefoundation.org

And don’t forget to check out A Glimmer of Hope at:http://www.aglimmerofhope.org/.

Texas Artists Step Up for the Nobelity Project

2008-02-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

The past few months at The Nobelity Project have been nonstop travel, shooting, editing and fundraising. We’ve made great progress on our new film, One Peace at a Time, and have been looking for an opportunity to share that progress with the nonprofit’s many partners and supporters.

On Sunday, January 27th, the Nobelity Artists and Filmmakers Dinner, was an incredible evening at the Four Seasons Austin with 30 of our favorite Texas artists from the worlds of film, books and television and 250 of our closest friends and supporters. The evening was a turning-point fundraiser for the new film, and also for the Nobelity in Schools program, which continues to expand to classrooms across Texas and America.

Our artists/hosts for the dinner included Willie Nelson, Owen Wilson and Andrew Wilson, Harry Anderson, Mike Judge and many more. There was a gauntlet of cameras and reporters outside the event, and People Magazine got a scoop when the Dixie Chick’s Martie Maguire revealed that she and her husband Gareth are expecting their third child! That news ended up being the wire-service scoop of the evening.

Lance Armstrong had promised to drop by for the cocktail hour, but stayed for dinner and the show. Lance shared some words with Nobel Physics laureate Steve Weinberg, our guest of honor and one of the true geniuses of Nobelity. Recent Pulitzer Prize recipient Lawrence Wright led a continent of fine Texas writers.

One of the best things about the evening was that there was someone you wanted to talk to everywhere you look. I was welcoming Owen Wilson and his brother Andrew, when Owen looked across the room and said, “That’s Jimmie Dale Gilmore!” We couldn’t get through the crowd so one of my many missions became introducing Jimmie Dale to Owen. I was running around all night long between Christy’s and my table, the stage, the silent auction and the press area, so my apologies to those of you I didn’t speak to.

The cocktail hour was sponsored by Patron Tequila, Tito’s Vodka, Shiner Beer and Becker Vineyards. Global shipping causes a billion tons of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, a global warming source greater than all the cars in the United States. Local consumption is an important way that all of us can live more lightly on the planet. In Texas, we are lucky to have Becker Vineyards making great wine from Texas grapes. And let’s face it, the Nobelity Project couldn’t be doing this class a fundraiser without the donations from these great local companies, or without the incredible support we got from the Four Seasons Austin. Thanks to all of you.

The evening began with my introducing the artists who were hosting each table, with the exception of my skipping my fellow actors from Friday Night Lights, Brad Leland and Ed Clements. Sorry about that guys.

Since most of the crowd had seen Nobelity, lively conversation ensued about the film and the issues we’re dealing with. And a steady stream of people started sneaking by Willie’s table to say hi. Lance is great Texas hero, but nothing tops the number of people who have some deep, personal connection to Willie. He may not know them, but they know him – whether it’s something nice he did for their grandmother in the fifties, or a message of peace he passed to their children this past Christmas, everyone has a connection to Willie.

I’ve been getting emails for the past week from people telling me how great a table host Sara Hickman was, or how cool it was to talk to Jaston Williams from Greater Tuna or Ricardo Chavira from Desperate Housewives.

I also invited 13-year-old Julian Kunik to the stage for a presentation from his incredible “Julian’s List” campaign to raise funds for the Mahiga Primary School in Kenya. Much more on Julian’s list (and a on the current political and economic crisis in Kenya in my next entry – click here).

We also had the American premier of a new short film from the Nobelity Project. Among the many solutions I’m profiling in the new film is a wonderful international competition called the AMD/Open Architecture Challenge. The Challenge is a global design competition with over 500 participating design teams around the world. In December, I traveled around the world with Dan Shine (VP of the 50x15 Initiative) and Cameron Sinclair (co-founder of Architecture for Humanity) to document the communities that will benefit from these designs.

The three projects are a community center and radio station in a Nairobi Slum, a telemedicine center in a remote area of Western Nepal, and an organic chocolate factory for 22 communities of Kichwa Indians in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador. The short film I made on the challenge premiered at the dinner in Austin, not long after the World premier at another dinner screening at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

We had a great response at both screenings. AMD has already put up a quarter million bucks to build the winning design of the Challenge, and we are hoping the film will generate sufficient funding to build all three projects. You can watch this new film, “The Challenge” by clicking here.

After the film, 94-year-old Blues piano legend Pinetop Perkins kicked off the show. Introducing Pinetop, I reminded everyone that he’d been playing the blues since 1927, and of course that he’d just been nominated for TWO Grammy awards. Pinetop was simply amazing.

My good friend, Harry Anderson was next. I met Harry thirty years ago at Armadillo World Headquarters and we’ve been pals ever since, including during his starring roles on Cheers, NightCourt and Dave’s World. “I was very big in the 80’s,” is how Harry puts it. Harry magic act included borrowing a hundred dollar bill from Willie, tearing it up and burning it and producing it from an envelope he’d passed to a woman in the audience at the beginning of the act. Willie loves a good laugh and got one and his hundred bucks back!

Bob Schneider was next up, starting his set with a beautiful solo version of World Exploded Into Love, his song that plays so powerfully in Nobelity. Thanks, Bob.

Finally, we had a show-stopping final set from Joe Ely, who was joined on his final songs by his fellow Lubbock musicians Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The three of them brought the crowd to their feet, both for the great music, and also for the generosity of these three great Texas Musicians’ support of the Nobelity Project. Just before introducing Joe, I announced to the crowd that Joe, Jimmie and Butch had agreed to be auctioned off for a home concert by their original/now -legendary band, The Flatlanders.

John Paul DeJoria started the bidding off at ten grand – which about knocked me over – and the next thing I knew we had a four-way battle for The Flatlanders. Coming up with the dough to fund the Nobelity in Schools program and to make this new film has been quite a task, and when the bidding topped twenty grand, I was almost in tears. When all was said and done, I closed out the Flatlanders home concert at an incredible $31,000!

A deep and heartfelt thanks goes to Mark Shurley and his wife Cathy for this generous contribution, and to the Flatlanders for stepping up with your time and great music.

The Silent Auction was also a great boost. Kathy Harrison bought a couple of beautiful guitars, an acoustic Ibanez signed by Willie and a blonde maple Fender Strat signed by all the artists. There were donations from the Four Seasons Las Colinas and Houston, Hyatt Lost Pines, Doonbeg Resort in Ireland, Nike Golf and many others. Some of the hottest bidding was for framed photos from Nobelity and One Peace at a Time, and for Katie Pipkin’s digital paintings. We have a few more of the beautiful Nobelity Dinner photo books available for $50 each. Let us know if you want one.

If you were outbid on the photos or Katie’s artwork, and would still like a to buy one, let us know. You can check out Katie’s artwork by clicking on her painting below.

My last success of the evening was that I finally got to introduce Owen Wilson to Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Owen’s mom Laura Wilson had taken photos of Jimmie for Texas Monthly several years ago, and Owen was obviously a big fan. The two had a nice, long talk, and when Owen left, Jimmie said, “What a great guy! Who is that?”

Thanks everyone. With your help, we’re going to do our very best to show a better way ahead for all. I am off soon for Ethiopia to document the work of the Glimmer of Hope Foundation and to India for the grand opening of The Miracle Foundation’s new Sooch Village orphanage.

One Peace at a Time,

Turk Pipkin
February 10, 2008

Words From Nobelity

2007-12-03T05:36:00.000-08:00

In the near future I’ll be using this space to update the Nobelity Project’s friends and supporters on what’s happening with the nonprofit and our education work, as well as with continuing news about Nobelity screenings and other events.

But for now I’d like to tell everyone about our latest - and I hope greatest - project, a sequel to Nobelity called One Peace at a Time. While Nobelity looked at the world’s most pressing problems through the eyes of nine Nobel laureates, One Peace at a Time will focus on specific solutions.

Wherever I’ve screened Nobelity — whether in high Schools, for nonprofits or in corporate settings— I’ve always asked the same question: “What can I do?”

My response is generally to remind people of Jody Williams inspiring words to “pick an issue that’s important to you, get off your ass and get to work on it.”

I’ve also suggested that those who were moved by Nobelity’s depiction of kids living on the streets of India that they might want to support the orphanages of the Miracle Foundation (http://www.miraclefoundation.org/). There are an estimated 14 million children on the streets of the world’s largest Democracy, and Caroline Boudreaux and the Miracle Foundation are doing their best to help them, one child at a time. My family and I sponsor a boy at the Bhawani Orphanage, a modest monthly expense that we see as one of the great opportunities of our lives.

I’ve also been recommending that those who are concerned about education and access to information might want to support the One Laptop Per Child initiative that’s working to provide computers to kids all across the developing world. Right now, you can go to http://www.laptopgiving.org/and participate in the “Give one/Get one” program. The cost of these nifty new computers from the Nicholas Negroponte team at MIT is $200, but when you buy one, you also buy a second computer for a kid in the developing world. Give one/ Get one. Get it? Best four hundred bucks I ever spent. If you don’t have a kid at home for your computer, you can donate it to an American kid who needs it.

It’s hard to tell it from the news, but there are a lot of great things happening in the world, and we hope to profile an array of effective solutions in One Peace at a Time. The goal is to create a virtual roadmap to a better future, a guide to positive and effective action for individuals, non-profits, businesses and governments.

The film is being financed by tax-deductible donations to The Nobelity Project, and if you’d like to support our work, go to http://www.nobelity.org/ and click on Make a Donation. You’ll find a credit card link and the address for sending checks.

Proceeds from One Peace at a Time will serve as an endowment for The Nobelity Project and our Nobelity in Schools education program. If you’re a teacher, you can sign up for Nobelity in Schools at the website. And if you haven’t seen Nobelity, or would like to give a copy to someone for Christmas, you can purchase the DVD through the website, too. You can also get a copy at Amazon or through local retailers, but every copy sold through the nonprofit site pays for another copy that’s donated to a classroom.

So where do things stand with One Peace at a Time?

We’ve raised half of the film’s $350,000 production budget, and I want to express my thanks to every one of the many people who’ve made it possible to come this far. I’m in the process of filming in fifteen countries on five continents, and I feel like so many people have been with me every step of the way.

In August, when I walked from the squalor of a Delhi slum through the gates of the amazing Katha School, I knew that thousands of people were walking with me — that people all over the world would see the way these children’s lives have been transformed through education. Through education, clean water, healthcare an opportunity, we can transform the lives of children all over the world.

In the three months since Delhi, I’ve filmed education and internet access programs across India, family planning and community development work in Thainland, and an incredible interview with microcredit guru and Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. In the months to come, I’ll be chronicling sustainable development with the Kallari Collective along the Amazon River; health, water, and education efforts in Kenya and Ethiopia; renewable energy projects across the globe, and ultimately with sustainable rebuilding efforts in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

As we all know, the problems of the world are not only found overseas.

There’s no telling where else this roadtrip of ideas will take me. Right now, I am back in New Delhi filming at the World Economic Forum India Summit, and am headed to the remote hill country of Western Nepal where the Open Architecture Challenge is working to build a telemedicine center for an area with 250,000 people and no doctors.

The Nobel laureates I’ve met through this work have shown me that the many problems of the world are enormous and growing. But they’ve also opened my eyes to the idea that we live at an amazing time. For the first time in human history, we have the capability — the knowledge and the resources and possibly even the will — to solve all of these problems. None of these solutions will be easily won, but all are in our grasp. A more productivw, just and peaceful planet is ours for the making. And the only way to get there is one peace at a time.

New Delhi, India Dec 3, 2007