Gaining Ground Book-Signing and Reception with Joan Velásquez
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
| 3:00 p.m.
- 4:30 p.m.
Please join the Department of Family Social Science and Mano a Mano to celebrate the release of Gaining Ground, A Blueprint for Community-Based International Development, written by Joan Velásquez, CEHD alumna and co-founder of Mano a Mano.
This extraordinary organization, once operated from its founder’s basement, has now successfully implemented over 300 infrastructure projects -- including medical clinics, schools, roads, and water reservoirs across Bolivia, wherein residents face some of the highest rates of poverty in the world. As a result of Mano-a-Mano's efforts, over 700,000 people now have access to health care and education for the first time.
Gaining Ground is the inspiring case study of how this volunteer-based, grassroots organization is making history, and offers an autobiographical look at the “how to” and “lessons learned” of their international development work.
Joan will sign books, as well as give a brief presentation with her husband and co-founder of Mano a Mano, Segundo Velásquez.
Refreshments will be provided.
Click here to RSVP.
Please contact fsosinfo@umn.edu with any questions.
Read more about the book here.
From the publisher:
Launched at a kitchen table in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, Mano a Mano began collecting and shipping medical supplies to impoverished Bolivian communities in 1994. Twenty years later, an organization that once operated exclusively from the founder’s basement has now successfully implemented over 300 infrastructure projects, including medical clinics, schools, roads, and water reservoirs. As a result of their efforts, over 700,000 Bolivians, who face one of the highest rural poverty rates in the world, now have access to health care for the first time.
Gaining Ground is the inspiring case study of how this volunteer-based, grassroots organization is making history in Bolivia, and offers an autobiographical look at the “how to” and “lessons learned” of their international development work.
Inside Gaining Ground, discover:
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A blueprint for developing your own international NGO
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Why the grassroots community partnership model works
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How to facilitate participatory development
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Approaches to achieving sustainability and self-sufficiency
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Alternatives to standard organizational structure
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The critical nature of a bicultural perspective
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A detailed history of this organization
About the author:
Joan Velásquez, Ph.D, co-founded Mano a Mano with her husband, Segundo, and wrote Gaining Ground in response to numerous requests for guidance in navigating humanitarian initiatives. She hopes that this book will inspire others to reach out to marginalized communities in all corners of the world, and will remind readers that people of modest means and intense commitment can make a difference.