In the fall of 1972, Bob and Alice Evans (founders of Plowshares Institute) moved to Uganda with their three young children for a teaching sojourn in “The Pearl of Africa.” The excerpt that follows begins their story of nurturing a fledgling resistance movement under Amin’s oppressive regime-and the struggles and surprises they encountered along the way.
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Sunrise was elusive that Friday morning in late September, held at bay by a driving rain. Droplets pelted the roof and sent a reverberating echo through the building, like a barrage of bullets bouncing off the scalloped clay tile. In the kitchen, Cabanesa was already at work returning last night’s dishes to their proper places, sorting a pile of laundry, and brewing a pot of Kenyan coffee that wafted a rich aroma through the open rafters into the bedroom where Alice tried hopelessly to sleep. While the rain had scared away the sun, it hadn’t deterred the mosquitoes. Their buzzing accompanied Bob’s steady snoring, and the cacophony of sounds filled the emptiness of the room. Alice remained restless but still, and hoped that her husband who lay beside her was at peace and dreaming about better places. Read the rest of this entry »
While getting to know some new friends, I was asked, “So, what do you do?” After explaining the framework for The Purpose Project, and our goal to inspire more young adults to take on the problems that are confronting our world, a conversation that started as small talk quickly turned into a spirited discussion.
Like many other members of our generation, the group around the table that day was frustrated by the issues that fill the news: the state of our environment, our political system, our economy, just to name a few. Momentum seemed to build as people took turns pointing out the causes or the implications of an issue and sharing the ways in which social issues present themselves in their lives. But after the venting subsided, the energy that had filled the conversation disappeared as quickly as it had come. What was the source of this sudden buzz-kill? That persistent, and difficult to answer question: “What can we do?” Read the rest of this entry »
This is the new website for The Purpose Project, a nonprofit venture working to create a dialogue between different generations of social changemakers: those who will soon retire, and those who will be responsible for leading us forward.
We’re excited about having a more robust, blog-based website where we can share our progress with you more easily. This customizable platform, powered by WordPress will allow us to post updates as we conduct interviews with the changemakers, write articles and chapters from the book, and begin to develop the curricula and teaching tools.
Duke ran a short article today in The Chronicle about The Purpose Project. There are a few errors (Plowshares Institute definitely isn’t “reaching a standstill”) but otherwise it’s a nice feature. Click here to read the full article.
Society consistently underestimates America’s youth. Once again, we have been labeled self-important, entitled, and ill-equipped to lead this country into the future. This perspective, however, is inaccurate and unfair. It encourages despair and stifles progress, and because of this, threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy…
Co-Directors Matthew Bennett and Michelle Cote on “Alive With Clive” aired March 5th, 2007. If you weren’t able to watch it live, a shortened version is available below.
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