Announcing...

New Grant for the SOUP

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION FOUNDED BY BERRY STUDENT

EARNS NATIONAL AWARD FROM JENZABAR FOUNDATION

Rome, Ga. – A student-initiated nonprofit committed to assisting Ugandan orphans has earned Berry College national recognition through the Jenzabar Foundation’s Student Leadership Awards. Berry joins Brigham Young University, the University of Southern California and seven other institutions of higher learning on the list of 2010 award winners.

The Jenzabar program recognizes student groups and their respective leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to making a difference through community service and/or humanitarian endeavors in the United States and worldwide. Honorees receive a $5,000 grant to support their future efforts.

Berry was honored for a grant proposal drafted by a trio of students in support of The African SOUP – Sponsorship of Orphans in Uganda Project. This new nonprofit was founded by student Brin Enterkin in response to the tremendous need she witnessed while teaching microfinance to rural Ugandan women in 2009. Working in collaboration with Experiential Learning International (ELI), Enterkin and her fellow students are undertaking various initiatives to raise funds that can be wired directly to Uganda to support the country’s nearly two million orphans.

The successful grant proposal was prepared by Enterkin with assistance from fellow students Brenna Conley and Morgan West.

“The grant money will be used cover costs of necessities and education for children in the orphanages of Iganga, Uganda,” Enterkin stated. “And construction has already begun for a safer and more sustainable orphanage [the Capital Building Project].”

Enterkin is no stranger to community service. While still in high school, the Fayetteville, Ga., native helped raise funds to build a school in Cambodia. After arriving at Berry, she earned a grant to teach microfinance to women in a rural Ugandan village. It was that experience that ignited her passion for Ugandan orphans and led to the founding of SOUP.

In addition to her work with SOUP, Enterkin also lends her time and talents to the Berry Enterprises Student Team (BEST), a student-led consulting group that provides expertise and assistance for student-operated enterprises on the Berry campus, and serves as CEO of Berry Nonprofit Strategic Services, a student-operated enterprise that provides strategic planning and business planning services to community nonprofit organizations in various levels of development. This summer, she is in Washington, D.C., working as a policy writing intern for the American Friends Service Committee.

“Brin Enterkin is the consummate Berry student – smart, always smiling, driven to make a difference in the world,” said Provost Katherine Whatley. “She sees a need, is moved by it and then finds a way to help. She meets challenges head-on and keeps on finding ways to solve problems as they crop up, without getting discouraged. Brin is an embodiment of the Berry mission.”

Learn more about SOUP at http://theafricansoup.org/.

EDITORS: E-mail rwoodall@berry.edu to request a photo of Brin Enterkin.

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Berry College is an independent, coeducational college of approximately 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students that is recognized nationally for the quality and value of its educational experience. Located on a magnificent campus encompassing more than 26,000 acres near Rome, Ga., Berry challenges students to embrace a firsthand education that unites strong academic programs with opportunities for meaningful work experience, spiritual and moral growth, and significant service to others.

The Soup-Off

SOUP-off!

Disaster and Response to Haiti

Haiti is heavy on my heart.


This torn and desperate country is heavy on the hearts of millions around the world right now, after the 7.0 earthquake hit Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas a few days ago.

However, unlike most modern crises, the world rose up in response to the quake and aftershocks that devastated the already struggling country. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised, hundreds of agencies and non profits have dropped everything to go help bring order into the chaos, and hundreds of millions of people have been woken up to the realities that natural disasters bring into the the cities, surrounding areas, and the governments of affected countries.

In light of such a disaster, it is easy to get overwhelmed with any number of feelings: grief, frustration, guilt, anger, etc. We must make sure that any response to this crisis in Haiti (or any other genocide or cause) through donating of time or money does not stem from these overwhelming emotions, because often they do more harm then good. Instead, any support should spring from a heart of compassion for suffering. Anger, frustration, and grief are perfectly natural initial responses, but after a little while, they just turn focus towards the past (which you cannot change). Compassion moves one to action, and actions that will take root and build hope.

So, what is to be done in the light of such an enormous disaster?

1. Donate: almost every non-profit in the world has put Haiti as their number 1 priority right now.

Red Cross, Compassion International, World Vision, PIH, itunes, "Help for Haiti Now" CD...

2. Go: If you have the resources and time, and know that you are willing to go because of a heart of compassion and not obligation, GO. Many many medical centers, orphanages, villages, and homes were destroyed and need re-building. Again, find an organization that is taking volunteers (see above).

3. Pray: definitely should not be last on the list, because for most of us, this is the all we are able to do right now. Thankfully, it will also do the most, because our prayers are "powerful and effective." This should be our natural response to those feelings I mentioned earlier, for in handing them back to the Lord, He fills us with His heart for His people, that heart of compassion.

Now you may ask, "Why should I pray/where was God in the middle of this crisis?" I choose to declare that He is in every heart full of hope for their future despite the slums they are now stuck in. He is in the 1000's of volunteers who have had a revelation of His love and respond by pouring out their time and resources to give the people of Haiti hands on help. And He is in those who choose joy, despite the losing of a beloved one, because they know they are blessed to be alive.


Go. Donate. Pray.


3 options. Let's run with them.

To Write Love on Her Arms

Here's a simple way to get involved in solving 3 of what the I-Heart Revolution says are the top 20 wrongs of the world: lonliness, security, and suicide.

Today is "To Write Love on Her Arms" day, started by the organization of the same name, designed to show people with suicidal thoughts that there is hope.

To read more about this project, visit www.twloha.com.

Different Continents, Same Movements

There is so much more going on across the world right now than most of us realize. Not only in poverty and problems, but in organizations, ministries, and people who are trying to help and solve these issues. Here a couple of movements that are making huge differences and need to be highlighted:

A couple of weeks ago, a documentary was released in Australian movie theaters called Call and Response. It is a "rockumentary" that exposes the truths that few people know about human trafficking, using music as the main way to communicate them. Director Justin Dillon dug deep into this massive industry, interviewing many victims and people involved, as well as actors and musicians on their perspectives on this subject.

This heart wrenching film will begin showing on US campuses soon, and hopefully will be released into US movie theaters spring of 2010. Their website, www.callandresponse.com, provides 6 categories of how to get involved: act, give, speak, join, watch, and listen. Under these categories are many different ideas and organizations you can support or become a part of, as well as practical easy ways to spread the word about this movement and the horrors of human trafficking.

Another heavily influential movement right now is the I-Heart Revolution. Birthed by Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, the idea behind this movement came to their worship team, United, in Columbia two years ago, when they realized that the privilege and influence they had been given to tour the world with their songs should be used for more than just one night concerts and conferences. Seeing the extreme poverty that the majority of the world lives in, and realizing "the inseparable union that must exist in loving others, seeking justice, and making a difference in our world," they set out to connect people with hearts for people, no matter what community, class, or nation.

A three part movement called The I Heart Revolution then began. Part 1, "With Hearts as One," was a live DVD of their tour through 93 cities, mainly focused on how music told the stories of people on every continent, with a few interviews scattered throughout.

Part 2, "We're All in this Together," is a full length feature film that was released last Wednesday in movie theaters for one night only, so that the body of Christ could come together across the earth with one heart and one voice, to be stirred, "to ultimately work closer together in seeing the real needs of humanity collide with a love that can only be found in God who by definition- IS love." Setting the emphasis on doing whatever you can, wherever you are, Part 2: "We're All in This Together," a feature film, is "part apologetic, part documentary, part a call to action," and although it addresses what they see as 20 of the world's wrongs, it also addresses the overwhelming factor of realizing how much is wrong with the world and not knowing where to go from there. Although it is a call to action, "W.A.I.T.T." does not say that the only option is to go to the nations, but also speaks to helping people on our own doorstep. This incredible portrait of the human race and the many joys, griefs, abuses, stories, loves, and people that compose it, is simply the predecessor to the last part of the project.

Part 3 is the main focus of the I Heart Revolution, and it's the website, www.i-heart.org, that connects people globally, so that awareness will be raised through links, research, and facts; ideas will be formed and shared; and projects will be provided a platform to take off from. It's easy to get involved, set up almost like a social justice Facebook, so if you have ideas, or want to give/receive support for projects, go to www.i-heart.org to set up an account.

These are just two of the many justice movements being started and spurred on around the world. Sometimes we only see the poverty, the overwhelming problems that arise from such mere humanity, and we don't see the many people whose hearts and lives burn for helping solve these problems.

Look around at the people you see every day. How many of them, if they only knew simple ways how, would rise up to support, encourage, love, and take action against the injustices in this world? Let's keep spreading the passion and the practical responses as we raise awareness of problems and solutions.