World Challenge 2006

This is a view of the nice beaches that we can find in Lima. Peru is famous for its beaches. This is a view of one of the less beautiful beaches, a shot that I captured from the Larcomar shopping mall in Miraflores about a month ago.

Today I had a chance to briefly browse through last week's Newsweek Magazine. I chanced upon an interesting article about 2 finalists in the World Challenge contest that is organized by the Shell company. The contest is about organizations that are making maximum social impact in global communities through innovative entrepreneurial means. The winner would receive a grant of USD 20,000. So far, 12 finalists have been chosen, and the Newsweek magazine would be highlighting 2 every week. One of the finalists is the company "Cards from Africa", started by a Bristish expatriate and a Rwandan artist in 2004. The company markets greeting cards made by a poor Rwandan community to shops around the world, and it now provides a steady income for 40 young Rwandans. Apart from providing employment, profits from the company are also channeled towards helping orphans in social projects in Rwanda.

As I read the article, my mind shifted to our current scene in Peru. The "Cards from Africa" program seems very similar in concept to our "YES to Education" project for the youths. Here we are also teaching the youths entrepreneurial skills in order to enable them to raise funds for their education. Unfortunately, we are not a finalist in the contest, but if we had submitted our project earlier, we might have been one of the finalists!