A proposal for an internet platform having the mission to facilitate the local and global networking of people, organizations, educational institutions and businesses engaged in social, humanitarian and environmental action and peace building.

1. All evils are the effect of unconsciousness. You can alleviate the effects of unconsciousness, but you you cannot eliminate them unless you eliminate their cause. True change happens within, not without. If you feel called upon to alleviate suffering in the world, that is a very noble thing to do, but remember not to focus exclusively on the outer; otherwise you will encounter frustration and despair. Without a profound change in human conscioussness, the world‘s suffering is a bottomless pit. So don‘t let your compassion become one-sided. Empathy with someone else‘s pain or lack and a desire to help need to be balanced with a deeper realization of the eternal nature of all life and the ultimate illusion of all pain. Then let your peace flow in to whatever you do and you will be working on the levels of effect and cause simulataneously. Eckhart Tolle in “ The Power of Now“

2. Introducing myself Hello! I am a dual South African – Irish citizen and a resident of Berlin since 2001. While I have worked most of the past 15 years as a programmer, I am also a qualified and experienced mathematics teacher. In these times of global crisis, I am seeking a truly meaningful application of my skills and experience and it is out of this longing that this concept for an internet platform has arisen. Most of this presentation was composed before I attended the World Peace Festival in Berlin: I am now convinced that the time is riper than ever for going public with the convergence between work for inner and outer peace. This approach should be the golden thread that holds together all action for change in this world. Rudston Cullen, Berlin August 2011

4. The Target Audience

5. The Target Audience active in

6. The Target Audience active in etc. …

7. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin

8. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin Despite the widespread poverty in Africa …

9. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin

10. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin … its people have such a tremendous spirit …

11. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin

12. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin … that is often missing in affluent societies …

13. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin Wild grey louries eating bananas out of my hands

14. A Personal Starting Point: an African in Berlin and remarkable encounters with the incredibly rich natural world are common. wild grey louries eating bananas out of my hands

16. A bond with potential that could be put to work

17. A bond with potential that could be put to work to facilitate international development, cooperation and intercultural understanding

18. How to find others sharing this bond ?

19. How to find others sharing this bond ?

20. How to find others sharing this bond ?

21. Which organisations? Examples Friends of South Africa e.V. Initiative Südliches Afrika e.V. Laureate Stiftung Go Ahead e.V. Sage Net e.V. small to middle-sized

22. Which organisations? Examples Friends of South Africa e.V. Initiative Südliches Afrika e.V. Laureate Stiftung Go Ahead e.V. Sage Net e.V. Solidaritätsdienst - international e.V. SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit Oxfam Deutschland e.V. Weltfriedensdienst e.V. small to middle-sized international

23. Which people? Examples praktikum in SA language course in SA

24. Which people? Examples SA citizen working here relatives in SA praktikum in SA language course in SA

25. Which people? Examples SA citizen working here SA student relatives in SA praktikum in SA language course in SA returned volunteer

26. Which institutions? Examples Society for International Development Berlin Humboldt University - Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften

27. Which institutions? Examples Society for International Development Berlin Embassy of South Africa Humboldt University - Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften Afrikahaus Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Heinrich Böll Stiftung

28. Which institutions? Examples Society for International Development Berlin Embassy of South Africa Humboldt University - Seminar für Afrikawissenschaften Afrikahaus Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Heinrich Böll Stiftung Nelson Mandela State International School - Africa AG Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Afrikavenir Deutschland

29. Locating these on the web??

31. The solution: an “empowa community“

32. The empowa community: Berlin - Southern Africa Botswana Lesotho Namibia South Africa Zimbabwe

33. The empowa community: Berlin - Southern Africa Botswana Lesotho Namibia South Africa Zimbabwe Probably also Angola Malawi Madagascar Mozambique Zambia

34. The empowa community: Berlin - Southern Africa Botswana Lesotho Namibia South Africa Zimbabwe Probably also Angola Malawi Madagascar Mozambique Zambia Build on existing city partnerships: Berlin – Windhoek (Namibia) Berlin-Lichtenberg – Maputo (Mozambique)

35. An empowa community: overview organisations institutions members linked communities add to my communities

36. An empowa community: overview organisations institutions members linked communities events news add to my communities

37. An empowa community: overview organisations institutions members linked communities blogs, forums events news add to my communities

38. An empowa community: overview organisations institutions members linked communities blogs, forums events news add to my communities virtual meeting space

39. An empowa community: overview organisations institutions members linked communities blogs, forums virtual meeting space events news adverts add to my communities

40. An empowa community: overview organisations institutions members linked communities blogs, forums virtual meeting space events news adverts search add to my communities

41. The empowa community: the page of a member organisation

42. The empowa community: the page of a member organisation

43. The empowa community: the page of a member organisation

44. The empowa community: the page of a member organisation

45. The empowa community: the page of a member organisation

46. The empowa community: the page of a member organisation

47. The empowa community: the page of a member organisation

48. The empowa community: members online now all 400 … Add to my communities

55. Communities can be defined by location and or topic

56. Topics such as

57. Topics such as etc...

58. The resulting Platform Structure

59. Example: Berlin

60. Example: Berlin

61. Example: South Africa

62. Example: South Africa

63. Example: South Africa

64. Linking Communities LINK

65. Linking Communities LINK

66. Core feature: synchronous communication

74. empowa communities: who runs them?

78. empowa communities: as markets

82. Challenge: internet access and capability in the developing world

87. NGOs on empowa: the benefits

101. Building an NGO on the empowa platform An example: How I would use the platform

109. Business Case

112. This concept is under development I look forward to hearing from you ! Especially from NGOs and software developers e.g. drupal specialists or if you want to join the team THANK-YOU Rudston Cullen rudston [at] empowa.net