BRUTE LABS

What is BRUTE LABS?

2010-02-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

People often ask us "What is BRUTE LABS?" Well, we're happy to share a new document called "Nine Principles of BRUTE LABS" that should help answer this question once and for all. Check it out below and if you want to learn more, send us an email.

BRUTE LABS Top 9 of 2009

2009-12-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

As 2009 comes to a close I thought it was time for a list of the 9 BRUTE LABS highlights of 2009:

9. Completing an entire project in a single day
8. Building a website to help artists in the developing world share their art
7. Having a project develop into a separate team to continue the important work of saving lives

6. Raising over $5,000 for disaster relief nearly 8,000 miles away
5. Growing the BRUTE LABS team to almost 20 people
4. Winning a design award for do-gooders
3. Launching a project for the homeless four years in the making
2. Raising over $8,000 for clean water wells in Africa by selling t-shirts and throwing a party

And the #1 highlight of 2009:

Receiving a $10,000 grant to get kids excited about physical fitness.

2009 has been the most exciting year yet for the BRUTE LABS team. Thank you for your support and everything that you're doing to change the world. We can't wait to see what we'll accomplish together in 2010.

Jason

Building Bridges Across the Digital Divide

2009-10-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

The past three months in Guatemala have been fulfilling and eye opening, but not always easy to understand. It's been hard to comprehend how a family of seven, their wallets empty and their house too small, was so willing to give me a bed and a seat at their kitchen table for three months. It's even harder to comprehend how they have invited me to return at any time, on any notice.

In contrast, families in the United States, though unburdened by the fundamental challenge of survival, seem so frequently broken by smaller problems. The families of Lake Atitlan seem more willing to share their love - not just with each other, but also with strangers like me. And I wonder if their generosity is because, not in spite, of the hardships they face. Unlike families in the United States, they do not share material wealth; thus they do not have many possessions to fight over. Perhaps we have something to learn from the rural villages in Guatemala. Perhaps we need to reprioritize what is important and worth fighting for in our privileged lives.

Never was this clearer to me than one week after I left for El Salvador, when Chema, the oldest son of my host family, contacted me with some tragic news: his father, Sito, had passed away at the age of 42. Sito, a bus driver, died on a trip he makes six days a week, when his bus - essentially a run-down American school bus from the 70s - collided with another one head on.

Chema and his family were devastated. More than that, I sensed a fear for the future - fear that a family of four children had lost its only income; but five buses and 24 hours later, when I returned to pay my respects, I saw something amazing. I saw hundreds of friends and family flocking to Chema's home day and night to give what rice and beans they could spare, to offer their prayers and friendship and support for the future. A family with nothing suddenly appeared somehow to have everything. I've seen American families come apart in similar circumstances, fighting over the possessions of the deceased. In San Pedro, I saw family come together when family was needed most.

The sense that there's a community that's bigger than each of us is something I try to incorporate into my work. Many of you know that after graduation, I chose to forego a job in the private sector and have been donating my time to assist in the growth of Guatemala's third-world economy. I successfully created a micro credit program for the Mercado Global artisans and cooperatives of the Lake Atitlan region. Mercado Global now has a program that will provide a financial means for women to purchase the tools to innovate and the raw materials needed to increase production.

This undertaking brought some more harsh realizations. It was not just about creating a credit facility; in a society that's never had access to one, its worth needs to be explained. I had to visit each cooperative in the mission to explain the importance of credit and savings. And then I had to leave it in good hands.

The language barrier made that first step very difficult and frustrating for me: my Spanish is pretty good, but there are three languages other than Spanish that are spoken in the rural communities I was visiting. (Luckily, I had a translator.) But beyond language, the "digital divide" - the difference in computer literacy between the developed and the developing worlds - added another layer of complexity.

My final job before leaving was to hire a loan officer to run the program. Finding qualified applicants was a challenge. Under "technical skills," a section under which many Americans leave off Microsoft Office as too obvious, one applicant listed "calculator." (This reminded me of a time I made my host family a slideshow on my computer; instead of watching it, they were entranced by the ability to scroll back and forward within the video.) It began to dawn on me that my progress, though significant, is ultimately limited by the enormous technological gap that still separates the first and third worlds.

I talked about this gap in a recent Brute Labs post. But in my final days in Guatemala, I got closer to understanding one way to address it. It will be impossible to connect the digitally deprived to the digitally endowed if one group lacks that basic fundamental technological resource: the computer.

Computod@s

From this realization, I opened a new chapter in my passport. Along with Sam Baker, a friend and fellow SCU business grad who was having the same experiences and realizations in his work in El Salvador, we're starting a socially driven, sustainable business that provides low-income communities, NGOs, schools and small businesses with access to high quality, affordable computers.

We have forged a partnership with DPG, a large computer products distributor in El Salvador with over 20 years experience in importation, transportation, and distribution to big companies, governments and PC product retailers. DPG will provide us with a strong logistical backbone and the operational support necessary to get off the ground and begin supplying computers. (They have already provided us with the legal support to register our entity under the name "Computod@s" - "computers for everyone." They will also be supplying us with their warehouse to keep our inventory.) And we'll be importing the computers from our supplier, Interconnection USA, a non-profit located in Seattle, WA. Interconnection is a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher that looks to provide a second life to the many computers in the United States that are destined for the landfills.

Working with refurbished computers is good because it's green and it's cheap. Extending the life of one desktop computer with a CRT monitor is equivalent to taking one half of a car off the road for a year. And we'll be offering these computers at a price never before seen in Central America. Operating with a cost-recovery financial budget model, we will be selling brand name Pentium 4 desktops for $150. (Current stores resell comparable PCs for about $300.) Sam and I believe that computers should not be seen as a luxury, and we will be receiving our first shipment of computers very soon to begin working towards this vision.

Last week, I had the opportunity to talk with a delegation of students from Santa Clara on an immersion trip. They asked me if it was difficult to pass up many high paying jobs to come live down here as a volunteer. The short answer is yes. But I've seen firsthand that the value of even one volunteer where I am are often overlooked and underestimated. Plus, the ability to volunteer is itself a luxury: for many, it is impossible to survive in the developing world if you are not working for a wage every single day.

I'm lucky to be able to donate my time, and I'm lucky to be able to leave whenever I want to - to take a more lucrative job in a more prosperous country. This experience has taught me to wonder what it might feel like to live down here without that easy escape. But it's also made me realize that we need to do what we can to make staying put a little easier. I'm trying to do it one computer at a time. I challenge you to find out how you can contribute.

BRUTE: Standing Out

2009-10-21T12:47:00.001-07:00

BRUTE LABS has, over the last few years, implemented a number of innovative and exciting projects. BRUTE: Standing Out is my story as an outside advocate of the team, its projects, and its mission. My interests span entrepreneurship and international development, but only when Josh To and I expanded our friendship as Google.org consultants in East Africa did I understand how to conjoin the two. While representing Google.org in TechnoServe's national business plan competition, "Believe, Begin, Become," Josh and I delivered 24 hours of lectures to Tanzania's top 70 entrepreneurs, led market estimation cases, and provided 160 hours of business plan feedback.

We came to observe sequential business taxonomy, and in Stanford Social Innovation Review, I attributed this to an Abraham Maslow hierarchy of opportunity in Africa. Though on the side we managed to chase lions in Ngorongoro and commission a one-way, cash-payment, Ramadan flight to Zanzibar with only a cell phone number as promise for return booking, our growth came in a dusty back-alley. Beneath the coconut palms, to the chorus of children playing soccer on the road-side median, we met Gregory Mchopa laying oil to canvas, conjuring imagery of the Masai.

Today the BRUTE LABS project featuring the work of Gregory Mchopa is open for business, but through the process of meeting the artist, developing the website on a dial-up connection from the lobby of Dar es Salaam's Golden Tulip Hotel, and co-founding a General Partnership, Josh and I learned a lot about entrepreneurship.

I have told the story of MCHOPA in the context of doing business in Africa. In 2008 I presented the story to Google Dublin, Google India, and as a representative of Columbia University at the Global Public Policy Network Global Governance Conference in Paris, France. In a recent Yale Journal of International Affairs article entitled "Bringing Africa Online: Leveraging Technology to Empower Entrepreneurs", I've articulated road blocks encountered, and suggested palliative technology changes. As a writer for Harvard's Internet & Democracy Project, I attempt to detail technology changes around the globe, and their impact on commerce and politics, and as a writer at Stanford Social Innovation Review, distill ways in which business and non-profits can seek innovative solutions.

But to me BRUTE stands out. It has created a precedent for innovative, open-source community problem solving that has impelled me to choose action in the form of voice. BRUTE invites your grassroots change, your tangible action.

BRUTE LABS Open Source Altruism

2009-10-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Episode 1. Greg gets Brutes TRASHED in San Francisco's Mission

Time commitment: 3 hours
Materials: ~$14
10 trash bags - $6.49
6 Pairs of gloves – $4.99 each
Transportation - $1.10

Project Description

BRUTE LABS rolled up their sleeves on Saturday the 26th of September to clean up the streets in the Mission district of San Francisco. Traveling south-east from 17th and Shotwell st, the team scoured over 2.5 miles of city neighborhoods through the Mission district collecting, sorting and recycling trash on the street. Passers-by paused from their cell phone conversations to deliver enthusiastic thank-yous which helped motivate the team to collect an entire pick-up truck load of garbage in just over 3 hours. Special thanks to Justin To for truck duties and to Dorothy Wu for getting her BRUTE on with us for the afternoon.

BRUTE LABS debuts the works of Tanzanian artist Gregory Mchopa

2009-09-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

BRUTE LABS, in association with Otis debuted the works of Tanzanian artist Gregory Mchopa on Wednesday night in San Francisco.

Special thanks to Amanda and the Otis team for their amazing venue and all of you who came out to support BRUTE LABS and Gregory Mchopa.

Mchopa, 25, is an African artist and entrepreneur from Dar es Salaam. His art is inspired by the people he knows best, those of the Maasai. An artist who has been painting for 16 years, his original oil and canvas works can be found in the small shop he owns on the Msasani Peninsula or online at www.Mchopa.com.

To learn more about the project visit the Mchopa project page.

RUN! proposal wins $10k grant

2009-08-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Brute Labs will be scaling our RUN! project to 4,500+ kids in the bay area.

Project RUN! gives elementary school students incentives to run extra laps in their PE classes, with raffle tickets to win an iPod shuffle for every lap they run above the required.

Full grant proposal available here:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddqxjbn9_37ffw4v5ft

Micro Finance for Macro Change

2009-07-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

Anyone who's ever bought a house knows the importance of the credit application process. The most qualified applicants get the most attractive loans. But the difficulty and importance of a strong application has taken on a new meaning for me recently when I learned that many of the artisans Mercado Global will try to assist can't read or write, let alone fill out a credit application form. As is too often true, those most critically in need are facing the most obstacles. I learned I'll need to go through the applications with the applicants, step by step - and then fill them out myself.

The success of a micro loan hinges on the ability of the borrower to meet the monthly payment. One aspect of the loan application, then, is determining a borrower's ability to repay the debt; for this, we use the Feasibility of Credit form. Put simply, the form helps to assess the borrower's ability to pay by subtracting their monthly expenses from their monthly earnings. The Feasibility of Credit form will work to beneficially pair the borrower's monthly repayment capacity with the terms of the loan.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Cooperative of Chaquija. A group of about 20 women in the Guatemalan village of Solola, Chaquija will be the first cooperative to receive a micro loan. The women of Chaquija often work through the day and night at antiquated loom stands to produce the fabrics that sustain their economy. Providing the cooperative with a loan will let them invest in higher quality tools and more advanced technology, in turn increasing their efficiency and improving their quality of life.

But the benefits of technological advancement stretch far beyond Chaquija's looms. Access to information can in so many cases pave the way towards economic advancement. Yesterday, one of the boys in my host family, Victor, sprained his ankle during a soccer game at the local campo. I went to see how he was doing and was surprised to see that basic treatments - treatments we too often take for granted in our own homes - were being forgone. And I'm not talking about Advil and Ace bandages; I'm talking about ice. (Information isn't all that limits Victors treatment; ice is hard to come by in a tropical climate and a home without a refrigerator or freezer.) I explained to him that it was important to keep his ankle elevated to limit the swelling, another step I had considered universally known.
I started to realize how much a simple internet connection could have provided real, physical - even medical - benefits to Victor and his family. Type "sprained ankle" into Google Search, and he could have learned in five minutes all he ever wanted to know about sprained ankles. (And in almost any language, no less.)

Technology that provides access to information can educate, strengthen, and connect communities across the world (both the "first" and "third" worlds). A family's access to medical information, a farmer's access to prices and markets, a mother who is able to contact her son in the United States about the status of next month's remittance - these are just three of a limitless number of reasons that a connected world is a better one.
While I'm down here, I'm exploring ways to provide technology infrastructure to the three billion people that lack it. (And I look forward to the possibility of working with the Brute Labs team to provide this resource.) Dr. Muhammad Yunus echoes the same vision that there are too many middlemen between the developing and developed worlds.

In this last picture, taken from my office last week, you can see four Americans sitting inside using computers, and four artisans outside making jewelry. How much longer until no one needs to be on the outside looking in? As critically as we must pursue the many green efforts in place across the world, it's time for us to enable an equally vast information revolution. It's time to start "G-chatting" with the developing world.

BRUTE LABS wins at AIGA Cause/Affect

2009-07-10T08:12:00.001-07:00

Last night, Justin To, Andrew Truong, Joshua To, Greg Powel and Andre Tha Giant headed to San Francisco for the biennial AIGA Cause/Affect awards. In their words, it "is a competition for do-gooders, who do good work."

The room was full of like-minded individuals and provided a fantastic opportunity to network, meet people interested in social causes and throw ideas against the wall to see what would stick.

BRUTE LABS entered projectOPEN and Well Done in the Community Development and Health & Welfare categories respectively. The competition was strong and amazing design work for social good was displayed throughout. The AIGA office had the feel of a museum and it was an honor to have some of our work featured next to Office, Nike, Clif Bar, and Academy of Sciences.

What was even more amazing was to hear the MC call out "BRUTE LABS" as the first prize winner in the Community Development category for projectOPEN. The team was ecstatic. As high fives were exchanged, Andre Tha Giant did all he could to suppress his desire to get up and dance. When we moved to the Health and Welfare category and again heard "BRUTE LABS" as a second place winner for Well Done, we couldn't believe it.

As the awards came to a close, everyone Andre met during the first hour before the awards immediately swarmed towards us. We spent much of the rest of the evening meeting new people and talking about ways to collaborate during the rest of the summer and fall months.

Special thanks to the AIGA staff for putting on such a fantastic event. We'll see you again next time!

Introduction: Andre tha Giant, the Intern

2009-07-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Brutes.

Take this as my formal introduction to the BRUTE LABS movement. My name is Andre Gray and I am currently an undergraduate at Amherst College. I was born in NYC and raised in the SFC and I am excited to say that I will be the inaugural intern at BRUTE LABS for the summer of 2009. Prior to this summer I spent some time in New York working in brand development and I have been hosting a blog at andreggray.com for almost two years. I see the blog as the outlet for my creative energies and its writing base gives me a chance to hone in on my own voice without having someone else's expectations in mind. As a creative mind, I think of myself as someone that lives on the edge, always looking to push the boundaries of the norm and the mundane, be the platform writing, clothing or any other form of expression. As a professional, I think of myself as a social entrepreneur where social progression trumps any fiscal advancement. My goal is to propagate the tools to leap tall buildings in singular bounds, to make what seems impossible, possible. This thought runs hand in hand with BRUTE LABS and their desire to get the change they want to see in the world started. To quote Joshua To "What makes BRUTE LABS truly innovative is our process of identifying problems or issues of any size, then focusing on projects that can be developed and launched quickly", making the macro managable. I grew up in a bilingual French/English academic environment. The totality of these different environments makes the basis for my global view and my interest in keep everyone conscious of humans and their needs around the world.

I came out of my school year with a yearning, a deficit. I needed an outlet for my creative juices. The way BRUTE LABS came up on my radar was a perfect example of the power of the '09 internet. I started my 'summer search' with the Amherst College alumni network, as Amherst is my alma mater. Email allowed for a simple way to avoid the awkwardness of asking virtual strangers for help. In the long list of Amherst alum, I came across Ben Softness from Google. I figured, I like Google, its in the Bay Area, hey what is the worst that could happen. Ben was kind enough to tweet my request for an internship ... And then, I found BRUTE LABS. Boop, the BL blip. From there I got in touch with Joshua and looked over the website. Needless to say, I didn't need very much convincing.

BRUTE LABS is a perfect marriage between the two sides of myself, between my desire to build communities around the world and my love for creativity. Along the course of my education, as I learn, both through academia and on the street, I have become more readily aware of the opportunites that have been allotted to me. Education shines as the greatest door opened for me. I have become fully aware of how access to elite education has been instrumental to my ability to come into my own and formulate a specific, personal vision of self. When I look over my path, I further realize that this search for self identity is, in itself, a luxury.

Do child soldiers have the luxury to think about how they want be viewed?
How can a single mother take time out of her day to think about how the world looks at her if she is busy making sure her kids can eat?
Does the phrase "self-image" enter the daily life of a homeless man with AIDS?

It is out of these questions that my desire to save the world, or at least the piece I can reach, started. It is the duty of the privledged to help those who do not have the ability, be it in the form of opportunity or resources, to help themselves. If they make an effort, we must reciprocate. With BL, Ihope to to use my creativity to bring new ideas to the NFP sector without having to have the entirety of the execution laying in my hands. I am able to help build communities and further human connectivity. I hope to be able to begin to affect change in the way in which people are viewed and judged. If it is a simple as showing the homeless where they can shower and eat without panhandling or making sure a minority kid has a someone to turn to when he realizes the system is built on his back, or making sure everyone has potable drinking water... every little and big... thing counts. For the summer, I will be interning at BRUTE LABS, hoping to throw as many hours as I can into the MVMT machine. I hope to build a lifelong marriage with BL, which will allow me to continue the WORK no matter where in the world I might find myself, starting with the summer and moving on from there.

When I'm not bruting, you can find me being active, either on the hoop court or exercising and enjoying the outdoors, all with music all around me. We all need to see the humanity in everyone, those who hold the keys and those who hold nothing. Whichever position you find yourself in, priveldged or not, you can still have an effect on the world around you, be it as simple as someone next to you or someone around the world. It is your duty to effect change in your own way. Together we can change the world.

Andre 'tha Giant' Gray

Welcome Danny Bowman!

2009-06-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

Microfinance in Guatemala

2009-06-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks of my life have flown by faster than the pouring rain flooding the streets of my new home in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala. My name is Brian Belcher and I graduated from Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business seven days ago. Santa Clara's integration of social justice into its curriculum has influenced me to accept a position with Mercado Global (mercadoglobal.org), a fair trade non-profit organization that specializes in the exports of artisans and cooperatives to developed regions in the world. I will be working to help launch Mercado Global's new microfinance bank, a bank established to provide credit for its network of artisans. Because of my academic background in the microfinance industry and my strong passion for working with the bottom of the pyramid (the largest and poorest global socioeconomic group), this was a great opportunity for me.

BRUTE LABS has been gracious in allowing me to share my journey with you. I reached out to Joshua To and the BRUTE LABS team earlier this year after finding the BRUTE LABS website and falling in love with their mission. I had the opportunity to meet the team and attend weekly meetings, as well as their very successful fundraising event this past spring. During my undetermined time in Guatemala, I will be working with BRUTE LABS to explore the possibility of a BRUTE LABS project in Central America.

The first five days in Guatemala have been quite adventurous. I am still in the immersion phase, but the family I am staying with in San Pedro La Laguna is making me feel as comfortable as I am with my own family in Seattle, WA. San Pedro La Laguna is a small village on Lake Atitlan, which is approximately four hours west of Guatemala City. Surrounded by three volcanoes, Lake Atitlan is absolutely beautiful and its daily dose of rain makes it the greenest place I have ever been in my life. Because my office is in Panajachel, another village across the lake, I'll be taking a small boat to work each day. My Spanish is not perfect, but my host family is taking the time to help me out.

My host family has four children of all ages. They were very excited by the gifts I brought: coloring books, crayons, a yo-yo, a paddle with the ball attached, and their favorite, silly putty. On Friday I got a change to hang out with them. We played basketball in the village center, and although I towered over them, we had a lot of fun. After that I brought out my guitar and played some songs for them. I even began to teach one of the kids how to play.

This past weekend I went to Antigua, a tourist village three hours from Lake Atitlan, with another volunteer named Meggie. There were many attractions to see, but the best part of the trip was the hike up Volcano Pacaya. Despite the tour book's warning to not go up during rain, we took a bus to 6,000 feet and hiked up to the peak at 10,000 feet. It took a couple hours to get to the summit. As we got closer to the top we began to smell the sulfur and feel the heat. At the peak we saw LAVA! It was hot and on the move, but it was raining so hard that you could only pick your head up to see it for a couple seconds. After that we began to retrace our steps down the mountain. Unlike tour guides in the US, Central American tour guides are less concerned about the safety of the group and the liabilities involved. Our whole group got separated and Meggie and I were left alone to find our way back down. We could not see a football field's length in front of us and the lava rocks were acting as quicksand. At one point, I was taking about two steps per minute. We finally hit the tree line and I was able to use my "Man vs. Wild" skills (following horse manure and the water trails) back to base, but not before getting a little bloody. While stuck in the quicksand of lava rocks, a basketball-sized rock skidded down the volcano and crashed into my leg, leaving an ugly but manageable gash. It was quite the experience and if this is any indication of the following months, Guatemala is going to be quite the excursion.

Today is my first day of work at Mercado Global and I am excited to begin work on this program. After I get more acclimated and begin to understand where we are with the bank I will be sure to update you on its progress.

Saludos,
Brian

Wine to Water: A Great Success

2009-05-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, May 17, 2009, the BRUTE LABS and Well Done teams, in collaboration with White Crane Winery, hosted an event at Medjool in San Francisco to raise awareness about the global water crisis. The money raised from the event will go directly toward the construction of a clean water well in Kamancheli, a rural village located in the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana.

The event was an amazing success! With 152 tickets sold along with funds raised from the Water is Life t-shirt, the BRUTE LABS and Well Done teams exceeded their goal of raising $8,000 to construct a well in Kamancheli. In a single evening, we raised the resources needed to provide a long-term clean water source for an entire village! Funds raised in excess of the $8,000 goal will be used to support the next Well Done project.

Many individuals and organizations came together to make the evening such a special one. The BRUTE LABS team sold advance tickets to the event, tickets at the door, raffle tickets, and Water is Life t-shirts. White Crane Winery generously donated wine for the tastings and also 50% of all proceeds from additional wine sales throughout the evening, while Medjool donated the venue space along with appetizers for the event. We are extremely thankful for Medjool and White Crane Winery--through their generous donations, nearly every dollar of ticket sales will go directly toward providing clean water to the villagers of Kamancheli.

We have a number of specific individuals to thank who helped make the Wine to Water event such a tremendous success:

Eric Canupp, Gus Murad and everyone at Medjool
Steve Ziganti and everyone at White Crane Winery
Pat Cassidy and everyone at Pioneers
Tim Schulz
Aaron Proctor
Erik Otto
Mary Jo Hodgen
Lee Tang
Yating Yu

And for all those who enjoyed the venue as much as we did, Medjool is actually in danger of being shut down by the city of San Francisco and they need your help. Please take a moment and help support Medjool by visiting www.savemedjool.com.

The need for clean water in Ghana persists. If you would like to contribute to the Well Done efforts in Africa, you can purchase a Water is Life t-shirt or make a donation directly to Well Done. Thank you again for your ongoing support. We are humbled by such a strong showing at Wine to Water in support of the pressing work to bring clean water to those without access to this critical resource. You are the reason groups like ours can make an impact. Thank you!

BRUTE LABS Partners with Red Rock!

2009-04-15T11:57:00.001-07:00

We are excited to announce our latest partnership between BRUTE LABS and Red Rock Coffee! Year round, Red Rock will be a venue and outlet for us to share our ideas, raise awareness about pressing issues of the day, and get the local community involved in our various initiatives. We are greatly excited to embark on this new partnership, as both Red Rock and BRUTE LABS stand on a shared fundamental belief - the power of the collective, the power of the community to enact meaningful change in the world.

Great Coffee, Clean Water

To kick things off, Red Rock will be promoting Well Done, our ongoing effort to bring clean water to rural communities throughout Ghana, with a goal of raising $8,000 to drill a well in Kamancheli. We will also be raising awareness on the clean water crisis through display of posters, informative pamphlets at tables, and hosting of Well Done events. Red Rock will be receiving donations on our behalf at the register, in addition to selling Well Done t-shirts (more on this soon!).

If you live in or are visiting the bay area, be sure to drop by Red Rock and show your support!

Red Rock Coffee
201 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041

http://redrockcoffee.org/water

About Red Rock

Red Rock is a not-for-profit coffee shop located in Mountain View, CA that is built upon three core values: caffeine, culture, and community. From serving quality fresh coffee, to hosting arts and music events, to providing a meeting space for local interest groups, Red Rock exists to bring together and strengthen the very community that supports it.

Striking Water!

2009-04-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Clean water for the people of Mekoda

Great news! With well drilling season underway, we have successfully struck water in 3 of the 4 sites that we've identified this year. This initial step is one of the most critical in constructing a well.

As many of you know, Well Done has committed to raising $32,000 in order to implement four clean water projects in remote villages throughout Ghana. The support we've received thus far has been nothing short of incredible. In order for us to make these projects a reality this season though, we still need to raise $12,000 by the end of June. Please consider joining the effort and donating today at www.brutelabs.org/welldone

P.S. We've just received a huge shipment of Well Done stickers! If you'd like to help us spread the word, please email us at welldone@brutelabs.org and we'll send some your way.

World Water Day and Well Done

2009-03-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, March 22nd, marks World Water Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness on the lack of access to clean, safe drinking water in many developing regions throughout the world. Across the globe, individuals, organizations, businesses, and city governments will join together in commemorating and supporting the effort to bring clean water to the billion people living throughout the world without access to this critical resource.

Here at BRUTE LABS and Well Done, we too are soberly reminded of the ever-pressing need for clean water throughout the world, yet deeply inspired by the gathering of countless individuals and organizations, all unified towards the same end of tackling this crisis. As a Well Done partner, there are several ways you can also meaningfully and practically take part in World Water Day:

Take part in a local World Water Day event (visit http://worldwaterday.net to find out more)
Donate to our ongoing efforts. We are currently raising funds to see through the implementation of five clean water projects throughout rural Ghana and need your help in getting there. We're in the heart of drilling season in Ghana, and we need your support to make these projects a reality within the next couple of months! Visit www.brutelabs.org/welldone to find out more and make a donation.
Share word of project Well Done and the larger global water crisis with your friends and family. You can simply do this by forwarding this message to your own networks or inviting your friends to our facebook cause.

In whatever shape or form, we hope you join us on this important day as we unite with the global community in drawing attention to the critical lack of safe drinking water worldwide.

Regards,
The Well Done Team

Out of sight--but not out of mind.

2009-03-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

The public eye may have moved on to more recent events, but those affected by the earthquake in Sichuan, China are still in the midst of the aftermath.

BRUTE LABS has teamed up with Prime Produce to design a t-shirt for the victims of the May 12, 2008 natural disaster. Contribute to the effort to provide relief services by buying a t-shirt today at www.primeproduce.org/relief

Sticker Bombing in Europe

2009-03-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Well Done sticker bombing in Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Amsterdam and London! If you'd like to hit some places of your own, send us an email at welldone@brutelabs.org with your address and we'll send you some stickers - all we ask for are some pictures in return!

projectOPEN Update

2009-02-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to share an update with everyone about projectOPEN. This past weekend, Dontae, Greg, James, Josh K., BRUTE LABS friend Ardy and I traveled to Santa Monica to distribute the projectOPEN homeless services resource guide. It was an incredible experience.

A Santa Monica man with the guide and extra copies to hand out to others in the homeless community.

Here are the highlights from their trip:

We distributed 1,000 guides to over 30 organizations across Santa Monica.
We received an overwhelmingly positive response--nearly everyone we spoke with was thrilled about the project and quality of the resource guide
Josh K. and Ardy also handed out the guides directly to members of the homeless community who found them extremely useful and promised to share them with others
We also met with key individuals at a number of the homeless services organizations who pledged their ongoing support of the project and willingness to help update the map to improve its accuracy

All of us were thrilled to finally distribute the guides, nearly four years after the project began on the UCLA campus. There are several people and organizations that made this project possible who we'd like to take this opportunity to thank:

UCLA Art|Sci Center for the grant that helped make this project possible
Katherine Rettberg for enabling us to travel to and from Santa Monica for free!
Ardy Ghanbar for hitting the pavement with the team to distribute maps
James Buyayo for spending hundreds of hours pouring over every detail of the guide
Joshua To for his vision for this project and leadership
Justin To for spending hours making our guide great
Justin Yahr for donating space for the team to stay while in Santa Monica
Bomi Im, Rebecca Park, Camilla Zecchetto and Willem Henri Lucas

Please stay tuned for more updates about projectOPEN. We're going to need your help to print more resource guides in Santa Monica and are eager to expand this project to other cities.

Interested in helping us make a difference? Let us know how you can help.

Dr. Margaret Mensah Receives Medical Books from BRUTE LABS

2009-02-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

When we visited Dr. Margaret in the Banda Health clinic, one of her highest priority needs was some up to date medical books. Under the oversight of Dr. Margaret, the clinic provides low to no-cost health services to a large, remote population which would otherwise would have no access to affordable health care. Upon our return, we decided to take her request to heart, and asked some of our friends if they had any medical books that they would be willing to donate. A couple phone calls and emails later, we were able to get a hold of some amazing resources for Dr. Margaret, including a slew of brand new medical reference books. Now, the only issue was to figure out how to get these materials to the clinic, no small feat given the destination of Ghana, Africa. Using FedEx Economy, we discovered the shipping costs would run us a whopping $637! After asking around, we amazingly found someone who would be traveling to Ghana shortly and graciously agreed to bring the 45lbs of books with him! Gotta love partnership (and check-in luggage)!

Special thanks to Lauren Kim, Eugene Kim, and Joseph An for their generous donations. A big thanks goes out to Mr. Fletcher, who lugged the books over to Ghana for us. To find out why we love Dr. Margaret, please take a moment and read Meeting Heroes - Dr. Margaret Mensah

Learning From Mistakes

2009-01-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from BRUTE LABS!

One of BRUTE LABS' main goals is to launch projects quickly but always make it a point to look back to see how we could have done better. Over the past two years, we have been lucky enough to have done plenty of both. I recently came across an article written by www.givewell.net titled 'Social Programs that Just Don't Work' and found it to be very valuable and interesting. Check out the article here.

We're looking forward to a great 2009!

Water-based glasses for the masses: No Optician Required

2009-01-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Full Article via The Guardian available here

"British inventor Josh Silver, a former professor of physics at Oxford University, has come up with a game-changer of a product design with his water-lensed glasses. His vision: help 1bn of the world's poorest to improve their vision by 2020.

Silver has devised a pair of glasses which rely on the principle that the fatter a lens the more powerful it becomes. Inside the device's tough plastic lenses are two clear circular sacs filled with fluid, each of which is connected to a small syringe attached to either arm of the spectacles.

The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription."

Well Done - Ghana Trip Report

2008-12-21T17:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, this past summer we had the privilege of traveling to Ghana to commission two wells for Project Well Done, a clean water effort initiated by BRUTE LABS in early 2007. Click on the image below to download our trip report and find out more about our incredible experiences.

www.brutelabs.org/welldone

Myanmar Cyclone Relief - Update

2008-12-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

A big thank you again to all who helped support our Myanmar Cyclone Relief project by buying a t-shirt and/or contributing your time and energy to the project.

Below is a brief update on what IDE does, and how they were able to impact the lives of 141,115 poor families with your support:

IDE focuses their efforts on rural small farm households earning less than $2/day living in the most densely populated areas in both lower and upper Myanmar. Seventy percent of Myanmar's 36 million poor live in rural areas and earn their income from small-plot agriculture.
IDE in Myanmar is using the market-based approach to beating poverty and improving smallholder farm incomes pioneered by IDE in the 1980's. IDE is helping thousands of poor farmers increase their incomes substantially through the purchase and use of affordable, income-generating technologies such as a foot-operated small-plot irrigation pumps, low-cost drip kits and innovative water storage systems. Innovative water pumps allow Myanmar farmers to grow vegetables into the dry season, and sell the excess in local markets to pay for food, medicine and school fees for their family.
Last year IDE helped 141,115 poor families increase their collective income by 32 million dollars.

(Source: http://www.ideorg.org/work/myanmar.php)

Your Weekly Address from the President-Elect

2008-11-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

"President-elect Obama talks about the economy in this week's Democratic address."

Obama will apparently continue the radio addresses that have been a mainstay since FDR, but it's clear that he has embraced the internet as a medium for mass communication. 1800 videos uploaded garnering 110 million views is certainly impressive.

To me, this represents a leap forward in accessibility. Now if we could only get everyone access to the internet...