IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: The Feet on the Road – 15 years of the Muererío Theatre Company.

The Feet on the Road book (photo courtesy of Ideame)

The Muererío Theatre project runs various different activities, including shows, workshops, seminars, theoretical writings, exchanges and travel. The group creates and produces shows, and teaches the craft of acting through workshops and seminars with the exchange and contact of other groups and people in the theatre world.

The book, which has been declared of cultural interest by the Secretary of State for Culture of Argentina, aims to capture the essence of the theatre’s experiences and teachings through images and narratives. The group hopes that the editorial, which will have an innovative design, will form part of the theatre project, as well as promote further exchange with other theatre groups, teachers, and international institutions. It also aims to demonstrate the social value of independent art.

The group needs funding to finish the production of the book, and support the distribution and promotion of the finished product. It is an ‘all or nothing’ project, so will only receive funds if it reaches its target.

1. For a $50 donation you will receive a special invitation to the official launch of the book to be held in Buenos Aires in June 2013.

2. For $100 you will receive a special invitation to the official launch of the book, along with a poster for the launch of the same.

3. For $200 you will receive a copy of the book when published and for $350 you can have it delivered anywhere in Argentina with the shipping charge included.

4.For $400 you will receive a copy of the book and an exclusive invitation to chat with the authors regarding the process of the creation, management and production of the theatre.

To find out more about the project or donate, click here.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Comedor Infantil con Computación.

Modern technology makes our lives easier. And it is practically everywhere, but unfortunately not equally distributed. The digital divide in some parts of the world – including Africa, Asia, and South America – is enormous. Really eager to fight this challenge is Fundación Equidad (The Equality Fundation) from Buenos Aires. In one of the Argentine capital’s neighbourhoods, Villa Soldati, they are founding a computer classroom and they want to modernise its infrastructure, which would help more than 270 children and their parents to get from the edge of society to a better social and labour inclusion.

Grillitos’ computer room.

On 22nd June 1992, a soup kitchen called ‘Grillitos‘ (Crickets) opened its doors for the kids of Villa Soldati. Since then, more than 200 boys and girls have their daily meals there. And that is not all: they offer a variety of activities, a library, a play-room and some volunteers who promote different programmes against gender violence. ‘Grillitos‘ is counting on the local school’s support as well.

One of this year’s main goals for them is to launch basic computer science and social networking courses for the parents of children who come in daily. In this way, they are looking for an activity that would join the whole family in one place and give the parents an opportunity to spend some quality time with their kids, while providing them with some new technological knowledge. With this weapon in their hands it will be much easier for them to incorporate into modern society – in a cultural, social, and economic sense.

Fundación Equidad is creating a bridge between inequality and opportunities. At the same time they are big supporters of reusing the technology. So how do they do it? Equidad’s first appeal goes to big firms and corporations to be more socially responsible and not to throw their old computers or unwanted equipment away. Instead, Equidad takes all that to their workshops where they restore it and make it usable again. Soon the renovated technology is ready to be donated to schools all over Argentina.

The soup kitchen currently owns ten computers and has a volunteer teacher from AVANZAR (Advance – Civil Association for Human Development) on call, who will later in May start giving weekly computer classes. What they are still needing is a better equipment, including: repair work on some parts of the electrical installation, surge protectors, and some other materials.

They do not require a lot, but still they only raised around 20% from the required amount of $2,689. Do you want to help the families who do not enjoy the privilege of modern technology that we take for granted? There are only a couple of days left, before the fundraising finishes. To support this project, visit its IdeaMe website now.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Acciones Coordinadas Contra la Trata de Personas (ACCT).

The NGO ACCT (Coordinated Action Against Human Trafficking) was founded in 2012 in order to investigate, document, and fight the crime of human trafficking – with special emphasis on the sexual exploitation of young girls, adolescents, and women.

Image courtesy of ACCT

According to the group, every year, around six million people are victims of human trafficking, and of those, 90% are sexually exploited. In Argentina, women and children with low levels of education, from large families, and who lack basic necessities (food, shelter etc) are amongst those most at risk.

The organisation is made up of dedicated professionals who have a wealth of experience in the investigation of human trafficking crimes and money laundering linked to organised crime. Beyond the critical task of locating the victims of human trafficking, the organisation also aims to halt the illicit flow of cash used to fund the crimes in the first place and which allow human trafficking networks to continue to operate.

ACCT’s methodology begins with the idea that there is no one-way of investigating these crimes, rather that each case provides them with alternative ways of working and of bringing the perpetrators to justice.

They treat each crime on a case-by-case basis, meaning that each one receives focused, and specially adapted, assistance that is subject to flexible protocol.

ACCT, which aims to fight these human rights abuses, is an independent NGO that is in desperate need of funds in order to continue to implement its projects, both at a national level as well as an international one.

Raising 100% of the funds would of course be amazing, but failing that you can be sure that your contribution will not go to waste. If the 100% target is not met, the funds will be put to the following uses:

1. 10% achieved = Creation of a complaints hotline open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

2. 25% achieved = Purchasing of IT equipment required to develop their investigative work.

3. 50% achieved = Publishing promotional material as regards the prevention of human trafficking of young children and adolescents.

4. 75% achieved = As well as all of the above, they will launch campaigns to raise the profile, awareness, and visibility of the problem throughout the country and to create a database of related statistics.

To find out more about the project or donate, click here.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: The Top of The World.

A production company is hoping to receive enough backing to complete their short film highlighting the hardships of a young boy, Tito. The film is designed to raise awareness of widespread poverty in Argentina and to demonstrate how young children are often expected to hit the streets in search of work.

“The Top of The World” narrates one day in the life of the young Argentine. At only 10 years old, Tito bears the weight of supporting his family. Each morning he wakes up, eats breakfast, and prepares his bag before leaving the house. Once in Santa Fe, a small public playground serves as his base where he changes his clothes, eats, drinks, and rests after long hours of juggling in exchange for small change.

Tito performs on the street (Photo courtesy of idea.me)

Dressed in a makeshift clown suit, Tito moves out in front of cars waiting at traffic lights to perform various juggling tricks with three hoops. Just before the lights turn green he finishes his routine and walks to each car hoping that the drivers hand him some form of reward, no matter how small.

As the day unfolds, the film follows Tito counting his earnings and changing from his costume before a chance meeting with a girl who is playing on the swings. After watching the girl for a while they begin talking and the attention of the film moves to focus on the different views of the playground. From Tito’s perspective it is merely somewhere related to his work, from the girl’s it is a place of freedom and expression.

Santa Fe-based Mutantecine are the production company behind the project and they have experience in not only making short films but television series as well. “We’ve been working on this project for a long time. It has a very special meaning to us and we are certain that it is a story that needs to be told,” Mutantecine write on their IdeaMe page.

So far only $2,133 of a required $15,000 has been raised and the project is hinged on an all or nothing basis, so with only 33 days to go the producers are hoping to gain further support. Those who donate will be in line to receive the “Awarded Producer” pack including printed high definition stills of the film, a personalised signed script, and a printed version of the production diary.

For more information and to support this project, visit its IdeaMe page.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Chilenos en Papel.

Alejandro and Ella have a camera, a van, and one very big dream. The dream is ‘Chilenos en Papel’ or ‘Chileans on Paper’, a social photography project aiming to shoot some 5,000 people in a journey of 14,000kms.

Chilenos en Papel van to take portraits. (courtesy of Chilenos en Papel)

The project’s fundamental aim is to develop and strengthen local identity, and create a sense of belonging for those living far outside major urban centres. They are seeking to recover roots and share the rich and fascinating local heritage of Chile.

The duo will visit isolated towns and villages throughout the country, photographing the people they encounter, and giving them their instant photograph for free. The thought behind this is that they can help to develop a sense of belonging and rootedness in the community. Many people in isolated communities have little or no access to cameras or photography, and in some cases the photograph provided by the project will be the only visual evidence they have of someone.

It is easy to underestimate the significance of a family portrait or photograph of a loved one in the home in our world where photos are everywhere. Alejandro and Ella hope the practice will be a record of Chilean cultural heritage, helping to strengthen the local identity of the town and its inhabitants.

An elderly couple of Chileans pose for their portrait. (courtesy of Chilenos en Papel)

Alejandro and Ella will begin their inspiring project this month, and end in September. In six short months they will capture and give away some 5,000 photographs on ta journey that will see them visit at least 110 towns and villages across the northern, central, and southern territories of the country.

Upon completion of the project they hope to hold an exhibition featuring examples of their photography project, first in Santiago, and then invite other regions to bring the show to their regions. The exhibition will be displayed in a way to create different cultural exchanges and discussions between communities of different areas of the country.

However, to complete the project they need a bit of help (this is where you come in) in the form of donations through their IdeaMe page. They have a camera, a van, six months, and a lot of drive, but they are still in need of paper (and lots of it), a printer, fuel, and a website, in order to make their dream a reality.

‘Chilenos en Papel’ is an ‘All or Nothing’ project, which means that if the project doesn’t reach its goal, all financial backers will have their money refunded.

To donate to the ‘Chilenos en Papel’ project, visit their IdeaMe page. For more information, check out their Facebook page.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: PRANAS Chile.

Narrative therapy is a constructive practice that psychologists have begun to study as a key therapeutic device with unique character in Latin America. It centres on the use of narrative development in therapy, and works as patients generate vivid descriptions of life events and observations as prompted by therapists. The practice was developed by researchers in New Zealand in the late 1970s and quickly spread to the United States and Europe, but has only recently become pertinent in Latin American.

Photo courtesy of Vanessa Penagos on Flickr

As narrative therapy is still developing as a fundamental research area for budding professionals in the field, there is high demand for publications on the subject, especially in Latin America. However, access to such sources of information are widely inaccessible in the region, as nearly all books on the subject are written in English, are incredibly expensive to import, and/or are in short supply as the topic area is still relatively new.

Under these circumstances, a group of Latin American experts in narrative therapy have decided to compile their own literature on the subject, with the idea to further global knowledge on the potential of the cathartic practice and, more specifically, to provide a relevant and accessible resource to young Latin American professionals interested in the topic. The book is to be printed as well as published online.

The PRANAS Chile terapia narrativa book project was established to fund the writing, compilation, and publication of the first text on narrative therapy in Latin America. The group explains: “The focus of this project is on the practice and translation of ideas into local contexts in order to make visible and honour the rich and diverse cultures of Latinos in America, in the specific contexts of therapeutic work with individuals, families, cooperatives, and communities.”

The group sees narrative therapy as an innovative practice that is pertinent to many Latin American cultures as it, “respects diversity, takes responsibility for and acknowledges the structures of power in our society,” and is a “non-blaming, non-marginalising practice.”

Photo courtesy of PRANAS

Demonstrating these principles in their progressing work, the group of authors involved in writing the book focus on the application of narrative therapy in distinctive therapeutic situations throughout Latin America. The text also covers the technical application of the practice, its philosophy, as well as indications for participating individuals and communities.

The book is entitled, ‘Practicas latinoamericanas de terapia narrativa: una propuesta de traducción a nuestros contextos locales’, or, ‘Latin American Practices of Narrative Therapy: A Proposal of Translation into our Local Contexts’. It will be divided into at least fifteen chapters ranging in topics from “therapeutic documents for the survivors of sexual abuse” to “politics of solidarity and practices of decolonisation,” with information derived from narrative therapy sessions involving distinct groups of people from across the region.

The book is linked to PRANAS Chile, a narrative therapy organisation that aims to better understand and promote the practice while sustaining and contributing to the community of professionals that have the opportunity to implement narrative therapy. The organisation is, “committed to the development, translation, and diffusion of the ideas and practices of narrative therapy in Latin America and other Spanish speaking countries.”

The project needs to raise just over US$4,000 in the next month and a half to fund the book, which will promote and explain the practice of narrative therapy, call for more understanding and acknowledgement of respect for different cultural groups in therapy, and generally serve the professional therapist community in Latin America.

For more information and to make a donation, please visit their page on Ideame.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. Each week, the Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: GPS Cultural.

The creators of GPS Cultural believe that art projects have the potential to change the world — if they can only get off the ground.

“If we believe in the transformational power of cultural vocations, we need more and better projects, and more and better organisations,” the promotional video explains.

Project mockup courtesy of GPS Cultural.

Founders Bruno Maccari, Graciana Maro, and Pablo Montiel say the best way to get projects started is to help lovers of art help each other. Working towards this goal is their new interactive GPS system, the first of its kind, which connects artists to potential funds for their projects.

Each potential financial source in Latin America will be geo-referenced and marked with a tab containing clear information about the organisation, company or institution. The system will contain an advanced search engine through which users can apply various filters, like continent, country, city, types of organisations, etc. It will also allow users to add funding sources that are not on the map or update data records already included.

“To achieve (projects), we need to work together online, sharing the available information, and finding out who can help us,” the video continues. “We need to learn who to work with so we can all achieve goals together that we could not achieve on our own.”

It is fitting, then, that an application aimed at crowd sourcing would be advertised on IdeaMe, which has been helping people do just that since its founding in 2011. GPS Cultural is filed under IdeaMe’s “anything helps” category, meaning that even if they don’t reach their goal they will still get to keep the funds they do obtain.

Those funds will be used to cover operating costs, pertaining mostly to its website and the interactive map. They say with funds to keep them afloat, they will provide contents of the map, research, and make the program accessible to the cultural sector of Latin America.

“We want to make Latin-American art and culture more accessible and easy to share through an interactive tool,” the group concludes.

GPS Cultural is a non-profit initiative with the goal of allowing developers, managers, and entrepreneurs identify, select and share the main sources of funding for regional culture. So far it has over 3,000 potential funding sources filed.

“This is a unique opportunity for all members of the cultural community to actively participate in the co-creation of networks of resources, sharing information and funding sources for our endeavors,” GPS Cultural’s website states.

Helping this project is really a ripple effect: If you support it now, it can support hundreds, or even thousands of Latin American artists in the future. For more information, check out their page.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Un Pueblo Un Mural.

Street art project, Un Pueblo Un Mural, was founded by four Argentine street artists who express their vision by painting murals throughout towns and cities in Argentina.

Work of art by Un Pueblo un Mural

Artists Mariano Antedoménico, Mariela Ajras, Milu Correch and Marcos Bourdetta, who have painted together since 2010, say that painting murals has opened up an array of possibilities in how they can express their art forms, and doing so has far exceeded their expectations.

“Painting on the street is a unique experience, we can share the joy of that art and transform the space into a work of art. When a mural emerges on the wall of a neighbourhood, people congregate, enjoy, share their anecdotes, friends and food etc,” the artists say.

The group believe that outdoor art allows artists’ expression to be celebrated in public and as a result, revitalises their art forms. “Street art transforms a cityscape to one of colour, it is a revolutionary act, a sign of change, a change of scenery. For us it means looking through a window on the bus and seeing a mural that speaks to us, and makes us feel like we belong.”

To the artists running this project, painting city murals also holds a symbolic meaning, for both the people who live in the city, and for the city itself. They believe that street art can represent cultural change and that by changing the landscapes the artists will be inspiring new ideas while leaving their imprint on cities around the country.

To make this happen, the artists need your help. The project is calling for donations to fund their street art tour around the country at the end of March. With the donated proceeds, the team hope to travel to Río Cuarto and Traslasierra in Córdoba, Carlos Pellegrini in Santa Fe, La Pampa and Entre Rios to leave their mark on one small part of the city and inspire the people who will pass by it everyday.

However, if the artists do not reach 100% of their funding goal, they have agreed to use 10% of their target to visit one of the planned destinations where they will leave their mark by painting one mural. Hitting 25% of the desired figure will see them paint two murals in one city, 50% will allow them to reach two of the destinations, while 75% will send them to three.

To make this tour happen please visit the project’s ideame page.

And to find out more about the artists and their work visit the project’s Facebook page.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams.

One of the prototypes in display. (Photo courtesy of Mini Planthouse)

If you are single and too busy, or too lazy, to own and set aside time for a pet in the city, yet still crave the company of another, two Chilean sisters, Jorgen and Conseula Olate, may have a slightly unconventional remedy.

Mini Planthouse is a scaled down green house designed to create a microclimate for carnivorous plants. The idea revolves around the concept of looking after a plant as you would a pet, which is not an entirely alien train of thought given the attention some people pay to cultivating plants and vegetables. Not only does the Mini Planthouse protect your chosen ‘companion’ against the destructive tendencies of small children and animals, it is also small enough to place on a desk, which is great if your relationship blossoms and you suddenly become inseparable.

Carnivorous plants are often delicate and require a hot, humid environment in which to grow and prosper, something the Planthouse provides. Species such as Dionaea Muscipula, more commonly known as the Venus flytrap, and Utricularia, or bladderworts, are both exotic and incredible examples of how some plants have adapted to prey on insects.

Jorgen, an electrical engineering student, and Conseula, who studies agronomy, started working on their project at the beginning of 2012 in an attempt to promote the idea that rare and fascinating plants can be grown anywhere indoors. The first prototype of the Mini Planthouse won second place in a competition organised by the SABIC plastics company and it was also showcased at the Santiago Mini Maker Fair where it received much positive feedback from the general public.

The project is still very much in the development process and the girls are crossing their fingers in the hope that they will raise all of the $32,862 they require to launch the product on to the market. In return for your support, you will become the proud owner of your very own pet plant.

Even if the sister don’t reach their target, they have carefully planned how they will channel the funds they do raise. With 10% of the final figure they will design a new website, while 25% or more will enable them to patent the Planthouse and add to marketing revenue. If they reach 50% then Jorgen and Conseula will be able to buy the materials and tools necessary to complete the production of their product. And 75% or more will mean that manufacturing the Mini Planthouse will be possible.

So all those lonely people out there, who are unable care for a furry beast, get donating and make the Mini Planthouse a reality by visiting the project’s Ideame page.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams.

Soccer. Footy. The beautiful game. No matter what you call it, and no matter how big a fan you happen to be, there’s no denying the immense influence this sport can have. Project Peace Latin America is one of the increasing numbers of non-governmental organisations who have realised this is much more than just a game.

A young participant. (Photo courtesy of Un Gol por La Paz)

PPLA establishes the value of Peace using education, culture, sports, and direct work in communities, and have introduced a new initiative that aims to influence and eventually change the course of some of the most vulnerable lives in Latin America.

A social action model targeting young people, A Goal for Peace uses football as a tool to convey core human values, inspire young people to achieve their dreams, and give them the tools to overcome their circumstances. The programme focuses on using the sport as a way to promote tolerance, honesty, teamwork, and respect. Values that may otherwise fall to the wayside in the lives of young people who must face adversity every day, in communities plagued by violence, crime, and poverty. The programme also offers the children an unadulterated dose of fun, something that can often be denied them in an unforgiving world.

The project strives to improve these lives in developing nations by supporting and running sports activities, coordinating educational sports camps, offering mentoring programmes, and hosting local events and celebrations centred around their core value of peace. Communities in Venezuela and Haiti have reaped the rewards of the charity’s tireless work and generous donators.

With donations through IdeaMe, Project Peace Latin America hope to raise awareness of the problems that these communities face and to raise funds to continue their work within the Goal for Peace initiative. Donation options vary, from $300 financing a bus to carry 50 children home after a day camp, to $3,500, which would allow a soccer match to take place with children from other communities.

A Goal for Peace is an “Everything Helps” project, meaning that all donations will go towards achieving the project’s aims, even if the desired financial goal isn’t quite reached.

Project Peace Latin America is a non-governmental organisation founded in 2010 by Venezuelan Eglantina Zingg and uses sport, culture, and education as a tool for human development in the most vulnerable areas of the continent, and aims to promote peace whilst contributing to the reduction of violence.

To donate to the A Goal for Peace project, visit their IdeaMe page.

To read more about the Peace Project Latin America Foundation, visit their website.