In the last days of official EVOKE I’ve seen an outpouring of last-minute Missions (of course!), many goodbyes and thank-you-alls, and many many thoughtful reflections on EVOKE, what it has meant, where it will go, and where it can go with EVOKE Season 2 in 2011.
Of the many suggestions for the next EVOKE, I’ll call attention to four:
Agent Ninmah, a Hero already, hopes for better teacher support: tools for example that make it easier for classrooms to play (following the trail blazed by our Hero Agency Chengyuan High School). And Agent Gabriel Martin seconds her request with a good teacher-friendly wish list of his own.
Agent Samuel Freilich is a Hero for his Season 2 recommendations, especially I think (a) getting politicians to play and (b) getting us closer to an epic win state!
Agent Elizabeth DiMola is a Hero for inspiring us with her idea of EVOKE 2.0 played for real in communities worldwide, maybe using Ushahidi as a platform.
Agent Sarah Shaw Tatoun is a Hero for her thoughtful analysis about the difficulty of balance in the open classroom that is EVOKE.
And d’oh! I almost forgot! Agent Richard Smyth’s popular EVOKE: Season 2 – The Comic.
The other outpouring we’ve seen of course: THE EVOKATIONS. These are proposals by Agents that put the lessons of EVOKE into action. If you want to be uplifted (and you do), search for them. Two I’ll mention: the inspiringly crowdsourced OUR FARM and Agent David Dewane’s Library initiative. Which he sums up so well in this drawing!
We thank everyone that’s working on an Evokation, and encourage them to take that energy forward!
How do you handle a crisis? Agent Abby Krieger knows from experience – you don’t judge people – and she’s a Hero for sharing that wisdom for LEARN7. And a different experience sparked Agent Soni Pitts to connect the connective power of Ushahidi with crises in her hometown. And Agent Ryan Friedrich is a Hero for his simple vision of a sustainable future: one that avoids negative-sum thinking.
I found quiet heroism in three personal stories: about indaba, from Agent Brian Chatterton; about women empowering women, by Agent j m; and Agent Hafie Yillah’s very simple vision of food security in the year 2020 that I hope is as true as ever: “I am eating a meal that myself and 8 other individuals helped prepared. We are all of different backgrounds, but each of us has come together for the common goal of feeding one another.”
And with that, I let go of something I have never actually held in the first place: the power to make people Heroes. The heroism people show here, much of it unassuming and some of it unremarked, far outweighs any authority I may have seemed to have.
Said another way: “It has been very inspiring to me to see so many people willingly take on the learning, acting, and imagining that EVOKE has asked of them — and to watch what has unfolded. I know I’ve only seen the tiniest part of it, and still it astonishes me.” Thanks, Agent Ninmah, for your words, speaking truly what is in my heart. – Calida, with Mita and the entire EVOKE team
