Ripples Cross

Adopt an Activist

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$2 a month	$5 a month	$10 a month

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What is RJI? Across the world, non-violent activists are risking everything for the sake of others. They do it without pay, without popular support. They put their lives and livelihoods on the line to take a stand for social justice, international human rights law and civil liberty. They work tirelessly to promote the value of human life. They are extremely devoted, motivated and talented. We will seek these people out, join them as activists, employ them as educators, and support them as friends.

ResearchJournalismInitiative.org is dedicated to changing the way students learn about socio-economic, religious and geopolitical conflict by providing students a direct link to regions of conflict abroad. Using non-violent human rights activism, RJI teams living in the Middle East, Latin America and Europe gain access to the lives of the communities they seek to learn from. Students then speak directly to kids their own age abroad via live, internet video conferencing. Teachers and students can direct the content of what they choose to learn about by communicating their needs to the RJI activist teams. The experience is interactive, engaging, raw and real, free of the filters and agendas of the main stream media. Students can explore issues and realities of life in regions of conflict through the eyes of those actually living these experiences. RJI also provides a library of archived information, video and audio content, web logs, reports and resources that students and teachers can access at any time. Our method allows RJI to operate in areas that the media cannot due to insurance and safety considerations such as the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Southern Lebanon, and we will soon expand to Latin America, Chechnya and the Balkans.

The financial requirements of international human rights activism are a significant obstacle for the majority of activists. These men and women often sell everything of value they own in order to make the journey abroad. To sustain themselves, they must reach out to those who believe in this work.

How simple a thing to donate a few spare dollars a month! Imagine how capable these activists could become with 1000 people at home supporting each of them, a chorus of voices joining together in solidarity with the oppressed. $10 goes a long way in the West Bank. That’s a single forgone small cheese pizza, a single ticket to the movie theatre. It’s loose change picked up in the car and between couch cusions. - But it’s also shelter in a refugee camp. It’s heat and electricity in the winter during curfew. It’s a cellphone that can keep an activist safe when the army is firing into her office or setting explosives in his adopted family's home.

That is the idea of the Activist Support Network. Not everyone can travel to the Middle East. But we can all be there together when we apply a little creativity and persistence.

There is so much that people can easily do to make our dream of working for human rights abroad a reality.

Be a part of the Activist Support Network. It’s a quick, simple and secure online donation that will directly support and enable the activists abroad.
Purchase ripples cross. Proceeds from the film go directly to supporting the work of international human rights activists.
Organize a screening of ripples cross. We will have informational and promotional flyers ready to download to make is easy to tell people about the event. Ask for a collection, send it to the activists using the link above. We can even provide free copies of the film for people who don’t have the ability to purchase the DVD but want to organize a screening.
Organize a fundraiser:

1. Ask a club at your high school or college to organize a bakesale at lunch hour.
2. Get you band to play a benefit show.
3. Play a flute in the park. – Remember, even a few dollars make a huge difference!
Put links to the Research Journalism Initiative and the Activist Support Network on your website. Send out monthly emails reminding everyone of their pledges and thanking them for supporting this work.
Tell everyone you meet how they can have a direct effect on the lives of people living in these war-torn areas. Give them the invitation and encourage them to participate.

Feel free to contact us with your questions and comments.