COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS Mission of Community Service Active Projects Projects in Planning MISSION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE Roughly 1.3 billion people live in absolute poverty with nearly 25 million being added to their numbers each year. Hundreds of millions of people have no running water to drink or bathe themselves. One hundred million people do not have homes to live in and must spend their lives on the streets and pavements, their children never knowing the security of a suitable shelter. (World Bank and the United Nations) Already, more than ten percent of the earth's vegetated surface has been degraded, an area larger than India and China combined. This desertification, caused by overgrazing domestic animals, over-cultivation, salinization, and deforestation, has already begun to impact over 35 percent of the land surface of the Earth and the situation is worsening (United Nations Environmental Program). The children of many nations suffer appalling abuses at the hands of their own countrymen and represent a huge and voiceless population seldom represented in the international human rights arena. Street children are frequently abused by police, or imprisoned in inhumane conditions. Because of their vulnerable condition, young people are often used as soldiers, and bonded laborers. Governments are known to perpetrate or acquiesce in systematic human rights violations against women, citing customs and rigid concepts of privacy as justifications for the subordination of women. (Human Rights Watch) Human culture now has the potential to inflict irreversible damage on the environment and on its life sustaining systems and resources. Already, critical stress suffered by our environment is clearly manifest in the air, water, and soil, our climate, and plant and animal species. Should this deterioration be allowed to continue, we can expect to alter the living world to the extent that it will be unable to sustain life, as we know it. (Union of Concerned Scientists) More than half the World population lacks access to the badly needed essential drugs. More than 150 million children are born every year worldwide and approximately 10% of these will never see their fifth birthday. One child dies every other second, due to malnutrition, hunger and poverty. It is estimated that one quarter of the World population is subject to chronic intestinal parasitic infections, which have insidious effects on growth, malnutrition, and cognitive functions. (World Health Organization, World Health Report) It is no small aspiration to strive for a world filled with greater peace, balance, cooperation, and the promise of an evolved human fellowship. These are noble foundation stones upon which to establish the fundamentals of sustainable human culture. They are spiritual principles that demand a worthy mission, and although the tasks and goals before us seem immense, they are attainable with adequate understanding of the problems and solutions, and the full commitment and participation of the global community. Douglass Capogrossi, Ph.D. President Return to Top ACTIVE SERVICE PROJECTS Parenting Training Project Employment Preparation Project Executive Training Project PARENTING TRAINING PROJECT Our Parenting Training Project has been conducted since 2007 in cooperation with the Kulani Correctional Facility on the Island of Hawaii. Incarcerated male participants, nearing the end of their prison terms are provided free parenting enrichment training. The intent of the project is to advance the potential for inmates to succeed in re-unifying with their children and the mother of their children. EMPLOYMENT PREPARATION PROJECT Our Employment Preparation Project has been conducted in an ongoing manner since 2004 in collaboration with the Hawaii Community Correctional Center and the broader East Hawaii community. Incarcerated participants, seeking to advance their employability, are provided free correspondence courses designed to build skills in resume writing and the employment search. The intent of this project is to assure greater potential for exiting inmates hoping to find effective employment and build toward a stable life within the Hawaii community. EXECUTIVE TRAINING PROJECT The Executive Training Project is underway across Asia in cooperation with EDS Advance Academy, an executive training institution headquartered in Malaysia. Akamai University cooperates with chief executives from business and industry and administrators from NGOs and government bureaus to select top candidates for partial and full scholarships to the business training programs in Malaysia. This project focuses primarily upon advancing the competencies of executives with demonstrated high potential, permitting them to contribute more meaningfully within the workplace. The international flavor of this program encourages cross-cultural understanding and multinational cooperation, a primary objective of Akamai's community service ventures. Presently, full scholarships are available for the residential programs in supply chain management and human resource management. These are conducted periodically in Kuala Lumpur. Return to Top PROJECTS IN PLANNING Akamai is currently working with international partners toward the establishment of community and economic development and special education ventures in Mexico and Sierra Leone. While these projects are in the very early stages of planning, Akamai has high hopes for their success in implementation and development. Akamai is also planning to initiate a program in Hawaiian Language Training within the local prison facility. This program is intended to be part of a much larger program in Hawaiian Culture. Return to Top