Document Actions
Phil Lilienthal - Ethiopia
Filed Under:
Philip Lilienthal, Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia (1965-1967), was Attorney/Advisor for the Peace Corps General Counsel’s Office, served as Peace Corps regional director in the Philippines and Deputy Director for the Peace Corps in Thailand. He is now founder and CEO of Global Camps Africa.
CLICK on the player to listen to this eight minute interview, or on the link below to download the audio file to your desktop.
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Phil sees himself as a social entrepreneur – he is providing a service in a non-static way. Part of the teaching at camp is how to prevent AIDS. He is giving the children a platform where they can find answers themselves and hopes the lessons they learn in camp become part of their inner beings, especially AIDS avoidance.
This is a departure from the usual rote-learning model. He was afraid this would be a problem along with bringing talk of sex and AIDS home, where it is usually not discussed. But the parents did not object. He has heard nothing negative in the four years he has been running the camp and taught 3,000 children.
His advice to other social entrepreneurs: “When you have a skill, go with what you think is right. Don't take giant steps until you follow the basic steps and things are lining up; then move ahead. Don't get discouraged by the scale of the problem. Do what you can – I am trying to solve AIDS 137 kids at a time.”
CLICK on the player above to listen to his interview.
This is a great idea
Not only is this entrepreneurial, it is creative and really out of the box. I would like to go to his summer camp