Came across an article in Journey magazine about this man. Was inspired by him. Hope he inspires you.



page: www.purposeprize.org/.../borges.cfm

Meet Phil Borges

Using technology to expand cross-cultural understanding among youth

At the age of 45, Phil Borges left a successful orthodontic practice and declared himself a full-time photographer. At 58 and at the peak of international acclaim, Borges turned his talent to a more purposeful passion -- expanding children’s worldview and cultural knowledge. In 2001, Borges created Bridges to Understanding to get middle and high school students worldwide talking to and understanding each other. His tools: interactive technology, photography, storytelling, and travel. His message: "Interaction is the path to understanding and empathy." Students communicate by e-mail, podcasting, videoconferencing and even in-person visits to each others’ schools. Since its inception, 4,000 students in 30 countries have worked on Bridges to Understanding projects, exchanging stories about everything from families to child labor, water pollution to housing for orphans. The program now routinely pairs U.S. schools with schools in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

* Watch video profile of Phil Borges
(3:00 min)
* Email Phil Borges
* Visit Phil Borges's website
page: www.purposeprize.org/.../borges.cfm

The Innovators
Meet Phil Borges
In 1991, Phil Borges, an orthodontist turned award-winning photographer, was asked to record the life of the Mad Pac, a group of Seattle teen age kids deemed at-risk.

"They called me Click," he says. "I could relate to them. I knew what it was like to be in trouble." Borges's father died when he was young. His mother raised him alone, in a rough San Francisco neighborhood.

Working with the gang members, Borges says, "I had an idea. The best way to show others these kids' lives was to put a camera in their hands, not mine."

So Borges taught them how to shoot...with film. How to document their families, their friends, their fears. And a new phase of Borges's life clicked open, too. If this project could save a street kid in Seattle, he wondered, what if he put cameras in the hands of youth around the world? Could we, like the Dalai Lama preaches, "treat our enemies as precious jewels" if we could only see and hear their stories?

There were many life-altering "clicks" that led Borges to found Bridges to Understanding in 2001, a nonprofit that nurtures global dialogue and youth leadership through photography and the tools of digital storytelling.

The Mad Pac gang project was certainly a click. Candid photos of the gangs' family and community life turned into a major exhibit that hung in a local museum, adorned with the boys' own graffiti. Impressed by the graffiti artistry, one viewer hired the boys to decorate a fashion show set in Las Vegas, and Borges used the funds to create a scholarship fund to send some of them to art school.

"Those kids responded to Phil," says Christine Stickler, then executive director of the Seattle Youth Involvement Network. "The kids were asked to talk about their exhibit at other schools and consequently were hired to photograph some school projects," she adds. "He got them to be proud of themselves and be respected by other kids their age."

Trails Less Traveled

At the age of 45, Borges took a leap of faith and, after a community college class, left dentistry, moved to Seattle and declared himself a full-time photographer.

With gear strapped to his back, he traveled Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Bangladesh. "When I'd arrive in villages, the first ones I'd meet would be the kids," he says. "When I got to a village, I'd take Polaroid pictures of the children. It was probably the first time they'd seen a photo of themselves. They'd scream and rush into their homes to show their parents, then come out with big smiles. We bonded easily."

Four books of his portraits have been published and his work hangs in galleries across the nation. He founded two nonprofits prior to Bridges to Understanding, all benefiting endangered kids, environments and cultures.
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About Civic Ventures

Civic Ventures is a think tank and an incubator, generating ideas and inventing programs to help society achieve the greatest return on experience.

Founded in the late 1990s by social entrepreneurs John Gardner and Marc Freedman, Civic Ventures is reframing the debate about aging in America and redefining the second half of life as a source of social and individual renewal. Through research, publishing, conferences, and media outreach, Civic Ventures reports on the growth of the experience movement. Through programs and consulting, Civic Ventures brings together older adults with a passion for service and helps stimulate opportunities for using their talents to advance the greater good. In these ways, Civic Ventures is helping America realize an experience dividend.

The Civic Ventures program portfolio includes:

* Experience Corps, a national service program for Americans over 55. Now in 14 cities, Experience Corps works to solve serious social problems, beginning with literacy. Today more than 1,800 Corps members serve as tutors and mentors to children in urban public schools and after-school programs where they help teach children to read and develop the confidence and skills to succeed in school and in life.
* The Next Chapter, an initiative that provides expertise and assistance to community groups across the country working to help people in the second half of life set a course, connect with peers, and find pathways to significant service. Local Next Chapter projects and related programs exist in dozens of communities nationwide.
* The Purpose Prize, a three-year initiative to invest in older social innovators by recognizing outstanding achievements, creating a network of people wanting to use their retirement years for the greater good, and channeling funds and assistance to these new pioneers.
* Still Working, a documentary project that profiles people working for the greater good in the second half of life. In their own words, people share stories of the work they do, why they do it, the challenges they've faced along the way, and how they planned for this new chapter. The initiative is an attempt to create role models where few exist for the new generation of aging boomers, and to develop a richer understanding of work in the post-midlife years.
* The MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures BreakThrough Award,
for innovative organizations that tap the passion and experience of people over 50 to improve society. The award will recognize new approaches to employment for older adults that combine the spirit of service with the benefits of work. It’s a salute to any nonprofit or public sector agency that takes on local, national, or international challenges by engaging this vast and vibrant workforce for the common good.