Climate Alliance for the Common Good

I am volunteering with Climate Alliance for the Common Good. The group is focused on solutions that address climate change, especially those that work within a framework of exergy--a broader approach to energy and resource use. Exergy science supports using energy and resources otherwise discarded. 

Our Golden Hour

Our Golden Hour was a nonprofit that worked with indigenous peoples in support of endangered languages and cultures through education and native-language books.

Up until 2021, I volunteered with  Our Golden Hour, a non-profit that works with indigenous peoples to help preserve ancient languages, alphabets, and cultures. I have had the exciting opportunity to retell ancient folktales of indigenous peoples, and publish them as illustrated stories for children. 

The group helped the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a beautiful mountainous area in Bangladesh that extends into surrounding countries. Maung Nyeu, the group's executive director, has started native language schools in the region, so that children can learn in their native tongue. He also works with schools in the region, furthering teacher development. He earned his PhD at the Harvard graduate school of education, and is helping bring contemporary teaching methods to this region.

In conjunction with the schools, Maung Nyeu recognized that the indigenous children in this area have no children's books written in their native languages. He began collecting ancient folktales, and we are publishing these as illustrated stories, in two or more languages--the native language, such as Marma and Mro, along with English and sometimes Bangla. 

I loved taking the ancient stories from their oral tradition into a written narrative, working closely with Maung and with the children of the region. 

Awards for books published by Our Golden Hour

For more about Our Golden Hour

Please visit www.ourgoldenhour.org, where you can learn more, buy books, volunteer, donate to Our Golden Hour.