R-GDI
Row4Life Global Diversity Initiative (R-GDI)
The Row4Life Global Diversity Initiative (R-GDI) is a program that once in full effect will be a worldwide movement that will harness the potential of young students to be global leaders and drivers of global change as a result of recognizing the power of global diversity.
This will be accomplished through the establishment of R-GDI clubs in university campuses across the US. These clubs will use Concept 2 rowing machines and the images of Row4Life (leadership program in South Sudan) to promote global diversity as a means of spreading awareness and advocacy for various diversity based causes throughout the world thereby enacting global impact and change.
Each college or university needs just one Erg Concept 2 rowing machine to establish itself as an R-GDI club. Rowing machines do not require water for usage and very accessible and easy to utilize. The R-GDI club is a platform for discourse, advocacy, and interaction; It is not intended to be an athletic club, but of course competitions and events can be held, too. The key objective is for each R-GDI club to promote global diversity and provide discourse on global diversity.
R-GDI will donate one erg per universities rowing club which makes it relatively cheap and efficient for R-GDI to spread and become a nationwide movement amongst university student leaders who are destined to become national and global leaders. These students will be recruited from the Bonner Leader Program, Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), Model UN and EU, SGA, and University political/advocacy groups.
The University of Lynchburg has established the first R-GDI Club and students from a variety of universities have already expressed interest in starting their own clubs. Once a university has a club, then that university can expand R-GDI to other universities by donating rowing machines to them using a "pay it forward" model to spread R-GDI nationwide that much more quickly.
R-GDI is going to be a global movement that has the potential to make a global impact through the use of global leaders that will change the world. Please spread the word of R-GDI to help make this vision a reality!
R-GDI uses images from Row4Life, a leadership program in South Sudan focused upon finding and grooming future leaders in an efforrt to mitigate ongoing civil war. At the same time, Row4Life is hoping and planning to create the country's first Olympic rowing team, thereby promoting unity, nationalism, and showing the power of diversity within a country currently at war because of internal ethnic issues.
R-GDI now has own website. Please click on the image to the right.
Click on the image above to go to the R-GDI website (not yet completed).
Mission of Row4Life
Building Future Leaders of S. Sudan by promoting Global Diversity
Row4Life will, though rowing competitions mitigate conflict, foster friendships among all ethnicities and genders, establish national pride, and avoid a return to civil war in South Sudan. The key to everything is Global Diversity
Row4Life Actions:
- Provide Concept-2 (world standard) erg rowing machines to various locations (schools, community centers, etc.) throughout South Sudan.
- Students (boys and girls) between ages 12 and 19 will be introduced, and trained, and encouraged to compete.
- Competitions will be sponsored throughout S. Sudan, and can be between schools, towns, States, and also between SS and other countries. Modest monetrary awards will be given to encourage participation. In S. Sudan, the average wage per month is about $20 USD, so a $20 prize is a big deal.
- Athletic super-stars will be identified, nurtured, and coached.
This project has several positive effects on the youth of South Sudan:
- Mitigate conflict amongst the youth of South Sudan by providing an outlet for competition other than crime, violence, and mortal combat.
- Groom future leaders of South Sudan by discovering rowing prodigies amongst the youth, who can then be awarded athletic scholarships from top world-class universities (Harvard, Penn, Oxford, etc.). Upon graduation, these athletes (men and women) are South Sudan’s future leaders.
- It is important to note that #2 above is not just a vision or hope. Scholarships are already being awarded to American high school students and their score on the Concept-2 ergometer is a critical metric.
NATIONAL PRIDE
It is our dream as well as our realistic expectation that within ten years South Sudan can enter and competitively race in world-level rowing competitions (Olympics, World Games, etc.) as the South Sudan Rowing Team.
UNIVERSITY ERG CLUBS
It is also our dream that Erg Clubs will be established at universities, worldwide, all promoting Global Diversity while further advocating and highlighting the challenges in South Sudan.
Click Below for Latest Slide Deck
Status and Updated Slide Deck
I visited South Sudan (Juba and Wau) for nearly three weeks in July 2022. Click below for updated slide deck.
An erg rower was just recently placed in Warrup Town in Warrup State. So, we now have ergs in three States; Central Equatoria, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Warrup.
Four more erg machines are ready for shipping. Ambassador Natana has agreed to help. Once in South Sudan they will be assembled and placed at schools in the remaining seven States.
YOUR DONATIONS ARE CRUCIAL
Your donations are very important. Please give generously. We also renovate used erg Concept-2 Rowing machines, and so we will gladly accept these donations, too.
