How can designers offer youth a chance to participate in community change? In what ways can youth contribute, and what is the potential impact?

Initial update on Students Rebuild Japan blog.

Guess whose paper cranes are finalists for "Most Effective Awareness Campaign" for the 2012 Classy Awards!

Last weekend, students and community members from across New Orleans descended on Congo Square to lay 51,230 handmade bones on the city's famed Congo Square as a visual petition against ongoing humanitarian crises in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In partnership with Students Rebuild, Architecture for Humanity is excited to bring this story - and a call to action - to our network of design professionals!

Last weekend, over 1500 young people from across Japan converged for 'Gift by Gift for a Better World', a 3-day workshop held at S-pal Square, Sendai Train Station in Sendai, Japan. The centerpiece of the workshop was the magnificent Paper Crane Sculpture, designed by students at Tohoku University of Art & Design and composed of 100,000 of the 2 million paper cranes folded by Paper Cranes for Japan participants in the wake of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Since the spring of 2010, the Students Rebuild team has intimately watched how the January 12 earthquake - and the humanitarian responses it triggered - continues to transform Haiti's students and the nation's education system.

Architecture for Humanity and Students Rebuild are thrilled to share a five minute film that chronicles the creation of Vik Muniz's Large Paper Crane. So inspired by the generosity and hope engendered by young people's support for their Japanese peers, renowned artist Vik Muniz invited students to his Brooklyn studio to create a work of art celebrating Paper Cranes for Japan. This is the story of that collaboration.

We've had to make up for the absence of Dignité updates (as it's finished construction) by expounding on the other four schools. Hope you don't mind, but there's a lot of activity going on...

The Haiti Schools were all abuzz the fist week of November, however one will soon be flying solo, with others soon following suit: Dignité officially opened November 7 and Montrouis is scheduled for completion before the New Year. Between these and ambitious activity on the other school sites, construction techniques and training continue to be refined and we simply can't wait to see what the future has in store for the next generation of Haitian architecture!

On Monday, November 7, a healthy representation of Architecture for Humanity's Haiti office drove down to the Caribbean village of Cayes Jacmel to witness the first day of class in the new rooms they've built for École La Dignité.

The rural Dignité school approaches substantial completion, while several site setbacks have challenged our team's mettle...and their conception of neighbors.

Ring beams, elevated slabs, bamboo screens and high water tables. Almost sounds like a fast food menu, but rest assured, this is the latest progress report from the Haiti School Initiative. Besides, our crew has plenty better things to eat...

Two million cranes and 38 countries later we are excited to announce our new artist collaboration - Vik Muniz. Working with New York City schoolchildren and is studio, Vik has created huge piece out of thousands of cranes from the paper cranes for Japan campaign. You can now buy a limited edition print of this 36 foot by 40 foot work of art, all proceeds will go towards rebuilding education and youth projects in the Tohoku region of Japan. Mr. Muniz' cranework was featured in last weekend's New York Times Magazine!

Learn about how the piece was created

Reclaimed materials, Bio-Digesters, composting toilets, earth block testing...hardly yesteryear's Haiti. The five projects as part of the Students Rebuild-sponsored Haiti School Initiative are all now under construction, and coming into their own.

While the formal program for Students Rebuild Haiti wrapped at the start of Summer, their website continues to track progress on its five schools.

While our Japan Design Fellow at San Francisco, Hiromi Tabei, visited Tohoku region of Japan, the Paper Crane Installation Project Team had the kick-off meeting at the General Fine Arts Department of the Tohoku University of Art and Design (TUAD). The team is consisted of Architecture for Humanity, Supporting Organization for Artists of Tohoku (SOAT) and TUAD.

After introducing ourselves, we discussed options for sites and potential form of installation. The sculpture will be designed and produced by faculties and students of TUAD with help from local children. Then the sculpture will be installed at the youth oriented facility where Architecture for Humanity will help reconstructing.

As part of the Students Rebuild Interactive Videoconference sessions in Port-au-Prince this past week, I took the opportunity to update the students on their respective schools. I spoke with students from Baptiste Bon Berger, Pele, Elie Dubois and simultaneously over a dozen North American classrooms conferencing in for the hour-long discussions on architecture and Haiti's way forward. about design and construction progress, taking the opportunity to present a few images to both the recipients and the funders…none of whom being older than 18.

Even the most cynical person has to be impressed by this. What began as a simple idea to make paper cranes for Japan as a symbolic gesture went from 1,000 to 10,000 to 100,000 and now 1,000,000. We are equally honored to be the recipient of the donations generated via this global action.

We are currently focusing on a series of projects in and around Sendai, Motoyoshi, Ishinomaki City and Maeami, Japan.

All of us at Architecture for Humanity would like to thank the Bezos Family Foundation, Students Rebuild, Do Something and, of course, the thousands of kids who folded, folded and folded!

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For the past month, kids around the world were challenged to create 100,000 Paper Cranes for Japan.

Following last Friday's shipping deadline for the Paper Cranes for Japan Initiative, the Students Rebuild crew finds itself delightfully inundated with international support for Japan recovery.

Over the weekend, Students Rebuild counted its 500,000th crane for the challenge. Today they hit 610,000. Initially, Students Rebuild and DoSomething.org put a call out for 100,000 cranes–each crane received by Students Rebuild would add $2 to a matching donation from the Bezos Family Foundation, it soon became apparent that there would be far greater support.

École La Dignité officially broke ground last Friday, April 1st, following a ceremony organized by the school and attended by community and family members, partners, designers and contractors. Architecture for Humanity volunteer Gerry Reilly recounts the afternoon, which could be described as "modestly majestic."

Words by Stacey McMahan; images by Eric Cesal

The Elie Dubois students and teachers, friends of Elie Dubois, and many diginitaries from the Ministry of Education and international community attended the funding dedication event held on the campus commons between the two historic Buildings 1 and 2.

Several dance performances were held and the Philo class presented the Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno and Barefoot Foundation with hand-made crafts (table cloths, etc.) for which Elie Dubois is famous. Diandine Emile, a graduating student and the student featured in a Students Rebuild webumentary, also gave a heartfelt thankyou on behalf of the student body.

Thousands of youth worldwide are backing Architecture for Humanity's reconstruction efforts in Japan through Paper Cranes for Japan. Led by Students Rebuild and Do Something.org, the project calls on young people to support their Japanese peers by making paper cranes. Every crane made and sent to the Bezos Family Foundation will trigger a $2 donation to Architecture for Humanity and will directly support rebuilding Japan. After 100,000 cranes are submitted, they will be turned into a woven art installation - a symbolic gift from students around the world to their Japanese counterparts.

In October, Global Nomads Group follows Rebuilding Center volunteer Heidi Arnold on a visit to some innovative transitional shelters being developed by Dublin-based Haven Partnership.

Tune into http://studentsrebuild.org/webcast for feature stories from Haitian Youth, an update from Architecture for Humanity teams on the ground in Haiti, and more. It's a live conversation between our team, that will be streamed online in real time. There is a live-chat feature that allows you to submit questions and comments as the broadcast is occurring.

When: Monday, October 25, 2010
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET

StudentsRebuild will be awarding grant money to a first round of Haitian schools at the beginning of October and is featuring overviews of the four first schools at the Build Schools page. Be sure the check out that page for more information, but a recap of the candidates can be found below:

École Baptiste Bon Berger "Good Shepherd", Pele, Port-au-Prince

As the spotlight on post-quake Haiti dwindles, Architecture for Humanity, the Bezos Family Foundation, and Global Nomads Group recognize there is still much work to be done to rebuild Haiti. Architecture for Humanity remains committed to Haiti’s reconstruction efforts through Students Rebuild, with a $500,000 challenge grant to rebuild safer, stronger, and permanent schools in Haiti!

We warmly invite you to join us in this significant endeavor during this upcoming school year- one that will allow your students to interact with their Haitian peers, empower them to become young global philanthropists, and follow the progress of their fundraising efforts!

In the 2010-2011 school year, we will roll out a comprehensive Students Rebuild Haiti program that will include: