"Work and active citizenship are integral part of the UNCRPD" Jeff Makana

My name is Jeff Makana a human rights activist and torture survivor.

I have now been living in Switzerland for the past 10yrs after being tortured in Kenya in Dec 2009 due to my work as an activist agitating for the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities inline with the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities(UNCRPD).

Jeff in Basel

Jeff in Basel

Work and active citizenship are integral part of the UNCRPD. Often people like myself who have experienced psychosocial disabilities are discriminated from civil and political participation and this creates unintended consequences some leading social economic exclusion.

As a survivor of torture, I believed that I will be accepted as an asylum seeker in Switzerland and get a chance to continue my life but that was not the case as my asylum was rejected despite having been invited to Switzerland as an activist to attend a UN workshop in Geneva on shadow reporting, a UN mechanism in the Universal periodic review of UN treaties. Despite the rejection of my asylum request I was granted a humanitarian permit to stay in Switzerland renewable every year. This permit categorized as permit f has it's challenges, mainly challenges with getting gainful employment or civil and political participation. In the state I live, Canton Jura immigrants can participate in local government if here for 10yrs and with an accepted asylum request or permit B to be precise.

Article 29 of the CRPD sets out the framework for persons with disabilities' participation in political and public life and stipulates that state parties shall “guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on equal basis with others.” To achieve this, state parties should domesticate the UNCRPD. Switzerland has signed but not ratified the UNCRPD, a measure more symbolic than one that empowers persons with psychosocial disabilities. 

Jeff in Davos

Jeff in Davos

People with psychosocial disabilities have equal right to study and work, but too often this sector of the population face discrimination and fail to experience work or active citizenship. Regarding persons with psychosocial disabilities only as objects of charity and medical treatments denies us equal rights and capabilities to make our own decisions in Life, be it work or further studies or launching a small businesses. 

“At the same time, around the world, there is a long history of injustice embedded in the mental health care sector, and this provokes the challenging question of how to change current practices, which have been routinized over centuries,” writes the international team of authors led by Dr. Sebastian von Peter. This is also true today in Switzerland with marginalization of persons with psychosocial disabilities as myself struggling to find work or study opportunity to enter the highly skilled  Swiss job market and active citizenship.

A special thanks to Jeff Makana for writing and contributing this article to our blog!

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Monthly ESITS Sleepout at CogX 2019

Are you in London during CogX (June 10 - 12)? Have you ever helped a homeless person? Do you believe AI & emerging technology can create greater job opportunities?  Do you believe actions speak louder than words?

If you've answered "Yes" to all four questions you have officially qualified as someone who can participate in #HomelessEntrepreneur's 34th monthly sleepout between June 10-12 at Granary Square, Kings Cross.

Why is #HomelessEntrepreneur participating in CogX again?

Before answering that question, we’d like to give a special thank to Tabitha Goldstaub and the amazing CogX team! Your inclusive support means more than you all can imagine!

If you’re in London on June 10-12, 2019 and love AI & Emerging Technology, you should definitely buy tickets for this event!

““We believe that the tech world can promote a symbiotic relationship between humans and technology to speed up the process of creating sustainable work and dignified housing for and with homeless people interested in telling their story and working to become active citizens again.”
— Andrew Funk, president of #HomelessEntrepreneur

Watch Andrew Funk’s presentation during CogX 2018!

Speech at CogX (IoT, Blockchain & AI festival) in which we invited the AI community to participate in the process of ending homelessness by creating better job opportunities. Puedes ayudar, y mucho, compartiendo este vídeo, suscribiendo a nuestro canal de YouTube y/o haciendo una donación en ES78 0081 1699 5300 0105 8408, swift code (BSABESBB).

SLEEPING IN THE STREET IS NOT A JOKING MATTER

Sleeping in the street for one night isn't going to kill you, but sleeping there every night can and will especially in winter and during cold fronts. Cardboard gravestones have even appeared in England to honor homeless people who have passed away. In 2017, “an estimate of 574 homeless deaths in urban England and Wales took place, compared with 26 in rural areas.”

What are #HomelessEntrepreneur’s goals at CogX this year?

  • Raise Awareness both online and offline: We will communicate with CogX guests online and offline to build upon our 3 strategic pillars; knowledge, recognition and change. The goal is that these conversations with AI and emerging tech professionals, influencers in the business world and journalists lead to specific proposals that create real change.

    • Example: During our last monthly sleepout at Cannes Film Festival, I received a message from Guy Gadney via Twitter asking to meet up in CogX. One of the things I love the most about social media is how it comes to life when we connect with like-minded professionals.

  • Build Partnerships: We are looking to partner up with corporations and individuals who would like to help create more job and housing opportunities for and with homeless people in our program.

    • Example: As soon as we create a new partnership, we will share it in this article. Contact us if you’re interested!

  • Raise Funds: On a small scale, we’d like to raise between 30,000€ to turn our association into a foundation. On a large scale, we’d like to raise 222,622€ more to create our own #HE Home/Hub that will house 60 homeless people, who will be provided with all the necessary network, resources and tools through our 1 year program to become active, working citizens again.

    • Example: As soon as we raise funds, we will share it in this article. Our event is currently being sponsored by Dinners That Matter: Please contact us if you’re interested in donating as an individual or organization.

How is #HomelessEntrepreneur participating in CogX?

  • We will be attending CogX conferences and networking events all three days and sleeping out at Granary Square from June 10-12 as well as communicating a clear positive message with every person who sees us, be it online or offline, Don’t be surprised if we smile and wish you an amazing day and successful event!

    • Example of commitment: Even if it’s -14ºC, like it was in Davos during our sleepout during the World Economic Forum, we’re still sleeping out. Homeless people can’t choose not to be homeless when the weather’s bad and we’re not going to act any differently.

  • We will be starting and continuing conversations with those attending the event in a formal and informal way, which will depend on each person/organization.

Building our network means taking care of those we meet and building a long-term relationship.

  • We will be creating customized proposals and closing deals with all interested parties.

    • Example: As soon as we close deals, we will share them in this article. Contact us if you’re interested!

  • And most importantly, we will start working with the new partners who decide to help speed up the process of creating sustainable work and dignified housing for and with our organization.

    • Example: As soon as we start working with a new partner, we will share it in this article. Contact us if you’re interested!

WHAT SHOULD YOU BRING IF YOU WANT TO SLEEP OUT WITH US?

1) A sleeping bag

2) An open mind

3) A few good jokes (optional)

Sign up for sleepout!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IF YOU CAN'T SLEEP OUT WITH US?

Share this post with people you know who may be interested in joining us. It's free and you can do it on your phone from wherever you are!

You can also participate as a sponsor like Invoice Ninja, who sponsored our sleepout for Web Summit in Libson, in future events! They also sponsor one of the #HomelessEntrepreneur projects!

CAN WE CREATE A BETTER FUTURE FOR & WITH HOMELESS PEOPLE?

Yes, and we should do it because active citizen participation is the only solution!

IF YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TO HELP US SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF CREATING WORK AND HOUSING FOR AND WITH HOMELESS PEOPLE IN OUR PROGRAM, PLEASE CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW.

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““For further information, please email us at funk@homelessentrepreneur.org or call us at +34 697 877 089.”
— Andrew Funk, president of #HomelessEntrepreneur

#HE JOURNALIST SLEEPING OUT IN #CANNES2019- 33RD ESITS SLEEPOUT

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

 

            This morning, as I sip on my expresso at Poet Café at 7 in the morning, I write about my experience coming to Cannes, France for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, which was sponsored by Doctor Home Visit. For this action-packed event, I was in charge of handing out flyers to people on the streets and mentioning that we were raising awareness for our non-profit #HomelessEntrepreneur while presenting them with a free brochure. Most of the people I ran into were focused on steering clear of the rain and finding the red carpet, however, I did have the opportunity to speak with more people than anticipated. Those who were interested in what I had to say gladly took our flyer, which paid tribute to Agnes Varda, and requested more information about our organization and our mission.

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            We started driving from Barcelona the previous night in the rain after midnight. I slept most of the ride and do not remember passing by the borders up the mountains. On the drive up, I wasn’t too sure what to expect or how I would fair being that I don’t really speak any French, other than the common “bon jour” and other small greetings. I actually have been homeless (not always roofless, though) since first arriving in Barcelona three months ago. Part of me being a #HomelessEntrepreneur is the desire to start my own investigative news site covering the country of Spain on the URL I own called SpainReporter.com. While I am getting that website started, people can follow me in the meantime on Twitter: @Spain_Reporter.

Our videographer, Felix, enjoyed capturing the search for our “homeless hotel” on camera as we searched for a dry area to rest our heads last night.

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Arturo, another #HomelessEntrepreneur, enjoyed how surprised people were about the actions we were doing, such as sleeping on the street and giving homeless people a voice during the festival. Our CEO and founder, Andrew Funk, mentioned, “As we spend more time in Cannes, the city is coming to life more and more. Right before we went to sleep, I had an intense conversation with a German film-maker who did a documentary on homelessness at Skid Row in LA.”

On this wondrous journey, I have been presented with the opportunity to be interviewed by two established reporters, one for radio (Cadena SER) and the other for print (El Español). I feel inspired and am looking forward to writing more thought-provoking articles for #HomelessEntrepreneur’s blog as well as getting my investigative reporting website off the ground, which I hope will fund my dream of ending my current homeless situation and running a healthy business.

Written by Nathan Aponte on May 19, 2019.

He is a #HomelessEntrepreneur who is a journalist living in Barcelona.

*If you’d like to help speed up the process of ending homelessness for and with him, we’d like to invite you to make a donation towards his program to ensure he receives all of the network, resources, tools and opportunities he needs.

donate for nathan's program