In This Issue TBB Students in the News This I Believe 3 Weeks until the Cleveland Marathon Book Review: Development as Freedom Apply Now TBB is now accepting applications for the 2009-2010 academic year. Apply early, as space is limited. TBB Students in the News This month Alexandra Duncan was featured in the Darien News: Thinking Beyond Borders Offers Students a New Perspective Renee Slajda was featured in the Fairfield Citizen: Seeing the World Thank You Special thanks to the many organizations and individuals who took the time to meet with TBB students this month! Center for Global Development Clinton Foundation Department of Homeland Security Global Fairness Initiative Grameen Foundation Just Food New York Department of Environmental Protection Polyface Farms Results Sustainable South Bronx UNICEF United Nations The World Bank Support TBB Through iGive... It's free! Support Thinking Beyond Borders by doing your normal online shopping at over 682 online stores! Translations       April 2009 Greetings! Some of you may be familiar with NPR's This I Believe series where individuals share personal philosophies.  This month, TBB students spent time reflecting on their experiences abroad, how those experiences related to the US, and what it all meant to them.  They've come to some powerful and insightful conclusions. I believe in the power of a smile to a stranger. By Liz Kuenstner I have never been the type to strike up a conversation in an elevator or linger at the coffee shop, chatting to the barista about the weather.  I'm not naturally at ease with people I don't know.   But spending six months traveling abroad has given me confidence in the ability of this casual gesture to forge inherently human connections. As if I didn't already stand out enough as a foreigner in rural villages in Ecuador, industrial cities in China, remote communities in Thailand, and townships in South Africa, I determined to go on daily runs.  The habit inevitably drew curious stares; in most of these places, exercise for the sake of exercise is unfamiliar.  Furthermore, many of these areas never saw visitors, no less white ones, and there I was, a real live blond in the flesh.  Read More 3 Weeks until the Cleveland Marathon! Thinking Beyond Borders supporters are running and walking in the Cleveland Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K on May 17th to raise money for the TBB Scholarship Fund! Every penny raised will be used to support students in need. There's still time for you to join us! Join the Team Support a Runner   Book Review: Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen The definition of "development" is elusive, to say the least.  Yet, experts in the field use the term constantly without explaining what they mean.  Amartya Sen committed an entire book to defining the term in Development as Freedom.  Rather than focusing on the widely accepted quantifiable statistics like income and infant mortality to determine a community's state of development, Sen writes that these only reflect advances if they result in increases in the freedom of individuals.  He sees the end goal of development as the empowerment of individuals to identify their needs and take action to improve their own lives.  Read More With less than two weeks left in the program, TBB students are already translating learning into action.  They are giving presentations at schools, universities, and public libraries from Atlanta to Boston.  They are sharing their thoughts on how personal relationships can help us understand global development issues, what it means to be an American, sustainability, public health, and why all this matters. Best, Sandy Pendoley Co-Founder Thinking Beyond Borders www.thinkingbeyondborders.org Thinking Beyond Borders is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

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