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I can't tell you how many workshops, events, and conferences I have been to that... well, to be blunt, glorifies the life of a social entrepreneur. There is an element of Hollywood in the way our society raises up the players in the field, which is generally really positive. I am completely behind celebrating changemakers and introducing new heroes into our world. I am all for changing the culture in the United States so that the social change sector (with social entrepreneurs at the helm) is viewed with the same prestige as the medical, science, and business fields.

But, there is another side to the lives of social entrepreneurs that is not highlighted enough. That is the everyday life of trying to bring a new and untested idea into reality, building a nonprofit, raising money, and you get the point. It's not all glamorous. I believe we can learn from understanding both sides (the glitz and the guts).

So, on Spark * Blog, our goal is to add a dose of real life perspective of our social entrepreneurs--what's really going on with our fellows right now. In their own words:

Gemma Bulos - A Single Drop for SafeWater - Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines
Our organization was invited as a member of an Emergency WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygeine) Cluster that addresses water issues surrounding natural and manmade disasters. OXFAM UK is one of the NGOs that convenes the Cluster and they approached our organization to be their working partner to develop protocols and plan actions for emergency preparedness and disaster rehabilitation. It’s a great challenge considering the Philippines is the most disaster prone region in all of South East Asia.

Kevin Lee - A Single Drop for SafeWater - Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines
Partnerships with other organizations and adaptability on our side has provided us with two very big opportunities for program development as well as enhancement of existing programs. This includes participative survey methodology which we got too see in action in a conflict affected area. No matter where you work, when communities have a chance to participate, you see a change in attitude and resolve. It was also an affirmation of our vision and how we do things which makes the challenges of this work worthwhile.

Matt Sirolly - The Wage Justice Center - Los Angeles, CA
In a little less than a week we are going to be holding a volunteer/advocate training in conjunction with a number of legal aid and workers' rights groups in Los Angeles. The training has gotten a tremendous amount of support—more than we had expected. In fact, the California Employment Lawyers Association, the main state-wide association of employee-side employment lawyers in California, recently agreed to be listed as a sponsor. We originally proposed the idea of this training as a way of garnering volunteer support to help underground economy workers file claims for backwages. In part, we hoped this training would increase the capacity for helping undocumented workers file wage claims. Although there are a number of legal-aid-run clinics in the area, most of these have difficulties providing assistance to undocumented workers because of restrictions on the federal funding they receive. Thus, we hope to use the training to draw support from pro-bono attorneys who will be able to represent workers that would otherwise have difficulty finding representation. Nonetheless, as the training has developed, we are also coming to recognize that it is an effective way to pool the resources of the numerous legal aid and community groups that provide assistance to low income workers in LA. A number of groups provide training for volunteers and run clinics specializing in wage claims.

Melvin Yee - The Wage Justice Center - Los Angeles, CA
As part of an advocate coalition, the State contacted me and wanted to meet. However, coordinating a meeting time was difficult. I compromised by pushing the meeting back by two weeks and suggesting a date, rather than meeting with the State by myself or pushing the meeting back by four weeks.

Robert Mutsaers - Green Power - Kiangurwe, Kenya
Post election violence in Kenya has made prospects to develop our model extremely difficult.

Jessica Mayberry - Video Volunteers - Gujarat, India
The best moment was during a workshop when we brought all of our Community Video Producers—around forty of them—together for a two week advanced training. To see all of them together in a room, bonding, writing songs together that they had written about their work in the community video units, was just amazing. I felt I was seeing the embodiment of my dreams and hard work.

Sehnaz Layikel - Initiative for Human Rights in Mental Health - Istanbul, Turkey
Since June 2007, we are implementing a project for monitoring the mental health institutions in Turkey and preparing detailed human rights reports for policy change and we are able to do this through a general permission of the Ministry of Health. It was vey difficult to get the permission. Right now we are in the middle of the project and the ministry criticized our reports many times. However, we could keep the permission going as we could sustain our relationship with them. One of the challenges for us was not to forsake our priorities and principles for human rights advocacy. It is like walking along a thin line but we could accomplish it up to now. One other thing we could accomplish is to have at least one HRMHI member who have prior hospitalization experience during our visits to hospitals. This has been very effective both for better monitoring and for the empowerment of those members.

Sara Lam - Rural China Education Foundation - Shaanxi and Shandong, China
Last month, I toured universities in Anhui province and Beijing, giving presentations, meeting with student organizations and academics to raise awareness about rural education issues and recruit teaching fellow for the next year. I received applications on the spot and many people expressed interest in becoming involved.

Diane Geng - Rural China Education Foundation - Shaanxi and Shandong, China
Winter in rural China is beautiful but very, very cold. Nevertheless, in a recent trip Sara and I took to one of our partner middle schools, we found warmth and heated discussion in the company of some pretty amazing teachers. Education idealists from around China are drawn to this one-of-a-kind village school to try out student-centered ways of teaching. RCEF partners with them to document their teaching and learning strategies. We hope that these case studies and first-hand experiences will inspire and help other rural teachers who face similar educational challenges. As we huddled around the coal fire chatting about how the past semester went, the teachers told us stories of students' progress, but also difficulties in school management and communication between teachers. Many said they felt lonely and that during the cold winter days, they venture out of their dorms less and less for the casual interaction that builds and sustains a team. So it was a welcome relief the second night of our visit when all the teachers gathered for an impromptu BBQ. We made kebobs together, laughed, and ate lots of meat (still a rarity in the daily diet of most rural Chinese). This emphasized to everyone the importance of creating frequent events for socializing amongst colleagues, both to drive away the winter chills and to share the triumphs and problems of life and work with friends who can understand.

Michael Gainer - Buffalo ReUse - Buffalo, NY
Buffalo ReUse has initiated a city-wide Neighborhood Peace Mural Project involving teenagers in the City of Buffalo. All area high schools and groups affiliated with local teens are invited to adopt-a-vacant-home within their neighborhoods as a canvas for peace . The planned activities coincide with Martin Luther King Jr activities and Black History Month events because it is a time when our nation honors heroes who have struggled against inequality. It is also a time when students learn about celebrating diversity and community; we hope to provide a hands-on lesson the city can cherish. Securing vacant homes is an important task in keeping neighborhoods safe; but it does not mean boarded up homes must be an eyesore. Each adopted house could feature up to twenty images of peace, depending on its quantity of doors and windows. BRI will provide “mural kits” which include plywood boards, brushes and paint for each participating group. The groups merely have to supply their interpretations of peace–and the painters!

Nina Dudnik - Seeding Labs - Boston, MA
Lesson 1: Have a detailed strategic plan - with deadlines!

Rafiq Kalam Id-Din - KID, LLC - New York, NY
The drafting of the charter application has been far more challenging than I anticipated, but it is (finally) nearly complete. I did not anticipate that the flu would set me back so substantially. But I am finally back on track and will be submitting in the next few days. I need to generate more operating dollars to continue to support the project on an ongoing basis; I have sent out several grant applications and am planning a fundraiser.

John Thompson - Resurrection After Exoneration - New Orleans, LA
The first three day empowerment seminar for exonerees, was a special event for me. I never really thought about what all it would take to put something together like this. Hotel rooms, food, transportation, a place to host the event, guess speakers, workshops. Not to mention, I never did any of this before. Twenty-four exonerate men, some seeing each other the first time since the hurricane hit this city and left many of them living in other cities. Right away, everything went wrong. I didn't have a clue how expensive this would be. Then to top it off, PBS came to town to tape the organization. The men felt so good to have the opportunity to share their stories with other. The respond from the men was amazing, they are now calling asking do I have speaking engagement for them to go on. Now they feel like the voice for justice I have been trying so hard to get them involve in.