Jil Van Eyle, Barcelona, August 10, 2012
Foreword
Photo http://www.fundacionpiesdescalzos.com/
The name of my foundation is Pies Descalzos, the Barefoot Foundation, and through this work I have witnessed the pain and neglect many children endure who live in intolerable conditions. That is why, since I learned about the projects established by Teaming, I knew I would support it.
For me the best gift is to know that Teaming is helping to spread the word about our work. It makes me feel as if a fairy godmother had touched me with her magic wand… and that’s Teaming: Real help that comes wrapped in magic.
The way I got to meet Jil Van Eyle also has a bit of magic in it, and you will read more about it in this book. But from my perspective, meeting the people who are involved in the project really just shows how, as more people are willing to pour their energies into helping others, we will sooner or later run into each other and expand the circle.
I began Pies Descalzos after my first international hit, when I was 18 years old. I have been singing and performing most of my life, but my goal has never been to be just an entertainer, or just an artist who is only concerned about success. My career as a singer and songwriter is important to me because of the happiness it brings to me and to others. I have done interviews with journalists about my music and my goals, and you can find many of them in You Tube, where you can hear me say this: I want to find happiness in my work.
Yet if you listen to the lyrics of my songs you can hear that they’re about a lot more than that. What I’m looking for is what we all want, work that is deeply rewarding, that has meaning as well as making people happy.
That is why I say in my website, that when you give the opportunity for a better life to a child at the right time, then the sky is the limit. Just like in Teaming, we’re looking for people to be involved brick by brick, in small ways that are accessible to everyone. Bricks are the building units of a school for children in Colombia, where they can learn about science, the arts, technology, math, Spanish and English, and of course, music.
I think that Teaming is an effective way to get people involved because it doesn’t stop at borders— Teaming is international. My own foundation came out of the love I have for the children in my country, who are displaced and homeless and have to struggle for a chance at education. But as time passed and my music took me all over the world, my work expanded to the children in Bangladesh, in Haiti, in Rajasthan, India, and later to Israeli and Palestinian children.
Things Come Full Circle
In 2003 I was named Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, which is a great honor and constantly renews my commitment to all children. During 2007, I went on a fundraising concert tour to benefit ALAS, the Latin American Solidarity Action Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and New York. ALAS was founded in response to a social emergency, to aid the hundreds of thousands of children in Latin America who live on the streets, and who will die from totally preventable causes. For this reason, the work focuses on nutrition, shelter, and education. Again, in 2010 the UN recognized my contribution to charities, which is important for getting many more people involved. For me, it’s what I do that brings happiness every day.
When my work took me to Africa and to Europe, and in 2011 received the MTV Award for Humanitarian Work, another phase of my life began. The year before, in South Africa, I had filmed the video of my song, Waka Waka (Esto es África), which was chosen to be the official anthem of the Soccer World Championship. It was in Barcelona that, through an unexpected connection I met Jil and found out about Teaming. This is why I believe that things will come full circle, and that people who are working towards the same goals will eventually meet. I know there will be many points where, through the work of my foundation, we will meet the network of Teaming, in Latin America and all over the world.
Shakira
Barcelona, July 23, 2012
Introduction
In the age of telemarketers and motivational speakers on everything, from losing weight to improving retirement portfolios, it is unusual to hear a message that is simple and brief, with no strings attached and no products to buy at the end of the presentation. Yet, this is precisely what Jil Van Eyle, the founder of Teaming, is telling people in Europe, Latin America, and now the U.S., “Do you want to help someone? Here is a way to do it.”
Escritorial Press has only been around for a little over a year. We publish books of poetry and narrative by multilingual writers who inhabit an imaginary bridge between New York and Barcelona— the cities we love most. This summer, 2012, we had a chance to meet Jil Van Eyle, a former executive, a very nice guy from Holland, 45 years old, thin, not particularly tall, with bright blue eyes, who lives in Barcelona with his family. Along with another small press, Códice, which is even newer than our press, he wanted us to publish a book about his micro donation funding initiative, Teaming.
As we got to know the story of Teaming, some parallels between Escritorial and Teaming became apparent. For one thing, as editors and writers we also believe in the concept of working in a team where all of us know how to do many different things: we speak several languages, we edit and translate, we do graphic design, and take care of distribution and sales. We would not know how to work otherwise. For Jil, who has always been a team worker and is an avid fan of the Barcelona soccer team, the strategy for creating an organization without an office or a bank account has been to support people who can play any position- midfielder, forward, or defender, so that everyone scores a goal.
We also believe that doing things for others with an open heart is the best way to be creative, to enjoy life, and we do put our heart and soul into everything we do. In 2011, when we published the poetry collection by Noemí Trujillo Giacomelli, La muchacha de los ojos tristes, the most rewarding aspect was knowing that the poet would be happy with her book. As we completed each translation, Noemí was delighted. She wrote to thank us when the bilingual edition of The Girl With Sadness In Her Eyes was printed, and Noemí was able to read her poems in Barcelona for the first time. Her heartfelt emails practically made us cry.
We don’t always have the opportunity to do something important in the world. Many of us are committed to social change, but it is very easy to become discouraged when the sorrow of war, of famine, of violence, the ills of our own making, are added to the events we cannot change, as are natural disasters. When the earthquake struck Haiti, part of the desperation for those who wanted to help may have come from a sense of impotence that we are too small to do anything of value. Is it only movie stars or big foundations who can make a change in people’s lives? We all want to do something concrete because we know it’s the right thing to do.
For this reason, as a way to practice what we preach, the editors of Escritorial joined Teaming USA in the course of producing this book. I can speak for myself, as translator in the project, about what happened to me when I joined. Helping to bring from Spanish to English the story of Jil’s daughter, Mónica, who was born with hydrocephalus, was an emotional experience. Working with our photographer, Celia Miralles who took the photos that would be on the cover and back cover of the book, was also very moving. Seeing the images of Mónica motivated me to want to help someone. I read on the Teaming USA website that it’s good to work for a cause we believe in, a cause that is close to our hearts, and I did just that. First, I started a Teaming group for suicide prevention efforts on behalf of lesbian and gay adolescents of color, LGBTQ young people in the U.S. who have no one to turn to. I donated my first dollar to the group and wrote an email to my friends, and all the people I know on Facebook, twitter, tumblr- everyone.
And