The Nobelity Project

The Nobelity Project
The Nobelity Project Logo
Formation	2005
Legal status	Non-Profit Organization
Purpose/focus	Education
Headquarters	Austin, TX, U.S.
Founder	Turk Pipkin Christy Pipkin
Website	Nobelity.org

The Nobelity Project is an Austin, TX-based nonprofit founded by Turk and Christy Pipkin, in 2006, while producing the film Nobelity. The nonprofit's principal goals include education and bettering the lives of people across the globe. The Nobelity Project's programs relate to several issues: Nobelity in Schools, the Kenyan Water Project, and the films, Nobelity (2006), One Peace at a Time (2009) and Building Hope (2011). Nobelity works in partnership with numerous organizations, including CARE, A Glimmer of Hope Foundation, Concern Worldwide, and Architecture for Humanity. In 2010 Turk and Christy Pipkin spoke about The Nobelity Project and their most recent documentary at the 2010 TED (conference).

Documentaries

Nobelity

Main article: Nobelity

Nobelity is a film that looks at the world through the eyes of nine Nobel Laureates. The film follows filmmaker Turk Pipkin’s personal journey to find enlightening answers about the kind of world our children and grandchildren will know. Filmed across the U.S. and in France, England, India, and Africa, Nobelity combines the insights of nine distinguished Nobelists with a first-person view of world problems and the children who are most challenged by them. The film features Steven Weinberg, Jody Williams, Ahmed Zewail, Rick Smalley, Wangari Maathai, Sir Joseph Rotblat, Dr. Harold Varmus, Desmond Tutu, and Amartya Sen and premiered at the SXSW film festival in Austin in 2006.

One Peace at a Time

Main article: One Peace at a Time

One Peace at a Time is the sequel to Nobelity. Turk Pipkin, again takes his camera and embarks on a journey around the world. The film looks at solutions to the problems of the previous film and at those who are making a difference, including the Bangladeshi creator of the micro-loan system Muhammad Yunus, Thailand's premier family planner Mechai Viravaidya, and The Miracle Foundation, among many others. The film underlines the idea that each generation has a responsibility to involve themselves in the world and to help make it sustainable for the generation that comes next. It premiered in Austin, Texas, USA, on April 14, 2009.

Building Hope

Main article: Building Hope

Building Hope is the sequel to One Peace at a Time. After rebuilding a rural Kenyan primary school, Turk Pipkin and The Nobelity Project agree to help build the area’s first high school - including the award-winning RainWater Court, classroom building, science and computer labs, and a library. Through drought, flood, and fundraising challenges, Building Hope chronicles the construction of Mahiga Hope High, and the connection between a thousand people in the U.S. and an African community working to create a better future for their children.

Programs

Nobelity in Schools

Nobelity in Schools brings the films of the Nobelity Project to classrooms across the U.S. and abroad, to inform students about problems faced by the world and motivate them to become involved, through the words of Nobel laureates in the films. DVDs of the films are available to any teacher that requests one.^[1]

Kenyan Water Project

Seeing the stark poverty of a village in Kenya was a primary motivator behind the formation of the Nobelity Project. Students at the St. Joseph's Mahiga Primary School had to walk for an hour to reach a stream to get drinking water and suffered illnesses from the unpurified water. The Kenyan Water Project was able to build a pump and provide running water to the school, and provide the classroom with supplies including some computers.

Mahiga Hope High School

In 2009 The Nobelity Project began construction on Mahiga Hope High School in rural Kenya. It is the first high school in the area of Mahiga near Nyeri. The school held its grand opening on October 1, 2010. The Nobelity Project is also building a science building for the school along with organic gardens to be completed in fall 2010. Construction of the school earned the Nobelity Project a nomination for Architecture for Humanity's book, Design Like You Give a Damn 2, a collection of writings about projects designed to benefit humanity.

Mahiga Rainwater Court

In 2009, Nike, Inc. awarded The Nobelity Project, in partnership with Architecture for Humanity, a "Game Changers Award," an architectural grant to build a multiple purpose game, performance, and rain water collection facility. It is an athletic facility for Mahiga Hope High, as well as provides a community center for Mahiga. It also serves as the schools only source of drinking water. The Mahiga Rainwater Court held was opened in conjunction with the school's grand opening.

Mahiga Hope Library

In 2010, construction began on the Mahiga Hope Library. This library will provide books to the whole community of Mahiga. This unique library consists of books donated by individuals along with personal inscriptions in each book, part of their book drive 1,000 Books for Hope. The book drive received contributions from individuals and various school groups and the library will also provide text books and reference books in English and Swahili.

Notes

1. ^ The Nobelity Project

Sources and External Links

http://nobelity.org/ http://nobelitythemovie.com/ http://gamechangers.architectureforhumanity.org/proposals/rainwater_court_mahiga_hope_high_school http://www.austin360.com/movies/pipkins-living-by-a-charitable-pact-518890.html http://architectureforhumanity.org/node/1506 http://www.austinwomanmagazine.com/Articles/2009/10_OCT/54_Christy_Pipkin.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/business/29flier.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Entertainment/cat_index_nyc_events/One_Peace_At_A_Time_-_A_Turk_Pipkin_Nobility_Project_Film.php