Open Hand Studios

Preservation. Development. Education

Open Hand Studios is a nonprofit organization working
at the crossroads of development, education, and preservation.
We work across the globe on a local level to alleviate poverty,
improve livelihoods, educate communities, and preserve culture. 

Burundi

The Burundi Cow Project is an education and development project that helps students broaden their global awareness, gain cross-cultural knowledge, and instill an ethic of service while directly helping poor farmers in a small central African nation.

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Rendilleland

Open Hand’s Biogas Project seeks to reduce deforestation and bring clean renewable energy to the pastoralist communities of northern Kenya.

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Umm el-Jimal

The Umm el-Jimal Project is a collaborative effort to preserve a Jordanian archeology site and bring economic development to the local community.

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Asian African Heritage

At the National Museums of Kenya we are working with the Asian African Heritage Trust installing a new permanent exhibit that shares the history and culture of the Asian African community.

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Artists of the First Sunrise

Artists of the First Sunrise is a documentary and cultural preservation project with Australia’s aboriginal people and seeks to share their story and struggle through their art.

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Healing Children of Conflict

OHS sits on the steering committee of HCC who recently brought Hamzah, a young Palestinian boy, to the US for medical treatment.

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Signage Installed

The first set of OHS’s designed signs have been installed at Umm el-Jimal.

US Ambassador Visits Umm el-Jimal

Recently both the US Ambassador to Jordan and the Cultural Affairs officer at the US Embassy have visited Umm el-Jimal to review our work there.

Faces of Dignity Wins Award

TechSoup has announced that Faces of Dignity is a winner of the Adobe Show Your Impact award.

OHS at the AU Summit

Jeff DeKock presented the lecture “Using Photography and Video for Advocacy” at the Africa Union Summit in Kampala, Uganda.

OHS Featued in Archaeology Magazine

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Worldview Interview

OHS’s directors are interviewed on Chicago Public Radio’s program Worldview.

Listen to the Interview

OHS in the News

OHS has been featured in Spark Magazine.

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Grave Errors Launch

OHS along with World Relief launched Grave Errors, a film exploring Kenya’s post-election violence in 2008 as part of an East-African wide peace program. See a shortened version of the film air on Current TV.

OHS at Berzeit

OHS presented the lecture “Preserving Heritage, Preserving Communities” at Berzeit University, in Ramallah, Palestine as part of a conference on Gender Studies.

OHS presents at Yarmouk University Conference

Four members of the UJ Project and OHS team presented a paper titled “Restoration of the Ancient
 Water System at Umm el-Jimal: Survey, Strategy, and Goals” at a workshop themed “Regional Survey and Land Use Reconstruction in the Levant,” hosted by Yarmouk University.

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