Our Mission and 501c3 Status
Open Hand Studios is a 501c3 public charity. That means the work we do in partnering with developing communities to preserve cultural heritage is legally recognized as a public good. But more importantly, our mission has four main parts: preservation, education, action, and support. This holistic approach ties our work together and ensures we make a sustainable, human-centered impact with our partner communities.


Umm Muaffaq, from the town of Umm el-Jimal, Jordan

Preservation
Our work preserves cultural heritage by partnering with developing communities to protect and share their culture and history. Later this month OHS is releasing version 2 of the Umm el-Jimal Project’s online virtual museum and research archive. In January 2010 we’re helping lead another group of undergraduates to this ancient archaeological site and modern Jordanian community for a second month-long field season of work. Land has been donated for the on-site cultural heritage center at Umm el-Jimal, and a proposal to restore this ancient site’s water system is in the works.

Creative Director Jeff DeKock filming in a Kenyan IDP Camp

Education
OHS helps educate by engaging the public to understand people and traditions from around the world with whom they would not otherwise communicate. Open Hand’s Paul Christians and Jeff DeKock have been invited to speak on cultural heritage and development at the West Bank’s Birzeit University in October as part of the Enabling Local Voices project, which works to bolster the voice of women and families in the Middle East. Grave Errors, our film examining Kenya’s 2008 post-election violence, is under final editing for use in international nonprofit World Relief’s peace building program throughout East Africa. A US version will also be released soon. This fall OHS is also collaborating with Hope Equals on a short film to engage young Americans with peace building in Israel and Palestine.


Robey, Sawayo, and Maria Inside a Rendille Hut

Action
We help empower our partner communities by returning the proceeds generated by our work to meet community needs. In June a Nairobi radio station misidentified the Rendille as one of Kenya’s extinct tribes. In response, Rendille are coming together to create cultural celebrations that will communicate their living, vibrant culture—and they’ve asked Open Hand to join them in preserving and presenting their heritage. Jeff DeKock, Open Hand’s creative director, has moved to Kenya and is working with this camel-herding, semi-nomadic tribe.


Sunrise at Umm-el Jimal

Support
Finally, we support other high-quality organizations by providing media services appropriate to their nonprofit and development missions. Here in the USA, we’re currently leading identity, web, and strategic planning work for Healing Children of Conflict, a growing West-Michigan based nonprofit that provides medical treatment for children hurt in conflicts involving the US. In the city of Managua, Nicaragua, we’re working with young entrepreneur Hermes Castillo to found RGB Productions, a creative studio that will focus on social issues and provide jobs for media students in the developing world.