Unique experience I passed through my visit to Lebanon (last week), it was work, as (UNDP-ICTDAR) was a partner in a project there.
I was touched by everything there…and really get confused!!
The ppl are awesome on the personal level… Lebanese ppl love life, have sense of humor, hospitable, kind, friendly, love dance and jokes…
The country its natures just like a piece of heaven …
BUT..and there is always BUT…I don't know why all these conflicts over there between the different parties….and the issue of denominationalisms as well !!
I went there as "Human Rights" Trainer for young youth in a project aiming to engage young youth from all Lebanon in a peace project ,
the "TAWASOOL-Youth ICT Boot Camp-Lebanon", which took place in the "University of Balamand" and organized by "iJMA3". The campers took courses on Microsoft Unlimited Potential, Consensus, Red Cross lecture, and sure my organization "UNDP-ICTDAR" … the camp was so interesting and different, where campers had the opportunity to have fun, play sports, watch movies.
By the first day, I get touched by their wonderful spirit and I noticed that everybody is avoiding some kind of topics…
Later on, I realized that the organizing committee asked them and their parents to not get involved in religion nor politics..
Yess …this was good in some kind of aspects and has its negative points as well,
Good: the young youth get involved with each other forgetting their differences and focus on their common bonds as human and Lebanese youth.
Negative Point: that they didn't choose this but they forced not to declare their selves freely….
But in my sessions I broke these golden rules for sure :D
@ the very beginning I asked for open space where trainees can sit on floor and that the materials will be activity based. Through games and fun activities we all get engaged in religion and politics
I was amazed by the Lebanese spirit in conflict management activities..The participants were creative especially that they liked this style of learning, when they sit as groups, and deal with each other in a more friendly and informal way. As Lebanese they got everything to celebrate life, and their spirit gave unique spirit to the sessions …
In my first session the organizing committee didn't believe what I am doing, they were standing watching ….and saying like "oh poor girl..you don't know what you are gonna do with ur self…don't don't get involved in such things..you are in Lebanon" and some of the other trainers asked the trainer from the "Red Cross" to be ready ..just in case for any broken necks or something …:))
But on the contrary the young participants were awesome, a lot of things raised up, and the best thing was that they opened their hearts and spoke up and shared with me a lot of things…how challenges could we face in reall life…
Some of the participants mentioned how they don't feel any problem to share and talk with other parties but because of their surroundings may be it will be little difficult to solve issues…and so on when it comes to electioneering many times..
And this was quite true, I touched it my self, on the personal level they are gr8 ppl but when it comes to denominationalism you will see the big disaster..
The young ppl who I met there, were quite open minded, well cultured, may be this caused by the current situation in Lebanon which created unique generation …they are not kids any more..they are mature, the politics in their daily life changed them..some times I was little bit alarmed from their arguments in our sessions through games and activities…
This generation will create a new Lebanon..I pray to visit Lebanon after 15 years from now …as I am looking forward to see "how this generation will do" …Lebanon is changing …and this generation has a lot to share and give….but hopefully to be for good….
in order to help this generation to do something, we have to step aside and give them a real chance for dialogue and not to be over protecting...and stop hiding behinde our fingers...lets face our challanges and put hand together to solve our issues
I love Lebanon..and miss every body there…and I wanna be there again soooooooooooon…
I headed off in the morning to the Australian Science and Math School, hosted at Flinders University. The school is only a few years old, and is built with an open concept -- no classrooms, but instead a number of large spaces with desks and chairs that reconfigured in many different ways to foster teamwork and collaboration. We had a large group - about 50 teachers and school leaders, and had a really interesting day -- when I showed the "Are you listening?" video, a whole bunch of students gathered upstairs in the area overlooking where I was speaking to watch - I think they were really curious that so many teachers were learning about their way of using technology!
After a fantastic dinner by the water with a group of curriculum developers, I headed to sleep -- because I had to catch a 6:40am flight to Canberra!
I made it to the nation's capital early in the morning, and it was freezing! 0 degrees but it warmed up as the sun rose... I had a few hours to fit the gym and have lunch before heading to Canberra University -- the group in Canberra decided to have an evening workshop (4-9pm) with dinner. Although everyone had a full day of work before showing up, we still had a lot of active participation, and after wrapping up at 9 and getting back to the hotel around 10, it was time for sleep for another 6:45am flight back to Sydney for the last workshop of the trip!
Arriving in Sydney in the morning, with my 32kg on-the-dot bag faithfully appearing on the carousel, I headed off to Parramatta right on time, and arrived 3 minutes before the workshop was to begin! We had the biggest crowd of any session -- around 60 people, and so a lot of the interactive sections took a lot longer than usual, but they had great ideas and a large group of schools approached me after and wants to deeply engage their entire district with TIGed, which is exciting! After wrapping up and chatting with a bunch of the attendees, I was off to one of my favourite hotels in the world -- the Westin Sydney, to relax, enjoy their great gym, and have dinner with Jenny, who had the whole series of workshops organized, to debrief on the experience (yum, Tasmanian lamb!). After that, I met up with Jarra and Nick, and headed to Micky's for dessert (Banana Pancakes and Ice Cream!) to catch up and for me to celebrate the completion of 10 sessions in 11 days in 5 cities!
I'm writing this now on the flight to Vancouver -- I managed to get right to sleep after lunch on the 10am flight, which will hopefully mean I can work through the North American day and head to sleep at a proper time tonight. Saturday, we head to Quebec City for the World Youth Congress to meet TIG members from all over the world. I've also agreed to head to Brisbane on the 19th to speak at the Queenland Government's e-learning summit, and after that, I'll be ready to just settle down at home and enjoy the rest of the summer in Toronto :)
Now that I've been away a full week, I forced myself to carve out some time to reflect on the intensity of the time so far before kicking off the second stretch.
As always, our summers at TakingITGlobal are quite busy -- generally for the education "industry", most conferences are held during the summer when teachers have school holidays. This summer, as a follow-up to my keynote at last October's ACEL (Australian Counsel of Educational Leaders) conference (which was apparently quite good even though I was quite sick at the time), I was invited to be a "Traveling Scholar" for ACEL, presenting 5 full-day workshops on TakingITGlobal to school leaders and teachers across Australia. In addition, I started off the trip by keynoting a leadership conference at Melbourne Grammar School, and today keynoted the International Middle Years conference in Adelaide... so I've made quite good use of two weeks!
Sunday - Wednesday: Melbourne
After the trek from Toronto to Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, I knew the first thing I needed to do to keep my sanity was to spend a good amount of time at the fitness center at the Westin. What a great idea - it helped me refresh, have a fantastic swim in the beautiful infinity pool, and after a brief stroll that was quickly canceled when the rain started, I got to sleep at a reasonable hour.
On Monday, I woke up nice and early and arrived at the charming greened campus of Melbourne Grammar, one of Melbourne's oldest and most respected private schools. To their enormous credit, they had invited students from a broad cross-section of Melbourne to attend the conference, in addition to a grade of their students. I was brilliantly introduced by one of their capable students, and my keynote was well-received - with more questions from students than we had time for. Following the keynote, a panel including a futurist, scientist, and Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson, who cited my presentation several times as they discussed issues of leadership in the 21st century and challenged students to act on the issues they felt challenged by. In the afternoon, I ran several hours of hands-on workshops guiding a small group of students through the TIG site and beginning the Guide to Action as a tool for action planning.
Tuesday morning, I visited Kilsyth, a suburb of Melbourne, and ran a 3 hour workshop with a group of teachers across that region looking at TIG and especially with an interest in Health education... it was a good challenge because we didn't have Internet except for a very slow 2G connection, so I was able to get well prepared and experiment with some activities for the following days' sessions!
That evening, I traveled to Mooney Valley Racecourse (home of Australia's best race - the Cox plate, worth $3 million!) and presented our work at TIG to about 150 principals, who also had some great questions, and I enjoyed meeting a teacher who grew up in Mississauga and had spent his recent years enjoying and exploring Australia's wilderness.
On Wednesday, I spent from 9 AM to 3:30 PM with an enthusiastic group of teachers and principals learning about TIG, exploring global issues, and understanding how to fit our programs and ideas at TIG into the curriculum and everyday use in their classrooms. I also shared our Best Practices on Global Education resource with them... and then I was off to the airport, heading to my next destination: Tasmania!
Thursday - Saturday: Hobart, Tasmania
On Thursday, I woke up and did it all over again, in a beautiful setting amongst Lemon trees at Lateare Gardens in Hobart with a fire burning to keep us all warm and cozy from the cold outside! I think the goals of what we do at TakingITGlobal really connected closely with some people - one teacher was literally in tears sharing how wonderful she thought what we did was... it's really a special opportunity (as exhausting as it is) to be able to share our work with people that are also dedicating their lives to helping young people develop. I think sometimes we all forget the power and opportunity we have to impact the lives of others - and I feel like a few people really felt reconnected to that opportunity, which is really an amazing opportunity to be able to stimulate.
After a short 2 hour break to refresh and do some e-mail, I headed off to the Hobart Yacht club, where I addressed about 50 high school principals, who weren't able to attend the day's workshop because they were having a leadership retreat. I had to pack 90 minutes into a 30 minute before dinner speech, so I think it was overwhelming, but many of them were quite excited by what we do... and I had delicious local Salmon which was a bonus!
The next day was my main day off. I decided not to head off to my next destination right away, but to stick around in Hobart and see some of the beautiful wildlife Tasmania has to offer. So I signed up for a Tasman Island Eco Cruise - having no idea how much of an adventure it would be! After a scenic bus ride to Port Arthur, one of the main convict colonies from the 1800s, we boarded a powerful boat (675 HP) that they describe as a 4x4 of the sea. Initially the ride was quite smooth - and we discovered some caves and amazing rock formations on the coast. The "swells" were only about 1 meter, and so it was just like jumping waves on a boat at home.
However, once we got out to the Tasman Sea, things got a lot more interesting. The waves and the winds were coming strongly from an unusual direction, and 2-3 meter waves and swells gave us quite a ride! I had chosen to sit in the 4th row (moved from the 2nd) and for close to an hour, we jumped waves and it felt like we were on a roller coaster as we plunged down after riding a wave.... but I stuck with my seat - a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
We arrived at two areas with Australian and New Zealand seals, and at a cove where dolphins chased our boat around until we had to leave - amazing to lean over and watch them at the water and bow of the boat jumping up playfully! A number of albatross with their huge wingspans also provided us with an amazing show - watching them fish and gracefully glide across the sky with nothing around us but huge rock and menacing water... or what looked menacing in my book. In 1998, however, the water was so rough that in the annual Sydney-Hobart race, five boats sank and six sailors were killed.
On Saturday morning, before heading to the airport, I spent a few hours enjoying the Salamanca Market, with hundreds of stalls offering delicious local treats and art and coffee and everything needed to pass a few hours and take in the culture of a place!
Sunday - Monday: Adelaide, South Australia
Now I'm here in Adelaide, where this morning I keynoted the International Middle Years of Schooling conference, and was again introduced by a fantastic student duo! I gave out dozens of bookmarks afterwards, with many many people promising to check out the site and connect their students into TIG. I was also followed by an excellent presentation by Professor Erica, who gave a talk on creativity that linked really perfectly and built on top of many of the themes I covered.
Tomorrow I'm off to the Australian Science and Mathematics School to do another day-long workshop, and then heading to Canberra the next morning... I'll be sure to check in soon with more! And I'll be editing this entry in about 2 hours with photos once they upload.
I am honoured to share a reflection on my experience at the 2008 Silver Bay Leadership Forum in Silver Bay, New York where they are celebrating their 90th Anniversary of a conference that explores the current and emerging state of leadership.
Last night I was one of three recipients of the Inaugural Leadership Forum Awards. As stated in the program “each of this year’s honoured recipients has been selected for his/her demonstrated ability to take bold action, provide solutions to complex leadership dilemmas, and generate tremendous followership. These leaders have also exhibited the rare ability to cross streams and address issues through commercial, governmental, social and economic channels”. We were recognized for our work in solving ‘wicked’ problems and as you might imagine, it was a very humbling and uplifting experience for me.
In accepting the award, we were each asked to make a few remarks and share our perspectives on leadership. I kicked off my comments on how leadership emerges based on your state of mind. I asked the room two questions. The first – ‘how many of you believe that every problem has a solution’? A collection of people put up their hands. I then asked ‘how many of you believe that NOT every problem has a solution’. An even larger group of people raised their hands. I then went on to share a visual diagram that came to mind while travelling to Silver Bay and reflecting on my perspective of leadership.
In the past, my perspective on leadership was somewhat simplistic and singular. Today, I see leadership in the context of trying to solve some of the world’s most complex and interconnected challenges. It is a moving and evolving target that requires constant re-alignment and mobility. In response to my questions that I posed to the room, I shared my realization that problems are interconnected – and YES – there are solutions, though we often need to invent and co-create them.
While preparing for my remarks on leadership on the plane, in addition to my diagram, I also prepared a series of reflections on what I have learned about leadership over the years:
For me, leadership has been about...
- Being aware of problems and taking an active role in being part of creating solutions
- Being called upon to reflect and represent collective and shared experiences
- Asking critical questions in order to better understand realties
- Energizing processes through taking interest, showing appreciation and participating
- Making connections between diverging ideas and different people with diverse backgrounds
- Reflecting on lessons of the past and making decisions that move towards a brighter future
- Having perspective with the ability to both focus in on a situation as well as see a bigger picture
- Taking responsibility for my actions and intentions
- Believing in ideas and possibilities
- Convening conversations across differences and differences
- Resolving conflict through deep listening, understanding and building trust
- Transforming ideas into actions and new realities
- Dancing with life and celebrating beauty in the midst of it all
While at Silver Bay, in addition to connecting with official conference delegates from various corporations and non-profit organizations, I also enjoyed spending time with the children of the delegates. They were truly delightful and took great interest in TakingITGlobal and my experiences with leadership. I enjoyed responding to their questions and learning from their own experiences. A highlight was also being able to go Kayaking & make a necklace at the Craft Shop!
It was so exciting for the TakingITGlobal team to be part of our sixth year at the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) these past few days here in San Antonio, Texas! TakingITGlobal had a great presence across the conference, and I am proud to share the ways in which we were able to reach out and connect with so many educators. To start with, I’ve personally just renewed my commitment to serve on the NECC conference committee for the next two years. I see my role as helping to think about the ways in which we can best engage the next generation of educators.
Before the NECC conference kicks off on opening day (Sunday, June 29th this year), an International Reception is held at the Global Connections Lounge, to welcome attendees from around the world (over 30 countries this year!) and to provide a space to share and discuss opportunities for global connections.
This year, TakingITGlobal was an organizing sponsor of the International Reception, and my co-founder Michael Furdyk along with our US Education Program Manager Emily Kornblut, presented an overview of TakingITGlobal’s recent work and invited the attendees to collaborate with us for greater global awareness. Following the International Reception, the conference’s Opening Reception was held, and provided about a dozen poster sessions for presenters to share their work. TakingITGlobal was one of the organizations provided with this opportunity. We spoke with hundreds of attendees and were able to share our programs with many enthusiastic educators.
On the following afternoon, we had a Spotlight Session, Social Networking for Social Good, held in the Lila Cochrell Auditorium, where we discussed the opportunity for educators to incorporate TakingITGlobal programs into the classroom, and shared many stories of how young people’s use of social web tools have provided them with life-changing opportunities to engage with the issues facing our planet. For the rest of the afternoon, our booth was abuzz with discussions of classroom collaboration and opportunities for partnership with dozens of school districts and organizations.
TakingITGlobal was also featured as an example of positive youth engagement by Education Technology consultant Sara Armstrong in her session Educating Students about Online Safety. The following morning was an exciting one – two educators who have been using our TIGed tools, Mali Bickley and Jim Carleton, were invited by ISTE to give a keynote speech about the collaborations they developed with schools around the world. During their talk, they highlighted TakingITGlobal.org as a social network for social good, and also showed screenshots of the TIG homepage and their TIGed classroom space.
On the final afternoon, Steve Dembo from Discovery Education featured TakingITGlobal as a resource in his session Policies, Safety and Socialm, where he provided our website as an example of well moderated, classroom friendly, safe social networking website. The conference was closed by TakingITGlobal US Advisor Idit Caperton, who provided the conference’s closing keynote, and highlighted TakingITGlobal as a resource for positive student engagement.
We have been so pleased to work with ISTE and engage with the NECC conference on so many fronts! Our partnership with ISTE has also lead to a recent presentation in Dubai and a future event in Singapore, and we were honoured to be mentioned in ISTE’s 2008 Annual Report as one of their key institutional partners!
Special Thanks to our TakingITGlobal staff at NECC !
(below photo: from left to right)
Michael Furdyk
Jennifer Corriero
Emily Kornblut
Kirsten Jordan
Luke Walker
I'm speaking tomorrow at PUSH, an interesting conference here in Minneapolis, MN
The first session that just wrapped up was quite interesting - Chandran Nair took us through a look at the world's problems and how many misconceptions there are about what can solve them. What I found striking was the comparison of world problems to spending on trivial/much less meaningful things:
Health & Nutrition ($13B) : Petfood Spending in the USA ($17B)
Water and Sanitation ($9B) : Ice Cream in Europe ($11B)
Education ($6B) : Cosmetics in the USA ($8B)
Jonathan Greenblatt, one of the co-founders of Ethos Water, also gave us a compelling look into the world of Water and how simple and cheap ($25/person) it is to solve. The one thing I don't get - on a $1.79 bottle of water, Starbucks (which acquired Ethos) donates 5 cents (10 cents in Canada oddly). They were founded on the basis of donating 50% of profits... I can't believe profit on that bottle of water is only 10 cents! (considering how much cheaper other bottled water is). Anyway, he now works with a new magazine - GOOD - which has a unique subscription model of giving away the $20 subscription fee to a charity of your choice.
How can this not inspire you with hope that the messages that captivate our friends in the U.S. voting this fall can be positive and not just negative? Messages that excite with the possibility of a positive future, not try to cast fear and uncertainty as the reason to select a person.
I'm very proud of them for ending the video with the simple message of "vote" - resisting the urge to squeeze it beyond need towards the candidate.
My apologies for this very geek-specific post. If you don't have a Dell m1330 laptop, you can ignore it!
My Dell XPS m1330 is my favorite laptop yet (I think it's my 10th in 10 years!), but Dell and Microsoft have made it far too hard to re-format it cleanly without Windows Vista Blue-screening on every second boot (caused by the AHCI setting in BIOS, but not providing AHCI drivers during install). It took me awhile to figure out how to do this properly, so I thought I'd share to help the rest of the Internet figure it out.
2) Run the file with a "-a" from the Windows commandline, which will put those files into the "C:Program FilesIntelIntel Matrix Storage Manager" directory
3) Copy the files from the "Drivers" or "Drivers64" (64-bit Vista) directory onto a USB Key
4) When you install Vista from the DVD, pick the "Custom" option, then click "Load Drivers"
5) Click "Browse", and point to your USB stick. Load the drivers from it.
I'd like to invite TakingITGlobal members to engage in a discussion with Queen Rania from Jordan about stereotypes about the Arab World and the Middle East from now until August 12 (International Youth Day)! This initiative is a catalyst for youth to reflect on misconceptions they may hold in their own minds and to participate in an exchange of combating misunderstandings.
In my personal experience working with many Arab youth throughout the TIG community and traveling to countries such as Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, I have been able to challenge pre-existing stereotypes of my own through the kindness and open hearts of the many people I have connected with. It is sad that negative perceptions are so heavily influenced and shaped by the many images portrayed in the media.
Utilizing online social networking tools can provide avenues for people to challenge perceptions and engage in a meaningful exchange. That said, we still need to be open minded and willing to be wrong. We need to be willing to both accept and embrace what we do not understand - and perhaps even fear. We must be curious and willing to ask questions with the ability to question our own assumptions.
Learn more about Queen Rania's efforts to combat stereotypes on YouTube.
which i found it today on the internet by chance while I am working on a new paper :))
in his mentioned paper, which is about "A study of Egypt’s economy includes the history of the country, along with current demographics, economic policies, and sustainable development issues."
I like much how he drew his thesis map and how he introduced the topic...gr8 work indeed......
what he mentioned about "Abdl Nasser" and his era: i got alot of points about:"Under Nasser’s rule, the Egyptian people were oppressed. Nasser led a regime very characteristic of a tyrant such as imprisoning people without trail. The economy was also characteristic of a third world country in that it was very dependent upon one commodity: cotton. After Nasser’s death, Anwar el-Sadat became President."
I believe that Nasser got mistakes...but many ppl loved him, and if u doubt about that "see his funeral" and how it was,....and check this day in egypt's history
and about "Anwer Al.Sadat" in the paper looks like a prophet : my self i see Sadat was not so angle :D
we still facing some problems from Sadat's economic revolution, many of his actions were sudden & unexpected with no counsels..etc
yess, Sadat did alot of gr8 thing...but Nasser too did !!
sooooooo...nooooowwwww...I am reading the article...and just saying...funny world :P
I'd like to share some of the outcomes from my participation at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Latin America in Cancun, Mexico. I was invited to attend as part of the Young Global Leaders (YGLs) which is a group honoured and designated World Economic Forum who are identified as part of the top young leaders (under 40) from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.
Our program started off with a field visit to the offices of Compartamos - the largest microfinance institution in Latin America serving 835,000 low-income micro entrepreneurs. I was fascinated to learn that 98% of their client base are women who were previously un-banked. During our visit we attended a presentation and then went into the community and learned about the economic and social benefits of the services from a group of women who have each received loans. Each week they meet and make payments.
After our field visit we had a session with Young Global Leaders to talk about leadership trends. I joined the break-out group that focused on generational leadership differences. Some of the themes identified among generation Y include: questioning ‘why’ a lot, action and authorship, education focus, seek inspiration, concept of leadership has shifted from authority figure to facilitator, power is less concentrated in organizations, authority is earned based on respect and trust.
I then joined called 'Is Latin America ready to be a winner in the Digital Ecosystem?' as a discussion leader and group facilitator. During our group discussion, we prepared the following inputs:
Recommendations for Government:
1) Make universal access (broadband connectivity and devices/hardware) a priority on the agenda
2) Increase education and skills training to help people see the value of applications
3) Invest in entrepreneurs as content and platform creators (currently websites used in LAC did not originate from LAC)
Recommendations for Business:
1) Lobby government to prioritize the above recommendations
2) Utilize the web as a key investment strategy of the business
3) Invest in specialized training in educational institutions
Another critically important session for me was joining as the founding member of the Latin America Gender Parity Group in our session on Applying Womenomics. In our break-out group we highlighted the importance of investing in leadership skills training for women, transformation of educational systems to participatory learning environments in order to overcome cultural barriers and developing an awareness campaign to promote the understanding and value of investing in gender parity.
In our session entitled 'Addressing Economic Insecurity in Latin America' the following recommendations were highlighted in my break-out group on addressing inequitable income distribution:
1) The importance of investing in a multi-year approach in order to ensure continual monitoring of impact and retaining of institutional memory
2) Adoption of business practices related to managerial structures and processes (i.e. succession planning, development plans)
3) Working to ensure greater collaboration across sectors (government, business, civil society)
4) Educational systems require improvements and sometimes financial resources are not enough
5) It is important for businesses to have a social responsibility budget in addition to principles
6) The need to incent entrepreneurs to help society and encourage collaboration
Policy Roundtable: Mexico's Successes and Challenges with Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico
A major highlight in attending this forum was having the opportunity to ask a question to President Calderón. I asked about how to address issues of cynicism that exists in the political system and increase interest among young people in politics. I was impressed with the passion he demonstrated in response and the statement that politics is too important to leave to the politicians.
At the end of the session I had the pleasure of meeting the First Lady of Mexico, Mrs. Marganta Zavala!
I enjoyed attending the session on New Leadership in the Americas.
During our break-out discussion we talked about leadership trends in the workplace and the theme of genY and the impact on workplace culture was common among all those in the discussion. There was talk of changing lifestyle expectations, higher levels of education, values-driven culture vs. deception, inspiration vs. command and control, contribution to workplace not being limited to years of experience.
I was selected by the group to report back and comment on actions that leaders should prioritize. I suggested that leaders of organizations should:
1) Pay greater attention to Gen Y and various generational differences
2) Foster inclusive and participatory approaches to strategic planning and decision-making
3) Address generational gaps
4) Reward social benefit approaches to solving business problems
I am mesmerised by the colour of the ocean water in Cancun and the touch of the sand that tickles my toes when standing on the beach. The shades of blue, green and turquoise are enchanting and inviting. The rays of sun glistening through the clouds that pass by moves me to connect with my own inner joyful radiance.
The power of the beauty attracts me, as does the sounds and sensations of the waves that continue to flow and greet the shoreline. I am drawn to connect with my surroundings though I am not prepared to be reminded of my own vulnerabilities and powerlessness to the forces of nature.
While standing at the edge of the sand facing the ocean walking towards the waves, I feel excitement and anticipation at the thrill of contact. I move forward step by step and once the water was up to my knees I am hit by a wave crashing down towards the shore. Swept up and flowing forward I grasp for air.
Gulp.
I have accidentally swallowed a part of the salt water. My system in is in shock. Being close enough to the shore I am able to recover and regain control over myself. I am grateful for my ability to recover.
Such a simple encounter can bring up many fears and hesitations. With that one gulp, I realized that my serene scene of peace and beauty was also filled with danger, vulnerability, powerlessness and risk.
And so, I move forward with balance. I am reminded of my power and powerlessness and the harmony that is offered by our gracious earth, sky, wind and water.
The United Nations hosted a conference called UN Meets Web 2.0 at their headquarters in New York. http://www.un-gaid.org/en/node/1347
I was invited to speak on a panel session titled ‘Networking youth: How ICT can help to connect’.
- I was pleased that our session was highlighted as one of the most dynamic and engaging at the conference by Mr. Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator, UNDESA-GAID.
- I very much enjoyed connecting with each of my fellow panel members including: Ms. Patience Stephens (Focal Point on Youth, UN Programme on Youth, UNDESA), Mr. Armen Orujyan (Chairman and President, ATHGO), Mr. Johan Khairuddin (ASTROplc, Malaysia) Ms. Manar Al-Hashash, (DOT Design, Kuwait)
- Our session Moderator (Ms. Erica Hill, CNN Anchor) asked great questions and allowed for each panel participant to build upon ideas and points raised.
- Themes discussed during our session: importance of localization and multilingualism (role of English vs. Local languages online), discussion about the empowerment of women (and access to ICTs in certain regions), issue of freedom of expression and filtering/censorship online, concept of integration (example of TIG pulling in blogs via RSS, twitter posts, flickr photos, google maps etc), need for greater involvement of youth in decision-making processes (highlighted WSIS process and power of youth networks online helping to strengthen policy influence)
- The absolute BEST part of the session was when a women from the audience talked about how she is a member of TakingITGlobal and sees herself as a mentor in the community for youth. She works in the non-profit sector and receives many messages from our members asking for help on their projects. She talked about how TakingITGlobal is very different than other online social networks because we attract youth who trying to create change and that we are the best platform for those who want to offer mentorship and support in a global context. It was really REALLY wonderful to have this shared with the room - and on a personal level it is moments like this that remind me of why I do what I do - and how beautiful it is to reach people and attract people in this way.
Here is a photo with all of us who attended the aids2031 Young Leaders Summit in San Francisco at the Google Campus. The event is an initiative of UNAIDS and described as a unique gathering is bringing together approximately 40 young leaders in politics, business, media, the arts and civil society, including but not limited to those who have worked on AIDS. A main goal of the meeting is to understand how AIDS will affect each of us in profound, even unexpected ways.
Increasingly, breakthroughs will require new perspectives, approaches, and leadership that cut across sector and geographic boundaries and are rooted in social justice.
Some of the comments/themes highlighted at the meeting:
- No one deserves HIV
- Drivers: inequality, racism, poverty, homophobia, women's rights, unemployment, fragmentation, discrimination, stigma, culture, lack of ownership around AIDS by elected officials, individuals and communities, there is a perception that the risk of infection is low ('I am not the face of AIDS'), commercial sex, abuse, dependency, power disparities, lack of access to resources, lack of awareness/knowledge/education, religious fundamentalism, denial
- Blame and shame hinders acceptance (you have too much to lose if you say you're infected)
- To speak out openly about your status allows the weight to unload and increases ability to move forward
- Stories of many marginalized communities are excluded - for example indigenous communities
- Sometimes short-term views prohibit achieving longer-term objectives
- Without hope for your future - you don't plan your life and you are exposed to many risks
My most recent trip to Egypt (February 27 – March 5, 2008) has been incredibly rewarding! As it was my fifth time in the country I found myself feeling very comfortable and ‘at home’ in the environment which was lovely. I also know that the effectiveness of the many meetings that took place was a result of having both Tala Nabulsi (our Arabic Engagement Coordinator who came from Jordan) along with Maged Hassan (our Arabic Translations Coordinator who is based in Alexandria) join me in at the conferences. Our Global Gallery Co-Founder Vittoria La Neve also joined the trip and supported us in preparing for meetings, helping with our Open Forum along with networking and being the inspiration for our EUROMED partnership with the Ana Lindh Foundation. Almost all of our time during this trip was spent at the Library of Alexandria (a.k.a. BA - Bibliotheca Alexandrina) in meetings with participants at both the Third Arab Youth Forum along with the Fifth Arab Reform Forum. Beyond meeting with conference participants we also spent time with many active TIG members and volunteers including Waleed Sorour (who coordinated our Adobe Youth Voices workshops), Hayk (our Discussion Forum Moderator), Ahmed (who is the GYCA Focal Point), and ‘alumni’ such as Moustafa Hussein (our former Arabic Translations Coordinator) and others! It was really amazing to have so many active TIG members share their ideas on how to continue to improve TIG. We also spent time meeting with many organizations to discuss current and future partnerships.
Our main aim and outcome for the trip was to finalize details for a new initiative that TakingITGlobal is launching in partnership with the Library of Alexandria called Youth for Change! The Youth for Change program aims to help youth from the Arab world to become inspired, informed and involved in issues that affect them. The project will be implemented through a partnership between Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt and TakingITGlobal in Canada and will engage youth from these two distinct regions in cross-cultural dialogue as well as support youth-led development through local projects. The pilot project will commence in March 2008 in Egypt and will focus on 10 priority countries.
The project aims to achieve its objectives through the following project components:
• The project will facilitate ongoing cross-cultural dialogue through the use of online community tools and spaces provided by TakingITGlobal and InfoMall.
• Facilitation of local Youth for Change Open Forum events where approximately 30 youth will come together in a library, community centre, school or NGO in order to identify key challenges facing youth and how they can be addressed by youth. These sessions will also showcase related guides and online tools to support youth action.
• Two online live chat events will take place to encourage discussion among participants in the priority countries on the following themes: 'Utilizing new media to promote dialogue across cultures’ and ‘Strengthening youth as community Agents of Change’
• Supporting youth-led action projects through Mini-Grant Awards and online training workshops that will leverage the TakingITGlobal Guide to Action and feature case studies of youth who have had experience in implementing community action projects on topics such as youth employment, health and education.
• Selected award winners will receive scholarships to attend the World Youth Congress in Quebec City in order to receive additional support, training and access to international networks focused on supporting youth-led development
Third Arab Youth Forum
We attended a very interesting session about the role of the media during the Third Arab Youth Forum. Since all of the sessions were in Arabic and there was no formal translations, it was somewhat difficult to understand the full range of comments made (thanks for the summary translations Tala/Maged!). What I did find very interesting during the session was how the topic of identity was expressed and how Arab youth face many challenges related to their identity.
Much of the conflict emerges from the perception and portrayal of Arab identity in the media, especially since 9/11. One of the youth at the conference stated ‘we are not terrorists and we are getting tired of always trying to defend ourselves’. Another youth commented on the lack of confidence that exists among youth and the need to have greater awareness of their own culture and history in order to better explain things to others. The concept of ‘the other’ was raised several times throughout the discussions which left me feeling incredibly compelled to raise my hand and comment on TakingITGlobal. I was given the floor to speak (after a bit of controversy) and nervously expressed my gratitude for being part of the forum and for how welcoming of an experience I have had in my travels to Arab countries (including Egypt, UAE and Jordan so far). I commented on perceptions of the ‘other’ change when you have shared experiences and a space to get to know, understand and appreciate each other. This is when I led into highlighting TakingITGlobal as an opportunity for Arab youth to change the negative perceptions and stereotypes by utilizing our tools (and new media in general) to both express and engage with others in the process of understanding. It felt really great to be able to share the value of TIG in the context of the challenges raised by Arab youth at this forum.
Fifth Arab Reform Forum
I took part in the Opening Plenary of the Arab Reform Forum. The theme of the conference and our session was Media, Democracy and Social Responsibility. The format was ‘Davos-Style’ which involved Questions from the moderator (Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria) rather than prepared presentations. My remarks focused on highlighting the perception of new media among youth - ‘old media’ is about consumption and ‘new media’ is about co-creation. I was fortunate to have a glowing introduction of TakingITGlobal by Dr. Serageldin and talked about the observations made and points raised during my participation in the Arab Youth Forum. After the session many of the youth participants expressed appreciation for my comments.
On Monday, Maged Hassan gave a presentation on Electronic Media. For some reason, none of the other panellists were present so his 15 minute presentation was extended in length! Maged shared examples of different websites and social networking tools (including TIG) and talked about how e-media provides unlimited ways of utilization and that it can’t really be censored. He talked about the responsibility involved in disseminating information and in seeking sources for information. They also discussed the impact of blogging and freedom of expression.
TakingITGlobal Open Forum
We had a really great turnout and enjoyed the facilities of the Library of Alexandria’s multipurpose room. The issues/challenges identified by participants include: Employment, Education, Stereotypes and Perceptions, Immigration, Drugs and Illness. The participants identified these topics based on the Open Space methodology and had small break-out groups to discuss solutions.
Personal Insights and Lessons Learned
Overcoming jet lag by convincing yourself that you have already adjusted
Importance of a nutritional breakfast to last over a long day
Extreme living conditions
Managing time and prioritizing constantly
Music as a form of relaxation in awkward or demanding moments
Enjoying Egyptian food, Sheesha, mint tea, strawberry juice, Belly dancing
Expanding vocabulary in Arabic (10 words)!
Receiving many gifts and words of affection can be overwhelming
Utilizing eye contact and body language as a major form of communication in order to overcome language barriers
Choosing your moments to speak up and voice opinions
Breathing deeply to center self
Laugher and humour as a way to manage anxieties and build friendship across cultures
Mind over Matter - How to sustain yourself on less than 3 hours of sleep and little time to eat
Don’t argue just to be right – seek to understand more than to be understood
Don’t dwell on the past – reflect, analyze, learn and move forward
Value of documentation and capturing experiences in order to remember and preserve sacred moments and experiences
Don’t let past fears hinder or direct your current actions
Don’t expect others to react to a situation in the same way that you would. ‘They are not you’
Changing conditions of environment to stimulate creativity, reduce stress, learn
Trusting in powers beyond yourself, call to prayer as an invitation to give thanks
Understanding boundaries
Making the most time out of limited time
Performing at your personal best and overcoming challenges
Avoid depending on a single source of strength
Focus on what you CAN control – which is how you react and respond to your circumstances
After the trek from Toronto to Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, I knew the first thing I needed to do to keep my sanity was to spend a good amount of time at the fitness center at the Westin. What a great idea - it helped me refresh, have a fantastic swim in the beautiful infinity pool, and after a brief stroll that was quickly canceled when the rain started, I got to sleep at a reasonable hour.
On Thursday, I woke up and did it all over again, in a beautiful setting amongst Lemon trees at Lateare Gardens in Hobart with a fire burning to keep us all warm and cozy from the cold outside! I think the goals of what we do at TakingITGlobal really connected closely with some people - one teacher was literally in tears sharing how wonderful she thought what we did was... it's really a special opportunity (as exhausting as it is) to be able to share our work with people that are also dedicating their lives to helping young people develop. I think sometimes we all forget the power and opportunity we have to impact the lives of others - and I feel like a few people really felt reconnected to that opportunity, which is really an amazing opportunity to be able to stimulate.
