and
when finally,
I took a lungful
of salted air
and
dove under white water
ounce after ounce
of defeat
amidst elegiac silence,
water
grabbing me
by the hand
and
throwing me
to the depths
of certain end-
I knew,
inside,
that I
would have suffered
or died
had I been
A little braver.
Since the founding of TakingITGlobal in 1999, I have been incredibly inspired by my interactions with thousands of young change makers from all around the world. Through my Masters Research on youth-led action in an international context along with exposure to other studies and international conferences examining the role of today's generation of youth as change agents, I have gained an important observation. My observation is that I have seen the emergence of Six Archetypes of Youth Change Makers, which provide a glance at the roles young people are taking on in the process of creating change.
The Dreamer
The Dreamer is the driver behind new ideas. Dreamers are often the first to articulate a long-term vision for the future and think big. It is the sense of aspiration, optimism and imagination of dreamers that drive progress, innovation and change.
The Megaphone
The Megaphone is a vocal advocate for change. Megaphones are very focused on delivering the message and will campaign tirelessly and work hard to lobby for a message to be heard. They inspire action through their words and help to shift priorities on the agenda.
The Spark Plug
The Spark Plug is a catalyst and has a gift for networking and connecting people. The Spark Plug is able to foster collaborations and bring many different organizations and individuals together in dialogue, convincing diverse interest groups to come together for a common goal.
The Task Master
The Task Master is often behind the scenes making things happen and is sometimes the under-rated player within a group or organization. Often, it is the Task Master who literally keeps things together by turning ideas into manageable tasks with actionable timelines. Task Masters are practical, objective-oriented individuals.
The Sherpa
The Sherpa serves as a guide who provides mentorship, insight and training through peer education. Sherpas are natural educators with a strong interest in learning and sharing knowledge. Sherpas value hands on experiences and are able to draw upon the expertise and resources of those they encounter.
The Storyteller
The Storyteller is often the documenter of an organization and its projects, preparing short stories, interviews, blogs, webcasts newsletters and more. Storytellers become a vehicle for spreading inspiration and sharing of best practices through identifying patterns and strengthening movements through recognizing exceptional individuals.
Comparto con ustedes un video de una exposición que tuve la oportunidad de hacer el año pasado en representación de la Asociación Vientos del Sur, titulada "Participación Juvenil y Nuevas Tecnologías".
En mi exposición abordo someramente conceptos y herramientas útiles para el trabajo de las ONGs juveniles.
Web 2.0, Ciberactivismo, los nativos digitales, el poder de los Blogs, los Wikis, las mal llamadas redes sociales, entre otros temas están incluidos en este resumen de menos de 10 minutos (la exposición original duró 30 minutos)
Gracias a Gastón por realizar la filmación y a Nacho por convertirla a formato digital.
A quienes les interese la relación entre participación, juventud e internet, los invito a leer un artículo que escribí el año pasado para un dossier sobre "juventud y TICs" para el Portal de Juventud de América Latina y el Caribe, clickeando acá
Ocuparse demasiado de uno mismo, produce una terrible fatiga y además uno se hace ciego y sordo a todo lo demás. Esta fatiga, impide ver las maravillas que te rodean. Sentirse importante, lo hace a uno ser torpe y banal. Hemos de ser livianos y fluidos. Una vez que uno ha [...]
You define it.
Words trespassing your being,
like a knife-thrower
missing his target.
But only with rage. with that feeling
of space. Betrayed.
Time to run the circus.
Save the fiddle.
horse and carriage dragging a point. in a circle.
about a weeping statue.
protesting against wayward fancy-
and the gift, a mask that resembles truth,
though it cannot save you.
You deny it.
More important than ever
When the number of people living on less than US$1 a day still numbers above 1 billion in 2009, something needs to be done about it. When the number living on less than US$2 a day almost reaches half the world’s population, there is a hidden pandemic which needs to be addressed, urgently. It’s a matter of life or death for millions every year.
And the worst part about those figures is that the world has the technology, money and ability to address the problem. Yet we still lag behind what the world has promised, time and time again.
The Global Financial Crisis has affected the worlds poorest the most. By the end of 2009, the President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, says that an additional 55 to 90 million people will be trapped in extreme poverty. He also warns that the number of chronically hungry will rise to over a 1 billion by the end of 2009. That’s 200 million more than just over a year ago. In a speech to global financial ministers, Zoellick warned that the world faces a ‘human catastrophe’ if the world fails to act – above all through raising development aid, as the world has promised time and time again.
The movement to end extreme poverty is more important than ever. If the global economic crisis goes unchecked, with developing countries ignored, the crisis will transform into a global human crisis.
The development of a social movement
But first, a little about the history of the current social movement to end poverty. In the lead up to 2000, a movement grew out of the UK calling for debt relief for what the World Bank calls the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), under the banner of Jubilee 2000. This campaign gathered the support of thousands, from the soccer mum to well-known celebrities. 2000 came and went, and while the campaign achieved some success, HIPC countries were still heavily indebted.
Also in 2000, the UN Millennium Summit, held in September, released the Millennium Declaration. This Declaration outlined where world leaders wanted the world to head, and what type of world they envisioned for the new millennium. The Declaration stated that “We will spare no effort to spare our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty, to which a billion of them are currently subjected.” Out of the Millennium Declaration came the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – 8 goals (broken down into 18 targets and 40 indicators) to be achieved by 2015 in ending extreme poverty and improving development around the world.
After the Millennium Summit and the introduction of the MDGs onto the world stage, civil society came together and launched what has become the largest social movement in history. In 2004, at the World Social Forum, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP – www.whiteband.org) was launched, bringing together civil society organisations from around the world.
2005 saw the launch of this social movement onto the global arena. Make Poverty History, a part of GCAP, launched in the UK, Australia, Canada, and many other countries around the world. The ONE Campaign launched in the US, and Live8 was staged in every G8 country, as well as in South Africa. The Live8Live List gained 38 million signatures from G8 countries, and the Live8 concerts gained unprecedented media coverage for the issue of extreme poverty. The MPH/Live8 Long Walk to Justice rally, held paralleling the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, had over 250,000 people participating calling for three main goals: More and Better Aid, Fair Trade and Debt Relief for the world’s poorest.
While the events around July, 2005, could be seen as the peak of the social movement, it was in practice only the launch of a far reaching social movement. After these events, GCAP has established over 100 national-level campaigns (such as MPH in Australia or the ONE Campaign in the US), and the UN Millennium Campaign engaged almost 2% (116 million) of the world’s population in 2008 alone through its annual Stand Up event in October every year.
And since 2000, this movement has achieved a lot. The number of the world’s poor has decreased, and in some regions rapidly decreased. Child mortality has rapidly decreased in almost every region, and countries like Uganda have been able to roll out universal primary-level education due to drastic debt-relief.
What has been achieved
The gains that have been made have only been possible because massive numbers of people have been involved globally in the movement calling for the end of extreme poverty. The UK, due to efforts of campaigners, has pledged to raise their development assistance to 0.7% of GNI by 2015. In Australia, Kevin Rudd has pledged to raise development assistance to 0.5% of GNI by 2015 (still short of the 0.7% target agreed by all OECD donor nations over a period of 40 years, most recently at the Monterrey Conference in 2002). Scandinavian countries, already giving over 1% of GNI in development assistance, recently tried to decrease ODA levels, yet campaigners in those countries, and public backlash in general, stopped these countries from decreasing ODA levels.
The MDGs provide the social movement a globally-agreed framework on development for the new millennium. When the Millennium Declaration was signed, it was agreed to by all 189 members of the UN, a world first in itself.
Due to efforts in 2005, the G8 nations pledged a further US$50 billion in development assistance. While many of the promises made at Gleneagles are yet to be achieved, groups like Oxfam in the UK and the ONE Campaign in the US provide ongoing accountability and continual pressure on G8 nations to follow through on the promises made at the G8.
The social movement in Australia
In Australia, Make Poverty History is made up of over 60 aid and development NGO’s, union groups, churches through Micah Challenge, and others campaigning for more and better aid, fair trade and debt relief. Each individual organisation focuses on different issues surrounding the universe of international development, but each of these organisations are committed to seeing the end of extreme poverty. Organisations such as World Vision, Oxfam Australia and the Oaktree Foundation have been heavily involved in the MPH campaign and the social movement more generally. And each organisation, generally, has focused its attention on various aspects of the MPH campaigns – Oxfam on fairer trade through the Make Trade Fair campaign, Oaktree on issues of aid through the Zeroseven Roadtrip, the MPH Concert and campaigning that will continue to occur this year.
What has been achieved so far in Australia
Through the efforts of all MPH member NGO’s and groups, Australia has seen it raise its ODA levels from 0.3% of GNI in 2005, to 0.5% by 2015. In real terms, that is an AU$4 billion increase. Along with more aid, that aid is being better focused with the AusAID program, the MDGs, its targets and indicators are becoming more integrated into the development of AusAID programs and, increasingly, the evaluation of AusAID projects are based upon MDG indicators. The media has increasingly become aware of issues of extreme poverty and the MDGs, and opinion pieces addressing the issue of poverty are being written by both civil society and MPs on a regular basis in the nation’s major media outlets.
Campaigns run by various organisations have seen meaningful results. In 2007, the Oaktree Foundation, in partnership with Reach, organised the Zeroseven Roadtrip as a follow-up to the MPH Concert of 2006. This roadtrip culminated with Kevin Rudd, then Opposition Leader, committing to raising ODA levels to 0.5% of GNI by 2015. This would not have been possible without the thousands of people and hundreds of businesses engaged by 700 Oaktree MPH Ambassadors, nor would have it been possible without over 50,000 people who participated in the Face Up To Poverty photo petition organised by World Vision, some of whom were featured on the MPH Opera House projection that gained international media coverage through CNN and BBC.
The MPH Concert of 2006 organised by Oaktree and presented by the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) along with many of the partner NGO’s in the MPH campaign, saw 14,000 young people at the concert itself, while 20 million worldwide saw the concert online or through Channel 10’s coverage of the event. The concert also generated widespread media coverage around Australia, with Bono, the Edge and Pearl Jam headlining the concert, along with a number of Australia artists performing. The concert was held parallel to the G20 Finance Ministers summit in Melbourne, and sent a massive message to the G20 finance ministers about the Australian public’s position on matters of extreme poverty.
What this all means
Both globally and at a national level, events from Live8 to the MPH Concert and Zeroseven within Australia aimed at generating and keeping momentum going, in an effort to put pressure on leaders to increase aid levels, and make a serious effort to end poverty. These events show our leaders that the public is serious about these issues, and wants to see change happen.
But, if these events are not followed through with meaningful action – members of the public writing to their MP’s or Senators, groups lobbying government, media attention and debate surrounding these issues, among other actions, then these events only go so far. Raising awareness in the public only goes so far – providing avenues of engagement, and meaningful actions that the public can take, provides the tipping point for political action to take place. Once politicians see that the public cares about an issue – whether that be through letters received from the public, or petitions signed – change starts to occur. And when it comes down to it, if votes are at stake, change will undoubtedly occur.
Why I’m involved in the campaign to end extreme poverty
I do not consider myself to be an expert on development - that is best left up to the local communities where developmental projects are being undertaken. However, I do believe that, living in one of the most privileged countries in the world, I have a responsibility to do what I can to end what I see as the greatest injustice of our generation.
And I in no means wish to diminish projects undertaken by aid and development organisations worldwide. Projects delivered by organisations like World Vision, Oxfam, Plan, and many others provide life-saving skills, medication, education and opportunities to millions around the world. The projects of the Oaktree Foundation have provided educational opportunities to thousands, and initiatives such as GOLD, supported and funded through the Schools4Schools program (www.schools4schools.org) or our current work in Timor-Leste in partnership with Plan Timor-Leste, are programs that I truly believe change people’s lives for the better. And indeed, organisations such as Oxfam and World Vision are world leaders and experts in areas of development and aid.
However, the mere fact that there are many hundreds of development organisations around the world does not excuse governments from promises that they have made, or from what I see as a moral obligation of governments around the world to address the issues surrounding extreme poverty. This is why movements like Make Poverty History are needed to keep governments to account on their promises, and make sure that they do indeed follow through.
A person’s age, the amount of money that they do or do not have, what degree they do or do not have, or their position in society has little bearing on the change that they can create. The movement to end extreme poverty has brought together the average person to the celebrity, and this is a powerful voice aimed at the leaders of our world today.
I’m involved with Oaktree, and more generally the movement to end poverty, because I believe that it is a matter a life and death for many of the world’s poor. Oaktree, for me personally, provides just one outlet to campaign for these issues, and focuses on issues that I believe are extremely important. The campaigning that Oaktree has undertaken in partnership with and the support of many other organisations, businesses and individuals around Australia has had a huge effect on the lives of many, and is desperately needed if a meaningful commitment to the MDGs and the 0.7% target is going to be reached in Australia.
Position of the movement in 2009
And this brings us back to the beginning. The movement to end extreme poverty, globally and at a national level, is more important than ever. The current global economic crisis has set achievement of the MDGs back. The World Bank’s governing body of 24 finance and economic ministers recently stated that “developing countries face especially serious consequences as the financial and economic crisis turns into a human and development calamity." They also stated that "Hard-earned progress towards the Millennium Development Goals is now in jeopardy."
It is the job of organisations like Oaktree, World Vision, Oxfam, and of civil society more broadly to make sure that the world’s developed nations indeed keep their promises on development aid and effectiveness, ODA levels, and a commitment to the MDGs. The MDGs may not be fully realised by 2015, but that does not mean that governments can relax their stance on the issue.
Mind-boggling numbers of people are living in abject poverty, suffering from chronic hunger, and dying because of access to extremely basic sanitation and hygiene needs. The global economic crisis threatens to turn into a crisis of “human calamity” if the economic crisis goes on unchecked, or if the needs of developing nations are ignored.
Behind every statistic is a story that has affected a child, a mother, a father, entire families, villages, nations and the world at large. The largest social movement in history, and the campaigns, projects, events and actions run by each organisation within the larger movement, must not wind down, but instead intensify pressure and campaigning, to ensure that the needs of the world’s poor are met.
You must have heard of Susan Boyle and her competition, 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi. I bet you also followed the twattle (did you ask if that meant ‘twitter battle’?) between CNN and Ashton Kutcher. You knew when Barack got a book gift from Hugo Chavez and you’re probably sure you know South Africa’s next president. I won’t be surprised if you also know the exact number of friends you have! We clearly live in interesting times, and no one can deny the fact that we are exposed to much more information that at any other time in history. That’s right, it’s why we refer to it as the Information Age. And if you found out that you had actually set up an account while trying to sign up for a new web service, you are not alone. Welcome to the club! In fact, when you log out on your desktop at work, you work the blackberry on your way to the car park and the laptop is waiting for your rushing hands (and roaming fingers) at home.
The question on most minds today is how anyone can get any work done with all the information that is directed at you. Even if you move away from the internet, news channels on TV welcome you with open arms. And to make it worse, your mentor asked if you had read the new book! While information can be very empowering, it can also grind your walk to a halt if you don’t manage the overload properly. Imagine what would happen if you spent time with your eMail, did some little FaceBooking, responded to the LinkedIn messages, caught up on your favourite blogs, scrolled through online newspapers, gave a few minutes to Twitter, did some twittering from your brain (seriously, see http://is.gd/u7rx)… and you wonder why the day rolls by so fast these days? No thanks to the mobile phone that won’t even stay silent — and you can’t leave it behind because it has all your appointments listed.
On-the-job productivity does not have to go down while your information intake goes up. How to manage the overload is what I hope to share in as few paragraphs as possible (so I don’t add too much more to the information you have to process today). So, let’s get to the 6 tips that keep me — and many others — ahead of the looming overload.
Push and PullDeliberately
If you don’t deliberately push and pull the information that you want, you’re waiting to be flooded. Push information by adding content to the web too, and pull information from carefully selected sources. What takes most time is when you follow hyperlinks in an unorganized way. For example, I choose my news updates from specific alerts, eMails, blogs and websites — and I make sure I limit the number of secondary links I follow. What I’ve also learnt from pushing information out is that people direct you to more specific sources when they notice what your focus is. More on focus later.
Create a Funnel
Note that noise is different from information, so create a funnel to help you seperate the chaff from the wheat. You may choose to indulge yourself when you’re ahead on your schedule, but ensure that you take advantage of subscription services provided by your carefully selected websites and blogs. You can also create alerts using such services as Google Alerts or set up TweetDeck which allows you have a quick scroll-through of Twitter/FaceBook updates on a single page (and you can now post to both services from TweetDeck on your desktop.) Personally, I use NaijaPulse as my primary update channel — and it’s linked to my Twitter page, which then broadcasts updates to FaceBook, this blog (see the right sidebar) and my website (see left frame).
What’s Your Online Agenda?
If there’s a central secret to managing information overload, this must be it! Your online agenda cannot be divorced from your life’s agenda, so it helps to know what exactly you’re doing on earth so you can define better what you’ll be doing on the web. Does that mean you’ll be tied to that space? No, but it help you know when you get lost. Imagine a football match on a field without goal posts… that’s right, you’ll probably see Okocha run off to the tracks and showing off his skills in the middle of an important game. Remember the time you had a deadline and wanted to squeeze 5 minutes of FaceBook time in but you ended up with a not-so-nice presentation. “Why can’t anyone just understand how busy I am, jeez!” Really?
Control Search Results
Because information travels so fast these days, you also need to be sure that what the world reads about you is what’s best for you. If you’ve never Googled your name, you should probably take a break to do that now. Have you? Welcome back. And for those who do it everyday, isn’t that a bit too much? Many people have found out that the information that search results throw up about them are scary. While you obviously can’t dictate what is thrown up each time your name is Googled, you can at least have a say. How about a personal website or blog with your own name? That is always a winner with search engines, and it’ll at least show the world your preferred information before they see the unguarded statement you made while in elementary school. By the way, the rule of the web is: “If you don’t want it showing up everywhere, don’t put it anywhere online - eMail, blog, website, comment on another blog, anywhere”. It also helps if you set up profiles on Google, MySpace, Wikipedia, YouTube, Linked In, FaceBook, Tweeter, NaijaPulse, Xing, etc, even if you’ll never use them. They are very dear to the heart f search engines, trust me. Proof? Search for ‘Gbenga Sesan in any search engine.
Give Time to New Knowledge
While I agree that there’s no time, I also think it’s important that you create time to catch up with new knowledge. It may cost you a lot of money because what we pay for is clearly proportional to our level of ignorance in that subject area. You may laugh all you want, but I can’t forget how much some friends paid to open hotmail or yahoo accounts in 1999! You can use popular technology (or innovation) sections of popular global magazines or newspapers — or set up an alert for technology or innovation.
The Pipe will be Flooded
I’m already taking so much of your time, so let me bring this to a close. Warning: more projects are underway, so get ready. We all got caught up in the FaceBook frenzy and almost all your friends are now on twitter (which means you’ll soon get an account). Trust me, many labs across the world are coming up with services that will soon call for your attention. Don’t say I didn’t tell you when you get close to spending all morning on various websites and then wonder why everyone’s going on lunch break when you’re yet to tick off the first to do item of the day.
I am very drawn to large cities. Having lived majority of my growing up years in very quiet Nigerian cities like Akure, Idoani and Ile-Ife (a university town that only got noisy when students raised the tempo a bit), loving the first taste of the chaos that Lagos threw at me during my first visit was quite a surprise. But that connection has manifested itself each time I find myself in a busy city: at home in Lagos or away in London, Cairo, New Delhi or New York. Maybe it’s the unplanned rythm of voices or the beauty of seeing how each person in a crowd can be so focused on their own agenda. Could it be the expectation of running into someone I know, somehow, or the fact that large cities present a central metaphor of life best captured by William Shakespeare in his 17th century comedy, As You Like It:
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances…
That metaphor came to life again last week as Temi and I made our way through London’s Mind the Gap zones, after my amazing meeting with the staff at Ashoka’s London office. The breath of the crowd was heavy, as thick as the variety that jumped at you from each face that either walked or literally ran past. Dressed in various garbs, I couldn’t help wonder what role each person played on the stage. No doubt, some were only ticking another day off the calendar while some others were in search of anything to give each day a unique meaning. Unfortunately, some are so busy trying to live that they fail to realise that they’ve now become mere statistics - just another one of earth’s 6.77 billion occupants whose presence on the stage is not different from that of those who have already exited.
We need to stop and reconnect with the dreams, activities and values that confirm that we add value to the stage before the inevitable exit. I couldn’t help thinking to myself: “how many of us in this crowd have lost our bearing in life and are actually Lost in London, only taking each moment as it presented itself.” Not just in London, or even in the major cities that clearly allow you see the daily mad rush, but everywhere. It will be a shame if we just wade through life only to find out close to our exit (and that does not necessarily mean death) that all we did was attempt to make all else but ourselves happy. Truth is that those who find the hapiness of playing unique roles on the stage of life are best equipped to make others happy. You can’t give what you don’t have, and I love the way an Igbo proverb puts it: “a naked man can not put his hand in his pocket.”
My Reply to X’s eMail may be useful follow-up reading even though he wasn’t Lost in London, I met X in Lagos.
Hacer periodismo online a veces puede parecer tedioso, repetitivo, y hasta alienante, pero en ocasiones, también puede ser gratificante. A mí me gratifica servir para que algunas historias sean contadas y difundidas:
“Somos una pareja de hombres y nos queremos casar”
Alex y José María se conocieron en 2005 y mañana solicitarán un turno para contraer matrimonio. “Sabiendo que la interpretación de la ley actual nos va a discriminar, les pedimos que nos acompañen en este acto de amor”, dice la invitación...Seguí leyendo esta historia en la nota que escribí para ElArgentino.com
Young Activists Initiative Nigeria (YAIN) in collaboration with Microsoft Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative Nigeria (MISSPIN) is organizing a seminar on Youth and Cyber crime to be held on May 23, 2009 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
The Seminar would cover the following presentation topics:
Cyber crime and Youth
Alternatives to Cyber crime
Youth as Development Actors
How youths can contribute to Re-branding Nigeria.
Each paper should be able to state specific and practical components as it relates to youth.
Criteria for selection will include:
Originality
Practicable
Level of application by youth
Interested youth leaders should send papers in any of the topics listed above.
Paper format: MS Word or Power Point
Deadline for submission of papers is May 01, 2009.
Papers would be reviewed till 9th May, 2009 and selected persons would be contacted from May 11, 2009.
Please note, presenters are to bear cost of travel.
Please provide the following information when you submit your paper:
Name:
Date of Birth:
Phone Number:
Contact:
E-mail:
Short biography about yourself.
For more information, contact: youngactivists [at] gmail.com or call +234 802 249 37 98.
Many people have found out that the information that search results throw up about them are scary. While you obviously can’t dictate what is thrown up each time your name is Googled, you can at least have a say. How about a personal website or blog with your own name? That is always a winner with search engines, and it’ll at least show the world your preferred information before they see the unguarded statement you made while in elementary school. By the way, the rule of the web is: “If you don’t want it showing up everywhere, don’t put it anywhere online - eMail, blog, website, comment on another blog, anywhere”. It also helps if you set up profiles on 
