TakingITGlobal Proudly Presents:

        The TakingITGlobal Dispatch! 
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For the Months of January/February 2002 (Volume 2.1)

In This Issue:

1 -> Welcome to the Dispatch! 
2 -> 2001 – A Year in Review!
3 -> Contest – Promoting a Culture of Peace – Winners!
4 -> The ICTs and Digital Opportunities network!
5 -> TIG Holiday Survey Winners!
6 -> Volunteers!
7 -> Share your Interests!
8 -> Wrap Up!

     ~•~ 1. Welcome to the Dispatch! ~•~ 

Thank you for your support, interest and involvement with TakingITGlobal.
We now have over 2,700 members from 135 countries! We hope that you will
continue to play an integral role in involving young people from Canada
and in other parts of the world!

We apologise for the long time since the last issue of the Dispatch – 
things have been so hectic both here in the international co-ordination
office in Canada, and elsewhere in the world! Nonetheless, we hope you
enjoy this issue, however delayed it may be.

Look forward to a full report on the last year of TakingITGlobal's work
in the very near future. For now though, enjoy the summary and other news
below.

In friendship,
         The TakingITGlobal Team!

     ~•~ 2. 2001 – A Year in Review! ~•~

TakingITGlobal entered 2001 a young organization – the online community
was still very much in its infancy; we had only just begun building the
beginnings of the tools and features that exist today. We had 191 members
in 30 countries, some great ideas, amazing people, and most importantly,
hope. No-one could possibly have been prepared for the meteoric growth
and development which members like you have helped create. Today TakingITGlobal
boasts a solid membership of more than 2,800 people in 137 countries!

TakingITGlobal's growth is especially due to the hard work of our local
teams, who have recognized the value of the ideas inherent in TIG and
have decided to use them to improve the quality of life in their communities.
Some of groups that made exceptional progress include those found in Ghana,
Australia, Colombia, Cameroon, and India. Congratulations to them, and
all other TIG groups for their hard work!

TakingITGlobal's international co-ordination team moved to a new office
in the autumn – the result of a partnership with the YMCA of Greater
Toronto. Our old space is now apparently a school! Ours is not the only
office to have been opened in the past year: during a visit to Slovakia,
Derek Martin, Martin Kuplens-Ewart, Vanessa Currie, and Maria Lanza opened
the new TIG Slovakia office and space – we hope to continue our work
with that group of members to develop successful programs with them, having
a positive impact on the local area!

TakingITGlobal has also made it into the media in the past year: from
Time Magazine and ItaliaOnline to many local newspapers, the story of
TakingITGlobal and the experiences of a large number of your fellow members
have been told and appreciated.

In early 2001, TIG formed a strong partnership with the Global Youth
Action Network, co-ordinators of Global Youth Service Day (http://www.gysd.net/
a TIG developed site!) and responsible for the Youth In Action Awards
and the "Voice" section of the site. Working together, we re-launched
GYAN's web site as part of TakingITGlobal, and merged our databases of
organizations and events. In the Fall of 2001, many of the members of
the Nation1 initiative joined forces with TakingITGlobal, and have helped
TIG form strong partnerships with organizations across the globe, especially
with the leadership of Nick Moraitis.

We look forward to yet another year of exciting new things for you to
do, and great ways for you to get involved in projects with other members
from across the world. Thank you for your support in the past year, and
thank you in advance for your engagement in the future!

     ~•~ 3. Contest - Promoting a Culture of Peace - Winners! ~•~

'Promoting A Culture of Peace' is an exhibit within our Global Gallery
allowing people like YOU from around the world to share artistic expressions
and reflections about peace. Ten (10) submissions were chosen to appear
on the front of the 'Promoting a Culture of Peace' postcard that will
be distributed to our youth reps and various partners and organizations
worldwide that in turn promote arts, community, youth and education.

Congratulations go out to the following winners:

1. "Religion of Youth", Jawahar Surisetti 
2. "Leading the Way", Amanda Bosquez
3. "The Square Circle", John Lopker 
4. "Social Justice", Melanie
5. "The Love Connection", Atman Victor
6. "God Bless America", Ingrid Dohm 
7. "Promoting Child Rights", Vanessa Currie
8. "River boats", Yusuf Alam 
9. "Grasping Peace", Sonya Furdyk
10. "Millennial Peace Wave Monument", Marco Fabbro

To view all of the submissions, please go to:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/contestwinners.html

     ~•~ 4. The ICTs and Digital Opportunities network! ~•~ 

The first of several topical TIG communities has been created to address
how young people are harnessing the power of information and communications
technologies (ICTs) to assure opportunity, empowerment and inclusion for
all. The site features news, people, events, organizations and online
discussions about closing the digital divide.

Through these interactive features, it aims to foster a global network
of young social entrepreneurs on the cutting edge of applying old and
new communication technologies to confront the challenges of sustainable
development.

The network:
     * Provides an opportunity for young people to meet each other, collaborate,
       and share advice to improve their ICT-related activities.
     * Serves as a conduit through which young people can be recognized by
       and become involved with national and international ICT initiatives (receiving
       funding, invitations to conferences, etc).

If you're interested in being involved, make sure you add "ICTs
and Digital Opportunities" to the Interests tab of your profile!

http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?section=interests

The network is developed by the International Institute for Sustainable
Development and TakingITGlobal in collaboration with the Global Knowledge
Partnership. Check it out!

http://ict.takingitglobal.org/

     ~•~ 5. TIG Holiday Survey Winners! ~•~

Before the Holidays, TakingITGlobal sent out a survey for members to
fill out with questions about why people signed up as members of TIG,
how people have been inspired, informed and involved, and what new features
people want on the TIG site, among other questions.

As promised, the following three TIG members who completed the survey
(randomly chosen winners) will be receiving TIG Holiday Packages in the
mail soon! 

- Ryan Silverio (Phillipines)
  http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=805

- Sebastian Stolper (Germany) 
  http://d.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=769

- Thomas Igeme (Kenya) 
  http://d.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=1371

Thank you to all those who participated in this important questionnaire.
We are putting together summary reports for TIG members to review and

check out how feedback is influencing the future of TIG initiatives.

     ~•~ 6. Volunteers! ~•~

When you are inspired, you need to get involved!

There have been a lot of new volunteers at TakingITGlobal over the past
few months and it is great to see people putting their ideas into action
and creating what they want to see in the world! TakingITGlobal volunteers
are people who have the desire to work to create something within their
communities or within TIG and we work together to develop that vision.

Volunteers have been helping with research, technical backend development
of new applications, workshops and as community connectors. To highlight
a few outstanding volunteers, please check out: 
http://volunteer.takingitglobal.org/viewmore.html

We are hoping to re-develop the volunteer program in the coming months
to provide more opportunities for involvement and give clear examples
of programs that youth can get involved in!

     ~•~ 7. Share your Interests! ~•~

As mentioned in the segment about the new ICTs and Digital Opportunities
portal, there is a new Interests tab on your Member Profile. By filling
it out and flagging your Interests, you will help us offer more relevant
resources! Please take a minute to do so!

http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?section=interests

We know that the current list of interests is restricted to the categories
of opportunities on our sites; we will be offering a more complete skills
and interests section of your profile in the future.

     ~•~ 8. Wrap Up! ~•~

Your interest, support and involvement with TakingITGlobal is what allows
this community to grow and encourage more young people to be inspired,
informed and involved every day!!

Stay connected,
         The TakingITGlobal Coordination Team.