TakingITGlobal Proudly Presents:

        The TakingITGlobal Dispatch! 
•¸¸•´¯`•¸¸•´¯`•¸¸•´¯`•¸¸•´¯`•¸¸•´¯`•¸¸•´¯`•¸

For the month of July 2003 (Volume 3.6)

In this Issue:

1 -> Welcome to the Dispatch
2 -> Monthly Themes Mid-Year Report
3 -> This month: What does poverty mean to you?
4 -> Tell Ten Friends Contest!
5 -> Understanding Poverty and how it affects our lives
6 -> Hidden Realities: Art Contest
7 -> Featured Article: Life in the eyes of a young Zimbabwean
8 -> Featured Member: Michael Cartier
9 -> The Value of Water - Contest Winners!
10 -> Wrap Up

~*~ 1. Welcome to the Dispatch ~*~

Welcome to the 6th issue of the TIG Dispatch for 2003, and thanks for your involvement in 
TakingITGlobal -- a community committed to making a difference in the world. As we grow together, 
we continue to share more of the many inspiring stories and outstanding contributions of TIG members, 
as well as constantly address the major issues affecting us.

Don't miss this month's .Tell Ten Friends. contest . share TIG with your friends and get a chance at 
winning an HP printer, scanner, or digital camera! Hurry -- the first ten people who enter will get a 
surprise in the mail!

Do you have inspirational stories that have taken place in your life or local community because of 
being part of TIG? Submit your story! http://takingitglobal.org/community/fmnominate.html

In friendship,

The TakingITGlobal Team

dispatch@takingitglobal.org

~*~ 2. Monthly Themes Mid-Year Report ~*~
		
In response to the interests of you, our members -- a diverse group of over 17,000 from 
around the world, TakingITGlobal has been featuring a different theme every month since March, providing 
a space for deeper exploration of pressing issues. We thank our active members, volunteers and mentors for 
their constant suggestions and contributions. We have worked hard to give you a space to further express 
yourself and connect to other members on issues that you're interested in sharing, researching and chatting 
about.
		
Several activities have been run to provide a platform that is exciting and valuable -- 5 art 
contests, 2 monthly theme challenges, 9 chat sessions and hundreds of discussions related to the themes. 
Members have won prizes, moderated chats, organized local events and initiatives and have increasingly been 
involved in supporting and preparing for future themes, which provides a unique opportunity to understand 
issues and gain an opportunity to express your ideas, experiences and concerns. If you are interested in 
contributing towards future themes, sign up and join us at: 
http://www.takingitglobal.org/aboutus/tigopps.html
		
Did you miss a theme? New to TIG? An archive of all the theme pages can be found here: 
http://themes.takingitglobal.org/

		
~*~ 3. This Month: What does poverty mean to you? ~*~
		
What is poverty? Is it the presence of hunger? Is it the lack of shelter? Is poverty not 
having a job or is it living one day at a time? Does Poverty represent powerlessness, lack of recognition 
and freedom?
		
This month we address these issues and work towards understanding the impact of poverty on 
our lives and lives of billions of others that share our planet with us. This month.s theme, Understanding 
Poverty., not only aims to uncover our perceptions of poverty, but also on how those in poverty are 
surviving. We all hear that more than a billion people survive on less than a dollar a day, but do we 
truly understand what it means to be poor and how it affects us? These are some of the question we address 
in the month.s theme of poverty. Learn more: "http://www.takingitglobal.org/themes/poverty/"

		
~*~ 4. Tell Ten Friends Contest ~*~
		
Love TIG? Have 10 friends? Help us spread the word about the TakingITGlobal community by using
 our 'tell a friends tool' to send messages to 10 of your friends.
		
Know less people? Know more people? Don.t worry! For each friend you tell about TIG, we will 
enter your name in a draw for your choice of an HP printer, scanner or digital camera! Also, the FIRST TEN 
PEOPLE who tell 10 people about TakingITGlobal will get a package of TIG goodies, so don't delay. 
tell your friends right away! http://d.takingitglobal.org/tellten.html
		
Do you want to share TIG with your friends or community in another way? Tell us how we can 
help - mailto:info@takingitglobal.org
		
Contest closes July 25th, and the winner will be announced in our August Issue of the 
TIG Dispatch!

		
~*~ 5. Understanding Poverty and how it affects our lives ~*~
		
You can share your thoughts, experiences and opinions about poverty and related issues by 
participating in our online chat. Some areas to think about: What does poverty mean to you? Who should 
we term poor? The chat is scheduled for the following date and time:
		
Date: Thursday July 25th, 2003
Time: 08:00 (EST) :: 13:00 (GMT) :: 23:00 (Sydney)
The TakingITGlobal chatroom is located at:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/chat.html
You can also share your thoughts on the Poverty discussion board:
http://takingitglobal.org/discuss/forumdisplay.php?forumid=18
		
To help you start your thoughts, here's what some TakingITGlobal members have been saying:
"Growing up in a poverty-stricken environment is the worst punishment I've ever come across. 
Poverty is real, it's pain, very painful and destructing." Shoks, South Africa

"Poor people suffer disproportionately from environmental degradation (e.g. drought hurts 
poor subsistence farmers the most,.)" Terri Willard, Canada

		
~*~ 6. Hidden Realities: Art Contest ~*~
		
For this month's theme of Understanding Poverty, the Global Gallery will be running a contest, 
entitled "Hidden Realities." Every day millions of people run around the planet to go to school, drink a 
glass of water, eat at an exotic restaurant, read a newspaper, buy a book, kiss their partner, build a 
future, watch the news, find a job, discover a film, or just sit in a park and talk about the world, 
exchanging ideas and thoughts. And all of this is taken for granted.
		
Yet on Earth, the place that we all call home, there are many realities that are forgotten, 
hidden in the shadows of the shiny lights of this global village. One of these realities is poverty. 
What does poverty look like in your area? What does prosperity look like? Come and share your artwork! 
Let's work to understand and bridge the gap between the poverty-stricken and the wealthy.
		
An HP scanner will go to the creator of the winning submission. Also, this submission, 
along with 4 runners-up, will have their artwork exhibited on a TakingITGlobal postcard, which is sent to 
country team members and mentors all over the world. These 5 winners will each receive 20 of these 
postcards and a TakingITGlobal mouse pad.
		
All artwork entered into the contest will be voted on by your fellow TakingITGlobal members 
based on visual appeal, style, effort, originality and relevance to the topic.
		
The "Hidden Realities" contest will run from July 1 to July 22 and you must be under the age 
of 30 to participate!
		
For more information, to submit artwork, or to see last month.s winners, head to: 
http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/contest

		
~*~ 7. Featured Article: Life in the eyes of a young Zimbabwean ~*~
		
This month's featured article is from Wilbert Majoni, who writes about the life of a young 
Zimbabwean, and issues faced by him as he deals with problems brought up to him not by choice but by 
destiny. As the young man journeys through his life, Wilbert exposes topics such as child poverty, 
spirituality, AIDS and its impact to society, corruption and other interesting topics. Undoubtedly 
this short account reflects the lives of thousands of the homeless children we see on the streets 
everyday in many countries around the world.
		
Read Wilbert's article at: http://takingitglobal.org/express/showcontent.html?cid=1486
		
If you would like to have an article featured in upcoming newsletters, please contact 
editorial@takingitglobal.org -- we'll coordinate with you on preparing for upcoming themes.

		
~*~ 8. Featured Member: Michael Cartier ~*~
		
July's featured member is Michael Cartier from the United States. Michael has been able 
through TIG to be connected to international youth leaders which has inspired him to start up his own 
organization called the World Youth Organization (WYO), an organization actively involved in creating 
second-track diplomatic channels for communities (and ultimately nations) in conflict.
		
Michael had this to say about TIG, "TakingITGlobal (TIG) has provided WYO with an additional 
resource of 15,000+ international youth members. It has enabled me to test ideas and recruit members from a 
well educated, active group of young people. I thank TIG for their wonderful support and incredible website."
		
To read more about Michael Cartier, you can visit his profile: 
http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/Cartier2028
		
If you would like to become a featured member, or have a story you want to share in the next 
upcoming newsletter, please write to dispatch@takingitglobal.org for more information!

		
~*~ 9. The Value of Water - Contest Winners! ~*~
		
Listed below are the winner and runners-up for last month's "The Value of Water" art contest:
		
= Winner 
"www.water.calm" by Adam Dexter
http://takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/viewsub.html?GGsID=2315
		
= Runners-Up =
"The Value of Water" by Steve from Nigeria<
http://takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/viewsub.html?GGsID=2325
"Our River Svislotch" by Shishporenok from Belarus
http://takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/viewsub.html?GGsID=2326  
"Water Glass" by Inon from Israel
http://takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/viewsub.html?GGsID=2316  
"Life" by Zavadskaya from Belarus
http://takingitglobal.org/express/gallery/viewsub.html?GGsID=2341 
"Reach" by Jen from Canada
http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/contest

	    
~*~ Wrap Up ~*~
	    
Your interest, support and involvement with TakingITGlobal helps our community 
to grow and encourage more young people to be inspired, informed and involved 
everyday! Thank you for being a member with the vision of positive change!
	    
Stay connected,
	    
Your friends at TakingITGlobal 
dispatch@takingitglobal.org
	    
--
	    
The TakingITGlobal Dispatch is the official newsletter of TakingITGlobal, 
electronically published via email, and compiled from various events and news 
from within the TakingITGlobal network. Contributions should be sent to 
dispatch@takingitglobal.org. Please include your full name, age, and your 
member name.
	    
Past issues of the Dispatch can be read in the dispatch archive, 
found at http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/newsletters/dispatch