TakingITGlobal Proudly Presents:
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The TakingITGlobal Dispatch!
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For the month of October 2004 (Volume 4.10)
In this issue:
1 -> Welcome to the Dispatch
2 -> Monthly Theme: Participation
3 -> Call for Open Forums
4 -> TIG Russia: Launch, Call for Translators, Essay Contest
5 -> Panorama: React! Connect! Express!
6 -> Global Gallery Contest: "Domino Effects"
7 -> Global Gallery Contest Winners: "Silence"
8 -> Featured Country Sites
9 -> TIG in Arabic
10 -> Wrap Up
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++ 1. Welcome to the Dispatch ++
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Welcome to TakingITGlobal's Dispatch for the month of October! In this
issue, we are pleased to introduce the monthly theme on Participation. Many
thanks to our partner Global Youth Action Network for the joint coordination
of this theme. Also in this issue, find out about our most recent open forum:
a film festival! And catch up on all the latest on TIG Russia and the upcoming
launch. Dispatch 4.10 is full of opportunities to participate, so check it out!
In Friendship,
The TakingITGlobal Team
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++ 2. Monthly Theme: Participation ++
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Participation has multiple meanings for many people. You can participate
simply by being a member of society, or you can participate to connect with
others and make social change. At its most basic, participation means making
a contribution. On the theme page, visit our engagement board where you can add
your reply to the question, How do you participate? Find out how other youth define
participation and learn what they are doing locally, nationally, and internationally
in our Youth Case Studies. You will also find information and links to numerous
organizations that will fit your level of participation. There is a space for
everyone in this months theme, no matter what your interest. So why not partake
in Participation!
http://www.takingitglobal.org/themes/participation
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++ 3. Call for Open Forums ++
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Organize or participate in an Open Forum in your local school, cybercafe
or other local venue! TIG has recently launched Open Forums, a new component
that offers a safe and open space for young men and women in a community to
address local issues that affect them. Forums also allow youth to share ideas
on how to take action and inform the TIG community of the outcome.
To see if any Open Forums are taking place in your community go to:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/action/openforums/current.html
To submit a proposal to hold an Open Forum go to:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/action/openforums/submit.html
Remember that Forums can also take place in conjunction with oue monthly
theme for October: Participation.
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++ 4. TIG Russia: 400 New Members, Upcoming Launch! ++
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The month of September was very busy and eventful for the project in Russia.
In partnership with the Sozidanie Foundation, the Russian Volunteer Development
Centre and Microsoft Russia, the TIG Russia local coordination team presented to
youth audiences in Moscow and Novosibirsk and introduced TIG via online medium to
hundreds of Russian NGOs, youth organizations and educational institutions. The
vision and opportunities offered by the TIG network quickly found resonance among
the Russian youth: 400 new members from different regions of Russia joined the TIG
online community. We encourage all new members of the geographically diverse and
rapidly growing TIG Russia network to explore numerous online tools and programs
offered by TIG and to participate in the development of a strong national online
community within the TIG network.
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Call for Translators
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Russian has become the third language (after Spanish and French) in which TIG
members can communicate. With the help of several volunteer e-translators, translation
of the TIG site and the Russia country site was a success! Interested in joining our
team of e-translators? Email svitlana@takingitglobal.org!
TIG Site in Russian: http://ru.takingitglobal.org
TIG Russia: http://www.takingitglobal.ru
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Essay Competition Update
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The Russian Youth Essay Competition, "What I Would Like to Tell the World
about Russia," launched by TIG in August is now closed. The winners were announced
during the launch of the Russian version of the TIG site in Moscow on October 6,
2004. Best submissions by TIG Russia members in English and Russian will be featured
in our online publication, Panorama.
Look out for more news from TIG Russia, including new updates about the launch
of the Russian version of TIG, the Forum on Youth Participation in Moscow and the
results of the Essay Competition!
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++ 5. Panorama Online Publication: React! Connect! Express! ++
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This month, our writers accepted the invitation to record stories about
youth participation. When youth are left out of consultation, decision making,
and action, they have two choices: remain in a state of non-influence or stand
up and be heard. It is true: the printed word is powerful. One of the best ways
for youth to participate in change is to write it.
So go ahead. Read the articles and ruminate. Tell the writers what you think
of their work. Start writing yourself. These are meaningful reactions; this is
participation.
Read more, and contribute your opinions at http://panorama.takingitglobal.org
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++ 6. Global Gallery Contest: "Domino Effects" ++
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"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there
are others who, with the help of their art and intelligence, transform a yellow
spot into the sun." - Pablo Picasso
Willingly or not, we "participate". We participate in the effects of the
decisions made by a government. We participate in the effects of a conflict.
We participate in the effects of falling towers, buses blown in the air, and
families torn apart. We participate in the effects of malaria and the one million
lives it takes every year, despite an existing cure and a vaccine. We participate
in the effects of the economy. We participate in the logic of the game. A few win,
we all risk to lose. We participate in the world around us every second of every day.
We participate in the effects, but we are not affecting. Cause is effect. Participation
in the cause is the only way to change the effect. An expanding ripple: A Domino
Effect. "Art can transform a yellow spot into the sun". Art can effect change.
Participate with your art in this month's Global Gallery contest presenting the change
that you wish to effect in the world of which we all are participants.
The contest opens on the 1st of October and closes on the 29th of October.
To find out more and to submit your art:
http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/contest
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++ 7. Global Gallery Contest Winners: "Silence" ++
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Last month the Global Gallery ran a contest entitled "Silence". Here are
the winners:
WINNER
"Soundwave Study" by James, United Kingdom
http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/JimHarris/6763
RUNNERS-UP
"Screaming in Silence" by Brittany, United States
http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/tropictango/6429
"The Silence Matrix" by Shoma, India
http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/Shoma/6799
"Silence Please!" by Akhat, Russia
http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/akhat/6869
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who participated.
Check out this month's contest at http://gallery.takingitglobal.org/contest
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++ 8. Featured Country Sites ++
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During the month of October, as the TIG community hears the stories of
young men and women who are making a contribution to society, the TIG country
sites to be featured will be Jordan and Russia. To learn more about these two
countries and accounts of how TIG members in Jordan and Russia are actively
participating in their communities, go to:
Jordan: http://jordan.takingitglobal.org
Russia: http://russia.takingitglobal.org
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++ 9. TIG in Arabic: Call for Submissions ++
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As some of you might have already heard, we are currently in the process
of translating TIG's site and resources into Arabic. The site is due to launch
by the end of this fall! Everyone at TIG, especially the Arabic Translation team,
is very excited for this to happen. We would like to call on all of our TIG Arabic
Speakers to start submitting articles, short stories, and other writing pieces to
Panorama in Arabic! If you are not a fan of writing, then you can express yourself
through art, on our Global Gallery. Your work will be showcased on your respective
Country Sites, just in time for the launch.
For more information, please contact Eman Ebed, TIG's Middle East Regional
Coordinator, at eman@takingitglobal.org
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++ 10. Wrap Up ++
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Your interest, support and involvement with TakingITGlobal helps our
community to grow and encourage more young people to become inspired,
informed and involved everyday! Thank you for being a member with the
vision of positive change!
In friendship,
The TakingITGlobal Team
dispatch@takingitglobal.org
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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 |