OZYOUTH Spring 2011 - Canadian Red Cross

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Cover photo source: http://redcrosstalks.wordpress.com. & contents editorials. As another school year is drawing to
SPOTLIGHTS ON YOUTH, YOUTH GROUPS, AND MORE!

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YOUTH

CANADIAN RED CROSS YOUTH CONFERENCE... MORE INSIDE ON PG. 3!

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Spotlights on youth ! Fatima Fadel

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Canadian Red Cross Youth Leadership ! conferences make an impact!

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Youth Groups

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A look into a disaster

University of Waterloo Region of York Simcoe County

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contents& editorials message from

the director As another school year is drawing to a close for all Red Cross youth, I want to thank you for your enthusiasm and energy. I am always impressed hearing stories about your creativity and leadership.

I wanted to take a moment to share with you some key updates. After 35 years of ! 5 Water terrorizes the globe service with the Canadian Red Cross, I have decided to enter “semi retirement” and now work only part-time hours. To help with this transition, an Associate Director position was created and Perez Oyugi was seconded to this position. Many of you know Perez, since she has been, and still is, very active in youth engagement in the Red Cross. We are also extremely pleased to inform you that the Implementation Framework for the Ontario Youth Engagement Strategy (YES) has been approved by both the Senior Leadership Team and Zone Council. Thank you to our very own Chelsea Hargreaves for doing a superb job in presenting the document to her fellow Zone Council Members. To obtain a copy of the YES implementation Framework, please contact your youth leaders or e-mail [email protected] We also want to thank you for your interest in recent youth opportunities and for your contributions to the Society. The last Junior Delegate posting from National Office saw a record number of applications from Ontario. We hope that at least one of the chosen/selected delegates will be from Ontario, and we will provide an update in the next newsletter.

Cover photo source: http://redcrosstalks.wordpress.com

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FATIMA “Step up and get involved” !

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Grace Wang, Editor For youth volunteer Fatima Fadel, involvement with the Red Cross has been the most rewarding experience of her life. Fatima first got involved with the Red Cross six years ago after a friend made a donation at their local Red Cross branch following the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Since then, she has transformed from a member of the LondonMiddlesex youth group into the youth representative of the Ontario-West regional council. Within her position, Fatima overlooks youth groups in her region, initiates the creation of new youth groups, and delivers presentations in her community in order to spread awareness of the Red Cross and its involvement in worldwide issues. “When we say Red Cross, a lot of people only know about swimming and first-aid,” says Fatima, who is currently a fourth year university student. “We need to raise awareness of our global surroundings and we do that by connecting with our community.” For Fatima, balancing her Red Cross responsibilities with a part-time job and a heavy course load can sometimes be overwhelming. Nevertheless, she remains a dedicated volunteer and even goes as far as to apply the Seven Fundamental Principles to her everyday life. “Impartiality is essential,” she says. “I’ve learned to give everyone a chance at everything. I aim my focus on helping people, not judging them.” One of the things she enjoys most about volunteering is the connection she develops with an audience during her presentations. “It’s that moment of connection when the audience responds and you know that they truly understand the message you are trying to get across.” Consequently, it comes as no surprise that Fatima’s most amazing Red Cross experience was when she helped organize and lead the “Voices for Humanity” Red Cross Youth Leadership Conference in November of last year. “One of my major goals as a youth volunteer was to organize a Red Cross conference,” she says. “I was so honoured to help out. The conference was a great success.” The conference, which gathered over 100 ecstatic Ontario youth volunteers in London, used a variety of workshops and activities to educate youth on global issues

and the opportunities available with the Red Cross. The conference was organized in a way that allowed volunteers to step out of their comfort zones and interact with youth from various regions. For the organizing committee, the conference was “a whole lot of work.” From deciding on workshops to accommodating dietary restrictions, organizing the conference was definitely a challenging task. And of course, the hard work paid off. “Through this conference, the youth volunteers realized how incredible the Red Cross is. They gained global awareness while establishing skill sets that can be put forth in their communities. They’ve discovered how much help they can get from one another, and how to overcome things as a team.” Fatima urges all prospective youth volunteers to join the Red Cross. Not only does she feel that volunteering with the Red Cross allows youth to understand the organization and learn more about the world around them, she believes that the experience provides spectacular life lessons and teaches youth to become open-minded in life. “Youth are the future. By taking the initiative to volunteer your time and help others, you yourself are actually benefiting the most. So step up and get involved.”

Canadian Red Cross Youth Leadership

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conferences are making an impact!

Perez Oyugi, Associate Director, International and Youth During the past year’s youth leadership conference held in London, youth were asked during table-top discussions to share their vision for the Canadian Red Cross, including what they were willing to do to engage on issues that were important to them and how they would help the Canadian Red Cross realize its vision of helping the most vulnerable. The following article accurately displays the answers articulated by the conference participants. When youth were asked to imagine the Canadian Red Cross in 2020, the look and feel of the humanitarian organization as well as its contribution to the humanitarian relief effort, many youth responded by stating that they envisioned youth taking a more dominant role in the Canadian Red Cross while others discussed a focus on environmental issues and gender equality. Other participants shared their interest in volunteer sustainability and increasing communication between the Canadian Red Cross and other community and international organizations. There was also an interest

in bringing Canadian Red Cross programs to remote communities that tend to be more vulnerable. Following an in-depth discussion on aid for the most vulnerable, Canadian Red Cross volunteers were asked to question how the Red Cross will realize its mission of aiding those most in need. Many participants took an intrapersonal look at their own development within the Canadian Red Cross volunteer network and asserted that they would continue to participate in Red Cross initiatives, take the knowledge gained from this conference and apply it to their communities. Participants also expressed an interest in applying their knowledge and experience to an international context, whilst embodying the Red Cross principles in their everyday lives. There was also a strong commitment to increasing the visibility of the Red Cross i n t h e v o l u n t e e r ’s r e s p e c t i v e communities. In all, Canadian Red Cross volunteers were eager to improve their programs and provide youth with more opportunities to grow and develop within this humanitarian organization. The

contributions made by the youth in this network should inspire us all to remember our contribution to the Red Cross and encourage us to renew our commitment to making this world a better place for all. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the youth who attended the conference and participated in the table-top discussions. A special thanks goes to the numerous volunteers and staff who contributed their time and talent in order to make the 2010 youth leadership conference a success.

Thank you again and STAY TUNED for more information on our 2011 Conference.

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youthGROUPS

Gearing Up for Hoops for Nets: University of Waterloo Andrea McArthur, Humanitarian Issues !

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Promotion Coordinator

The Canadian Red Cross Youth Action Group at the University of Waterloo launched their first event on March 5, 2011 with an exciting Hoops for Nets Campaign. The university generously offered a donation for every team

registered in the 3 on 3 basketball tournament which raised over $1,600 for the campaign, equalling 161 bednets! This fundraiser marks a huge contribution to the Malaria Bites campaign, where every $10 raised supports the purchase of a net, shipping and distribution to families, training volunteers in Africa on malaria prevention, malaria education prevention ensuring families properly hang and use the net, and other initiatives that help families and communities to fight against malaria. The campaign was successfully organized with the leadership of Nicola MacDonald, representing Fund Development on the Kitchener-Waterloo Branch Council and Anna Guo, U of W Youth Action Group member and International & Youth volunteer in Kitchener-Waterloo. The event was a huge success thanks to support from volunteers from Injury Prevention, HELP, Disaster Management, and the University of Waterloo Youth Action Group. For more information on how to support the work of the Canadian Red Cross in the fight against malaria, visit

malariabites.net

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youthGROUPS From a Single Image to Community Awareness: Canadian Red Cross, Region of York Art Show Fundraiser Shadi Behpour It all started with a single drawing. An image of a skeletal boy fading away struck Lynda Watson, community services coordinator with Canadian Red Cross in Region of York. Inspired, she decided to collect all the art work from her youth workshops on Social Justice and Development, as well as workshops on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She was later motivated to share these beautiful and powerful images from the workshops with the broader community through an art exhibit. In May 2010, I was given the opportunity to serve as a team leader for the project. The team and I started with a tentative timeline and task list. The first task was finding a venue. This turned out to be quite easy, as most community organizations were very welcoming. We eventually decided to hold our event at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts with the launch on January 6. We soon caught our second big break when the Richmond Hill Central Library offered us the chance to exhibit our art show in the display cases on the main floor in October. Between the months of June and October, we prepared for the library display by mounting the pieces and creating flyers and signage. This was a great learning experience and it further prepared us for the main exhibit in January. In our subsequent group meetings, we reached a consensus about selling the art pieces in January via a silent auction fundraiser to raise money for a vocational training program for women in Afghanistan, created in partnership between Canadian Red Cross and the Afghan Red Crescent Society. In the upcoming months, our youth volunteers were divided into several groups including: advertising committee, food committee and greeters. We advertised the show in local newspapers and

created brochures, as well as invitations. We purchased appetizers and prepared our silent auction. We even invited the Mayor of Richmond Hill, Dave Barrow, who attended the event Finally, after several months of planning and preparation, our opening night was here. The night’s events were kicked off by guest speakers Mayor Barrow and Lynda Watson. All the guests at the exhibit were absolutely inspired and amazed by our images. We had such a high turnout that the performing arts centre asked us to book a similar event for the 2012 season. Thank you to all who made it a success!

Simcoe County Red Cross Youth Group Farhat Hossain The Red Cross Simcoe County youth group has made huge strides in engaging youth in their community. The youth group recently hosted the Simcoe County Youth Humanitarian Leadership Conference. Thirty enthusiastic youth from Simcoe County had the privilege of attending the riveting workshop on humanitarian issues relevant to the current global environment. The conference was a wonderful opportunity for youth facilitators to exercise their leadership skills by facilitating workshops for the first time. Youth volunteers such as Ilma Anis, (who facilitated a workshop on Children Affected by Armed Conflict), and Kassandra O’Brian (who facilitated a workshop on Introduction to Humanitarian Leadership) were able to work along side the youth group’s adult supervisor, Lynda Watson. Catherine O’Connor from the YMCA developed a presentation on youth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’S).

This presentation gave Catherine the opportunity to discuss her own experience traveling to Sierra Leone. The group also successfully carried out their first food drive for the GAP (Grocery Assistance Program), an emergency food bank existing within the city of Barrie. The food bank feeds over 14,000 people in Barrie, over half of whom are children. The group raised a considerable amount of food for the program and hope to continue this project once again this year. The Simcoe County youth group has been hard at work recruiting members and continues to grow every year. On another note, a Red Cross youth group was established at Eastview Secondary School in Barrie. Frank Li, a member of the group, saw the need for a school club that focused on the plight of those in the local community, as well as internationally. The group had its first meeting earlier this year which proved to be a rather successful meeting with creative ideas for getting involved in both community and international initiatives.

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An inside look into a disaster Arnav Agarwal Immediately following the Haiti earthquake last year, the Red Cross was instrumental in providing emergency first-aid, food, shelter, water and other resources to those affected. During the first few weeks of relief efforts, a documentary film crew was embedded with the Red Cross following its every move. The resulting film, called “Inside Disaster: Haiti”, aired on TVO this past January, exactly one-year following the devastating earthquake. Augmenting the film was an online simulation, developed to capture the disaster from numerous angles and

perspectives. It offers an interactive account of the earthquake and the rescue effort that soon followed. With character options such as “The Journalist”, “The Aid Worker”, and “The Survivor”, people can have a realistic, first-hand experience of the earthquake and its aftermath. The game also highlights both the degree of destruction and the myriad of components involved in responding to a natural disaster, which really humanizes the experience and emphasizes the hard work and dedication needed. Combining real-life decision-making scenarios with documentary footage from Haiti into an all-encompassing online experience,

the simulation serves as a learning experience for children, youth, and adults alike. Check out the documentary and simulation by visiting the “Inside Disaster” website at:

http:// insidedisaster.com/ haiti/experience and experience Haiti’s journey following this devastating disaster.

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Water terrorizes the globe most people impacted were Ampara and Batticaloa. The country encountered even more hurdles after a large number of the relief camps became flooded; making Earlier this year, floods threatened Australia, Sri evacuation extremely difficult. Lanka and Brazil. The International Federation of Red Brazil was also overwhelmed with extreme rain Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), along with and mudslides, which hit the National Societies from nation on January 12. Rescue around the world, were work became very difficult busy providing as much with communications down assistance as possible to and roads destroyed. Tens of those affected. thousands lost their homes, On January 27, hundreds lost their lives, while cyclone Yasi hit the many remain displaced from Australian shore in loved ones. The Brazilian Red Queensland with winds Cross and the IFRC helped to of up to 300 km/hour. facilitate the family There were no fatalities reunification process through even though it was one the use of two-minute satellite of the most powerful calls via cell phone. cyclones recorded to The Red Cross also date. There was, provided relief to the 23,000 h o w e v e r, e x t e n s i v e flood affected citizens in infrastructural and Colombia and 48,000 in environmental damage. Australian floods, credit: Red Cross AUʼs photostream (flickr.com) Northern Samar, Philippines. At the same time, Aid provided by the Red Cross hundreds of thousands were also affected in Sri Lanka due included the distribution of food rations, mosquito nets, to flash floods. The areas that had the most destruction and hygiene items, blankets, and mats.

Sarah Williams