http://vanessa.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/4300
I had a blast in Hawaii, couldnt have been better, but I am now back in the groove. As for War Child I am directing the International and Youth Programs, so it is quite a challenge, I have never worked so hard in my life, but I am learning a lot and really enjoying the environment. Its also in a super cool building and getting to see free concerts all the time is a perk too :)

As for school I have decided not to go, I think, but I just got awarded a scholorship, so that makes the decision even tougher.Ahhhh!

And TIG, I am still responding to youth reps and other emails, I average about 80 emails a week, so I am still answering quite a few. I am actually a little concerned about the youth reps, I have gotten a few distress emails saying that they feel like they have been deserted. yikes! so I am just wondering what the plan is with the youth reps and TakingITLocal. Anyone?

I am taking Spanish classes right across the street now, so i plan to come in on Monday around 6, so hopefully I can see some of your smiley faces.

Oh yes, Jeni and I are going to do a fundraising workshop again soon, maybe early July, late June?

See you soon!

Vanessa ]]> Wed, 29 May 2002 21:21:00 EDT http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/4300 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/4292
Toronto June 8th, 2002 12-5pm
Montreal June 15th, 2002 12-5pm
Vancouver June 15th, 2002 12-5pm

Three youth powered workshops will be also held in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in the coming weeks. Youth, Government officials and experts in the field will come together to debate the key issues around Africa and the G8. Of course, in the true spirit of War Child Canada, there will be a music element to this project! There will also be a live online chat, at 8pm June 12, featuring special guests who are experts on Africa and G8 issues. Everyone is welcome!

Africa and G8: Join the Debate is an exciting way for young Canadians to speak out and be heard on key issues. Be sure to spread the word at your school! Space is limited so sign up online!

Africa is one of the priority themes to be addressed at the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) meeting at Kananaskis, Alberta, on June 26th and 27th. War Child Canada’s youth committee is organizing the Africa and G8: Join the Debate forum. This will give young people the opportunity to get involved in discussing issues concerning Africa's development, and Canada's role in addressing the challenges faced by African nations.

As young leaders, we encourage you to participate and help spread the word to others about the Africa and the G8 online debate. If you haven’t already, please be sure to register as a site member at www.warchild.ca.

For further information on how you can participate in one of the workshops, or online debate check out the War Child Canada website (www.warchild.ca) and click on the link Africa and G8: Join the Debate. For any questions, contact Nisha at War Child Canada, toll-free at 1-866 WARCHILD or nisha@warchild.ca.

Make an impact!

]]> Wed, 29 May 2002 11:25:00 EDT http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/4292 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3656
Life had been chaotic lately as I have been taking on new responsibilities and opening up to new challenges.

Today is officially my last day at TIG :( I am pretty sad to leave, but I will remain a dedicated volunteer! I will be focusing my volunteer time on the devleopment of the new resource for youth reps and local teams, TakingITLocal. So stay tuned for the launch!

I am off to start anew with War Child Canada as the Youth and International Programs Manager. As many of you know, I have been wanting to work to assist war affected youth for many years now. So I now have the chance to work with an amazing organization with a great deal of freedom and room for innovation!

I will continue to check my TIG emails, but I also have a new address at War Child; vanessa@warchild.ca.

Also, I am on my way to Hawaii for 2 weeks, so if I don't respond to your email, I promise to answer when I return.

Smiles :)
Vanessa
]]> Fri, 19 Apr 2002 13:01:00 EDT http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3656 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3469 -> fixed up people's budgets and compiled them
-> met with ANdy and Jennifer to discuss the budgets, the next steps to creating the corporate/sponsorship packages
-> compliled visions statements for each project which were sent to staff to review and edit
-> went to the breakdancing workshop :P
-> met with SUsh to clarify the next steps for the volunteer program, we complied a list of static positions for each program which were sent to staff to review
-> going through the youth reps emails and adding them to the admin, if they weren't already added
->chatting with differnt reps on MSN about their projects
-> finalizing the content for the Takingitlocal site
-> met with Jen to talk about my contract and the next steps for me at TIG...still to be decided
->approved volunteers
->speaking with a few organizations about parnering with TIG
->answering all of my emails...i am on top of all of them so that is great!

hmm.. i am having a mental block about what i did on thursday...if i think of anything else i'll add it
:) ]]> Mon, 08 Apr 2002 16:37:00 EDT http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3469 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3422
Ramallah, Occupied Palestine -- My name is Tzaporah Ryter. I am an
American student from the University of Minnesota. I currently am in
Ramallah. We are under a terrible siege and people are being massacred by both the Israeli army and armed militia groups of Israeli settlers. They are shooting outside at anything that moves.

I am urgently pleading for as much outside help as possible to help
save lives here.

I arrived in Ramallah last Thursday. I had come back for a visit to
the Palestinian city where I had been previously living and studying.
On Thursday afternoon, the Israeli army began sealing off each
entrance to Ramallah and there were rumors that they planned to
invade.

People were rushing back home from across checkpoints and also people
were trying to flee. People were not allowed to go out and many
working people -- with homes and children to return to -- were not
allowed in, everyone was trying to take cover. Those traveling in
began desperately searching for alternative ways and traveling in
groups, but the Israelis were firing upon them and everyone was
running and screaming.

Women carrying their children were trying desperately to flee from
Ramallah, carrying infants and toddlers, and their young children were running along in the rain through the fields, slipping and
falling on the rocks, trying to reach safety. Israeli jeeps were
speeding across the terrain pulling up from every direction and
shooting at the women and children, and also at me, as we ran in
opposite directions. They were chasing down people, hunting them like
that in the fields.

When I reached Ramallah, people were panicking and trying to buy
bread, rice and milk from corner stores, but most supplies were
already gone. We bought what we could and went inside to wait for what was coming.

When night fell, Israeli tanks began to invade and also we saw Israeli troops coming on foot from the valley, and surrounding our
house. I could hear them calling to each other in Hebrew. They were
against our door and all around. They were firing everywhere a barrage of bullets and there was tank fire. We had to lay on the floor
and keep silent. We stayed there, on the floor, for nearly four days
in the darkness.

We knew that our circumstances were better than others because old
people or infants or people with medical emergency needs had no help.
It was very cold, with most families packed all in one room. Some
people are without life sustaining medicines like insulin, and they
are altering their doses dangerously if they have any medicine left to take. People are becoming dangerously sick from lack of food and water and heat. The fear and terror only makes things worse, but it
cannot be avoided.

In the daytime, we heard them shooting people in the streets, and
could hear them screaming and screaming. No ambulance was allowed
through. Then their screams stopped and there was just silence.

We had a telephone and would receive calls from all over telling us
what was happening. Everyone is in grave danger and Israeli soldiers
were killing people everywhere. They are arresting medics and
ambulance drivers, including foreign volunteer medical workers.

They keep taking doctors and medics, just now another call. Again,
this time the wife of a doctor telling us her husband has been taken
from the ambulance.

Large groups of people have been found in rooms, shot dead, there are
blood marks where they have lined people up on their knees and shot
them, with their ID cards laying on top of them. They are taking
people from their homes, blindfolding them, removing their clothes,
taking them away or lining them up and shooting them against the wall.

People are making phone calls and saying that these soldiers and
militia have come in and are shooting people and then the line cuts
off. The numbers of these killings I fear are much greater than the
numbers confirmed in the press, because the human rights offices and
the media centers have been stormed, and everything is shut down. No
one can move without almost certain chance of being shot by the
Isreali snipers, who are everywhere.

The Israelis are demanding that all journalists leave Ramallah and
today another foreign journalist was shot. They do not want any more
internationals here and are deporting people. It seems quite clear
that they do not want eyewitnesses which is only heightening my own
fears.

The hospitals have also been surrounded and invaded and Israeli troops are taking the injured people and interrogating them. Today a
woman, a patient, tried to walk out from hospital. The Israelis shot
her in the neck and killed her.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health is saying that they fear the spread of diseases because of the number of unburied corpses.

The numbers are only growing in reports of the mass killings here and
Israeli troops continue to round up people. People are calling
frantically, missing a relative and we do not know where they have
been taken, including children.

The numbers we have now exceed 600, and we are estimating between 700
and 800. All human rights groups and legal advocates are being denied
any information of where the detained are being held. From what we
know confirmed is that 10% of those taken so far have been children
under age 18.

On the fourth day I decided to try to move. People were running out of supplies and I also was so worried about people, and had to check
to see if they were okay. If I didn't, I feared panic would overtake
me so badly that I really had no other choice but to try and go.

It was not safe where I was in any case and at least if I left I would still have my sanity. It was really terrifying as there are some internationals here, usually traveling in groups, and the
Israelis are saying on the radio that they will arrest or shoot the internationals. They did shoot some yesterday and regardless, it's not as if snipers differentiate and they are everywhere.

My friends told me not to go, and were really scared for me, but I had to go. When I went outside, there were cars all shot up and hit by multiple bullets and shells in the middle of the road, unparked. There must have been people in them but I don't know where their
bodies are. There are no reports of them, but they must exist.

I got to the corner trying to go to the bakery for bread and food for
people. Some people were calling and calling with only one cup of rice left. I made it to the corner but they opened fire on my first
try, and shot at me, so I had to turn back.

After that I tried again and it took me one day to make it a block
because I had to start over again and again. I had to climb through
the valley, and as I passed house by house, people were warning me and pointing out what path seemed safest for these two minutes. In the next two minutes, it would be something different. They really
helped to keep my path safe.

Today is Day Five and they are still rounding up people like this and
we hear them shooting all day long.

This afternoon the Israelis suddenly lifted the curfew, suddenly
announcing that everyone had two hours to go out to get food. However, the Israeli soldiers also took food from many of the stores,
looted, and there is no bread or things. People went to get whatever
they could.

Even though the Israeli army said it had lifted the closure for two
hours -- in which we still were not able to transfer medical supplies
and still was not long enough to everything that was badly needed --
the Israelis continued shooting people in the streets indiscriminately on their way, so people were running around trying to make it to the store or find a safe route only to have to run back
home again. It was an added cruelty and terror tactic in this macabre
situation, a sick joke: starve people and then shoot them when they
try to find food with your permission.

In an apartment building in Beitunia neighborhood where I used to
live, they took 60 people who were my neighbors, including several
familes, and pushed them into one room since last night. The Israelis
told them that they are to be used as "human shields", as the
apartment building is across from a building that they were invading.
One child needs to go to the hospital since last night and, initially, the families were able to call outside. Now, the Israelis
have taken their phones.

There are reports that they are rounding up men between the ages of 14 and 45 in that neighborhood, and these civilians, from these same
Palestinian families trapped in that building, were just used to walk
in front of an Israeli tank as it invaded the Preventative Security
Compound. Reports also have alleged that the Israelis were saying that some could leave but shot them when they attempted to leave. The
buildings there are burning, and people are trapped inside.

We keep calling to try to find people but there has been no
electricity and most people's phones are dead now. I do not know what
is happening to many people. The only solution to this is to try to
brave the deadly streets in order to check, but its almost impossible
and terrifying to leave the house at all.

Each place I come to, I am afraid to leave not only for myself but for everyone else in this horrifying position. Israeli death squads
have been yanking people into the street. I also hear only shooting
and shooting, with no return fire. This suggest that unarmed civilians are being gunned down mercilessly everywhere and I am so scared for
everyone. I feel like maybe if I leave one place, one area or
neighborhood I will never see the people again alive.

There are more explosions outside now and more shooting. Another
explosion. More firing, it just doesn't stop.

This is a massacre. The foreign delegations tried to get in but were
turned back, the International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to help but they are being ignored. Please help.

I am not only scared for myself and for people here, but if this
cannot be stopped, I am truly scared for all of humanity, for a world
in which we send men to the moon but cannot stop ethnic cleansing.

On the news in America, we see hardly anything of demonstrations. What are you doing over there?

There do not seem to be any reports of what is happening. In truth,
it's got to stop. Please go out to the streets, please demand a
response from your representatives. Be loud, march up to the capitals, refuse to leave until the Israelis withdraw. Act now! Tell
them the Israelis are murdering innocent people whose only crime is
being born in their own homeland, a Palestinian under a military
occupation.

Demand international protection for the Palestinian people, scream
that this is an affront to humanity and that it is time that the US
not only stop supporting Israel, but that the US stop its abuse of
human rights within its own borders. This is about all of our
struggles. For the love of God, please stop this slaughter. Please
help.]]> Fri, 05 Apr 2002 10:34:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3422 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3411
Tareq
--

Saturday, March 30, 2002

My name is Alyyan Zayed, I am 9 years old. I cann't play on my back yard. I can't step outside of my home front door, because of the curfew. I've hided my toys because I am afraid that the Israeli soldiers will take me away, for having toy guns and toy tanks. I can't even walk to the store to buy candy because of the curfew.

This is a letter from Rana to the whole world:
During this situation my father is faraway. When I first noticed my sister and mother crying upon watchin TV where the Israeli soldiers are shoting the arrested men. I imagined my dad might be one of them. I started crying and crying and after a minute I said to myself why do I cry for, this is our destiny. My father is a police man and we should resisit. Rana Burkan, 9years.

I am Lema Zayed, 11 years.
I want to go to school to finish my study this year. I want to be free during Summer, to go swimming and playing. I want the Israeli soldiers to leave our land and stop the occupation and stop using these heavy tanks. We have nothing to confront them by. I don't want them to occupy our schools, or shelling them.

I am Ahmed Tuqan, I am 7 years old. Since the Intifada had started we started moving from one home to another. Every week we live in a home. The Israelies enter homes and frighten people. When they enter Jrusalem we move to Ramallah and when they enter Ramallah we move to Jerusalem.

Mustafa Mulhem, 8 years: I want to thank the foreign countries for they intend to help the Palestinian children. We are in a very bad and poor situation. Our towns are occupied. I am in Ramallah and we are under a total occupation by the Israeli soldiers and the city is full of tanks and military vehicle. I feel sorry for the dead (martyers) and wounded people, but our hospitals and doctors will protect us.

I am Ala' Jibrin, 12 years. I live in Ramallah in an old house consisted of one room. It doesn't include a bathroom. Our neighbours and us use an outside doors bathroom. It is 30 meters far from our home (room). The Israeli soldiers prevent us from using it, or going to the kitchen which is also outside our home. We cann't even prepare food. We are 8 siblings live in a very difficult situation. We are confused and don't know what to do, if we went out they might shot us. What's more the Israeli soldiers throw their rabbish in front of our house door. They use the bathroom in front of our home door. Light is cut off since yesterday. We are nervous and in a very difficult psychological situation. We ask God, and everyone who has human feelings over this earth to interfer and put an end to this nightmare prevailing over the lives of the Palestinian children.

I am Yanal Zayed, I am 4 years old. I want to swim. I want a home, a house and a window to look through.

I am Sara Atrash, I am 5years, I love you Mom.

Heba Burkan 12 years: we're longing for peace and security. We want love and affection. Give us childhood, and freedom.


Sunday, March 31, 2002

Ahmed Atrash, 8 years: this is a very difficult situation, I got bored. My parents do not allow me to play in the back yard. They don't allow me to watch TV, for they're watching the news. I am sad for the martyres but my sorrow increased when I heared the number of martyres is increasing also. But I am playing with my friends in neighbourhood. My only wish is the Israeli soldiers to get out of my land, and this is the best wish I make to mm population.

Ala' Jibrin, 12 years. While we were sleeping, we heared the sound of broken glass. We peeped through the window and saw the Israeli soldiers breaking cars' glasses and stealing the record players. They broke our car windows. Thank God they didn't steal our record player. On the morning, 15 soldiers entered our home shouting. They turned over the house up side down, arrested my dad, and kept us in our small kitchen, which is located outside the house. I think they took away my dad, because of having a Palestinian flag. We saw them beating up the arrested men very hard. Isn't that terrorism itself, oh my God!

Mizer Jibrin, 15 years. (Ala's brother)
"Unforgettable Pictures"
The Israeli soldiers prevented us from going out to the kitchen or bathroom. We were in unbelievable situation. Since the bathroom was far from our home (the room which we live in) my younger sisters used an empty garbage can. I refused to, and insisted to go to the bathroom outside. I wanted to front the soldiers, and my parents tried to prevent me, and due to my insistence they agreed warning me to take care. When I finished using the bathroom, the soldiers were sorrounding the place and asked me to rise my hands. One of them pushed me forcely, and started questioning me: what are you doing, what's your name, how old are you" I answered them, and they were about to beat me, when my father cried "stop it, stop it, he is a child went out to use the bathroom". They released me and broke into our home. They imprisoned my sisters, brothers and me in our small kitchen. And sabotaged our home. They arrested my father and beat him with the other men. Then they coverd their heads by plastic bags, taking them to unknown distination. I experienced the occupation and I will never ever forget. I want to say stop your occupation, stop your tyranny and stop your killing, stop..

Alyyan Zayed, 9 years. The Israeli soldiers are killing the young men and frightening the children. They are imprisoning the Palestinian soldiers and killing the pressmen. Support us and protect us.>
--
]]> Thu, 04 Apr 2002 10:41:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3411 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3280
HRDC summer positions: Jeni Rosenthal and I have been working on this, it is do next week and we are almost done, just some finishing touches

Gov't Proposal: This is somehting Nikisha secured and I wrote a few months back, so I spruced it up and it is ready to be sent out.

Budgets: Got my budgets finished and I am waiting for everyone else's which I am hoping to get today. Then we can have a big strategy/fundraising meeting with Andy :)


Volunteer Program:

Lots of new volunteers, which is great

Working with a few great volunteers who are helping with research

Finished recieving responses from volunteers intersted in helping MAria, so I think she has them all organized and working hard now....if anyone else needs help with anything let me know and I can work to find the volunteers you need!

hoping that everyone has a chance to also think of the volunteers that will help in their "departments" (tee hee) this will help Sush and I plan for the volunteer program.

TakingITLocal:

Working to get everything ready for the site..which has been quite a bit or work. All the descriptions and resources.

TakingITLocal new Team Guide is finished, which is exciting

Working on Jen's Action Plan to make it a bit longer

working with lots or youth reps on their individual initiatives...i try to post most major conversations in the relationship manager..and with the new tool, this will get easier, i hope.


Other:
worked with Sush and Martin to help Lan Anh with her award application

Working on a few partnerships, with particular TIG teams and individuals interested in working with TIG

:P


]]> Mon, 25 Mar 2002 11:09:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3280 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3075
So what I have accomplished in the last few days:

.I have been answering quite alot of responses to youth reps who have been replying to the individual progress report I sent out to all 40+ of them. if you want to read their responses they are in the admin section.

.I have been approving the tons of new volunteers we have been getting and trying to get about 8 others to help with the fundraising research

.working with Jeni, a volunteer, on the HRDC grants for summer positions

.working on the documentation for the TakingITLocal sight including, responsibilites of a youth rep, fundraising, becoming a youth rep, starting a local team and encouraging Martin to work on a guide to using the new admin site. this is a lot of work, becuase most of the docuemnts need to be re-written to account for the manual. I also want improve the resources to make being a youth rep a lot easier!

.working with Andy to plan out the fundraising stuff for TIG, including getting all TIG core team to prepare budgets and project goals for the next year.

.preparing the budgets for the areas I am responsible for

.speaking with lot sof people over email about differnt initiaives, including CIDA, an organizaiton from Kenya etc.

.working with Susheela on the volunteer program

.working with Maitreyi, a youth rep from India, on her IBelieve project.

Thats all I think...accept for the million other things that aren't mentioned here.
Super excited for a break this weekend! Yeah Amanda's birthday!!

:)]]> Fri, 08 Mar 2002 15:48:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3075 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3073
For Immediate Release
March 8, 2002

Three Die in Protests Against Canadian Oil Company Project in South America

(Toronto) Today, Canadian environmentalists called on the Alberta Energy Company to halt construction of their controversial pipeline in Ecuador following the death of several protestors, including children.
“People should not be killed to protect oil company profits” said Keith Stewart, climate change campaigner for the Toronto Environmental Alliance and personal friend of some of the some of the environmentalists under attack in Ecuador. “We are calling on the Alberta Energy Company to withdraw from this project before more people are killed or wounded.”
Local newspapers report that three children have died by asphyxiation from tear gas and dozens are wounded after demonstrators erected roadblocks and occupied over 60 oil wells and five refineries - halting all construction on the pipeline and bringing oil production to a near standstill. The blockades were part of a general strike called by workers, residents, and local government leaders in two Amazonian provinces.
Ecuadorean President Gustavo Noboa, who has warned that he will "bring war" to anyone in the way of the pipeline and fight them "trench by trench," initially declared a state of emergency for both provinces-- suspending basic civil rights and giving maximum power to the military to break up the demonstrations. The state of emergency was lifted March 5, but tensions remain high.
The Alberta Energy Company is the largest shareholder in proposed 450,000 barrel-per-day oil pipeline would double oil production in the ecologically-sensitive Amazon basin and result in new encroachments upon indigenous lands and ecological reserves, as well as more contamination of water and air in the region. Once pristine rainforest, Sucumbios and Orellana are now the largest oil producing provinces in the country, but they have not benefitted from the oil revenues. Communities surrounding oil operations have the highest rates of cancer in the country due to three decades of chronic contamination of their rivers, ground water, soil, and air, while larger towns still lack basic health services and infrastructure such as sanitation and potable water.
In July 2001, the Toronto Environmental Alliance, Greenpeace Canada, the Sierra Club of Canada and the David Suzuki Foundation called on Alberta Energy to withdraw from the project, but the company has yet to respond to their letter.

- 30 -

For more information:
Keith Stewart, tel. (416) 596-0660

If anyone would care to join me in calling on Alberta Energy to withdraw from this project, e-mail me at keith@torontoenvironment.org, or give me a shout at 416-596-0660.

For more info, see www.amazonwatch.org

Keith Stewart, Ph.D.
Smog and Climate Change Coordinator
Toronto Environmental Alliance
30 Duncan St., Suite 201
Toronto, Ontario M5V-2C3
tel. 416-596-0660
fax 416-596-0345
e-mail: keith@torontoenvironment.org
webpage: www.torontoenvironment.org

]]> Fri, 08 Mar 2002 12:11:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/3073 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2957 murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
. . . Returning violence for violence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can
do that."
-Martin Luther King, Jr]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2002 10:58:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2957 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2939 Jerry Mander, president of the International Forum on Globalization

"Our overriding purpose, from the beggining right through the present day, has been world dominaiton- that is, to build and maintain the capacity to coerce everybody else on the planet: nonviolently, if possible; and violently, if necessary. But the purpose of the [U.S.] foreign policy of domination is not just to make the rest of the world jump through hoops; the purpose is to facilitate our exploitaiotn of resources."
Ramsey Clark, former US attorney general

]]> Mon, 25 Feb 2002 17:21:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2939 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2876
There is a great statistic: ***The cost of a car is so high that in the time it takes to make the money to pay for your car and all the bills, you could easily walk everywhere!!***

crazy to think about it that way...all the notions we have about cars as the most convient trasport method change a little bit.

Imagine a city without cars for a second...wait! where is all the noise, its quiet and hey i can breathe better, there is space to walk, ride bikes..people take things a bit slower, appreciate others around them and actually relate to them as people rather than as faces in a metal box.

Its true that cars drive our economy and provide a lot of jobs, but we are innovative we can devise other modes of transportation that will save more lives, be environmentally friendly and create a better society to live in.]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2002 13:13:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2876 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2845 >a free weekly e-newsletter of peace, sustainable living, environment human rights.

Its long but worth the read!
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>(A) INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>DARE TO ASK
>
>This Special Edition summarizes some very serious questions being raised about the events of September 11, even including the possibility of CIA and top US government complicity in the attacks.
>
>A number of websites have been busily researching and documenting the inconsistencies in the official narrative of what happened on Sept 11, notably "The Emperor's New Clothes" ( www.tenc.net ), and Michael Ruppert's "From The Wilderness" ( www.copvcia.com ).
>
>"Conspiracy theory", you say? If you can take a minute
>or two to look over "Guilty For 9-11: Bush, Rumsfeld,
>Myers" ( http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/indict-1.htm )
>-- and still be convinced that there is nothing to this,
>I would be curious to hear your thoughts.
>
>On January 17, longtime CIA critic Michael Ruppert flew
>to Toronto to speak on the "Truth Lies About Sept 11."
>"Were the attacks what the official story says they were,
>or were they staged? [...] And is the background really
>war profiteering, oil and drugs?" Some fascinating excerpts (and links to) Ruppert's writings are included below.
>
>Until late January, the media was silent on these questions.
>
>But on Jan. 21, Canada's VisionTV "Insight Mediafile"
>aired the first in a series of commentaries on the inconsistencies in the official story. An excerpt from the transcript of the first, controversial broadcast is included below, along with links to the subsequent transcripts.
>
>The fourth program -- "George Bush The OILigarch"
>-- airs this week (Mon 10:30pm; Thurs 7am 1:30pm;
>Fri 1:30am) on Vision TV, cable 60 in Toronto, and
>across Canada on various cable and satellite providers. Written transcripts will be available (see next section).
>
>A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY?
>
>These are obviously very troubling allegations. The
>hypotheses of a staged attack, or of "war profiteering,
>oil and drugs" may or may not ever be proven. But if
>there is any truth to them, the implications on democracy, peace, environment, human rights -- even on our daily life and well-being -- could be enormous.
>
>On the other hand, this could prove to be a golden opportunity. Some people are suggesting that citizens and activists of all stripes should come together around this issue ...that evidence of a staged attack would bring American citizens on board, in the battle against a
>fundamentally corrupt system.
>http://maritimes.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=825
>http://www.angelcities.com/members/mccurdy/inquiry.htm
>
>Dare to ask, and dare to spread the word -- thousands already are. Together, we can fight the media silence. We can spread the word to thousands. We can come together in our communities and discuss the questions, the theories, and the implications.
>
>What's wrong with asking questions? "The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open", Gunther Grass once said. If we don't, we risk supporting, by our silence, potentially enormous crimes.
>
>~~~~~
>

Below: lists related broadcasts, events, and some suggestions of things you can do.
http://www.planetfriendly.net/deception.html

>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>(B) THE GREAT DECEPTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>"On Monday, January 21st, VisionTV became the first North American television network to address the inconsistencies in the official version of the events of September 11th. In a daring eight minute commentary on Vision's Mediafile program, host Barry Zwicker asked many crucial questions that have been absent from the mainstream media's
>coverage since Sept. 11.
> -
>http://hamilton.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=972group=webcast
>
>"'Why did it take the CIA, the Pentagon and the White House so long to respond to the horrendous events of Sept. 11, 2001?' asks media critic, analyst, author and host of VisionTV >Insight: Mediafile, Barrie Zwicker. In his controversial Jan. 21 commentary, the first in a series of commentaries on the terrorist attacks, Zwicker said that the official narrative for the events of that day is "frankly implausible." According to Zwicker, a more likely scenario suggests elements within the top military and political offices were anxious to justify a war on terrorism, increase the military's budget and make a grab for Middle East oil."
> - http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/insight.htm
> - http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/Deception.htm
>
>VisionTV is an independent, not-for-profit broadcaster.
>
>VisionTV has now aired three programs on this topic, with the fourth to be aired this week, including Thursday at 7am 1:30pm.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>EXCERPT FROM PART I
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>"For four months I've been waiting in vain for the North American media to pursue questions about the startling events of September 11th.
>Here's what I want to know:
>
>"The multiple hijackings are unprecedented. The first occurs at 7:45 in the morning. It's a full hour before the first plane hits the World Trade Center. But it's an hour and 20 minutes -- and after the second plane hits - that the President allegedly becomes informed. Think about
>that.
>
>"Then, he gives no orders. Why? He continues to listen to a student talk about her pet goat. Why?
>
>"It's another 25 minutes until he makes a statement, even as flight 77 is making a bee-line for Washington, DC.
>
>"In the almost two hours of the total drama not a single U.S. Air Force interceptor turns a wheel until it's too late. Why? Was it total incompetence on the part of aircrews trained and equipped to scramble in minutes?"
>
>"Well, unlike the U.S. Air Force, I'll cut to the chase. Simply to ask these few questions is to find the official narrative frankly implausible. The more questions you pursue, it becomes more plausible that there's a different explanation: namely, that ELEMENTS WITHIN THE
>TOP U.S. MILITARY, INTELLIGENCE AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP - which are closely intertwined - ARE COMPLICIT IN WHAT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER THE 11TH..." [emphasis added]
>
> - Barrie Zwicker http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/insight.htm
> http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/mediafile_Jan21.htm
>
>Zwicker goes on to give more details and context in the rest of the January 21st, 28th, and February 4th broadcasts.
>
>The VisionTV Insight homepage:
> http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/insight.htm
>
>Summary of the three broadcasts plus a preview of this week:
> http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/mediafile_popup.htm
>
>Or go directly to the three broadcasts aired to date:
> http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/mediafile_Jan21.htm
> http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/mediafile_Jan28.htm
> http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/mediafile_Feb4.htm
>
>Some discussion and feedback regarding the broadcasts:
> http://www.visiontv.ca/programs/insight/Deception.htm
>
>Real Video Download:
> http://clients.loudeye.com/imc/mayday/mediafile.ram
>
>NEXT BROADCAST is this Thursday (see section C, below)
>
>Summary of Zwicker's shows and some relevant links:
>http://hamilton.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=972group=webcast
>

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>(D) EVENTS (war, peace, civil liberties related topics)
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>* Events in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, Montreal.
>In order by date.
>
>* ST. VALENTINES WALK FOR CANADA'S DISAPPEARED,
>Wed Feb 13, noon, Toronto. Who was St. Valentine? - a war resister who
>was no stranger to prison for his acts of resistance. On Valentine's
>Eve, love your neighbours, don't imprison them! A walk in support of
>those wrongfully detained; to end Canadian racism; to get Canada out of
>the wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, and the poor of the world. Meet at
>the Don Jail (Broadview
>Gerrard) at noon; walk to the U.S. Consulate (360 University Ave.)
>Info: Toronto Action for Social Change 416-651-5800 tasc@web.ca
>
>* CIVIL LIBERTIES LEGAL STRATEGIES for Protest:
>What are the Real Impacts of the New "Anti-Terrorist"
>Regime on Organising? Activists? Minorities? Fri Feb 15,
>7pm, Ottawa. To work out how to continue to mount effective public
>protest, occupying and expanding the public space and finding ways of
>confronting, exposing, and undermining corporate and state control,
>while continuing to build viable alternatives. Solidarity support
>strategies with communities and individuals under immediate risk; but
>also to make the best use of the freedoms and privileges we still
>enjoy. Concrete discussion of the real dangers as well as the real
>opportunities strategies. With Matthew Behrens (Toronto Homes Not
>Bombs Toronto Action for Social Change); Laurel Smith (Toronto Homes
>Not Bombs); Beth Greenhorn Vallie Stearns (Ottawa Women's March
>Committee); Brian Edgecombe (Ottawa Homes not Bombs);
>David Morris (Ottawa immigration refugee lawyer). Room 104,
>St. Paul University, 223 Main St. Info: 613-236-9188
>[ http://www.gdo.ca/events.html http://www.carleton.ca/opirg/ ]
>
>* KITCHENER-WATERLOO PEACE WORKSHOP, Sat Feb 16, Kitchener-Waterloo. A
>series of workshops on peace, non-violence and social justice, within a
>Christian/peace theology framework. Lunch provided. Info: Sarah Cardey
>sarah_cardey@yahoo.ca or Brian Burch burch@tao.ca
>
>* TORONTO WEST DETENTION CENTRE RALLY,
>Sat Feb 16, 1-4pm, Toronto. Immigrants and refugee claimants are being
>held in solitary confinement in Toronto jails and are being denied
>their rights. There have been cases of people being denied access to
>basic sanitation and medical care. Hearings are being held in jail
>cells using video cameras instead of detainees' live presence in
>courtrooms. At the Celebrity Inn, families are split up as the men are
>kept in a separate wing from the women and children. What else is going
>on at the Toronto West Detention Centre and the Celebrity Inn? Why
>aren't the authorities telling the public who is being held, and why?
>Rally at the Celebrity Budget Inn (Airport Rd. just north of American
>Dr.) and Toronto West Detention Centre (111 Disco Rd.). Buses leave at
>1pm from downtown Toronto, returning at 4pm. Info/reserve:
>416-631-8835. http://www.web.net/~ara/ http://www.ocap.ca
>
>* STATE, SECURITY TERROR: Activism Action In The Anti-Terror
>Environment, Mon Feb 18, 12:30-2:15pm, Toronto. Informal seminar
>discussion of the research of PhD students Pablo Bose Michael
>Posluns, and relevant issues. Room 354, Lumbers Bldg., York Univ., 4700
>Keele. Info: Catherine Phillips cphil@yorku.ca [
>http://www.yorku.ca/fes ]
>
>* FAITH ACTION NETWORK, Thu Feb 21, 6pm, Toronto.
>Meeting potluck. At Friends' (Quaker) House, 60 Lowther. (near St.
>George subway). Also: noon hour vigils passing out peace pamphlets,
>Fridays at various locations.
>Info: http://www.geocities.com/actionfaith
>
>* COALITION TO OPPOSE THE ARMS TRADE,
>4th Tuesday monthly (e.g Feb 26), Ottawa. - A national
>network of individuals and organizations exposing and
>opposing Canada's role in the international arms trade, particularly
>where there is trade to governments which are engaged in war or which
>violate human rights. Please join us at our monthly COAT meetings in
>Ottawa. We meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 91A
>Fourth Ave (just east of Bank St., in the Glebe)
>http://www.ncf.ca/coat/ 613-231-3076 ad207@freenet.carleton.ca
>
>* NATIONAL ANTI-WAR CONFERENCE, Fri-Sun Mar 1-3,
>Montreal. Anti-war activists and organizations from around the country
>will gather, share information, describe their experiences and take
>active steps to organize against the war. Themes include:
>(1) the war against "terrorism"; (2) imperialism and the military
>industrial complex; (3) the war at home: anti-terrorism legislation,
>the loss of civil liberties, and the crack down on immigration;
>(4) organizing against the war. Friday and portions of Saturday will be
>dedicated to educational presentations and discussions for the general
>public. Seeking delegates, fundraisers, speakers, organizers. Sliding
>scale. Contact: Concordia Student Union 514-848-7474 (leave message)
>csu@csu.tao.ca or Samer 514-262-4564. [
>http://www.flora.org/nowar/forum/197 ]
>
>* CRIMINALIZING DISSENT, Sat Mar 2, 1pm, Toronto.
>Free workshop on the criminalization of dissent in Canada, with Amina
>Sherazzi Maliha Chisti. Metro Hall, 55 John (at King; near St. Andrew
>subway). Info/register if possible: mob4glob@tao.ca 416-208-0785
>http://www.mob4glob.ca (Toronto Mobilization for Global Justice)
>[topical links: http://www.planetfriendly.net/rights.html ]
>
>* MANUFACTURING CONSENT: Noam Chomsky
>The Media (film), Wed Mar 6, 7pm, Toronto. As an outspoken critic of
>the press, Noam Chomsky has unrelentingly dissected how our
>much-acclaimed democratic freedoms often mask an irresponsible use of
>power. Explore the political life times of the controversial author,
>linguist and radical philosopher. Free. OPIRG-Toronto monthly film
>series. Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex (at St George St., 1 block S of
>Bloor). Info/volunteer: 416-978-7770 opirg@campuslife.utoronto.ca [
>http://opirg.org ] [topical links: http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/
>http://www.zmag.org/GlobalWatch/chomskymit.htm
>http://members.aol.com/democracyu/ ]
>
>* ALTERNATIVES TO WAR INJUSTICE, Fri-Sat Mar 29-30,
>Toronto. More details to follow. St. Lawrence Forum - a public space
>for residents to speak out on issues of civic social importance.
>Free. Metro Hall, 55 John at King (St. Andrew subway). Info:
>416-366-1656 x274 http://www.stlc.com/forums.htm
>http://www.interlog.com/~vow/
>
>* MORE PEACE EVENTS Across Canada: http://www.acp-cpa.ca/febevents.htm
>See also: http://www.flora.org/nowar/forum/ http://www.flora.org/coat/forum/
>* MORE EVENTS in southern Ontario: http://www.planetfriendly.net
>
>"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that." - Dr.
>Martin Luther King, Jr. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world
>blind." - Mahatma Gandhi
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>(E) WHAT CAN YOU DO? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>Here are a variety of suggestions of things people can
>do to act around this rather complex issue. The following
>is also available online at:
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/deception.html
>
>* SPEAK UP WHILE YOU CAN - "Don't be on the defensive.
>If they say it's a 'conspiracy theory', ask them 'what's _your_
>theory?' If they question your credibility, say 'I think the media is
>in danger of losing _their_ credibility'. Speak only about what you
>feel confident speaking about. The questions you pose are just as
>important. This is no time to be meek and mute. Be positively and
>lovingly combative." - Barrie Zwicker (paraphrased)
>
>* SPREAD THE WORD - forward or print distribute this
>message to your friends associates. Talk to your friends, your
>family, your neighbours. Write or speak to the media. Approach unions,
>environmental and social justice organizations, and suggest that they
>hold a public event.
>
>* INFORM EDUCATE YOURSELF - read some of the
>pages linked above below (for easier surfing, this document is
>available on-line at http://www.planetfriendly.net/deception.html ).
>For a broader exposure to related issues, groups and websites, see also
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/sheep.html#links and
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/voices.html
>
>* APPLY CRITICAL THOUGHT healthy skepticism
>-- to both mainstream and alternative points of view
>http://www.howtoknow.com
>http://dmoz.org/Science/Science_in_Society/Skeptical_Inquiry/Critical_T
>hinking/
>
>* BE AN ACTIVIST - http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/activist.html
>http://dmoz.org/Society/Activism/Resources/
>http://www.netaction.org/training/
>
>* FIND EACH OTHER - find other people with similar
>concerns; go to peace meetings events; approach local
>peace groups, OPIRG's or other groups you trust (see
>www.planetfriendly.net/voices.html#resourcecentres
>for some ideas); put up posters in local bookstores or
>natural food stores; etc.
>
>* COME TOGETHER - "This is the issue of our time -
>all our various issues are only noise. Why? Most activists
>are aware the CIA has been manipulating governments, elections, and
>supporting human rights abuses in other countries. However, they
>stepped across the line if they had a part in 9-11. Americans (I'm sad
>to say) were very acquiesent about the CIA doing their dirty deeds in
>other countries, but they will have a different attitude when they
>begin to learn they may have been involved in the NY
>WTC terror on innocent Americans..."
>http://maritimes.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=825group=webcast
>
>* HOLD A PUBLIC DISCUSSION or open mic. --
>a safe, respectful space for people to share thoughts
>and feelings, and to discuss potential plans of action.
>Once you're a little organized, approach local
>progressive organizations and ask them for support.
>
>* PRACTICE FREE SPEECH use your civil liberties
>-- use them or lose them http://www.planetfriendly.net/rights.html
>http://www.openwords.com
>http://dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Human_Rights_and_Liberties/Free_Speech/
>
>* BECOME THE MEDIA - journalism, writing, video,
>internet activism, critical thinking
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/voices.html#become
>
>* STAY INFORMED... JOIN THE DISCUSSION
> Here is a very brief summary of some potentially
> relevent e-mail lists discussions...
>* Toronto based:
> People- Planet-Friendly (weekly) http://www.planetfriendly.net
> E-left http://www.mnsj.org/members/index.htm
> Mobilization for Global justice: http://www.mob4glob.ca
> mob4glob@tao.ca
> TAO http://news.tao.ca http://toronto.tao.ca
> OPIRG Toronto http://www.campuslife.utoronto.ca/groups/opirg/
>* Ottawa based:
> Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade http://www.flora.org/coat/forum/
> No War Forum http://www.flora.org/nowar/forum/
> Opirg-Carleton www.carleton.ca/opirg/mailing.html
> www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/lists/html/opirg-events/
>* Worldwide:
> Indymedia http://www.indymedia.org http://lists.indymedia.org
> http://ontario.indymedia.org
> http://ontario.indymedia.org/newstatic.php3?page=peace
> http://hamilton.indymedia.org http://windsor.indymedia.org
>
>* BARRIE ZWICKER, producer and host of VisionTV's
>Insight Mediafile is available for public appearances and media
>interviews. You can contact him in Toronto at 416-651-5588, e-mail
>bzwicker@sympatico.ca, fax 416-651-1208. He will be speaking in Ottawa
>in late April, hosted by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)
>http://www.ncf.ca/coat/ Watch our regular weekly editions
>for announcements of other appearances - and please let us
>know if you hear of any. For other war peace-related events,
>please see the events section, below. Barrie is also available
>for media interviews: contact VisionTV at 416-368-3194 or
>bzwicker@sympatico.ca [ http://www.visiontv.ca ]
>
>* SEPT 11 PUBLIC INQUIRY PROPOSAL - "I call for
>this inquiry because I (and many, many others) are
>convinced that the official story of Sept 11th (pre-event, event, and
>post-event) is at best a half-truth, or worse, an orchestrated lie
>designed to cover up what may ostensibly be U.S. complicity in Sept
>11th. [...] I also call for this inquiry because the governments both
>of our liberal democracies and other regimes around the
>world simply cannot be trusted to investigate themselves.
>[...] I welcome inquiries, responses, forwarded information
>related to Sept 11th, suggestions -- and offers from anyone
> everyone to assist in setting up a Hamilton Public
>Inquiry Into Sept 11th".
> http://www.angelcities.com/members/mccurdy/inquiry.htm
>John McCurdy JadMcCurdy@aol.com (no attachments please)
>
>"Democracy is not something you believe in or a place
>to hang your hat, but it's something you do. You participate. If you
>stop doing it, democracy crumbles."
> - Abbie Hoffman, U.S. activist (1936-89)
>
>"Freedom is participation in power" - Cicero
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>VOICES OF DISSENT
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>* WORLD IN FAVOUR OF A PEACEFUL RESPONSE TO SEPT. 11
>"An international Gallup Poll showed that a majority in 32
>out of 35 countries (the US, Israel and India in opposition) favored a
>criminal justice response, rather than military action response to the
>11 September acts of violence." (Nov 14, 2001)
>http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewNote.cfm?REF=1195
>
>* WE ARE ALL IRAQIS AND AFGHANIS NOW -
>"A few days after September 11, Margaret Wente's headline
>in the Globe and Mail said "We are all Americans now!"
>I wrote to her saying "if we are all Americans now then
>we are also Iraqis, Chechnyans, Rwandans, Columbians,
>Ogonis and Beothuk. Most of us have no quarrel with
>Americans but we dislike U.S. foreign policy, their war economy, their
>nuclear arsenal and the fact that they export more weapons around the
>world than any other country. We are critical of the politics of other
>countries, as well, including our own." - Carolyn Langdon,
>Co-Chair, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
>http://www.ncf.ca/coat/our_magazine/links/issue46/articles/coat_oct6_langdon.htm
>
>* EUROPE ENTERS THE DEBATE - "Chris Patten,
>the EU commissioner in charge of Europe's international relations, has
>launched a scathing attack on American foreign policy - accusing the
>Bush administration of a dangerously "absolutist and simplistic" stance
>towards the rest of the world." - Jonathan Freedland, Feb 9, 2002.
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,647555,00.html
>
>* TOP 5 LIES ABOUT THE WAR. - "Learn to identify
>and refute official misinformation when you see it."
>http://mai.flora.org/forum/31384
>or: http://www.spectrezine.org/war/Top5lies.htm
>[related links: http://www.planetfriendly.net/sheep.html
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/rights.html ]
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>CIVIL LIBERTIES
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>* MOVING TOWARD A POLICE STATE (or have we arrived?)
>"Secret military tribunals, mass arrests and disappearances,
>wiretapping torture [...] We have no choice but to make our voices
>be heard; it is time to stand and be counted on the side of justice and
>against the antediluvian forces that have much of our country in a
>stranglehold." http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/RAT111A.html
>
>
>* GLOBAL LOCK-DOWN ON CIVIL LIBERTIES -
>"The danger of the rapidly emerging global anti-terrorism regime lies
>in the naïve view that civilian police and other national security
>forces are competent to implement extremely complex anti-terrorist
>legislation with very little supervision from the judiciary" ... "It is
>important to note that anti-terrorism criminal laws apply only to
>individuals and groups, and not to States, even though ideologically
>motivated State violence is pervasive." - Canadian Dimension Magazine,
>Dec 2001 http://www.canadiandimension.mb.ca
>[related links: http://www.planetfriendly.net/rights.html ]
>
>"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent
>revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>WHO ARE THE TERRORISTS?
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>* RUNNING FROM OUR FEAR - "There's another kind of war
>is going on in the world right now. The weapons are words.
>And the word "terrorism" is the heaviest artillery of all. The emotions
>of fear and anger that the word terrorism evokes crowd out higher
>reasoning. As a result the public is trading in hard-won freedoms,
>opening its arms to more police power, spies and surveillance. There
>are more security measures of all kinds. We're opening our wallets to
>pay for these and for more military as today's federal budget shows. It
>means more bombing, expanded war, even war without end." - Barrie
>Zwicker http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewMediaFile.cfm?REF=124
>
>* STATE TERRORISM - "One reason the word 'terrorism'
>has so much power is because of an historic imbalance in knowledge. For
>decades the general public has been denied a coherent picture of
>ongoing terrorism carried out by the USA and its repressive client
>states. In William Blum's Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA
>Interventions Since World War II, it takes almost a page to simply list
>U.S. government assassination plots, many successful, since 1949. And
>two and a half pages to list countries in the same period where the
>U.S. has intervened with force - usually terrorizing civilians." -
>Barrie Zwicker http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewMediaFile.cfm?REF=124
>
>* AMERICAN TERRORISTS? "George Bush appears on
>CNN to say that any country funding terrorism will face the
>consequences. While, on U.S. soil, at Fort Benning, Georgia, there's a
>fully functioning terrorist training camp funded by the U.S.
>government. Formerly known as the School of the Americas, it's been
>renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-operation, as
>an evasive measure. Authorities recently arrested 117 people peacefully
>demonstrating there for its closure." - Barrie Zwicker
>http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewMediaFile.cfm?REF=124
>
>* WHO ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS? - "We are
>living in a very dangerous time, but for reasons almost exactly the
>opposite of those conventionally accepted. The consensus view in the
>United States right now is that the danger lies in the terror threat
>from Bin Laden and his network, and perhaps other terrorists hostile to
>the West. But Bin Laden and his network, though evidently
>formidable terrorists, cannot compete in terrorizing with
>states, and especially with a highly militarized superpower.
>[...] Really large-scale killing and torture to terrorize--
>"wholesale" terrorism--has been implemented by states,
>not by non- state terrorists. The reason people aren't aware
>of this is that states define terrorism and identify the terrorists,
>and they naturally exempt themselves as always "retaliating"
>and engaging in "counter-terror" even when their own actions
>are an exact fit to their own definitions. And their mainstream
>media always follow the official lead." Edward S. Herman
> David Peterson, Z Magazine
>http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/HER202A.html
>http://www.zmag.org
>
>* REMOVING THE VEIL - US Intelligence The Origins of
>Sept 11 (print magazine). "A reminder to those who cling to the notion
>that the US has mainly benign, democratic and neighborly intentions in
>its international relations: behold the monumental catastrophe of
>Cambodia. In this issue, Gregory Elich reviews US policy in Indonesia,
>Iran, Cambodia Yugoslavia as a corrective to the usual historical
>distortion." Covert Action Quarterly, Winter 2001 (#71)
>http://www.covertaction.org [available at progressive bookstores and
>magazine stands]
>
>* THE SOLE SUPERPOWER "This war did not begin on Sept
>11, 2001. It arose from the Cold War and escalated further once the
>U.S. became the world's only superpower after the collapse of the
>U.S.S.R. From that time the U.S. has been able to impose, subvert,
>poison and kill peoples with impunity. Globalization has only extended
>its reach " - The War Against Terrorism, Canadian Dimension Magazine,
>Dec 2001 http://www.canadiandimension.mb.ca
>
>* GLOBALIZATION THE SEDUCTION OF GOVERNMENT
>"My worldview, condensed, is: (a) That the corporation has become the
>dominant institution of our time; (b) That governments at all levels
>are increasingly seduced and coerced into serving the corporate agenda;
>(c) That the corporate agenda is a well-thought-out long-term strategy
>to achieve world dominance for capitalists, hence the
>extreme coercion in the case of peoples who show an
>inclination to choose or accept governments inclined toward
>socialism, witness Cuba, Nicaragua, Chile, Libya, Iraq
>and currently Yugoslavia, to name just a few; (d) That
>the international institutions known as the IMF, World
>Bank and the World Trade Organization are instruments
>of capitalism and suffused with corporate values, meaning
>they are undemocratic and anti-environmental as they go
>about coercing structural inequities within and between
>societies." - Barrie Zwicker (June 1999)
>http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/kosovo1/corporat.htm
>
>"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
> - George Orwell
>
>"A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves."
>- Bertrand de Jouvenel, French political economist (1903-1987)
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>MONEY AND OIL
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>* THREE GENERATIONS OF BUSHES have armed
>America's enemies: from Hitler, to Hussein, to bin Laden.
>- "Since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center
>and the Pentagon, major media powerhouses and the
>increasingly influential alternative media alike have begun
>to focus attention on Bush family connections and a long history of
>arming and financing America's attackers in the months and years prior
>to the outbreak of war. Recent stories in the Wall Street Journal
>(Sept. 27 28, 2001), ABC News (Oct. 1, 2001), as well as a host of
>reports from so-called alternative news sources have begun to
>focus attention on the Bush family's profit-making role
>in creating and arming our enemies."
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/10_09_01_carlyle.html
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/index.html
>
>* REPUBLICANS BIN LADENS "Money connections
>between Bush Republicans and Osama bin Laden go way
>back and the political and economic connections have
>remained unbroken for 20 years."
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/09_18_01_bushbin.html
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/index.html
>
>* OIL vs. THE PLANET - Articles in the Spring 2002
>edition of Earth Island Journal: Petrotyranny - Under
>the Thumb of Big Oil; Fight Terrorism: abandon Big
>Oil for renewable energy; Silent Seasons: recording
>nature's vanishing voices; Water, Inc. http://www.earthisland.org
>http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/journal.cfm
>http://scienceforpeace.sa.utoronto.ca/PubPage/PetrotyrannyPage.html
>
>* PETROTYRANNY - "In experiencing movies, commercial broadcasting and
>the mass circulation press, what is astonishing is how they fail to
>capture the biggest problem of our time - the blight of petrotryanny.
>This is the continuing ability of dictatorships to keep themselves in
>power through the manipulation of vast pools of oil wealth. The secrecy
>of this problem hides the reality of a path toward a democratic and
>environmentally sustainable peaceful world, free of the blight
>of terrorism." by John Bacher, Dundern Press / Science For Peace,
>2000. Available in most bookstores and univ. libraries.
>http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature.cfm?REF=148
>http://web.idirect.com/~dundurn/Petrotyranny.htm
>http://scienceforpeace.sa.utoronto.ca/PubPage/PetrotyrannyPage.html
>
>* OIL PRODUCTION PEAKING - "It is imperative,"
>Ruppert said, "that people know that world oil production
>will peak within the next five years, never to be exceeded again," said
>Ruppert. "This, at a time when world population is rapidly increasing
>and demand, especially in China, the Far East and the developing world,
>is soaring. This is the reason for the wars that will not end in our
>lifetimes." - Michael Ruppert
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/01_25_02_toronto_lecture.html
>
>"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the
>merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini (cited by
>Lewis Lapham in Harper's, January 2002)
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>CREATING PUBLIC SUPPORT
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>* AN OLD TRICK? "Why of course the people don't want
>war ... But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine
>the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along,
>whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament,
>or a communist dictatorship ...Voice or no voice, the people can always
>be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All
>you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and
>denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing
>the country to danger." - Hermann Goering, Nazi leader,
>at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II
>http://www.zmag.org/quotes/search.htm
>
>* THE REICHSTAG FIRE - "The Reichstag fire was a
>disaster so symbolic and unnerving to German people
>that they handed over extra constitutional powers to a
>little man who was to bring down 40 million of his
>fellow human beings with him, by the time he was done."
>- Rev. Wendy Jerome-Stern
>http://www.unitarian.org/minnetonka/sermons/sermon010916.html
>"America's Reichstag Fire" http://www.skolnicksreport.com/pkem.html
>
>* U.S. MILITARY DRAFTED PLANS TO TERRORIZE U.S. CITIES
>to Provoke War With Cuba - "In the early 1960s, America's top military
>leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit
>acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war
>against Cuba. 'The scary thing is none of this stuff comes out until 40
>years after,' says [James] Bamford [author of 'Body of Secrets']" - ABC
>News, May 1, 2001
>http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/jointchiefs_010501.html
>http://www.randomhouse.com/features/bamford/home.html
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>PUZZLES INCONSISTENCIES
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>* TIMELINE BEFORE AFTER SEPT 11 (1991 to Jan 2002)
>"A more complete timeline listing crucial events both before and after
>the September 11th suicide attacks, which have been blamed on bin
>Laden, establishes CIA foreknowledge of them and strongly suggests that
>there was criminal complicity on the part of the U.S. government in
>their execution. It also makes clear that the events which have taken
>place since September 11th are based upon an agenda that has little
>to do with the attacks."
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/01_28_02_lucy.html
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/index.html
>[see also: http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/indict-1.htm ]
>
>* FOUR YEARS IN THE MAKING - "There is now evidence
>that what the world is witnessing is a cold and calculated
>war plan - at least four years in the making." - Michael Ruppert
>http://www.copvcia.com/stories/nov_2001/zbig.html
>http://www.canadiandimension.mb.ca/extra/d0113mr.htm
>
>* SPY CASE IN CANADIAN COURTS suggests
>US naval officer had foreknowledge of 9-11
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/01_25_02_revised_012802_vreeland.html
>http://www.copvcia.com/free/ww3/index.html
>
>* INSIDER TRADING COVER-UP? "Why did mainstream
>media "vow to get to the bottom of the insider trading that profited
>off the 9-11 horror," and then suddenly . . . dropped the story?"
>http://maritimes.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=825group=webcast
>http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=99402 (Oct 14 2001)
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>MEDIA FAILURE OR COMPLICITY?
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>Why aren't the mainstream media raising these questions?
>
>* AN UNHOLY TRINITY - "Mass media performance -
>its omissions, biases, distortions, deceptions - reflects the fact that
>the mass media is itself part of the same power structure that plunders
>the planet and inflicts human rights abuses on a massive scale." - from
>"An Unholy Trinity: Truth, Market Forces and the Media", by David
>Cromwell http://www.medialens.org/articles/unholy_trinity.html
>
>* CROWDING OUT THOUGHT - Why are the media
>complicit in propaganda-laden use of the word terrorism?
>"The emotions of fear and anger that the word terrorism
>evokes crowd out higher reasoning. [...] One reason the
>word "terrorism" has so much power is because of an
>historic imbalance in knowledge. For decades the general public has
>been denied a coherent picture of ongoing terrorism carried out by the
>USA and its repressive client states." - Barrie Zwicker
>http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewMediaFile.cfm?REF=124
>http://www.straightgoods.ca/MediaFiles.cfm
>
>* MEDIA CHILL: What the Mainstream is Missing -
>"Beyond a certain point, the round-the-clock rescue
>coverage became an alibi for not exploring other topics"
>... "here is my list of the "top ten" questions undercovered by the
>dominant U.S. media"
>http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewMediaFile.cfm?REF=109
>
>* WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE MEDIA? The problem;
>lots of great, on-the-ground alternatives; become the media!
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/voices.html
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>LINKS ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>* LINKS to a variety of organizations, websites alternative media:
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/sheep.html#links
>http://www.planetfriendly.net/voices.html
>
>"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I did not
>speak up, because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews,
>and I did not speak up, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the
>trade unionists, and I did not speak up, because I was not a trade
>unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up,
>because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me... and by that
>time, there was no one to speak up for anyone." - Martin Niemoeller,
>Pastor, German Evangelical (Lutheran) Church (1892-1984)
> http://www.hrweb.org/intro.html (Human Rights Web)
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>(G) ABOUT THE PEOPLE- PLANET-FRIENDLY
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>This is a Special Edition of the People- Planet-Friendly Events.
>Regular editions come out weekly, usually on Thursdays.
>
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> http://www.planetfriendly.net
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>



]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2002 17:05:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2845 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2841 hmmm progress:

so lets see YMCA/Trillium has hopefully *finally* been finished, the YMCA agreed to support us in the grant to Trillium, so heopfully after all of this work, we will get some money for workshops!! did up some letters and other documents.

I worked on purpose statments for TIG programs and a sumamry of what the committee workign on each project will be responsible for. this will need more brainstorming form the group but its a start

I finished a report for the YMCA on our partership progress over the last few months

Nominated a TIG member for the Ashoka award

had a chat with Charles from Uganda, who is working on some initiatives and thinking baout being a youth rep:
• There are currently 8 people on the team in Uganda, a few students and engineers all working to provide technology training to youth on pc’s. The limitation is that they only have 2 pc’s.
• They are waiting for the Global Catalyst proposal to move forward
• Charles and I discussed the possibility of doing training for large groups using screen shots and then scheduling separate times for individuals to have hands on training
• We discussed the possibility of looking for funding or donations of pc’s from groups like UNESCO and other international organizations with ties to the rural area
• The TakingITGlobal database is a good place to start for researching this information
• There is also the possibility of partnering with local internet cafes, in exchange for time on the computer; you are training new users who will then bring in business for them
• There is the challenge of working in a rural area, so partnerships are even more important
• We spoke about registering as an organization, but agreed it was best to wait a while before proceeding with this
• Charles is now considering becoming a youth rep of TIG, I sent him the documentation and he will read it over and decide

wrote up a draft for mike about why being a member is so great, as a pop up thingy for users on the site

wrote up a little thing for the newsletter

had a meeting with the YMCA to discuss youth employment and how we cna work together, i will now write up a larger proposal for the Y on collboarting with TIG and YES on this initiative

worked on my huge inbox, mainly speaking with partners and youth reps!

had a meeting with Cheryl, a volunteer, who is going to input info on grants, scholorships, organizaitons and events as she has a lot of info about things in Toronto. She is also going to research international opprotunites. Cheryl has a great idea of creating an on and offline resource guide for youth, which we cna have on our site and work with her to devleop!

thats all for the last 2 days i think.]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2002 15:18:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2841 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2746 ok progress:
planning planning and more planning for the fundriasing workshop. i did up a 12 page booklet for the participants that should be a helpful resource

had a meeting with Andy and Nicole about the workshop and the buisness plan and have been chatting with Jeni who will be helping with the workshop and who is interested in applying for HRDC funding to work at TIG

finished up with the youth reps chats, set out the summaries and am scheduling individual chats with people

signed up about a dozen reps for the new notify feature that mike set up

wrote the TIG and YMCA pregress report 12 pages

organized stuff with Trillium, answered a few pages of questions, wrote up some info for YMCA to collaborate with us

lots of coorespondence with reps and adding this to the admin site

meeitng with a volunteer who will work with the tech team

meeting with another volunteer (twice) from St. Stephens who still hasn't shown up

working on the new youth rep section of the webpage, design and materials on the backdrop

preparing for meeitng with YMCA about YES

I feel like I am missing a whole lot from last week... hmm

oh ya went to Guelph to speak on Internaitonal Development

yikes thats all I can think of :P
]]> Wed, 13 Feb 2002 11:24:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2746 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2663
Youth Employment Summit: Dumi, Fred and everyone from YES organized an amazing 3 day meeting. Youth representing 30 countries attended the event, so there was great diversity of opinion and experience. We went through the planning stages of developing a country network to promote youth employment. The goal is to create a global movement of youth that will create 500 million jobs!! This is a lofty goal, but when you think about the fact that there are literally over a billion youth who will be facing unemployment and poverty in the next few years, you realize the importance of the movement. I will be posting more information about the summit in the next few days, but if anyone has any questions or would like to get involved, please let me know!

TIG members: I got the chance to meet Shalala and Dumi, 2 TIG members who I speak with all the time, but have never met. It was so amazing to meet them and reconnect with other members and people that I have met in the past.

Youth Employment Summit: New York
Launching a YES2002 Country Network

Why?
• Make use of technological framework that will assist youth in reaching their goals
• Grow opportunities for TIG youth members
• De-fragment the current employment services system in Canada

Objectives:
• An on-going information pole on the TIG site about employment and unemployment issues; research the situation
• Post all articles, resources and services related to youth employment on the TIG site
• Give workshops on employment related issues eg. Resume writing, interview skills and self-marketing etc. Connect these youth to YES
• Hold collaboration workshop with youth employment organizations to build a network
• Work with partners such as YMCA, Information Warehouse to solidify employment services and engage TIG in their youth services
• Encourage internships with TIG members with our corporate and non-profit partners
• Further develop the mentorship program to assist youth in getting the guidance they need to find employment; create a lessons learnt section for mentors to complete
• Working with local schools to raise awareness about youth employment issues
• Work with Ministry to focus education on the issue of job creation and embracing youth’s natural adapt to innovation
• Get youth reps interested in conducting pilot projects that relate to youth employment in their locality and give youth ownership of their own projects
• Promote the Opportunity and Resource Centre as a training centre for youth employment
• Utilize our technological infrastructure to provide support to the YES campaign
• Update “Best practices” of our members on all issues on the website (youth reps)
• Create a committee of youth to organize the developments of the youth employment initiative

Possibilities:
• Look at a potential small loans program to tie into the Ideafund
• Work with local partners to find employment for TIG youth reps
• Work with youth to create their own employment; ie can we get youth reps to devise their own employment
• Provide incentives for involvement in this initiative
• Youth: job, $, community value, independence
• Government: stable society, engaged youth, productivity
• Industry: educated workforce with practical skills leads to higher productivity
• Trade Unions: an engaged, well trained and paid workforce
• Educators: skilled and educated youth
• Organizations: an engaged population
• Community: an active community with positive work experience
Steps to Take in the Future:
• Identify the employment services needs within Canada
• Look at potential partnership with YMCA Employment Services
• Look at partnership with Employment Warehouse; are they willing to expand into a country wide network or share their model?
• Take articles written for web and send them to local press to raise awareness
• Get volunteers to help with expanding the press, write up a general press release to give to local teams where they can change small sections to localize it
• Engage government, educators and trade unions
• Create a model whereas TIG volunteers help other local teams to develop action projects for example designing and hosting a website, that will generate funds for the team, the funds going to local social projects as well as paying the youth

Lessons Learnt:
• Have to create an environment where young people want to work ie in Jamaica where crime is replacing employment; change of mindset needed
• Need to create sustainable models that will grow together with youth
• Subcontracting as a business model: spreading contracts out to small groups of individuals and small companies. Benefit: flexible, individually specialized, no need for large infrastructure
• Look at the strengths within a community when trying to create jobs
• It is a priority to keep educated youth within the country, not creating a “dying country” where youth move to the US
• Youth employment strategies value within culture, need to be mindful
• Need a “Sandwich approach” to develop youth employment; both top down and bottom up
• Create clear reasons why all stakeholders benefit (ie government, employers, educators, organizations, youth and larger community) in youth employment
• In Lebanon the Lebanese Youth Cabinet had a national youth cabinet and compiled 25 recommendations for the government, of which 16 were made into law including mandatory school for girls up to age 15 (from age 12).
• Some countries can not engage the government because of a volatile system, but it is important to inform and involve them if possible
• Create jobs that build human capital and are thus sustainable and do not exploit natural resources ie Service jobs such as knowledge building, health care, cultural, safety, nutrition etc (the more you use human capital the more it grows; sustainable)
• How to engage youth in these issues: ask provocative questions rather than stating facts, get people to think beyond today
• YES is funding 5 renewable energy projects
• The question is often equally as important as the solution and ownership is crucial in partnerships…co-creation and co-implementation
• Focus on creating “Green” jobs



YOUTH REP CHAT:

Facilitation Team:
• Vanessa Currie / Vanessa@takingitglobal.org
• Jennifer Corriero / jenergy@takingitglobal.org
• Michael Furdyk / mfurdyk@takingitglobal.org

Attendees:
Australia
MichelleB // Michelle Blanchard, 19
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=861

United Kingdom (England)
Camilla // Camilla Noble-Warren, 20
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=373

Finland
Onyango // John Onyango
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=2411

Ghana
Edudzie // Edudzie Emmanuel, 22
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=1430

Kenya
Tyungenge / Thierry Yungenge
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=612

Liberia
Hkulee / Henry K. Kulee
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=1279

Zimbabwe
Msatande // Mavis, 32
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=2479

India
Maitreyi / Maitreyi Doshi
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=636

Philippines (currently in the US)
Ana S. Pascual
http://www.takingitglobal.org/community/profile.html?memberid=711

Japan
N1 member - yuko fujiwara


Summary of Discussion:

• Everyone seemed to agree that it is a great idea to put information about TIG in local papers and radio stations to spread the word about the opportunities available for youth in another form other than the internet, thus reaching a larger audience. Go public!

• As a follow up to this I will put together a press release that you can send out and translate into your native language

• There was a suggestion that TIG recognizes youth reps, so we will get to work on profiling all the youth reps in a separate section on the website dedicated to youth reps and the projects they are working on

• We chatted about holding events and sharing stories as a great way to raise awareness in your community

• There was some discussion about TIG providing start-up costs for local teams. Some of the beliefs behind TIG is that we are innovative in all aspects of our work, this includes funding. It is a good idea to start looking within your local networks and at potential partnerships that will provide the resources you need to get going.

• As for legally registering your team, we are trying to hold back on this until we have the structure to sustain this growth. We don’t want to move to fats and not be able to handle the growth. We want to plan and be proactive.

• There was an issue raised about the number of youth reps in a team, the documentation that is being developed will help to answer some of these questions, but basically it is advisable to have one youth rep for every team.

• We will send out the manual to all youth reps when it is finalized which will hopefully be in a few weeks

• Workshops and information sessions held by many youth reps seemed to be an effective way to inspire, inform and involve youth in what we are doing locally.

• Mike is going to create a feature that will notify all youth reps when new members join from your country

• I am putting together an online application form for youth reps that will be up in a few weeks, at that time we will ask youth reps to re-register to be youth reps, thus getting a concrete list and solid info from all reps and also giving them the information they need to work!

I have also been planning my fundraising workshop which is actually a lot of work, working with volunteers and speaking at Guelph.]]> Thu, 07 Feb 2002 15:27:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2663 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2647 **************************************************

The Super Mini Cinema was playing its usual fare, pornographic French videos, in the Ivory Coast town of Daloa one evening when word started to spread to a packed open-air bar across the street. The reason?
Someone was giving the cinema clientele a message they weren't used to getting: sex might cost you your life.
> >
"I want to tell them that if they're going to try to do what they do in the films, then they have to protect themselves," said Brou Barthelemi Saoure, a local Red Cross Official. He gave a half-hour presentation on the
dangers of AIDS, passed out condoms, played an AIDS education video, and briefly turned an adult theater into a rowdy classroom full of eager listeners.
> >
Red Cross workers have conducted AIDS education campaigns in Ivory Coast for years, from garages to hair salons; any place frequented by the public is usually targeted. Bringing that campaign to adult theaters is new,
> reaching young people who are likely to leave the theater and hire a prostitute.
In Daloa, a crossroads for truck drivers from neighboring Guinea and Liberia, finding a prostitute isn't difficult. Some clients even offer more for condom-free sex.
> >
"People come here to watch pornography and want to go right out and take a prostitute," 20-year-old Kamate Wassi said after watching the presentation.
> > "But it's bad, because in the films, they don't use condoms. People see that and think they can go out and do the same thing."
> >
Getting theater owners' permission to do AIDS education wasn't easy. "At first they refused. They thought it would be bad for business," Saoure said.
> > Some wanted money, but Saoure befriended them instead, sometimes buying them a beer or two. To others, he was blunt. "I told them, if everyone becomes sick, they won't be coming to your video club."

Source: [AEGiS] CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update 01/28/02
]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2002 15:19:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2647 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2628 Time: from 5:30-7:30 pm
Location: 42 Charles St East, 5th Floor

The goal of the workshop is to give young people a clear idea of what fundraising is and how to do it.
It will go through the fundraising basics; from lemonade stands, high school dances, door to door soliciting, to grant writing and donor relations.
We hope the workshop will enable people to become effective fundraisers either for a local organization they support or for their own personal development initiatives.

Goals of the Workshop:
• To dispel any fundraising myths
• To learn how to think like a fundraiser
• To learn how to utilize your networks and onnections to achieve your goals
• To develop a solid fundraising plan for your-self or your organization

For more information Contact: Vanessa@takingitglobal.org
Tel: 416. 928.3362 x4225

]]> Tue, 05 Feb 2002 15:48:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2628 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2618
Youth Employment Summit: Dumi, Fred and everyone from YES organized an amazing 3 day meeting. Youth representing 30 countries attended the event, so there was great diversity of opinion and experience. We went through the planning stages of developing a country network to promote youth employment. The goal is to create a global movement of youth that will create 500 million jobs!! This is a lofty goal, but when you think about the fact that there are literally over a billion youth who will be facing unemployment and poverty in the next few years, you realize the importance of the movement. I will be posting more information about the summit in the next few days, but if anyone has any questions or would like to get involved, please let me know!

TIG members: I got the chance to meet Shalala and Dumi, 2 TIG members who I speak with all the time, but have never met. It was so amazing to meet them and reconnect with other members and people that I have met in the past.

NYC: I was in New York last year for the State of the World Forum, but didn't really get a chance to see the sites, but this time was different. My mom and my sister were also in NY so we had a great time. The whole YES group went out dancing a few nights and we had a blast. NY is a contagious environment, it is so exciting and dynamic. I went to a lot of differnt restaurants, lounges and clubs and really got a feel for the different areas, although I didn't get much sleep :) We also took a boat cruise around Manhattan, and got to see the statue of liberty and "ground zero".

Protest: I attended the WEF protest in NY, it was an extremely well organized and very peaceful protest. There were about 5000 people with great music, costumes, signs and beautiful puppets. The police presence in NY was unbelievable, there were literlly a dozen cops every block and 2 at every Strabucks and McD's. The protesters were completely surrounded, but no violoence broke out which was very encouraging.

The trip was a lot better than I ever expected and I so glad I got the chance to go. Stay tuned for more info on YES :)]]> Mon, 04 Feb 2002 12:30:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2618 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2537 : finished the Minisrty of Development and Trade grant
: sent out LEssons Learnt Highlight to youth reps
:approved all new volunteers
: did some fundriainsg rsearch for a member's project in Vietnam
:meeting with guy from Employment Warehouse
: prepared for New York and YES summit
:reviewed Derek's manual
:did last week's meeting minutes
: finished feedback questions for Trillium
:finished my grad applications]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2002 10:55:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2537 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2526
The youth leaders from every continent will participate in workshops on building national and international networks to promote youth entrepreneurship and to create better employment opportunities for young people around the world. The youth leaders are helping to plan the Youth Employment Summit 2002 (YES2002), to take place September 11-15 in Alexandria, Egypt.

"I've come to New York with the goal of implementing the vision of the Youth Employment Summit and to lend my skills towards developing a youth friendly strategy to proactively address youth employment in a tangible way," said Kenroy Roach, representing the Volunteer Youth Corps in Guyana.

The goal of YES2002 is to create productive and sustainable livelihoods for an additional 500 million young adults, especially youth facing poverty.

"Let us be clear. Half educated, unemployed youth with no prospect of being integrated into a better future is a prescription for disaster," said Dr. Ismail Serageldin, chairman of the YES Organizing Committee and a former Vice President of The World Bank, who will deliver the keynote address at the Opening Reception. "If young people do not have a stake in the existing social order and political order, if they do not feel there is a way forward for them, why should they sacrifice for a better tomorrow? Why should they have an interest in protecting the stability and social safety of that system?"

"The Summit and the subsequent Campaign are designed to do three things, said Robert Reich, former US Secretary of Labor and a member of the YES2002 organizing committee: "One, build leadership and commitment to action from a wide variety of partners; Two, empower these partners with the knowledge needed to take effective action; and Three, make a compelling call for global collaborative action."

Joining Dr. Serageldin at the Opening Reception will be José Maria Figueres-Olsen, former president of Costa Rica and the Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, who has recently joined the YES2002 organizing committee.

Location: Synergos Institute
Time: Wednesday 6.30pm January 30 2002
Address: 9 East 69th Street NYC

For more information about the Youth Forum or YES2002 in September, contact Fred Clark. Tel. 1 781 696 9572

Visit the YES website at www.youthemploymentsummit.org


####


The Youth Employment Summit is being organized by Education Development Center, Inc., an internationally known nonprofit research and development organization located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.


Jennifer and I will be representing TakingITGlobal and Canada at this exciting event!
]]> Mon, 28 Jan 2002 11:24:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2526 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2368
A hemisphere-wide writing contest for ages 13 – 18
Entries must be received no later than March 15, 2002

BACKGROUND

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, works with the countries of the Western Hemisphere to promote health and well-being for all the peoples of the Americas. In 2002, PAHO will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

PURPOSE

The 2002 Centennial Essay Contest was created to encourage young people in the Americas to express and share their views about what it means to be Celebrating 100 Years of Health while looking at the Pan American Health Organization's major strength—forging partnerships to promote health in the Western Hemisphere.

THEME

The theme is Partnerships for Health. The essays should explore public health partnerships, their history, meaning, importance, and achievements in terms of the health of people in the Western Hemisphere. The following key questions can be helpful in this process:

What are partnerships and why do we need them in the public health field?
Why don’t people in the Western Hemisphere get smallpox or polio anymore?
How has successful collaboration between international, national and local public health agencies, non-governmental organizations, government officials, and other individuals affected your life and the place where you live?
How can partnerships promote health and help spread important health information?
What do you think lies ahead? What partnerships might be formed in the future to promote health?


JUDGING

An independent panel of experts will judge the entries in Canada. The essay of the national winner will then be entered in the Pan American contest and judged by an independent panel at PAHO Headquarters. The judging criteria are as follows: Adherence to topic, accuracy of facts (or plausibility of thesis if subject matter is fictional), creativity, originality and correct use of language.


AWARDS

The winner of the National Essay Contest will represent Canada in the Pan American contest.
The winner of the Pan American Essay Award in Public Health will receive a $500 cash prize and an official certificate of recognition. The winning essay will be posted on the PAHO Web site and could be published in various Centennial publications.
CONTEST RULES

The essays must be between 350 and 500 words, typed, double-spaced. All ideas must be original.

Essays can be written in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. A completed entry form must accompany all entries; contest entry forms and guidelines are available on the PAHO Centennial Web site www.paho.org/100 Contestants must be between 13 and 18 years old at the time of submission. Family members of PAHO employees are not eligible.



Entries must be received no later than March 15, 2002

Please mail entries to: The Canadian Society for International Health,

1 Nicholas Street, Suite 1105, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7

The Pan American Winner* will be announced in June 2002 at PAHO headquarters and recognized in press releases disseminated throughout the hemisphere.

*The winner will be notified by the corresponding PAHO country office.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2002 CENTENNIAL POSTER CONTEST

A Hemisphere-wide Artistic Competition for Ages 6 – 12
Entries must be received no later than March 15, 2002



BACKGROUND

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, works with the countries of the Western Hemisphere to promote health and well-being for all the peoples of the Americas. In 2002, PAHO will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

PURPOSE

The 2002 Centennial Poster Contest was created to encourage young people throughout the Americas to express and share their views about health and healthy lifestyles.

THEME

The theme of the contest is A Picture of Health. The posters should express how the participant understands the concepts of health and being healthy. The following key questions can be discussed with children before they begin drawing to encourage creative thinking and foster understanding of the theme.

What do you look like when you are healthy?
What do you need to be healthy? (healthy food, clean water, vaccines, etc.)
What can you do to stay healthy? (exercise, healthy behaviors, etc.)
What kinds of things are you able to do when you are healthy? (study, play, run, etc.)
Who can help us stay healthy? (doctors, nurses, community health workers, parents, family members, teachers, friends, etc.)
Do you live in a place that looks healthy?
Is there a way to make the place where you live healthier?
Do you have a picture of health in your mind?


JUDGING

An independent panel of experts will judge all entries in Canada. The posters of the national winners will then be entered in the Pan American contest and judged by an independent panel at PAHO Headquarters. Entries will be judged based on the following criteria: adherence to theme, originality, creativity and visual effectiveness.


AWARDS

The winner of the National Poster Contest will act as Canada’s representative in the Pan American contest.
The winner of the Pan American Poster Award in Public Health will receive a $500 cash prize and an official certificate of recognition. The winning poster will be displayed on the PAHO Web site and the design could be reproduced in various Centennial publications.
CONTEST RULES

The posters must be <16"x20" to 22"x28"> or <41cmx 51cm – 56cm x 71cm> in size and two-dimensional in form. Children can use acrylics, crayon, pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, tempera, pastels, magic markers, watercolors, ink or any combination of these media. All artwork must be original. A completed entry form available at www.paho.org/100 must accompany all entries. Contestants cannot be more than 12 years old at the time of submission. Family members of PAHO employees are not eligible.

Entries must be received at the offices of PAHO’s technical representative in Canada, the Canadian Society for International Health, by no later than March 15, 2002


Please mail entries to:

The Canadian Society for International Health

1 Nicholas Street, Suite 1105

Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7

The Pan American Winner will be announced in June 2002 at PAHO headquarters. The winning poster will be displayed on the PAHO Web site and will be recognized in press releases disseminated throughout the hemisphere


]]> Tue, 15 Jan 2002 10:48:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2368 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2350
We bring you a new project from the Youth Branch of the Global Campaign for Peace Education, in which YOU can get involved:

September 11 and the ensuing violence has highlighted the importance of working on conflict prevention and the root causes of violence, so as to create a world where all forms of violence and injustice, including terrorism, will
have no reason to exist.

Working to foster peace education is one war prevention strategy we can jointly work on. The Hague Appeal Youth Programme is focusing much of its work on coordinating the Youth Branch of the Global Campaign for Peace
Education. From the perspective of this Global Campaign, young people are not just the primary recipients of education but central agents in the promotion of education for peace and justice. One specific role for young people is to be active in the non-formal aspect of education.

So what is this new project?

We wish to collect examples of peace education activities that can be performed by young people outside of the school/university setting. These could include peer education sessions, through the organisation of
conferences, seminars and workshops for young people. Other activities use more fun and creative ways of getting education for peace across, such as
arts, theatre, music, poetry, storytelling and media.

Are you, or a youth/peace organisation you know, involved in peace education within this non-formal aspect? If so, please let us know!

Our objective is:
- to collect one-page (max) descriptions of each peace education initiative,
together with full contact details of the organiser (contact person,
address, telephone/fax, email, website).
- to post these descriptions on the HAP Youth website
(http://youth.haguepeace.org).

This will:
- publicise your efforts
- encourage young people around the world working in similar initiatives to
support one another by sharing ideas and resources.
- get young people inspired to get involved in your projects
- provide visible initiatives which others can emulate in their own
communities.
Having access to additional information will deepen communication. Through the Peace Education Youth Discussion Forum (find the link on HAP Youth
website) young people can participate
in discussions about these initiatives.

We look forward to receive your project descriptions.
Thanks in advance. Together we can create a better world.

Please reply to: olivia@ipb.org
(and please be clear in the subject title you are replying to this call)

--

Peace Education: a holistic process which gives people the skills and
knowledge necessary to create and maintain peace. Peace Education encourages
people to develop critical thinking through the participatory learning of a
wide range of interrelated disciplines, including human rights, human
security and disarmament, development, co-operation, social and economic
justice, conflict prevention and resolution, non-violence, environmental
preservation, gender studies, and international relations. Peace Education
promotes tolerance and understanding, while encouraging people to take
constructive action.

Olivia Martin
Youth Programme Coordinator
The Hague Appeal for Peace

To find out more about the Global Campaign for Peace Education, the HAP
Youth Network (and other areas of work with regards to youth involvement in
the GCPE, e.g. the Advocacy section) and the Hague Appeal for Peace, please
visit the websites below and/or get in touch.

http://www.haguepeace.org
http://youth.haguepeace.org
http://www.ipb.org




======================
Olivia Martin
Youth Programme Coordinator
The Hague Appeal for Peace
c/o International Peace Bureau
41, rue de Zurich
1201 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 731 64 29/ 741 40 10
Fax: +41 22 738 94 19
e-mail: olivia@ipb.org
http://youth.haguepeace.org/hapyouth/
Follow the link to JOIN the NEW youth peace education discussion forum!

SUBSCRIBE to the Hague Appeal Youth list-serve:
Send an e-mail to majordomo@itaweb.com
with this command (in the body of the message):
subscribe hapy-list

]]> Mon, 14 Jan 2002 14:37:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2350 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2280
Collateral Damage Made Real

By Deborah James

I was wholly unprepared for the level of poverty and desperation I witnessed
among refugees on a recent trip to Afghanistan. If you have never imagined
the refugee camps, visualize a seemingly endless stretch of scrap-and-stick
tents, filled with raucous children, lacking food, water, basic hygiene or
infrastructure. Border it with stunning stark mountains, surround it with
cold air and support it with dirt and dust. Then you will have an idea of
the conditions under which Afghan refugees fleeing American bombs are
attempting to survive.

After the tragedies of Sept. 11, when it became clear that the U.S. would
retaliate against Osama bin Laden's terrorist attacks though a campaign
against Afghanistan, I began to worry. I had heard about "collateral damage"
and "smart bombs" during the Gulf War. My gut tightened when I heard these
rhetorical strategies deployed now. My father, a career U.S. Army officer,
was deployed to the Gulf with those very phrases in 1990. This time it was
my turn to travel to the region, to see for myself the effects of U.S.
military action.

In late November I traveled to Jalalabad, Kabul, Peshawar and Islamabad on a
four-woman delegation organized by Global Exchange, the human rights
organization where I have worked for the last eight years. I also
represented the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the
oldest women's peace organization in the U.S. and, as a result, I focused
particularly on the issue of women in a post-Taliban government and the
condition of children in the refugee camps. But my main personal aim was
just to witness, and what I witnessed was extremely troubling.

There was Ramsir, A 24-year-old Tajik mother whose 5-year-old child is
psychologically damaged from the recent bombing. Rasmir's daughter was at a
park in Kabul when American bombs, aimed at the airport, missed their mark
and killed three of her playmates. The women in the park screamed, "Where's
my child?!" Rasmir told me, as they searched for remains among the shrapnel.
After this, Rasmir and her children, who remained in Kabul through both the
mujahedeen and the Taliban regimes, fled the country. Before the slaughter
in the park, Rasmir's neighbor's house had been hit by U.S. bombs. All nine
members of the family were killed. Rasmir told me the shock her daughter
experienced in the park was too much.

I met Rasmir at the Afghanistan Women's Council, a food distribution, health
and educational services project for refugee women and children in Peshawar,
Pakistan. Directed by Fatana Gailani, the center has recently been inundated
by refugees fleeing not only the Taliban but the American bombing. I asked
Gailani if she supported the U.S. bombing campaign, as I expected an
educated woman from Kabul would. "Like most people, I was happy at first, as
I am eager to return to a liberated Afghanistan," she said. "But then I
started seeing the flow of refugees, almost every one with a story of
civilian casualties. And now I say that the bombing must stop. We innocent
Afghans are paying the price."

Another vivid memory is of Haziza, a 12-year-old girl living in a refugee
relief center in Peshawar. I sat with Haziza while an elderly woman told us
she had lost her three sons -- one to the Russians, one to the mujahedeen
and one to the Taliban. As Haziza started sniffling, another visitor to the
center asked the girl crudely, "Why are you crying?" to which she responded
with deeper sobs. As I reached to embrace Haziza, I could feel her body
brace against the deepest pain. "We lived in Kabul near one of the Taliban
military bases, where my father had a small grocery store," she said. "One
day I was out with my father, when we saw planes roaring overhead and heard
scary, loud sounds like thunder. When we returned home, my mother and
younger brother were lying dead in a pile of rubble that was once our house.
My father went into shock and lost his mind. Now I'm the one in charge of
our household. I take care of my five brothers and sisters. We have no money
and it's hard for me to find them enough food to eat."

I also met refugees in a camp on the road from the Khyber Pass to Jalalabad.
They were from the nearby village of Duranta, which was nearly hit by
American bombs that were targeting a Taliban camp and missed. After the
bombing, inhabitants of the entire village fled. Eight days later, they
began returning home in a trickle. But they have been terrorized by the
bombing. I took a picture of 17 children standing in front of the village;
the backdrop to the photo is bomb craters.

How many civilian deaths have occurred since the bombing campaign of
Afghanistan began? I asked several Afghans if they could estimate the
number. The estimates I heard ranged from 1,000 to 5,000. When I relayed
that figure to a U.S. reporter upon my return, she paused and countered that
it actually wasn't that many, considering we are at war. I replied that it
was approximately the same number of innocent people who died in the World
Trade Center attack. Have we become the evil we deplore?

The answer to the question will emerge as Afghanistan rebuilds itself, as
more exact numbers of civilian casualties emerge, as our promises of aid are
either met or retracted. But whatever the postwar Afghanistan looks like,
the battle will be uphill. Afghanistan has long been a country in crisis. It
has been devastated by over two decades of war. Ten percent of all land
mines in the world are there. Life expectancy is 45 years of age, and
Afghanistan's infant mortality rate rivals the poorest African nations. The
national literacy rate is 10 percent and diminishes by half for women.
Tribal warlordism and monarchy are the two political arrangements familiar
to the Afghan people. Those traditions are resistant to change, and their
remnants are the primary components of the new coalition government that
resulted from talks in Bonn in November.

One step toward stability in Afghanistan is the incorporation of women in
government, or their re-incorporation. Women were part of the loya jirga,
traditional parliament, in Afghanistan before the wars, and I met several
accomplished women who could be pivotal to rebuilding the country. In the
end, two women were chosen to be part of the transitional government: Sima
Samar, vice minister for women's affairs, and Suhaila Seddiqi, who will be
appointed minister of health. "I'm elated," said Khorshid Noori, coordinator
of the Afghan Women's Network in reference to Samar and Seddiqi's inclusion
in the government. After five years of Taliban rule and the Northern
Alliance before them, it's a start, though the general sentiment is it's far
from enough.

The question put to me most often by Afghans relates to U.S. interests in
the region. After the Russians were defeated in the late '80s, the U.S.
government, and the rest of the international community, abandoned
Afghanistan, leaving it to the warlords, militant foreigners and the
interests of its more powerful neighbors, particularly Pakistan and Iran.
The Afghans feel deeply skeptical about the motives of the United States in
ousting the Taliban. If the U.S. concentrates its future aid on a
much-touted Unocal pipeline, they tell me, then their worst fears about the
U.S. intervention will have come true. Although the pipeline will be a
source of future jobs in the region, many will see it as the reason the U.S.
came back to Afghanistan.

The U.S. has much to prove to the people of this bomb-ravaged nation. The
U.N.'s World Food Program is currently engaged in a Herculean effort to
distribute 52,000 tons of food per month for the 6 million people rendered
dependent from the bombings, 23 years of war and three years of drought.
Aside from the mind-boggling logistical arrangements, there are two primary
obstacles to the provision of aid. One is the U.S. bombing. Aid workers
cannot distribute food under the present military campaign. The second
obstacle is the banditry and looting taking place in the void of a central
government. The solution to this is the immediate deployment of U.N.
peacekeepers. At the time of this writing, the Bush administration was still
obfuscating attempts by the U.N., France, Jordan, Turkey and Bangladesh to
send an international delegation to secure food distribution in unruly
areas. If food aid does not get through, and Afghans die by the thousands
this winter, they will know whom to blame.

Traveling the six-hour road from Jalalabad back to Peshawar, I found myself
wondering about Afghanistan's postwar economy. Afghanistan does not have
significant source of income other than its trade in opium. The country is
the largest exporter of the drug in the world. If the international
community, particularly the U.S., comes through with the billions of
dollars, then, besides rebuilding the areas destroyed by bombs, it must help
create viable economic alternatives to the opium trade and incentives for
men to put down their guns. The reconstruction also must be sustained by
locally based programs for income generation that do not put Afghanistan
into environmentally dangerous industries or exploit its labor for the
benefit of U.S. corporations. We must not put Afghanistan on a debt
treadmill that leaves the country beholden to the economic dictates of its
benefactors, nor the World Bank. In fact, reconstruction should start with
the canceling of the $50 million in debt held by the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank.

The Afghan women I met insisted I repeat as often as necessary that aid must
also focus on women and children. They told me future aid must target
education, health and job opportunities for the young. The need to focus on
children is obvious. The majority of Afghans are under 18 years old, meaning
that well over half the country has spent all of their years under the
scourge of war. Women also make up 60 percent of the country. They were
denied the right to study, work and receive medical care under the Taliban,
and were subjected to mass rape when the Northern Alliance held Kabul.
Afghan women have been delivering needed assistance during two decades of
refugee crisis, while the U.S. looked away. Now is the time for them to take
greater control.

One fine example of the success of female-run aid programs is the
Humanitarian Assistance for Women and Children of Afghanistan (HAWCA)
organization, which was founded three years ago by 27-year-old Orzala
Ashrawf. HAWCA, based in Peshawar, serves the refugee community by providing
income-generating projects and literacy classes to women. It also provides
classes once a week to girl carpet-weavers. Visiting one Sunday morning, I
met a classroom full of girls. Every one was afflicted with a deep phlegmy
cough from the daily inhalations of thread lint. Yet each one displayed a
shining desire to learn to read and write. The youngest was 5. I asked her
if she had any time to play amidst her labors. She said no. I then asked
what time she went to work in the morning. She didn't know. She is too young
to tell time.

This girl is my muse for helping in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Her
brown-eyed gaze asks, "Will you do your part to end of the long tunnel of
war I have survived? Or will I become another Afghan orphan forced to work
before I can read?"

Photographs by Marla Ruzicka.

Deborah James is fair trade director of Global Exchange, an international
human rights organization. She also serves on the board of the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom.
]]> Wed, 09 Jan 2002 16:45:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2280 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333 http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2054 I taught ny first class at a University yesterday to some students on TIG and many other issues I enjoy discussing ;)
they were all very excited to learn about TakingitGlobal, so hopefully they will get involved.
Otherwise the food is great, the beer is cheap and life is great! Hope everyone is doing well!
Smiles
Ness]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2001 23:15:00 EST http://vanessa.tigblog.org/post/2054 49.25 -123.133333349.25-123.1333333