$1500 Scholarships for YCI Programs

Since 1989, YCI has provided more than 3,000 youth with the opportunity to develop substantive leadership skills and effect positive change in their global and local communities.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary, YCI will award 20 volunteers with scholarships of $1500 CDN ($1300 US) to participate in one of our international volunteer programs in Guyana, Ghana or Costa Rica.

Each of the 20 scholarships will be awarded to individuals with a demonstrated commitment to their communities. The scholarships are intended to provide young leaders with the opportunity to turn positive civic involvement into global action.

How to Apply:

1. Eligibility criteria:

• Applicants must be between 18 and 30 years of age.

• Applicants must be applying for one of YCI’s five-week programs in Costa Rica or Guyana (departing January, 2010), or YCI’s four-week program in Ghana (departing February, 2010).

• Scholarships must be used towards one of the above projects.

2. Scholarship entries must be submitted alongside an online application:

• Submit an online application at www.yci.org

• Please indicate on your application (in the “program preference” area) that you’re interested in applying for the “20 Year Scholarship Program.”

3. Once you have received confirmation of your interview time with YCI, please submit your essay, photo essay or video entry via email. Tell us:

How would a volunteer opportunity with YCI contribute to your understanding of what it means to be a global citizen?

In order to apply, submit one of the following on the above topic to YCI:

• Personal Essays: Must be between 600 and 800 words in length and submitted in .doc format.

• Photo Essays: Must be less than 20 photos and include captions. This may be submitted through a PowerPoint presentation or PDF format.

• Video Entries: Must be no more than three minutes in length. To submit your video, please upload your submission onto YouTube and provide the link to YCI. Videos may also be submitted through email or mail. Use only original or royalty-free music and images in your video.

4. Applications and entries will be reviewed on a first-come, first-serve rolling basis. The final deadline for all submissions is Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

To learn more about YCI’s volunteer programs or the scholarship program, visit www.yci.org or contact us at generalinfo@yci.org.

 

Donate $20 for 20 Years

20 Years of Leadership. 20 Years of Innovation. 20 Years of Partnership. 20 Years of Youth Development. 20 Years of Positive Change.

Where will the next 20 years take us?

Since 1989, YCI has sent more than 3,000 volunteers overseas to work alongside youth on environment, health, leadership development, education and economic development projects in 15 countries worldwide.

Celebrate YCI’s 20^th anniversary of building communities and leaders by donating just $20. Help us reach our goal of $20,000 to support our local and global youth development programs.

Why donate to Youth Challenge International?

Youth Challenge International is a leading global youth development organization that promotes youth innovation to drive positive change. Building on 20 years of experience, YCI’s programs are designed to meet the needs of youth affected by poverty through five integrated sectors: economic development, education, leadership development, environment and health.

In the last 20 years, YCI has:

• Provided more than 3000 volunteers with the opportunity to develop leadership skills and effect positive change in their local and global communities.
• Worked in 15 countries alongside more than 16 local partner organizations.
• Reached thousands of beneficiary youth through HIV/AIDS, sexual reproductive health, education, employability and leadership programs.
• Engaged hundreds of young people on team-based action projects that encourage global citizenship through the Volunteer Action Network.
• Participated in countless community development and conservation programs, including the construction of schools, water and sanitation, and ecotourism projects.
• Facilitated 37 International Youth Internships, which provide young people with their first substantive overseas work experience.

Your tax-deductible donation of $20 will go towards supporting YCI’s local and global youth development organizations.

We engage youth in creating solutions to the challenges they face. YCI incorporates youth development, volunteerism, partnership, equity and advocacy into all that we do.

Here are a few ways you can donate:

• By mail – send in a cheque or credit card information to Youth Challenge International, 20 Maud St., Suite 305, Toronto, ON, M5V 2M5

Please address cheque donations to Youth Challenge International, with a memo of 20 year donation.

• By phone – call us toll-free 1.877.504.3370

• In person – visiting our office

• Online – visit our website at www.yci.org/20years

To read more about YCI’s programs and how YCI uses your donations, please visit www.yci.org

From local volunteerism to global action

Before I worked for YCI, I was an active member of my university’s campus, including volunteering for a local campus publication, McClung’s Magazine, a magazine for young, socially-active women.

To learn more about how I turned my campus volunteer work into a career, check out the McClung’s Blog.-Jessica Lockhart, Program Coordinator

Youth Challenge America Launches

Welcome to the recruitment season! Job fairs, career expos, information sessions. . .YCI has been working hard to get our name out to you. It’s been a busy Fall with recruitment for the first time ever in the States! I have been attending fairs and information sessions in New York State to talk about our overseas programming and the new opportunities available for American volunteers to get involved.

There has been a strong interest in YCI’s programs by potential American volunteers, particularly for our Americas programs. It’s been great for me to get the opportunity to talk to so many interesting individuals about youth development, international development and our overseas projects.

Yesterday, I went to Vassar College, a gorgeous small Liberal Arts College on the Hudson River in a little town called Poughkeepsie. The leaves are turning, the air is fresh and crisp and there was a football game going on in town. It was a beautiful vision!

Next week, I’ll be at NYU talking on a Seminar Panel about Civic Engagement at the Graduate School for Arts at Science and then to DC for the “Higher Education and International Volunteer Service Conference,” hosted by Partners of the Americas.

It’s been busy season and it’s been wonderful talking to you all! Potential volunteers, preparing volunteers or alumni, please continue to come chat with us, wherever we are. If you can’t make it in person, send us an email at generalinfo@yci.org. I speak for all of the YCI staff when I say that we love talking with you about our programs!

I hope to see you at our next outreach session.

Cheers,

Jane

-Jane Baldwin, Program Development Manager

VAN Leader Profile: Pamy Teja

Being a part of the Volunteer Action Network (VAN) has allowed me to develop leadership, professional and networking skills. Before becoming involved with Youth Challenge International, I had the drive and passion for international development but had no experience.

YCI has given me the support and resources to build these skills. After my time overseas in Ghana, I came back to my own community and have started to use the training I got with YCI and translate it in to action here in Vancouver. I have met with many organizations, attended many forums to gain more knowledge about global issues and recruited an extraordinary VAN team that has the same drive as I do.

With YCI’s support, my team and I were able to hold a fundraising event in partnership with a few other organizations. This event alone allowed me to build skills that I may not have otherwise had the opportunity to at this point. I learned to collaborate with other social change organizations, deal with media, communicate effectively (when raising money you have to be clear on where the donor’s money is going and why they should donate), getting sponsorships, planning and coordinating an event, marketing and leading a team.

The VAN network has given me the confidence and skills to pass on my experience I had overseas with YCI. I am proud and excited to be a part of this program.

-Pamy Teja was a volunteer in the fall of 2008 in Ghana. She played an active role in World Aids Day, as well as organizing a campaign to encourage Ghanaian youth to vote. She is currently the Youth & Poverty VAN Action team leader based out of Vancouver. Her team recently raised over $7000 for local and global organizations that focus on youth and poverty.

Taking Action, Every Day

October 24th was the International Day of Climate Action. Read on to learn about how YCI alumni and youth across Canada are taking action, every day:

Growing up in Alberta, the heart of the oil and gas industry in Canada, I have seen the resistance to cutting emissions first hand. Many equate cutting emissions with cutting their standard of living. I believe this to be a main cause of resistance. Perhaps this also has to do with the inability to associate personal decisions with global impact. This is why I joined the environmental sustainability team of YCI’s Volunteer Action Network (VAN).

While the effects of global warming on weather patterns, animals, water levels, and other earthly features need attention, my team chose to research the effects that global warming has had and will have on humans. We chose to direct our attention specifically on the Global South, as global warming’s effects will be most drastic in these regions. In Canada, we are perceived to live a developed country. As such, the amount of emissions created in our country is much greater than those created in developing nations.

The injustice and inequality that arises from this situation drives me to make change and call for action. In a world that is becoming more and more interconnected, it is increasingly evident that our actions affect others, countries away. We no longer live in a world where citizens are defined by boundaries, but one where global citizenship is coming to a forefront. Because of this, we have a responsibility to reduce the impact global warming has on developing nations. Reducing our emissions is just a start.

Joining YCI has helped me develop into a global citizen and realize how my actions in Canada can affect someone in Ghana. Consciously reducing my carbon footprint by making minor adjustments to my everyday life is not a choice if, even indirectly, it has a positive effect on developing countries. As citizens there is action we can take. Individually, we can take steps to reduce our carbon footprint. As a collective, we can take part in initiatives to pressure the government to take necessary steps to cut national emissions. Reducing emissions is not an individual choice–it is a necessity.

-Sara Walde is a member of YCI’s Volunteer Advisory Council (VAC) and leads the VAN environmental sustainability team. She first became engaged with YCI as a volunteer in Guyana in 2008. To learn more about how to join YCI’s Volunteer Action Network, contact Jessica at jessica.lockhart@yci.org or find out more here.

Stand Up & Take Action!

Let me state an obvious fact: poverty is a huge problem, especially in the developing world. Although developed nations give foreign aid to countries in need, there are always strings attached. State actors don’t really donate aid–political, economic and geo-strategic interests are also motivators for delivering development assistance. Since the 1960s, the absolute wealth of developed countries has increased; however, the percentage of GNI allocated to foreign aid has substantially dropped. This is why it’s interesting to note that there are increasing number of non-profit organizations that work very hard to persuade our elected legislators and policymakers to implement change. Many NGOs recognize that eradicating poverty is in the best interest of western countries. One such organization is Make Poverty History.

This past weekend, Make Poverty History made strides again in making poverty a thing in the past. In hopes of achieving the Millennium Development Goals and eradicating poverty, millions of people around the world took part in Stand Up and Take Action. This campaign called upon all those who are interested in getting rid of poverty and achieving MDGs to organize events in a group to simply Stand Up.

In the midst of a global financial crisis, many leaders are too focused on appeasing domestic actors while the poor – the ones that did not contribute to the economic mess – feel the repercussions the most. In its fourth year, the campaign’s major focus was to emphasize the fact that time is limited, and decisive MDG-oriented policies and programmes must be implemented. The progress made in the last several years could simply unravel. A valid point that the campaigners made is that the financial crisis can’t be used as an excuse for overlooking MDG commitments. Moreover, Stand Up and Take Action understood that we all live in a global society and so, simply addressing domestic concerns during a time of insecurity is not the answer for a peaceful and prosperous world. To Stand Up and Take Action is one way to ask our leaders to stand with us to make poverty history. Is that really too much to ask for?

-Ahila Poologaindran is a student in her final year at McGill University, with a focus on International Development Studies. She has acted as a Community Connector for YCI, as well our 2008 summer intern.

Blog Action Day: Climate Change YCI Style

Okay, so Google headquarters we are not. But in honour of Blog Action Day, here are all the little ways that we are fighting climate change here in the YCI office:

• Printing everything double-sided. And those accidental print jobs or scrap pieces of paper? We turn them into one-sided notebooks for our daily to-do lists.
• Brewing our own coffee. It’s fair-trade, inexpensive and best of all, there’s no paper cups involved in the process.
• Walking/cycling/TTCing to work.
• Since school started up again this fall, we’ve been using Autoshare or public transit to get to career fairs and outreach events.
• Communicating online with volunteers to reduce our environmental impact.
• Consume less. Do we reuse our paper folders until the names have been written over ten times? You bet we do!
• Work potlucks! Okay, to be honest, I’m not sure they have anything to do with climate change, but they sure are delicious and probably one of my favourite parts of working at YCI. So they must be good for the environment.
• Sharing. (Most recently, in fact, all the women in the office passed around all the books in the Twilight saga. Somewhat embarrassing, but true. Gabriela’s currently working on the last book. We’re all waiting for her to catch up so that we can determine whether we’re all Team Jacob or Team Edward.)
• Each YCI staff member is allocated time off that they can commit to another non-profit organization. Global citizenship will always place a key role in climate change.
• Finally, although it’s not specifically in our office, let’s not forget all the YCI volunteers who work on eco-tourism projects in Central America, host environmental education workshops in the South Pacific, and work with environmental sustainability clubs in Tanzania.

But it’s still undeniable that we could be doing a lot more. While our composting experiment failed miserably, there’s always room for other improvement. For example, while we were at the Centre for Social Innovation for last month’s VAC retreat, we noticed there was fabric grocery shopping bags and Tupperware available by the door for take-out lunches. At the YCI office, we definitely bring back our fair share of Styrofoam containers. So, while we certainly aren’t in a position to buy solar panels or goats, investing in takeout containers is certainly not beyond our reach.

-Jessica Lockhart, Program Coordinator

Featured Volunteer Blog: Po-Yi’s YCI Diary-Costa Rica

This fall, we have a number of projects headed overseas, including one to Costa Rica in November. Want to read more about what a YCI project in Costa Rica looks like day-to-day? Check out today’s featured volunteer blog: Po-Yi’s Diary.

“Organizing events in an unfamiliar setting was difficult. We always had to keep in mind the ‘Tican’ time, meaning that locals can come whenever they wanted to even two or three hours after the start time. In spite of the challenges (that was why we were there!), our ’social projects’ were very successful since they opened our eyes to the difficulties that Juanilama have been facing. The knowledge we gained from the events and activities we planed will help the next YCI group to sustain whatever development we and the Juanilamans have left off with. . .“

Featured Volunteer Blog: Michael Without Borders

Happy Thanksgiving! Want to hear more from our volunteers in Morogoro? Check out today’s featured volunteer blog, Michael Without Borders.

“The family I am staying with is very nice, though basic English is a bit of stretch. Still, I am learning a bit of Swahili and we understand each other mostly (my Swahili-English dictionary comes in handy often). The food they make me is edible and tastes good. I probably won’t be seeking it out often when I return, but I am pleased. There is a strong emphasis on white bread and white rice, but surprisingly I am feeling mostly healthy and energetic. . .”