Oxfam's International Youth Partnerships (OIYP) Voice is the newsletter of OIYP action partners worldwide.
Also published at www.iyp.oxfam.org/news/
Email us at: iypvoice@oxfam.org.au
Una versión espanol de este boletin estara disponible dentro de diez dias. Si les gustarian recibir una copia, por favor envian un correo al redactor jefe a iypvoice@oxfam.org.au.
Focus
Welcome to the August issue of Voice Newsletter!
If you’re into International Day’s for providing focal point for discussing important issues- then the month of August certainly delivered the goods with International Indigenous Day and International Youth Day occurring within days of each other.
This month we bring you updates from Action Partners Patrick Mau and Michelle Cook. Both are strong Indigenous people who are working in really different ways to bring about social change. I am continually inspired by the diversity of ways that people are creating social change- although I shouldn’t be surprised as I know what a great mix of people from around the world make up our Action Partner network. There is no single pathway for bringing about change – we need positive people working in all areas of society, at all levels, and learning from each other in order to bring this about.
Cherie Minniecon, OIYP Indigenous Participation Coordinator reflects in her article on how creating change begins within all of us. You can read about the preparation meeting that was held in Melbourne in July. The week was about getting to know each other, participating in workshops and networking with local Indigenous organisations and communities.
Nour Mosawy shares a story that is topical as we pass the halfway point for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She explores the idea that the major impediment to the achievement of the goals is war and conflict. Her work is not simply providing books, but provides so many more opportunities for youth motivation, partnership, citizenship and equality.
Action Partner News
Read about the work of Action Partners around the world.
Sharing stories of work on the ground. Want to share your story? Email it to Mary at iypvoice@oxfam.org.au
Patrick Mau, 2007 Action Partner, Australia
I was raised off the drums/
torres straits made this son/
the ocean possessed my soul/
and the land made me one/
culture was the song/
my ancestors sung/
left footprints with the dust/
of the path i came from/
Mipla han Be come/ ("Mipla" means "we" or "our")
strong blo ailan man/
strike like panipan/ ("Panipan" mean "Lightning")
i'm a warrior/
Lyrics extract from the song My Blood My People by Patrick Mau
Working with young people in his community Patrick is providing music as a real alternative to alcohol and drugs. Horn Island is remote with few facilities for young people. Through encouraging young people to express themselves through the music and art of the Torres Strait islands, Patrick helps build confidence and positive role models in the communities
His song My Blood My People fuses island chants with hip-hop and talks of Indigenous islander identity, empowerment and hope for the future. You can check it all out at: http://www.myspace.com/maupowerts
Michelle Cook, 2007 Action Partner, Northern America.
Navajo Michelle Cook remembers the words of a Hopi spiritual leader in a speech given at an International Indigenous Day event organised by Indigenous Alliance without Borders held in Tucson. This is an excerpt of her speech “I Refuse to be your Canary.”
Hopi elder Thomas Banyacya said, “Nature, the first people, and the spirit of our ancestors are giving you loud warnings. You see increasing floods, more damaging hurricanes, hailstorms, climate changes, and the earthquakes- as our prophesies said would come…If we human do not wake up to the warnings, the Great Purification will come and destroy this world as the previous worlds were destroyed…It is up to all of us, as children of Mother Earth, to clean up this mess before it is too late”.
I think today we should remember the importance of our voice and remember the messages that indigenous peoples have given the United Nations and world. We must recall and celebrate the hard work of those who have gone into international arenas to defend and testify; driven by the love for their people and home.
For full transcript of her speech visit http://censored-news.blogspot.com/
Pacific Eye Magazine
The Pacific Eye is an online publication that publishes written works of Pacific Island youth worldwide, as well as written works intended for Pacific Island youth. The purpose of the Pacific Eye is to provide a voice to the issues that affect Pacific Island youth.
http://www.planet-tonga.com/pacificeye
story of the month
Thirst for Peace First
Nour Mosawy reflects on her journey as a 2004 Action Partner, discussing the highs and lows of her experience as a youth activist thus far. In this piece, Nour critically discusses the MDGs, questions the context behind the MDGs, and offers an alternative way forward. Helping Nour overcome many of the challenges she has faced over the past three years has been her incredible ability to remain optimistic in the face of difficulties. Read on to be inspired!
‘I intend to write what I have come up with since the start of my experience as what I might be called as "Youth Activist" until this moment, having perhaps positives and negatives, that can also change with more experiences I get and more issues I go throughout my journey...
To be given the opportunity of attending a big well organized event as the International Youth Parliament in 2004 for a 20 yrs old female in Iraq, just one year post war, was a unique and extraordinary thing. Especially considering that this big event to be the first experience and interaction with young people who are actively involved in their communities from all around the world.
Considering the dramatic and notorious changes of the situation on all levels and aspects in Iraq... a young person can live to suppress all his/her ambitions, hopes and aspirations for being a strong patriot building ones country, or for being a bright doctor qualified on all levels, or for being a happy couple making a new life, or for watching TV with satellite, being free to travel at anytime, to have a good salary, and to access good services!!!
I attended a Conference on Youth and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), where I had to travel to New York to attend sessions talking about achieving the MDGs, conserving energy, peace on Earth....from countries supposed to be committed to these goals, Yet, I see no passion, no determination, no real intention for any of these goals.
I believe all those goals of MDGs are directly involved with War. My country never had this dreadful weather where everyday we have dust, odours of dead bodies close to our colleges [this has only occurred] because of War. Everyone is talking about Global Warming, thinking its the major threat for the coming decade. It seems that they are forgetting how missile use, wars and all those factories making all these guns, can affect our weather!!!!
Now, after all this, my project was about involving the young people, males and females, lead by me, as a female to encourage equal participation and motivation for commitment to change, and improving our reality. We had no much options than choosing a small budget project to distribute books that can not be touched by arms, or insecurity conditions, to be used and returned to the college by medical students.
It was a unique experience that was not related only to providing books, but also to the concept of "youth motivation", partnership, citizenship and equality.
The challenge now is big as to how we could work together, coming from different areas in Baghdad, yet we managed to work together inside college, with the bad security level, we went to Aadhamiya, to buy books, or an areas that now do not exist because of explosions, just to buy stamps for the books...
With our little resources, little capacities, and for me, having no previous experience with civil work, depending on Takingitglobal toolkits for workshops, and Oxfam International toolkits for project management tips…some other resources I had...to try to make things happen.
What about global partnerships??? What can big countries offer for peace? weapons? or new commitment to end terrorism?? Or can they simply involve more youth organizations and civil society well known NGOs to try to reach to public and reconcile hearts and minds? And even help them to know how to live with a war?
What about our government? W have all the support, yet governments tend to support a government that does not give its people but one hour daily of electricity!!???
And can not protect a child, or a student from criminal deaths??
There is more to be considered in order to even start talking about the MDGs...I'm sorry my story might sound depressing. But I’m a very optimistic person, this optimism comes from my patience and capacity to still try to make things better....others…gave up earlier...much earlier.
There are basic morals we need to live , adapt before thinking of bringing a total peace to the world, we can simply bring peace to our hearts, accepting each other, accepting others mistakes, trying to forgive them, teach them, accept their ignorance, reach to them. This might be more difficult than using one word, peace to the world but it's also more realistic and it's the only true proven approach.
To read more about Nour’s project click here: www2.thebcmf.com
august Feature
Journeys toward Change
Cherie Minniecon OIYP Indigenous Participation Co-ordinatorreports back on the recent gathering of Indigenous Australian Action partners in Melbourne in the lead up to Kaleidoscope in October. The event gave Indigenous Action Partners from around Australia a chance to bond, share ideas and experiences, and prepare for the intensity of the coming months. While in Melbourne, the Action Partners participated in workshops and had the opportunity to network with local Indigenous organisations. One of the key messages to come out of the gathering was that creating change begins within all of us. Cherie offers her reflections around this below.
On July 15th 12 Indigenous Australian Action Partners and members of their community came together in Melbourne to prepare for OIYP and Kaleidoscope. The week was about getting to know each other, participating in workshops and networking with local Indigenous organisations and communities.
There are many great stories that I could share with you from the week but I have chosen a story based on the session that took place with Uncle Richard Frankland.
Uncle Richard is a proud Aboriginal musician, film director and political activist He began the session with a speech about his journey as an Aboriginal activist.
During the speech Uncle Richard selected one of the Action Partners from the group and handed him a book and then continued to hand him more books, water bottles and anything else he could find for him to carry. He used the books and water bottles as symbols of what Indigenous people carry emotionally with them in their every day life. As the Action Partner was loaded up with more suffering and emotional issues to carry he started to drop some of the books. The pile was getting bigger and bigger. While this was happening Uncle Richard said “And you think you are going to change the world”? The Action Partner said “yes I am”.
Uncle Richard then continued to talk about being aware of the emotional loads that we carry for ourselves and our communities when we want to make changes. We need this self awareness to look after ourselves and to keep ourselves aware of the impact we have on people that are watching us and listening to us. He talked about “ego” and his personal story of when his ego has got in the way of his efforts. He talked about at times losing himself during the fight for his people and the dark times that he has faced trying to create change.
Personally this session made me think of my own journey but it also made me think of all the visions that Action Partners sent in when they applied for OIYP. I was thinking of the people behind their applications. Creating change begins within all of us. Creating Change isn’t just something that we do it is something that we are. So while you all prepare for kaleidoscope think about the changes you are trying to create in your communities. As an individual are you a reflection of the world you want to see or are you a reflection of the emotions, suffering and oppression that you carry with you?
If you fight for your people from an angry place within yourself this just leads to more anger.
If you are not at peace within yourself, how can you know how to create peace?
“Our stories of suffering and oppression are not the change we want to create they are simply the gifts that give us the motivation and insight in to what the world shouldn’t be”
Resources
Web Resources – Land Issues
1.YouthActionNet: http://www.youthactionnet.org/
YouthActionNet seeks to empower young people to create positive change in their communities and around the world. Launched in 2001, YouthActionNet is an initiative of the International Youth Foundation, a global non-profit organization supporting youth development programs in nearly 70 countries. YouthActionNet members can create their own websites, launch a campaign, network with other members, and share their work with other young people working for global social change. The toolkit feature contains information on communicating your cause, fundraising, and reflective thinking techniques. The site also contains a number of awesome resources that cover a diverse range of social justice issues. The website is great for networking and letting people know what work you’ve been doing in your community.
2. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) www.iwgia.org
For a comprehensive summary of International Land Rights check out the Indigenous Issues section of this website. In this section you will find some background discussion around the issue of land rights and current policy, as well as links to several IWGIA publications that examine land rights struggles around the globe.
3. Journal of South Pacific Law: Volume 8 2004 - Issue 2 http://www.paclii.org/journals
“Indigenous land Grievances, Customary land disputes and restorative justice” is a paper written byAnita Jowitt that provides a historical overview of land struggles in Vanuatu. It deals with the different dynamics of land rights Vs customary land disputes and examines the land tenure system. Some case studies of land disputes between different families are provided to illustrate the tensions that occur over land in Vanuatu. The author provides an extensive resource list at the end of the paper, so you can follow things up if you’d like to read more about the situation in Vanuatu.
4. New Internationalist http://www.newint.org
A lot of information regarding land rights can be found on this website. Go through the subject index and select ‘land’ to check out the array of essays, commentaries, and features that cover land rights issues around the globe. Some of the areas written about include Bolivia, Patagonia, India, and China.
5. Focus on the Global South http://www.focusweb.org/land-and-natural-resource-alienation-in-cambodia.html?Itemid=94
Focus on the Global South, has some great resources on the land rights struggle in Cambodia. The link below will take you to an article that discusses Indigenous peoples and the land. It examines the issue in the context of historical development and resistance of Indigenous people of Cambodia as they struggle to assert their right to land. This article will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about land rights in Cambodia. The author provides an extensive list of resources at the end if you want to find out more information.
Endnote
A closing thought to inspire you this month.
“As a result of everyone that crossed my path I have gain so much strength, knowledge, and determination. My vision does not stop that the mountain that tower over me, nor the water that surrounds me, but is joined by local, regional, national, and global beauty of my brothers and sisters.”
Cheryl De Witt, 2004 Action Partner, North America
