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Involver: How Nonprofits Can Create Video Campaigns for Social Networks.
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Quick Note About My Trip to Swaziland
Hello again from Swaziland. I wanted to clarify a bit about my previous posts....I am the founder of YouthAssets, and organization dedicated to connecting orphans, particularly those of child-headed households to the information and resources that they need. We are exploring the use of mobile phones to provide access to support systems and information that is valuable to them.
I just attended a 3-day conference with southern African leaders working to support orphans and vulnerable children - the conference was to develop sustainable strategies to help with the orphan crisis here. Although no mention was made specifically of ICT tools used currently, the delegates defined a GREAT need for collaboration, information sharing, data collection, and instant communication.
I made it to Swaziland!
Jennifer Sly is the Founder of YouthAssets, a Featured Project at the NetSquared Conference.
Well, I made it Swaziland. After a short ride on a SMALL place - they take ALL of your luggage, purses, and bags because there is no room for anything in your seat! It was a quick ride - only 40 minutes - and I was sitting to a very nice gentleman who was travelling to Swaziland for the first time from Senegal. He was attending a trade conference at the same location as my OSISA conference so maybe I will see him again.
First Day in Africa!
Note from NetSquared: Jennifer Sly is the Founder of YouthAssets, a Featured Project at the NetSquared Conference.
Well, I made to Johannesburg! It was a looooong flight - around 15.5 hours, not including the hour we sat on the tarmac. Has anyone travelled to Dulles lately? I forgot about the StarWars like "mobile lounges" they use to transport passengers to and from terminals, gates, and DIRECTLY TO THE PLANE. They packed everyone in it reminded me of New York subways!
Two weeks until NetSquared Conference!
Hi everyone,
First, I want to thank everyone from the netsquared community for all of their support. We are very excited and appreciative of this opportunity and have been thinking, writing, brainstorming, discussing, informational-interviewing, and working hard in preparation. As we enter the two weeks before the conference, I wanted to share with you all that we are doing to prepare for conference and to get your feedback and ideas!
YouthAssets - Connecting the World's Most Vulnerable Youth
Voting Summary (Elevator Pitch):
YouthAssets will develop a web-based knowledge management tool that utilizes the latest mapping technologies and collaboration tools to enable youth and their supporters to share critical information about and for HIV/AIDS orphans in Southern Africa.
Technology Vision:
Current technical components of YouthAssets are: (1) Collaborative website that will include user profiles and shared spaces (Drupal or other) (2) Collaborative database that will integrate existing data as well create an interface to add new data on youth in Africa and resources available (SQL server or Oracle, ESRI, etc.) (3) Maps of aggregated data into visual format (Google Earth or other) (4) Use of software to be used on mobile devices
The Nata Village blog. A unique opportunity to witness the battle to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in an African village
Voting Summary (Elevator Pitch):
Nata, Botswana is a village of hope. Donations from the blog:
http://natavillage.org are used to help the 400 orphans, people living with HIV/AIDS, Nata clinic, and a youth group.
Disposable humanity
There are many sources for research into the plight of social orphans, ie those in institutional care due to economic circumstance. Today I found a summary of some of the more heavy reading:
ORPHAN STATISTICS
The statistics will amaze you:
1. There are over 100,000 orphans in Ukraine.
2. The older an orphan gets, the chances for his/her adoption drastically decrease.
3. Each year many orphans between 15 to 18-years-old leave the orphanages.
4. Most of these orphans have no one to turn to for help.
5. About 10% of them will commit suicide after leaving the orphanage before their eighteenth birthday.
6. 60% of the girls will end up in prostitution
7. 70% of the boys will enter a life of crime
8. Only 27% of these youth will find work
These youth live in a country that labels them as “useless” and gives no assistance to turn their lives around. It is a society that has created its own problem by placing thousands of children in orphanages, and then when they come of age, they give them no assistance to lead a successful life. It is almost as if the system places them in trade schools to become “slaves of the State” to fill the low-income jobs of unskilled labor and remain the under-trodden, 2nd-class citizens that the majority of the population of Ukraine believe that they are.
Tagging for democracy
Only by joining here, have I realised what tagging is all about and I'm sold. What a great way to get out a message.
My interests include the rose revolutions particularly in Ukraine, institutional childcare, modern day slavery, poverty reduction and social business.
So if anyone else here is interested in these topics, I'd be glad to be part of your network
my username on del.icio.us is Jeff.Mowatt
Nothing like the present
With Ukraine's President Yuschenko appealing today for radical improvement in child protection policies.
http://en.for-ua.com/news/2007/03/13/165639.html
His priorities for 2007 include:
- passing and enforcing a law on the fulfillment of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- promoting and encouraging adoption;
- introducing financial aid mechanisms to support children;
- eradicating homelessness among children;
- reforming the system of orphanages and children’s homes.
