New Youth Group in Latvia
Hello ECYI -
It’s a bit gray and rainy here in Stockholm, but I am sure some of you somewhere are seeing the sun, and that’s encouraging! My name is Leah Wener, and I am working at ECI this year as a World Leadership Corps volunteer (www.worldleadershipcorps.org). I’m supporting the larger EC Initiative in general, and spending about half my time working with Dominic on ECYI related programming and activities. I moved to Sweden this past September and I love the people and language but not the weather! I was active in different education, environmental, and immigrant rights organizations throughout high school and college, and am very excited to have the opportunity to work with the Earth Charter now.
I just returned from Latvia, where I visited the Institute of Sustainable Education at Daugavpils University. The Institute, which is about to become an ECI affiliate, helped to organize Latvia’s first Science Festival last week. The festival was a celebration of scientific activity in the community and highlights included presentations of sustainability research by students at the Institute. (Another highlight: robots!) I presented the Earth Charter and ECYI at an event co-sponsored by the national UNESCO committee, and several students approached me afterwards with interest in forming an Earth Charter Youth Group at Daugavpils. We met again the next day to discuss ideas and possible future projects, and I am very happy to inform the network of our new, enthusiastic ECYG in Latvia! One idea in the very early, brainstorming stage: an international conference for student research on sustainability, to be held in Daugavpils next fall. Keep an eye out here and on the TIG list for more updates on that.
That's my news for now. We'll do our best to keep this blog active, and we look forward to your comments and suggestions.
- Leah
Comments
Enthu Kwut hwum qun tuni tsun utl' Xwul'qw'se'lu.
Hello my name is Matthew Louie of the Cowichan Tribes. I learned about the Earth Charter Youth Initiative about 3 years ago and have actively promoted awareness for the Earth Charter. I am now looking to find out exactly how it can be applied to our every day lives here in Cowichan. I look forward to learning more about this and hopefully starting a youth group here in Cowichan. I know there has been groups of youth who are learning about this on weekend retreats.
Thank you all for your commitment to this work. I think of what you are doing and am glad that there is a group of people out there speaking up for those who can't speak for themselves. Our trees, the birds, the fish and I know that the realization that the unsustainable "progress" can no longer continue. I will finish with an Indian Proverb - "Treat the Earth well, for you did not inherit it from your parents. It is on loan to you from your children."
Huy ch q'u - Thank you.
Cowichan Bay, British Columbia
Canada
Posted by: Matthew Louie | November 19, 2006 9:43 PM
Dear ECYI,
Congratulations on forming a new youth group! I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about our own organization, too.
Aloha Peace House, APH, is a community-based grassroots organization whose main purpose is to restore and bridge relationships between youth in communities in conflict, initially focusing its intentions upon the Jewish and Muslim communities in Hawai'i and Israel/Palestine through integration and emergence within the Hawaiian culture.
APH's purpose is being achieved through the Aloha Quest 2008 Program, which brings youth from the troubled land of Israel/Palestine to Hawai'i to experience the healing of this land and address issues of tolerance and peace through nonviolence training, ho'oponopono and organic leadership. After learning the skills needed to define the root causes of injustice and intolerance, the empowered youth return to their homes with the confidence and determination needed to transform their homeland towards peace and prosperity.
The participation of the Hawaiian youth in the Aloha Quest Program enriches the outcome of the learning experiences for the Israeli/Palestinian youth and their communities. It is a symbiotic experience for the Hawaiian youth who also benefit from participation. Hawai'i, known for its unique and conducive environment, the Hawaiian culture and spirituality (mana), and the power of the aina, acts as a working model for national and global change towards peace.
Thank you,
Husamuddin Akhras
President, Aloha Peace House
P.O. Box 61133,
Honolulu, Hawaii
96839
nationsofpeace@gmail.com
+1.808.386.3463
http://www.alohapeacehouse.org
Posted by: Husamuddin Akhras | January 27, 2007 2:07 AM