I am Alpha Bacar BARRY. It is a great pleasure for me to be an intern at the White House and to share my African experience with all the amazing people I live with in the Stables.

In Guinea I am the founder of the Guinean Young University Association (AJUG in French) in 2001 and the NGOs Forum for Good Governance in 2005, for which I organized several national conferences and meetings on democracy, human rights and governance. I am also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Program on Governance and vice-president of the African Youth Forum. I have been a journalist for the national TV station for the past 3 years and editor of the first university newspaper.

I also took part in two of PCI’s World Youth Congresses, and for the next year, I will be the African Desk Officer. Being an intern at the White House will permit me to improve my English, while I try to improve the participation of young Africans in Peace Child programs and projects. My hope is to help African youth get involved in youth-led development, which I think is the best way for Africa to grow.

Hola, I’m Daniel. I come from the warm Andes of south-central Ecuador,
from a small town called Cuenca. I recently finished a degree in
graphic design, and I will spend the next year doing the design for
Tunza magazine, and some projects for Peace Child International, such
as posters, layouts, experimental cuisine and party photographer (just
to name a few),

and of course try to learn some words in other
languages from everyone in this crazy house. I'm very glad to spend a
year here, everyday something different is happening and routine doesn't exist.

I’m Shahrez Khan, from the city of Lahore in Pakistan. I completed my undergrad in Economics at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. My most recent escapade before starting PCI was relief and reconstruction work carried out in the earthquake affected areas of Pakistan. My love for charity and volunteer work has brought me to this wonderful organization. Although I have only been here for a few days, I feel comfortable and settled in with my colleagues. My work here is to spearhead the Faith in Europe project which aims to discuss the identity of young Europeans living in EU and non-EU member states. FiE will be asking Europeans about the level of faith they have in European institutions, how they feel about their identities, and most importantly what kind of Europe young Europeans want to be living in the future.

I hope to learn a lot from my interaction with various youth groups around Europe, and being non-European myself, the exposure I get from the FiE project will give me an inside perspective to all the different European cultures. I got a red carpet reception from my colleagues at PCI, and I feel settled in already, even though it has only been 4 days working here. Living with all my fellow volunteers from various parts of the world is a one of a kind experience. I feel very lucky to be a part of PCI and look forward to the coming months working at this lovely place.

It is with considerable sadness that we waved the tearful handkerchief to say goodbye to Coop, our wonderful Ecuadorian designer at the end of his brilliant, mould-breaking 14 month internship. It was his design that defined the new Defra Be the Change Challenge! – with his simple graphics of the smiley-faced green figure, and the scowly-faced figure. And he created the graphic design for our Co-Management Booklet which will probably, for ever, define the way that Peace Child seeks to work with young people in equal partnership.

But for all of us left here, we will miss his warmth and ever-happy grin – the sense that you had that, however much stress was raining down, Coop was always cool with stuff and therefore it couldn’t be that bad. And, of course, none of us will ever forget his Oscar-winning performance as Merlin, the dog – in the interns sketch at the 25th Anniversary! Good luck, Coop – and have fun back at the Pizza Parlour in downtown Quito!

For 25 years, Peace Child International has cut an unusual profile in the NGO sector: starting off as a musical play that punched a hole through the Iron Curtain in 1986 to bring the first Soviet youth to the USA on a youth exchange, it has gone on to pioneer the preparation of youth-created books on global issues, and the concept of youth-led development through a series of World Youth Congresses.

All this rich history was laid out for review at the Peace Child 25th Anniversary event held at London’s Nehru Centre on 31st October. Described as a “Wow Event” by Eirwen Harbottle, one of Peace Child’s founders, the event brought together many ex-interns and wonderful people involved at many different levels with the organization, including David Gordon, composer of the Peace Child  musical and  founder, Peter Striker who sang in the original Albert Hall show and  Wilson Young and

Siobhain Gibson who both took part in the 1988 East Coast Tour. Peace Child friends from the USA, France and  Austria joined us as well  as Maryse Benson whose husband, Bernard, wrote The Peace Book.

Unsurprisingly, it was the youth who stole the show – with a hilarious depiction of life at the White House with two young interns in drag playing David and Rosey, and another playing Merlin the dog. On a more serious note, Jagan Devaraj, an ex-intern, speaking on a video link from Bangalore, India, laid out the potential of youth-led development with a description of some of the magnificent achievements of the young Indian and international volunteers who work out of his White House centre in one of the poorest districts of the city.

David Woollcombe closed up the evening by outlining his vision for the next 25 years of the organisation – in which he hoped to see White House centres springing up like mushrooms across the globe, enabling the global family of young people to come together to help those youth living at greater disadvantage.

It was a charming, moving and stimulating evening that left everyone hoping Peace Child would survive at least another 25 years.

We have a huge selection of beautiful Indian hand made cards for sale. Please try and support Peace Child India. They can be bought either through the White House office or direct from Peace Child India.  They also make great bags for conferences which they can ship with ease.

 

Peace Child is working hard to update our network contact database. We kindly ask all affiliated groups, and those who wish to become part of our network, to send Marina an email at marina@peacechild.org so that we can register or update your profile.

EarthCorps offers a 6-month training course in Seattle, Washington, USA that brings together young representatives (18-25 years of age) of international organizations to learn the basic fundamentals of environmental restoration, community organizing, and youth empowerment.

The BBC are looking for some good stories involving inspiring under 18s who are
making an impact in some area of environmental campaigning. They will be running the pieces at the beginning of December - but would like to identify possible stories by Novembr 9th  in in order to give them time to deploy a correspondent to carry out the interviews.

For more information visit
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
or contact Kathryn Westcott at
niccolo@foei.org

OIYP is a global network of young people working with their communities to create positive, equitable and sustainable change. If you are working with your community to create a positive future then you can apply to be a part of the Oxfam International Youth Partnerships. Between 2007 and 2010 you will have opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding and to talk and share with other young people. You will be able to use these opportunities to support your work with your community.

On 24-26 January 2007, UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) and the
World Bank is holding a workshop on “Young People in Poverty Reduction
Strategies: Investing strategically in the next generation.”
This E-consultation aims to identify young people who have been involved in National, Regional and Local development strategies and to feed into an upcoming World Bank-UNFPA workshop to be held in Washington DC. It provides an excellent opportunity for young people to contribute with their experiences in participating in the development of PRSPs.

A worldwide competition for high school students to address the 15 Global Challenges facing humanity opens on September 15, 2006, with a November 15, 2006 deadline for submission. The Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University launches the GLOBAL MILLENNIUM PRIZE, the first ever worldwide competition for high school students to address the 15 Global Challenges facing humanity http://www.globalmillenniumprize.org

The Competition invites students (age 15-19) to choose one of the AC/UNU Millennium Project’s 15 Global Challenges and to research and write an essay (scenario) on how they think one of the Global Challenges could be addressed between now and the year 2015.

The 15 Global Challenges cover issues and opportunities in sustainable development, water, population & resources, democratization, long-term policymaking, information technology, the rich-poor gap, health, decision making, peace & conflict, changing roles of women, transnational crime, energy, innovations in science & technology, and global ethics. For a brief overview of the 15 Global Challenges, see:
http://www.acunu.org/millennium/challeng.html