Thanks for Be the Change! proposals Peace Child sends many thanks to all the young activists who have applied for funding for a Be The Change project. We have received several hundred proposals from all over the world. Obviously because our funding is limited we will have to be very selective. However, even if your project is not chosen, we  will keep in touch with you and try to give advice on fundraising.

Quite the most amazing climax to emerge from one of the  Congresses to date, was supplied by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland who gave a £20,000 grant to sponsor youth-led development projects proposed by delegates. The grant is being administered by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations with assistance from Taking IT Global and the Peace Child network. 37 projects were funded. Another five were subsequently funded out of funds raised by Peace Child International. Those five have been completed and reported upon; to date, less than half of the other  projects have been completed - a result more of administrative difficulties in transferring funds, than any negligence on the part of the young project managers.

We are going to join SCVO (Scottish Council Voluntary Organisation) to report about these projects at the Civicus World Assembly in June

We have been receiving a lot of e-mails from people around the world who are keen to be Be the Change! ambassadors in their own area and promoting sustainable lifestyles. Veronika Linton from Hawaii writes that her group had a workshop on sustainability on February 1st  which went extremely well. They all did lifestyle contracts

David Woollcombe just returned from a trip to New York, U.S.A., where among other things, he met with the former President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn. David, ex-intern Cristi Gerlach and Benjamin Quinto, director of the Global Youth Action Network, presented Mr. Wolfensohn with the Champion of Youth Award on behalf of the International Committee of the World Youth Congress 2005.

As Edward is finishing the design of the issue on deserts and drylands, the TUNZA team is thinking about the next issue, which is on energy. If you have a story idea or question for the "Q & A"

"The project will not take these boys from poverty, but it will help them to get money to eat and to be away from delinquency and drugs", said Cecilia. Teaching music to Bolivian guys, aged 15 and 20, is Cecilia Mendivil's Action Project in

Karim Viviana Gomez reports that the Project Echo Agrotourism is being developed in Tarija, Bolivia. The project is training 27 young people in

A group from England have been volunteering in India for four weeks. They have been working in the Tataguni School, building a reading room and working with the children. They are staying at the farm house in Banjarapalya village and have been planting trees with local people. In addition, Jagan will lead them on an overland tour, visiting temples and other sites.

Meanwhile, Sheena has been trying out the newly revised Health and Nutrition project in Doddabelle School. It is a very detailed program, which includes advice on sanitation, nutrition and hygiene. She also is producing a teaching manual that can be used in other schools by future interns.

Sheena has been accompanied by Louise in the

The 7th Annual Global Youth Service Day will be 21-23 April, 2006. Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual global event organized by Youth Service America and the Global Youth Action Network, together with a consortium of 32 International Organizations and more than 100 National Coordinating Committees that Celebrates, Recognizes, and Mobilizes.

On Global Youth Service Day, millions of young people worldwide will highlight and carry out thousands of community improvement projects. This day will be a way for local, national, and international organizations to:

The Tunza International Children's Conference on the Environment will be in Putrajaya, Malaysia, 26-30 August 2006. The conference will enable children to learn about the environment through plenary sessions, hands-on workshops and field trips. The children will share their views and concerns about the environment and will prepare individual commitments and a petition to world leaders expressing their concerns and vision. To participate in the event you have to be between 10 and 14 years. Sponsorship may be available for participants (accompanied by a chaperone) from developing countries. We would like to

Youth For Positive Change is organising a two week peace camp in Romania.
When: August 1-14th 2006
Where: Baile Tusnad, Romania
Who: 200 youth ages 16-28 from who are involved in creating positive change in their communities from all over the world
What: Trainings, workshops, discussion and debate forums, outdoor leadership and team development, presentations, art creation and the sharing of unique cultures with time for getting to know and learn from each others experiences.

ONE DEGREE ASIA
July 25-29, 2006, Singapore

"It only takes one degree to change water into ice, 1° for water to reach the boiling point, 1° to change one's perspective. 1° is all it takes to make the most significant change."

1st Asia is the gathering of Asia's future agents of change to connect with each other, -converge ideas and dreams, and celebrate our diversity. 1°Asia is about young people coming together, believing that our world can be a better place,