Twitter (I)

Hello Peeps,

Many thanks for doing what you do -the world needs many more people like you.

Just thought to let you in on Twitter in case you are not using it yet or like me, you are considering it with skepticism.

Twitter is about the hottest social networking tool and it seems to have a strong global appeal and NEWSWEEK magazine has called it the next KILLER APP on the internet.

Twitter now provides and may continue to provide a growing potential audience for users - which may be groups and or individuals.

How does it work?

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool,that combines the global reach of networks like facebook, myspace etc. with the ease and convinice of use over many application plstforms. It simply allows you an avenue to answer the question what are you doing right now ? -that is what the advertisement on its homepage says :).
In truth you are allowed 140 characters to tell the world whatever you want to tell it - a brief announcement, post a link, recomend something and so on as ones creativity permitts.

Your friends on twitter can follow your updates using many platforms including: third party websites e.g. NaijaPulse.com; twitter client (still in beta); mobile phones, website application (you can install on your website and wordpress blogsites) etc.

Users and potential users can login and sign up respectively on its homepage at www.Twitter.com. Twitter allows majorly for two types of connections (1) to follow others or; (2) to be followed by others. A third possible connection is groups but I am yet to expolore this and cannot talk about it here at this time.

To follow is to connect with people whose messages (changes in status notice) you want to be informed of. In this case each time someone you follow creates a new update it appears on your twitter page (or you get an alert via your selected medium). And following allows others to connect with you and get notified of updates to your status as they change. The catch is you can pass messages quickly to those following you by simply updating your status message.
And you can know what others want you to know by following them.

How can YPWC benefit from Twitter ?
Twitter is the newest and hottest online application as we speak and it has a growing followership in terms of users who are simply in love with its convinience and techies trying to build applications and tools to interface twitter with other media (online and offline) thus furthering the ease of its use.
Thus twitter provides an avenue for driving traffic to YPWC website, blogsites, thus expanding our circle of visibility and perhaps influence in our bid to change the world.
The tool can also be used as a means of calling attention of a large audience to the issues that interests us at YPWC and encourage them to contribute to our work in ways they can or just follow our strides and see how they may support us or replicate our activities elsewhere.

To find additional Help

Please follow this link in order to find help http://help.twitter.com/portal - twitters help tool. Or semd me an email and with specific questions and I will seek out answers.

Hope this is useful in some way.
I will create a twitter profile for YPWC and ask that it be shared on our mailing list and our social network pages and groups.

Regards,

'Korede

UNICEF Rural Voices of Youth, Ghana's 2008 Rural Representative Application is now available! - Deadline: April 20th, 2009

Dear Friends,

Are you between 10 years and 25 years old? Do you care about child rights related issues? Do you have an interest in promoting the concerns of young people in rural areas? Do you want to help inspire young people in your local community to take positive action? UNICEF Rural Voices of Youth is an innovative initiative that links young people from rural areas in different countries, who do not have access to Internet, to explore, speak out and take action on global issues that are important to them in order to create a world fit for children. By becoming a Rural Representative you join a team of youth working hard to promote the voices of young people for action! To access the application form please visit: http://www.ypwc.org/images/docs/unicef_appform.doc

Good luck in your application.

Regards,

Michael

A message from Jillian Schroeder

Message submitted on behalf of Jillian:

Dear Friends,

Each of us tries to make a difference in the world in some small way.
I want this to be my way. I entered a photography contest and I need
the help and support of the YPWC community to win the opportunity to
carry out my dream photo session. "Children of Hope" is the name of my
dream.

As all of us know, many children in Africa struggle with extreme
poverty, insanitary conditions and violence,. Yet, many of them are
still hopeful of their future and of the future of their countries. I
want to travel through Africa and document the hope that these young
people have. These children are the future. Their hope is what can
change their communities, their countries and ultimately even the
world. I want to share the stories and struggles of these children
with the world to bring attention to the cause. After the trip, I plan
on selling the photographs and donating all of the profits to local
children's charities throughout Africa.

I would really appreciate your help in making my dream come true.
Hopefully, by helping me you ultimately help the children of Africa.
Let's band together and change the world! Please visit the website
below. You will need to register in order to vote, but it only takes a
minute and the organization will not send you spam emails after this
contest. Voting ends on April 3, 2009.

http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/JillianSTL/children-of-hope/

(Click on the yellow box on the left that says "Pic it" and vote for me.)

I really appreciate your help!!!

Sincere thanks!

Jillian Schroeder

Managing the issues of irregular migration among young people: Perspectives from Youth People

Today a lot of young people are migrating across boarders. Whereas some people have migrated through legal forms other have done so under clandestine manners. Daily, the images are portrayed – pictorially as well as verbally – of the different accounts of the harsh realities confronting thousands of youths of African descent staking attempts at finding the so-called greener pastures in the Western countries, particularly Europe and America. Over the land and across the sea, they made the tortuous journeys which frequently resulted in tragedies, with many of them either losing their lives or ending up in jails or detention camps before the shame of deportation to their countries of origin. There is, hardly, a group comparable in friendlessness to irregular immigrants. Neither could there have been a more community of citizens with overwhelming recorded cases of wanton abuse, traumas, humiliation with precipitates of anguish of physical and psychological defeat than as occurring among the migrants from the Northern to the South hemisphere. But even under such unsuccessful attempts are not going behind their intentions of migrating.

What question that comes to mind under this kind of situation are that what are the driving forces and what can both sending and host countries do in partnership to save the thousands of lives that are lost through migration?

During a study that was conducted recently by a team of young people from Young People We Care and also on our recent youth consultation on Migration and Development there were some interesting comments that some young people shared with us.

Its is expected that if these young voices of would-be migrants and migrants are handled and addressed with some strategically youth design interventions the situation high trend of irregular migration of young people to reach the Europe through the high-seas and the Sahara Desert as in some trend of migration will reduce.

Young people recommended that governments should implement policies that encourage youths to stay and engage themselves in positive activities that can contribute to development of their country. National Youth Policies that entails strategies and programmes for developing the capacity of young people and also the creation of well paying jobs and good working conditions for young people are important in reducing the level of migration on the basis of unemployment or underemployment as one Ghanaian participant suggested.

Youth migration should not be seen as purely negative; a positive aspect of youth migrating is that young people are exposed to how things are done politically and socially in their host countries, allowing them to see that things can be done in a different way improves the standards of living upon return.

It is thus important for us to share ideas on some strategies of promoting return of young migrants to facilitate some development and change on some critical issues of development in the countries of origin.

To read the full report of the consultation please visit: • Report on the Youth Consultation on Migration ( http://www.ypwc.org/images/pdfs/report_on_the_youth_consultation_on_youth_migration_18_11_08.pdf  )

World AIDS day In Nigeria

The 2008 World aids day (1st December, 2008), was marked all across Nigeria and especially in Cross River State with the theme, Lead, Empower and Deliver.  The atmosphere in Cross River State, South South Nigeria was indeed peaceful and soothing.  The key highlight of the day was a 6 kilometers walk across the beautiful city of Calabar, the state capital.

The walk was motivated by the common desire of all stakeholders in the state to create awareness on the preventive mechanisms in place for the fight against HIV/AIDS and to sensitize the public on the need to treat People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWA) as normal human beings and citizens as well, without any form of stigmatization or discriminations.

Dignitaries who participated in the walk included the State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, his wife Obioma and other Civil Society Organizations and AIDS advocacy groups.  Youth People We Care (YPWC) Nigeria Ambassador was also on ground as one of the volunteers to mobilize people at the occasion.

The event for the day ended with goodwill messages from the Governor, development partners and other stakeholders in the fight against the disease.

For Enquiries please contact: Emma Ngwu

African Desk Officer

Young People We Care (YPWC)

# 3 Otop Abasi Street, Calabar, Cross River State, 

# 8 Aliyu Jodi Road, Sokoto, Sokoto State, 

Nigeria

ngwu@ypwc.org, engwu2002@yahoo.com

+234 80 3480 0360