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Bicycles for Namibia
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

www.benbikes.org.za/namibia

I attended a speaker event tonight at the community market. The market hosts bicycle repairs and sends them to Africa as part of the Bicycle Exchange Network. This is a great way to recycle cycles while provided support to Namibian cities and communities.

One in five people in Namibia are living with HIV/AIDS. Most people need to walk 20km/day to get to where they are going, whether it be school, grocery shopping, or to the doctor. The bicycles cut their travel time into 1/4 the amount of time that it takes to walk.

There are also perks such as competitive bike teams and HIV/AIDS awareness outreach by local volunteers. They promote healthy lifestyles and carry medical supplies such as soap which may save a life because of reduction of infection for those living with AIDS.

So far, 10 000 bikes have been donated to Namibia through this project-funded organization who are based in Australia and Canada. In a place where employment is 36%, street youth are trained in bike maintenance and gain employment skills. They receive the money to pay for their own bike repairs, as many only make $2 per month volunteering. The bike shop is created in the communities.

April 22, 2009 | 10:34 PM Comments  0 comments

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Rising Aboriginal Voices
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Today, I attended a Youth Forum put on by the Urban Aboriginal Youth Strategy in Thunder Bay. I want to reflect on some of the things I learned at the day's event because the pride was inspiring.

Youth discussed some priorities:
Community action
Civic engagment
Positive cultural events/gatherings/activities/ceremonies
Gaining job skills
Completing school
Reclaiming language/culture/identity
More positive Aboriginal media
Resourcing youth

Youth discussed mental health:
Encourage youth to be active in culture
Positive reinforcements
Accessing someone to talk to about problems
Create support groups on anger, depression, family issues, and financial
School counsellors could be elders
Counsellors and teachers collaborating with parents and youth
Issues of stress, lonliness, depression, suicide, ingergenerational effects of family violence
Culture shock
Collaboration with youth workers

Youth discussed some challenges:
Teen pregnancy
Foster care
Substances
Teen pregnancy
Gangs/abuse
Violence

Youth discussed some solutions:
Awareness/Sensitivity
Healing with laughter
Youth groups to attend
Expression through artwork
Speaking up
Learning from elders
Communication and understanding
Keeping a positive lifestyle
Safe sex promotion
Create a club
Cultural sensitivity training in all workplaces
Education/awareness

Who we can get help from in the community are:
neighbours, friends, relatives, teachers, counsellors, police

The pieces that stood out most for achieving healthy communities were mental health, culture/art, safety, diversity, action, and healthy lifestyles.

Over lunch, there was a presentation from Photovoice. Alice Sabourin, who leads the project, recommended youth who were inspired to participate check out Nadya Kwandibens. She has a fabulous video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MMsdl9-k1s

The motivational speaker was from Turtle Concepts www.turtleconcepts.com. He taught me that I can change the way people see me by changing what I do and how.

Putting the puzzle pieces together:
Get uncomfortable
Change it up
There are 525600 minutes in a year
Do it now
Do what youth steps to change are trying to create