Saturday, June 25, 2011

Barrio de Paz (Peace Town): Engaging the Gangs in Ecuador

Barrio de Paz (Peace Town), a non-violent youth movement in Guayaquil, Ecuador, is a piece of what PEACE-TAYO has in mind. It brings together street gangs to provide services to the struggling community. Gang members band together out of a need for unity, structure, and love when their social fabric has been torn apart. Mirroring the society that marginalizes them, gangs use this unity for domination and aggression. 


Youth and peace worker Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora shows how this instinct toward oneness can be transformed into a power of service, life, and love.


Imagine this kind of youth movement spreading in Metro Manila. Our streets will be a bit safer, crimes will be a bit lower, things will be a bit better. This is part of what PEACE-TAYO wants to see happening in Metro Manila.

Watch the video below for some inspiration. Thank you Global Oneness Project (http://www.globalonenessproject.org/)




Friday, June 24, 2011

Youth Social Entrepreneur Global Competition (Deadline: September 19, 2011)

What you need to know: The Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur (YSE) Competition is a global competition created by Staples Foundation and Ashoka to recognize exceptional young people using innovation and technology to advance social change and improve their community and the world.


Who’s eligible?: Young people (age 12-24), living anywhere in the world, are eligible to apply.
Dates and details: Apply online between June 22 and September 19, 2011.
Technology is constantly revolutionizing our world. Bold new ideas speed instantaneously online as portable devices such as smart phones and tablets connect us to people and resources across the globe in real-time. The way we communicate, work, and play in our daily lives has been transformed. But how do these technologies translate into solutions for a better world?
We want to know how you are using technology to create solutions to society’s most pressing challenges. Share your story about how technology is helping realize your vision for change, and you could be the winner of the 5th annual Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition!
Four finalists will be selected and will receive an all expenses paid trip to Techonomy, an elite conference held in Tucson, Arizona that convenes thought leaders, innovators, and changemakers from the technology sector. You’ll get to meet outstanding tech sector influencers and be recognized for your work!
Check out our guidelines and rules for more information, and apply by September 19!
For further information: Click here.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

2011 International Essay Contest for Young People (Deadline: June 30, 2011)

2011 Goi Peace Foundation UNESCO International Essay Contest for Young People

Organized by Goi Peace Foundation and UNESCO
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan
Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Japan Broadcasting Corporation Nikkei Inc., Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education Supported by FELISSIMO CORPORATION.
As today’s young people are crucial for the shaping of our future, it is imperative that they are enabled to develop to their full potential. UNESCO’s objective is to help empower young people, reaching out to them, responding to their expectations and ideas, and fostering useful and long-lasting skills.

This annual essay contest is organized in an effort to harness the energy, imagination and

 initiative of the world's youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development. 
It also aims to inspire society to learn from the young minds and to think about how each of us can make a difference in the world.


THEME:


"MY STORY OF INSPIRATION"
Many people experience inner change that motivates them to create a better world.
Please share your story of inspiration that has affected your life and changed you to make a change in the world.


GUIDELINES:
1.Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 30, 2011) in one of the following age categories:
a) Children (ages up to 14) b) Youth (ages 15 - 25)
2.Essays must be 800 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German; or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, typed or printed.
3.Essays must have a cover page indicating (1) category (Children or Youth) (2) essay title
(3) your name (4) address (5) phone number (6) e-mail (7) nationality
(8) age as of June 30, 2011 (9) gender (10) school name (if applicable) (11) word count.
Teachers and youth directors may submit a collection of essays from their class or group. Please enclose a list of participants' names and the name and contact information of the submitting teacher or director.
* Entries missing any of the above information will not be considered.
4.Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online.
* IMPORTANT: To send your essay online, you must go to the online registration page at www.goipeace.or.jp and follow the required steps.
5.Essays must be original and unpublished.
6.Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays are not accepted.
7.Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizers.


DEADLINE:Entries must be received by June 30, 2011.


AWARD:The following awards will be given in the Children’s category and Youth category respectively:
1st Prize:Certificate and prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$1,200)... 1 entrant
2nd Prize:Certificate and prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$600)... 2 entrants
3rd Prize:Certificate and gift... 5 entrants
Honorable Mention:Certificate and gift ... 25 entrants

* 1st prize winners will be invited to the award ceremony in Tokyo, Japan scheduled for November 2011. (Travel expenses will be covered by the organizers.)

** All prize winners will be announced in November 2011 on the Goi Peace Foundation web site (www.goipeace.or.jp) and UNESCO web site (www.unesco.org/youth).


PLEASE SEND YOUR ENTRIES TO: International Essay Contest c/o The Goi Peace Foundation
1-4-5 Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0093 Japan
OR Send online to: 

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

PEACE-TAYO and Town Hall Meeting with University for Peace's Students

PEACE-TAYO with international students of UPeace's Asia
Leaders Program (ALP) in Ateneo de Manila University
May 20, 2011
If PEACE-TAYO is going to make a dent in the current and future human interrelations, it has to connect with the young people. And one way to connect with young people is to be and talk with them.

This was the first activity of PEACE-TAYO. It was a town hall meeting-type gathering with the international students of Asia Leaders Program (ALP) of the United Nations-mandated University for Peace, Ateneo de Manila University and Nippon Foundation.

Asian students comprising the batch 4 and 5 of ALP came to listen to an alumnus, a member of  batch 1, of the program. They were invited to reflect and join the journey made by a graduate student of peace and conflict studies three years ago. And they were briefed on the alumnus' current research on ethno-religious conflicts in the Philippines as part of his studies in Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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The Story of Pathwalks

Have you noticed those adjoining and criss-crossing pathwalks in front of Gokongwei School of Management in Ateneo?

When I was like you three years ago, just starting my years in Ateneo, those pathwalks were not yet there. There was one straight and wide concrete pathwalk that led you to and out of SOM from the main walk of the campus. But countless students threaded those slightly marked and soiled pathways going in and out of SOM building, diverting from the familiar and established straight pathwalk.

Now, there are two or three small concrete pathwalks that are adjoining to make people meet along the way wherever they intend to go. To me, those new pathwalks are beautiful. They are beautiful in many ways. One, the small pathwalks are able to converge people along their way. These opportunities to meet and greet people along the way of our journey as students are profoundly brilliant signposts of true and excellent academic setting. Two, the small pathwalks are able to embrace and include different directions and choices of people's destinations. I simply do not like being imposed and dictated by that wide, established and straight pathwalk. Three, the new pathwalks were unplanned improvements. They were put in place because people who marked their way decided to have their own way, and not the established one. There are those who simply could not accept their surrounding as it is; they recreate and reconstruct their environment.

Each one of us is able to mark our way. Do you thread the well and often- traveled path? Or you are willing to make your own path? Do you want to meet other people who like you are in journey or you want to travel by yourself? Is your path part of a bigger and well-meaning journey?

Let's talk.
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The second part of the talk is about my current research on ethno-religious conflict in the Philippines. It is about the latent conflict between differentiated groups based on ethnicity and religion.

Briefly, some people are excluded from their society, not because of what they do, but because of who they are. They are, to an extent, excluded because of their identity. They are categorized as outgroup, and quite a number of negative traits are attached to that group. Those who exclude are the ones that believe they are better than the outgroup. They are the ingroup. The formation of ingroup and outgroup is hinged on the strong identification of each group to their social groupings which, in this study, are based on ethnicity and religion. Because people identify strongly with their own ethnicity and religion, they tend to exclude the outgroup. And this exclusion is expressed in intergroup contact avoidance.
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PEACE-TAYO would like to bridge this social distance between differentiated groups. Through activities such as workshops, trainings, conferences, lectures, talks, and games, intergroup relations can be improved to bring about peace.