Youth Newsletter Winter 09 Final

7/23/2019 Youth Newsletter Winter 09 Final

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inspire • engage • unite

ozone

[email protected]

Vol. 1, No. 2; Winter 2009

Tribute to Youth

PLUS: Humanitarian Issues

AND MORE

PLUS: Upcoming Events



editorialManaging EditorVenetia Lo

Section EditorsYouth Group Report &

Upcoming Events:

Carly Brown

Spotlights on Youth &

Creative Expressions:

Meaghan Williams

Humanitarian Issues:

Kristi White

Layout Editor Iknoor Gill

Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Mayville

Staff Contact Perez Oyugi

Cover: Simcoe County Youth

Group with Red Cross Ontario

Zone President Peter Zulauf, at theTaking Action for Humanity

Conference in Simcoe County.

Message from the Editor

Welcome to the Winter 2009 edition of the OZone Youth Newsletter!

A lot has happened since our first edition last fall. The editorial team would

like to thank everyone who sent their comments on the premiere issue. We

really appreciated your thoughts and support. Putting together a newsletter likethis is a team effort, and I would like to thank the editorial team for their lead-

ership and dedication so far. We are always looking for story ideas, submis-

sions etc. for the newsletter from Red Cross youth. This is your newsletter.

Feel free to add your voice! We hope you enjoy this issue!

—Jen Mayville, Editor-in-Chief, OZone Youth Newsletter

Message from the Director

It’s a new year, and I am excited about all the possibilities for Red Crossyouth. OZone youth have been very busy since the last edition of the newslet-

ter. The youth leadership conference in Barrie was a success, and has set the

standard for the next conference in Ottawa in February. Membership numbers

of Red Cross youth groups across the province are continuing to grow. I amfeeling very good about the state of Red Cross youth engagement in Ontario.

This year is also the Canadian Red Cross centennial. Even though the centen-

nial is an opportunity to look at our past, it is also an opportunity to look at ourfuture. Youth are the future of the Red Cross, and the contributions that our

youth volunteers are making now undoubtedly will have a positive impact on

our future. Thank you all youth volunteers and adult advisors for all that you

do for Red Cross.

Here is to all the wonderful things we are going to accomplish together in

2009!

—Dennis Fair, Director International, Youth and RespectED

Page 2

Call for Submissions: We welcome submissions for our third issue, to hit

stands in May 2009! Please include your first and last name, volunteer posi-

tion, Canadian Red Cross branch/region, and photographs. Email all submis-sions to [email protected] and clearly indicate the name of the

section your work belongs to in the subject.

Dennis Fair (Left) and Jen Mayville (Right)

are the staff contributors to the OZone Youth

Newsletter.

“Partners collaborating in youth

engagement.”



Youth appointmentsto National Youth Task Force

Kimberley Vibert, Thunder Bay Disaster

Management (DM) youth volunteer is nowChair of the National Youth Task

Force. Kimberley has shown excellent lead-

ership in the past number of years at theThunder Bay Branch, Ontario Youth leader-

ship meetings, and at the National Youth

Symposium in St. John's in 2007. Kimberley

has been on the National Youth Task Force asthe Ontario Zone Youth Representative for

the past two years and will now be chairing

the Task Force.

Kristi White, formerly with the Lindsay

Branch and currently the Eastern Region

Youth Rep has been chosen to replace Kim- berley as the OZone rep to the National YouthTask Force. Kristi has been involved with the

Youth Task Force through one of their work-

ing groups and also attended the Youth Sym-

posium in 2007.

Ontario Zone OdysseyConference

OZone Youth are looking for-

ward to helping with this year’s

Canadian Red Cross Ontario ZoneOdyssey Conference. The Odyssey

Committee is planning a “Past, Pre-

sent, and Future” event where adultvolunteers will comment about the

past and present of the Canadian

Red Cross, and youth will portray

the "future" in a skit. They may also

help as mediators for presentationsand assist with displays.

eventsupcoming

Page 3

contentsUpcoming eventsOntario Zone Odyssey Conference

Youth group reportOntario Zone Red Cross Youth Leadership

MeetingRegional Updates

Spotlights on youthSimon Brock

Humanitarian issuesChildren in Conflict Zones

The Legacy of Landmines

Tribute to youthRegional Youth Reps Retire

4

6

7

8

A working committee is planninga leadership conference for Eastern

Region youth in Ottawa Feb. 27-

March 1, 2009. The committee con-

sists of Red Cross staff CameronKetchum and Perez Oyugi, volun-

teer Christiane Muir, and youth vol-

unteers Kristi White, Carly Brown

and Kimberley Vibert. The commit-

tee hopes to engage youth in EasternRegion. This conference will con-

sist of keynote speakers, a paneldiscussion, and a variety of work-

shops that the youth will be able to

participate in and learn from.

— Carly Brown, OZone Youth

Carly Brown, OZone Youth Councillor,

and Ian Shaule, Northern Regional Youth

Representative presented at last year’s

Ontario Zone Odyssey Conference.



youthgroup report Page 4

OZone Red Cross YouthLeadership Meeting

The OZone Red Cross Youth

Leadership Meeting was held on

October 3-4, 2008 in Toronto for 15governance youth to establish attain-

able goals for youth volunteers. Par-

ticipants drafted a proposal for the

centennial; however, unfortunately,

this was not accepted due to thelarge volume of worthy submis-

sions. Youth engagement was a pri-

ority, and discussions included re-

vising the Youth Handbook, trainingleadership/governance youth, and

developing the OZone Youth En-

gagement Strategy. Follow-up to the

Simcoe County leadership confer-ence was addressed, and an agenda

for an upcoming conference in Feb-

ruary was developed.

— Carly Brown, OZone YouthCouncillor

Northern Region Northern Region youth groups,

including Sault Ste. Marie and Tim-mins, are both trying to increase

their membership. Sault Ste. Mariehas seen an increase in youth mem-

bership by 200 per cent. The SaultSte. Marie youth group consists of

11 youth, who assist with Red Cross

campaigns. Its most recent cam-

paign was the Cluster Munitions

Campaign. As of now, the group has

delivered two presentations at highschools and received an estimated

200 signatures from the first, and

approximately 700 from the second presentation to ban cluster muni-

tions. The group also obtained sig-

natures from local community

stakeholders, workplaces, and dance

studios.

—Ian Shaule, Northern RegionYouth Representative

University of Toronto and York Uni-

versity made sandwiches for an inter-

varsity sandwich run in Downtown

Toronto.

[INSERT PHOTO] Toronto RegionToronto Region held some inter-

varsity events including two Intro-

duction to the Red Cross/Red Cres-cent Movement presentations, a

Sandwich Run for the Homeless,

and Sudan Week of Action. Svet-lana Ageeva, International and

Youth Coordinator, and Trevor Lau,

Toronto Region Youth Representa-

tive, presented to over 90 students

from the University of Toronto St.George and Scarborough campuses,

and York University. Subsequently,a special presentation was held at

the University of Toronto to distrib-ute certificates of completion to

participants.

The Canadian Red Cross Sudan

Week of Action speaker-series eventwas held at the University of To-

ronto on October 29. The event was

hosted by Svetlana Ageeva, and

Rebecca Thomas, an internationaldelegate who volunteered in Sudan

with different agencies operational

in that country. The participantslistened to an inspiring presentationand watched a movie that showcases

the work of the Red Cross in Sudan

titled Sudan in Crisis. The event

theme was “Let's mobilize the

power of humanity by spreadingawareness to our community.”

—Trevor Lau, Toronto Regional

Youth Councilor

Southwest RegionThe London Red Cross Youth

Group is in the midst of planning a gala

event for “March is Red Cross Month”and a special project for the Red Cross

centennial.

—Fatima Fidel, Southwest RegionalYouth Representative

“Let's mobilize the power of

humanity by spreadingawareness to our community.”

University of Toronto held a SudanWeek of Action speaker-series event.

University of Toronto uses the Passport

program to recruit new volunteers.



youthgroup report Page 5

Central Lakes RegionCurrently, the York Region

Youth Action Group has 75 active

youth volunteers and eight activehigh school youth groups. The New-

market Youth Action Group re-

cently formed and will be meeting atthe Newmarket Recreation Centre.

Since September, the Peterbor-

ough Red Cross Youth Group has

been working on three main pro-

jects. They built a malaria-

awareness themed float for thePeterborough Santa Claus Parade, to

raise awareness about malaria and

the Red Cross’s role in delivering bed-nets to developing countries.

They have repeated the successful

"Bite Back" battle of the bands con-

cert in downtown Peterborough, to

raise awareness and funds for theRed Cross “Malaria Bites” Cam-

paign. They have also been organiz-

ing an art show, in cooperation withthe Peterborough Arts Umbrella,

titled “Creative Solutions: Art and

Global Citizenship” to make its de- but in early May 2009. Local art

will be showcased that relates to

global humanitarian themes, such ashelplessness and vulnerability, with

a connection to international Red

Cross programs, such as childrenand war, landmines, malaria, diver-

sity, or refugees.

The Trent University Red Cross

Group also organized a free film

screening of "War Hospital" whichwas filmed in Sudan by the Interna-

tional Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) ICRC. The film was shownon campus during the Sudan Week

of Action.

— Venetia Lo, Central Lakes Re-

gional Youth Representative

Call for submissions: This section comprises descriptions of upcoming /

past events hosted by youth groups, as well as tips on volunteer recruitment

and retention, youth engagement, workshop facilitation, and fundraising

initiatives.

Eastern RegionThe Carleton Red Cross univer-

sity group held a speaker-series

event in mid-November with a guestspeaker from UNICEF. The Uni-

versity of Ottawa youth group was

recently formed and began in Janu-

ary 2009.

The Queen’s University youth

group has held several eventsaround the Cluster Munitions Cam-

paign, getting postcards signed and

raising awareness on campus of theissues with cluster munitions and

landmines. The group is currently

planning to deliver the World His-

tory of Racism in Minutes

(WHORM) and International Hu-manitarian Law (IHL) workshops.

— Kristi White, Eastern Region

Youth Representative

New Red Cross Youth WebsiteIn 2009, the Canadian Red Cross will

launch a youth-driven website designed

and developed by young Canadians. Theyouth volunteers who helped initiate this

online project came up with its theme:

“Power for the Positive—What Will YouDo?”

The website, www.redcrossyouth.ca,

will incorporate the values and principles

that have made the Canadian Red Cross

this country’s leading humanitarian or-

ganization for over a century. These in-clude respect for diversity and a funda-

mental belief in the power of humanity.

Those involved in the RespectED program are taking the lead on the red-

crossyouth.ca project, however, the site

will grow to encompass many more local

and global humanitarian issues as it is

shaped by the young people who take part in this online community.

Currently, you can go online to

redcrossyouth.ca/respected and get ataste for how this is adding a new dimen-

sion to your participation in Red Cross.

Here, you can engage in thought- provoking discussions about social dy-

namics, talk about stereotypes that twist

real people into subhuman caricatures,and consider ways to encourage others to

treat everybody else with a little more

respect. You can also learn how the RedCross is working to stop violence against

young people (including abuse, bullying,

harassment, sexual exploitation) and

how you can help build the world you

want.If the site seems a little lean, that’s

because we won’t be filling it up withinformation. Instead, those who visit will

be encouraged to “write” the site by

posting blogs and comments, launching

discussions, sharing ideas and linking to

videos, songs and sites that inspire them.

This is your site—so go for it. Read, post, blog, share, react. And tell us how

we can make it better!

—Leslie Vryenhoek, Public Affairs Con-

sultant, Canadian Red Cross

York Region Youth Action Group

delivers HIP workshops on leader-ship, social justice and diversity and

anti-racism.

“Power for the Positive—What

Will You Do?”(redcrossyouth.ca)



on youth spotlights

Page 6

[Insert photo]Simon Brock

September 2007: My first day as

a volunteer with the Canadian Red

Cross. I started my student place-ment from Centennial College with

the Canadian Red Cross Mobile

Food Bank, operating out of the

Leslie Street office in Toronto.

I was given the opportunity towork with some amazing people

who have been with the Red Cross

for many years and who had incredi- ble insight into its policies and prin-

ciples. Working with the food bank

was a great opportunity and an eye-

opener for me.We delivered food to people who

are unable to leave their house or

transport their own food due to

medical reasons. This meant that wehelped many vulnerable persons,

limited either by physical ailments

or mental instabilities, such as ago-raphobia. All 350 recipients of the

Mobile Food Bank in the GreaterToronto Area require these services

under various, often unique, circum-

stances.My student placement lasted an

all-too-short eight months. During

this time, I developed my skills in a

safe and supportive environment

while building my professional pro-file. The most important lesson I

learned from my placement was

about my own self-development.The Seven Fundamental Principles

became an integral part of my per-

sonal beliefs and work ethic. It was

for this reason that, at the end of my

student placement, I continued to

deliver food once a week and assistin the administrative duties involved

in this program.

September 2008: I applied for anopen position as a Community Ser-

vices Assistant.

November 2008: My first day as

a full-time employee with the Cana-

dian Red Cross. I get to continue

doing what I love in a comfortable

environment with a world-renownedagency that effects change. Whether

you are a student, volunteer or employee, there is nothing that com-

pares to being part of such an amaz-

ing organization.

— Simon Brock, Community Ser-

vices Assistant (Toronto Region)

A student packing food hampers forthe Red Cross Mobile Food Bank.

“Working with the food bank

was a great opportunity and an

eye-opener for me.”

Call for Submissions: This sec-

tion portrays outstanding youthwho lead various roles in youth

groups, governance, conferences,

internships, HIP, first aid & water

safety, RespectED, fund develop-

ment, etc. This section is meant toinspire youth to get involved and

recognize youth for their contribu-

tions to the community.

The Canadian Red CrossMobile Food Bank SummerStudent Program

The Canadian Red Cross MobileFood Bank has a large summer stu-

dent program that provides food

hampers containing fresh and frozenfood for three days to our program

recipients. The program servesmembers of the community who

have a medical mobility challenge

that prevents them from accessing

their local walk-in food bank in ad-dition to financial challenges.

Students apply and come for an

interview in early May each year.This past summer, there were 18

high school and university students

sorting food as it arrived from the

Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto,

repackaging bulk items, packing

food hampers and fresh food itemsall to be delivered within the To-

ronto area.Our students join the program

for a number of reasons. The most

common is to complete the 40 hours

of volunteer time required to gradu-

ate high school. We have noticed inthe past two years that more of our

summer students have already com-

pleted their 40 hours and are here

because they genuinely want to helpour clients. This past summer, stu-

dents gave more than 1,123 hours of

their time and packed 1,176 ham-

pers. Fantastic job!!

— Linda Ritchie, Program Coordi-nator, Mobile Food Bank (Toronto

Region)



The Legacy of Landmines

One of the deadliest legacies of

the 20th century is the use of land-

mines. Anti-personnel landmines

issues humanitarian

Page 7

Children in Conflict ZonesThere are around 6,000 child

soldiers in Sudan's war-torn region

of Darfur where about two millionchildren have been affected by con-

flict. Most of these child soldiers are

between the ages of 15-17, but some

were as young as 11. Anyone under18 is considered a child under inter-

national and Sudanese law, yet in

many tribal cultures, they areviewed as adults after puberty. It is

estimated that children make up

about 50 per cent of the four million people who are living in the conflict

afflicted Western region of Sudan.Child soldiers are essentially

stripped of their childhood. The

experience of becoming a tool ofwar at age 11 completely de-

humanizes a child. The serious and

disturbing crimes that children are

forced to commit in the name of war

will most certainly leave them with

Call for Submissions: This sec-

tion informs youth about local or

international humanitarian crises

e.g. anti-personnel landmines, chil-dren affected by armed conflict,

refugee displacement, etc. We hope

to open up a real dialogue.

Injuries sustained by civilians from

landmines and cluster munitions.

continue to have tragic, unintendedconsequences years later. As time

passes, the location of landmines is

often forgotten, even by those who

planted them. However, these land-

mines continue to be functional formany decades, causing further dam-

age, injury and death to unsuspect-

ing civilians, very often children.

Landmines are essentially explo-sive devices that are triggered by

pressure or tripwire. These devices

are usually found on or just below

the surface of the ground. The pur- pose of landmines, when used by

armed forces, is to disable any per-

son or vehicle that comes into con-

tact with it by explosion or frag-ments released into the air at high

speeds. Currently there are more

than 100 million landmines located

in 70 countries around the world,according to One World Interna-

tional. Since 1975, landmines have

killed or maimed more than 1 mil-lion people, which has led to a

worldwide effort to ban furtherlandmine use and clearance of exist-

ing landmines. The recent nation-

wide cluster munitions campaign ledto the signing of the Oslo Treaty to

ban landmines and cluster munitions

– a huge step towards permanently

ridding the world of these weapons.

—Tasha Carroll, Youth Volunteer

Kingston Red Cross

mental and emotional scars thatwill be difficult to recover from.

Not to mention the obvious grave

physical danger that a child soldier

is exposed to in the line of conflict.The use of child soldiers around

the world is, however, starting to

decline. A recent UN report on

child soldiers stated that child sol-

diers are used in Burundi, Ivory

Coast, Congo, Somalia, Sudan,Colombia, Myanmar, Nepal, the

Philippines, Sri Lanka, andUganda. There are about 300,000

child soldiers around the world,

compared to between 350,000 and

380,000 two years ago. Because of

various NGOs negotiating withgovernments and rebel groups for

the release and rehabilitation of

child soldiers, many children aregiven a second chance.

—Diana Chang, Youth Volunteer

Kingston Red Cross

There are currently about 300,000child soldiers around the world.



to youth tribute

Page 8

Trevor LauWhen John F Kennedy infa-

mously challenged America to “Ask

not what your country can do for

you - ask what you can do for yourcountry,” he conveyed a powerful

message that resonated across the

globe and with future generations.

Today, Trevor Lau exemplifies thiscall to service. When Trevor began

his tenure with the Red Cross asToronto’s Regional Youth Council-

lor, he innovatively demonstratedthe ability to engage Toronto youth

on whole new fronts, from increas-

ing the number of university youth

groups and members to empoweringthem to become leaders of tomor-

row. This year alone, Trevor imple-

mented a successful inter-university

strategy, where all university groups

gathered for special volunteerevents. For example, all youth

groups joined hand–in-hand for in-troductory workshops and for anannual Sandwich Run event – a

community outreach initiative

which enables general members to

make and distribute sandwiches for

the homeless.

Because of his outstanding com-munity leadership, Trevor has

served the Red Cross Youth Pro-gram with distinct honour and dedi-

cation. He is currently finishing his

third and final year as Regional

Youth Councillor, and is completing

his last academic term at the Univer-

sity of Toronto with a Political Sci-ence and Writing & Rhetoric de-

gree. Trevor's final duty is to suc-

cessfully transfer responsibilities tothe next Regional Youth Councillor

for Toronto. He aims to become a

law student in 2010 and later hopes

to commit the rest of his life to com-

munity and public service.

Trevor Lau (Left) and Venetia Lo (Right)

presenting at Odyssey 2008 about youth

volunteer opportunities in the Red Cross.

Venetia Lo started volunteeringwith the Canadian Red Cross as the

Founder and Chair of the Youth

Action Committee at Langstaff S.S.She educated elementary school

students about the severity of land-

mines in the developing world in alandmines awareness conference.

This multimedia presentation por-

trayed the irreparable destructionfaced by landmine survivors.

Furthermore, she developed ayouth-at-risk directory and survival

toolkit for homeless youth. Due to

the overwhelming positive response

and enthusiasm for these products,

an additional 15,000 copies were

printed and distributed at shelters.The project acquired funding from

the United Way Bell Wave Programand was awarded the Canadian RedCross National Humanitarian

Award.

She was selected to be a youth

delegate of the Red Cross for the

development of the National Plan of

Action for Children. There she meta youth delegate representing Nuna-

vut, who offered a perspective on

the disparities between rural andurban healthcare. These inequalities

Venetia Lo

Regional Youth Reps RetireSome common retirement card

messages include the following:

"We'll miss you", "This isn't theend, it's a new beginning," "Enjoy

your retirement, you've earned it."

And one favorite saying is,"Retirement: World’s longest coffee

break." The Youth Representatives

of Toronto Region (Trevor Lau) and

Central Lakes Region (Venetia Lo)have tried to combine information

announcing their retirement fromthe Red Cross as a youth volunteers

with insights into everyday life.

are due to a lack of culturally rele-

vant health promotion and commit-

ted healthcare professionals to serve

a high-density population in remoteareas. His sincerity demonstrated

the great demand and piqued her

interests in becoming a physician.Currently, she is the Youth Rep-

resentative for Central Lakes Re-

gional Council, the President of the

University of Toronto Red CrossYouth Group, and the ManagingEditor of the OZone Youth Newslet-

ter.

"Volunteering offers an opportunityto make a measurable humanitarian

contribution," said Venetia.

Venetia is currently in her second

year of medical school at the Uni-versity of Toronto.

“A York Region newspaper re-

porter once claimed that I was a

‘one woman, world-saving machine’

based on my volunteerism,” shesaid. “I am humbled by this over-

statement, but the reporter imparted

some truth in that he emphasized mydesire to make a positive contribu-

tion through a career in medicine.”

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Youth Newsletter Winter 09 Final