Youth Service Institute

The Youth Service Institute is YSA´s (Youth Service America) signature national training event from 17th till 19th October in Houston (TX). Over the course of three days, participants will:

• share their ideas with others dedicated to youth engagement

• participate in hands-on workshops that will invigorate
• engage in thought-provokating session that will inspire
• get their hands dirty in community service projects in the Houston community
• plan for Global Youth Service Day or Semester of Service

Learn more and register now here.

Source: YSA

 

Youth Changing the World

A new YSA (Youth Service America) resource, a service project toolkit for young people, helps them to take action on an issue that is important and discover their power to change the world through service.
Whether you are doing a service project with friends, family, a school group, a community organization or a faith-based youth group. This new toolkit will take you step-by-step through planning your service project.
You can download this toolkit here and also other YSA ressources (free, printed copies).

Source: YSA

 

A better World through Human Rights?

Probably you realized that I published less entries last time. There is a big reason: I join for 5 weeks the online-seminar (webinar) "Discovering Young Leaders Programme" with 100 participants from 54 countries. We discuss a lot of topics about Youth Leadership.
This Commonwealth course is designed as an online interactive forum to inspire, empower and expose young people to views and concepts of leadership, global trends in youth empowerment and the principles of youth development across the Commonwealth.
Participants are expected to be leaders of youth organizations, undergraduate students, aspiring youth leaders, and heads and members of National Youth Councils and youth associations/clubs, and are between 15 and 29 years old.
The programme will create a platform for engaging past youth leaders and current senior officials as guest panelists on issues of governance and leadership. Past youth leaders including RYC Chairs, National Student leaders, NYC chairs, and notable youth activists will be guest panelists. The programme will also feature senior government officials including a Directors of Youth to join in the interactions with participants.
Probably I will inform you about some main discussions in this seminar.
Last time there was following question:
You know the basic rights, like right to vote, to education, to strike...
But why there are still countries without education and food for everyone?
Maybe you can find the right answer?
A better world through Human Rights - this is also a topic of the annual UN Students Conference on Human Rights from 5th till 7th December in New York City.
While the theme of the conference changes each year, the goals of this annual event remain the same: to promote awareness and learning and to prompt action among student leaders about human rights in general, as well as the specific rights issues related to the current year's theme. The conference is also an opportunity for student leaders to network and develop important leadership skills such as public speaking, team and consensus building, negotiating, and research and drafting. Finally, the conference provides participants with first-hand experience in using information technologies such as video-conferencing and web-casting.
So, get informed about your rights and opportunities.
More information here.

Source: Inter Connection 21 (IC21)

Youth and Land

The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) is an alliance of global regional and national partners contributing to poverty alleviation through land reform, improved land management and security of tenure particularly through the development and dissemination of pro-poor and gender-sensitive land tools.
At the sixth World Urban Forum, GLTN are keen on addressing the intersection of youth, urbanization and land. One of the key sessions they facilitated during the World Urban Youth Assembly was titled: ‘Equitable access to land – Strengthening youth engagement in providing tenure security for all‘.

Powered by a scoping study, ‘TOWARDS A YOUTH AGENDA FOR THE GLOBAL LAND TOOL NETWORK’, here are some key takeouts:
Despite the increasing visibility of youth in the sustainable development and urbanisation discourse, their role within the land sector is unclear. While property rights and economic opportunities are expanding for youth, land is largely seen as an adult privilege. Part of the resistance to improving youth access to land stems from the construction of ‘youth‘ as a problematic, transitional and ill-defined category. Dominant attitudes expect youth to wait until adulthood before asserting their land rights. Alternatively, youth are expected to access land through adults or compete in the skewed land markets.

The following five questions were posed to youth (during the study):

• Why or how is land important to youth?
• Do youth face more obstacles (as compared to adults) in accessing land? If so what are these obstacles?
• What must be done to strengthen land rights of young people (including young women)?
• How can youth contribute to developing more effective land tools and strategies?
• Are you aware of any best practices, where youth have been successful in improving their secure tenure or land rights?

You can find some answers here or you can read the whole study.

If you have a point of view that you would like to share you can comment on their site or follow the Youth and Land discussion at the World Urban Forum on twitter; follow @gltnnews as well as the #youthandland hashtag.

Source: Youth21

Building the Future We Want

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) and the Department of Public Information (DPI) invite you to participate in an online global forum, “Building the Future We Want” from 12th to 24th September 2012. Following up on the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) which took place in June, the United Nations is continuing its efforts to promote sustainable development and to prepare a new development agenda that will take us beyond 2015.

It takes only five simple steps to support this campaign:

1. Get the word out to your friends and followers.
2. Visit them on Facebook and/or use #futureWEwant or #beyond2015 on Twitter.
3. Participate in the online forum, and ask your friends, and family members to post their questions on what, why, and how countries should deal with sustainable development challenges (rising unemployment, food security, biodiversity, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, land degradation, water, energy, sustainable cities, financing and technology transfer). Selected questions will be answered live on 24th September.
4. Bring an impact to the campaign by posting the graphic identity, “Building the Future We Want” on Facebook (Profile and cover pictures) and on Twitter with a hyperlink to www.un.org/en/ecosoc/we. Downloadable visuals (Images and promo video) are available here. 
5. On 24th September, watch live responses to your questions.

More information here.

Source: DESA

Wake up Europe - It´s time to act!

All across Europe political groups and subcultures that feed off racist ideologies are on the move, penetrating mainstream politics with devastating consequences for the minorities targeted.
The impact of racism and discrimination on our societies today is severe: it affects all of us in various ways – whether we are its subjects or objects – making social cohesion impossible and paving the way for conflict.
On the background of these examples and many others, UNITED is organising this upcoming international conference to be held on 12th till 17th November in Finland.
In Finland, migrants and ethnic minorities face prejudice, discrimination and racism that affect, for instance, equal access to work and equal treatment in schools. Racism in different forms– varying from exclusion and name-calling to violence is part of everyday life for many visible minorities, though racist incidents are rarely reported. Support for young victims of racism is insufficient and this need is not properly recognised. Finland has a relatively small migrant population; the biggest migrant groups today are Estonians, Russian and Somalis. There are four national ethnic and language minorities: Finnish Roma, Tatars, Finnish-Swedish and Sami, last one being the only indigenous people in EU.

Creative approaches to tackle discrimination
In this climate of hate, they are heartened by acts of courage and the strength of free-thinking individuals; people who are not afraid to speak up for equality, multiculturalism and solidarity; people who go against the status quo to fight for what they believe in.
The European antiracist movement is full of such people, and you are invited to join them in Finland to create one unified voice that shows the true value of diversity.
During the conference, they will share fresh strategies and best practices for the European antidiscrimination movement. In a time when far-right groups are more and more successful in addressing a large part of the population, our response needs to be visible and creative: It’s time to ACT!

The working groups below will discuss such issues from different angles. Programme

• Just Roma -The right-less communities: This working group focuses on involving Roma communities in the fight against discrimination and marginalisation, also on the inclusion of Roma rights in the antidiscrimination movement. They will also deal with the problem of how Roma are represented in the media and what solutions can be found to break stereotypes.
• The InVisables - Which rights for undocumented migrants? This working group focuses on the situation for undocumented migrants in European countries. They will take a look at how human rights, basic needs, employment and education are met/missing for sans papiers in different European countries, and how different the human rights movement addresses these issues both at grassroots and advocacy levels.
• School for All - Antidiscrimination education in school: In this working group they will search for the most effective way to implement an atmosphere of antidiscrimination within formal education environments. They will also look at how NGOs and schools can cooperate and exchange good practices.
• Power to the Youth! Volunteering in NGOs: In this working group they will look at volunteering as a form of non-formal education and the possibility to obtain new skills, knowledge and competences as well as new support for the antidiscrimination movement. They will also look at tools that help to evaluate and monitor learning processes in relation to key competences involved in volunteering.
• Online (H)Activism - New media in our struggle: The Internet and social media era provides a variety of new tools, methods and approaches that activists can use in their everyday work. In this working group they will explore the opportunities that these tools, methods and approaches provide and create strategies to best apply them in our everyday work.
• Artivism - Creative action against racism: In this working group they will discuss the possibilities of creative methods and art in activism and explore inspiring examples, for example in antiracist campaigns. This creative working group will offer an open environment to bring forth and test all forms of ideas and methods.

UNITED is the largest pan-European anti-racist network of more than 550 organisations. With its conferences antiracist and human rights activists from all parts of Europe meet and discuss effective ways of combating racism and discrimination. At a recent UNITED conference held in May 2012 in Turkey (TR) delegates from 92 organisations from 35 countries look at specific issues, such as refugees rights, strategies to tackle Islamophobia, the creation of a Minority Rights Network, strategies for a critical approach to the media and many more.

Read the full information here.

If your organisation is interested to nominate a representative, send an Email as soon as possible (Deadline 19 September 2012), preferably by email to finland@unitedagainstracism.org

Source: UNITED

UNESCO-Aschberg Bursaries for Artists

 The UNESCO-Aschberg Bursaries for Artists (hereinafter called the Programme) promote the mobility of young artists in order to enrich their personal perspectives, to develop their creative project, enabling them to engage in a cultural diversity dialogue.
The Programme offers residencies to young artists (between 25 and 35 years old) worldwide. UNESCO-Aschberg advocates and promotes creativity, highlights cultural exchanges and the need for artists to enrich their experience through contact with other cultures.
These residencies are catalysts for the development of artistic expression in all cultures of the world.
The UNESCO-Aschberg Bursaries Programme was integrated in UNESCO's strategy in 1994 to promote cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue. It aims to provide experience to young artists and to help them complete their training in countries other than their own.

• The artistic disciplines for which the bursaries are awarded are Creative Writing, Music and Visual Arts. These three fields cover artistic specialisations that drive the creative industries, in particular the recording industries, the organisation of concerts, the audiovisual sector, graphic design and publishing. The countries of the South, which have a rich artistic tradition, can further expand their skills in these fields, and therefore boosting the different sectors of the cultural industry.
• The Programme strategy is based in UNESCO’s policies to promote creativity and cultural diversity, and so, converges with the goals of the Convention on the Promotion and Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005 Convention)
• The Programme also gives priority to artists and institutions in developing countries, in order to enhance North-South and South-South cooperation.

The Inception of the Programme

• The sale of a château donated to UNESCO by Swedish philanthropists, Mr and Mrs Aschberg, allowed for the creation of the UNESCO-Aschberg Bursary Programme in 1994. At the time, the Programme covered five disciplines.
• Between 1994 and 2007, the Programme awarded 650 bursaries in 149 institutions to laureates from 72 countries.
• In 2007, the Programme was temporarily suspended and was subject to an evaluation aimed at not only to draw synergies with the 2005 Convention but also to optimise its management.

Source: UNESCO

  

Democracy Education

Democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.
While democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy. Activities carried out by the United Nations in support of efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate democracy are undertaken in accordance with the UN Charter, and only at the specific request of the Member States concerned.
The UN General Assembly, in resolution A/62/7 (2007)  encouraged Governments to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy, and also decided that 15 September of each year should be observed as the International Day of Democracy.
The subject of this year's theme -- democracy education -- is essential for the long-term success of democracy. All citizens, including the young people, in all nations need to fully understand their rights and responsibilities, especially in countries that have recently transitioned to more democratic societies. Questions such as, “Why should I vote?”, “How can I influence my leaders?” “What can I reasonably expect from my elected officials?” or “What are my constitutional rights?” need to be addressed through civic institutions, in the free press and in classrooms. It is only with educated citizens that a sustainable culture of democracy can emerge.

Source: United Nations

YOUth in the driver seat

YOUth in the Driver Seat is a Teen Driver Safety Semester of Service. This brand-new YSA toolkit is designed to help students develop their own teen driver safety service-learning program with educator guidance as part of a Semester of Service. Download
Learning to drive is one of the most exciting milestones in a teen's life. To support teens and their teachers in this rite of passage, YSA and State Farm® are offering $1,500 YOUth in the Driver Seat Grants to implement a service-learning program that encourages safe driving habits, community service and student achievement.
Also this Saturday, on 15th September, State Farm® is hosting Celebrate My Drive events in 14 cities across the country. You can also enter your school into the sweepstakes for the chance at one of 14 $100,000 grants. Then, teens 15-18 may enter for a chance to win a new car. Get more information here.

State Farm® Good Neighbor YOUth in the Driver Seat Grants Application Deadline is on 15th October 2012.

Source: YSA

What can you share with the world?

Answer this question for the TEDxYouthDay! TEDxYouthDay is a series of TEDx events happening all around the world coinciding with Universal Children’s Day from 17th till 18th November 2012. These events are designed to empower and inspire young people.
TEDxYouthDay events present a combination of live speakers and TEDTalks to audiences around the world. These events vary widely in size, format, and theme, but they share a common vision: inspiring curiosity, igniting new ideas, and empowering young leaders.
Have a look at suggested TEDTalks for TEDxYouthDay events here.
And don´t forget to answer the question, what you can share with the world. You can Twitter, submitting  a short video or get part of the TED conversation.

Source: TEDxYouth Day

Participate in the Youth Delegation

The Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité and the International Summit of Cooperatives are launching a call for applications aimed at youth aged 20 to 35 actively involved in Quebec’s cooperative and mutualist movement. Those selected will get to participate in the Cooperative and Mutualist Forum and the International Summit of Cooperatives, which will be taking place respectively on October 8 and from October 8 to 11, 2012, in Quebec City. Registration for the 36 youth selected to participate in the youth delegation at these events is financially supported by the Secrétariat à la jeunesse, as part of its 2009-2014 youth action strategy, and by the Fondation pour l'éducation à la coopération et à la mutualité.

Eligibility criteria:

• be 20 to 35 years old
• be a Quebec resident
• work in the cooperative and mutualist movement as an employee or elected officer, or be a student and show a keen interest in the cooperative and mutualist model
• have significant cooperative experience to be able to actively contribute to discussions and debates

Application and selection process:
Submit a complete application to Isabelle Gagné, including a:

• résumé
• cover letter
• proof of age

The first 36 applicants who meet the selection criteria will be notified by email and will then have to confirm their commitment to participate in the scheduled activities.

Participation fees:
The total registration cost for each participant selected will be covered by the Secrétariat à la jeunesse, as part of its 2009-2014 youth action strategy, and by the Fondation pour l'éducation à la coopération et à la mutualité.

Information:
Isabelle Gagné
Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité
418-835-1644, ext. 24
isabellegagne@coopquebec.coop

Source: International Summit of Cooperatives

Study Human Rights in South Africa

Anyone who thinks about South Africa and human rights may immediately think of two things: Nelson Mandela and apartheid. The practice of apartheid, a system of brutal racial oppression, illustrates the dark potential of humans to inflict harm on each other. In contrast, Mandela has dedicated his life to liberating his people from the bonds of such injustice. He, along with many others, successfully put an end to apartheid and ushered in a new ethos of human rights in South Africa. His story is inspirational and gives us all hope for a better future.

As you consider studying in South Africa, think about following questions:

• What do you think life in South Africa was like under apartheid? What might have happened if apartheid had not been dismantled?
• Do you think that full liberation has now come to all South Africans? What human rights challenges have emerged in the post apartheid era?
• Can parallels be drawn between the fight for human rights in South Africa and the countless human rights abuses still taking place around the world?
• Most important, what can individuals, like you, do to effect change?

You are invited to come to South Africa and seek answers to these questions by yourself. The International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE) program provides a receptive and challenging intellectual space to debate international human rights and propose solutions.

For sure your IHRE experience will be life changing and help you better understand the role that you can play in the fight to protect human rights. Your participation, ultimately, might prove to be an investment in everyone's future.

Source: IHRE

Step into Service!

"Step into Service" with United Health HEROES Service-Learning Grants! YSA and United Health are teaming up to offer $1,000 grants for youth-led service-learning projects which aim to combat childhood obesity through walking, running or hiking programs. United Health HEROES grantees will lead active service projects that encourage their peers to get moving, learn about healthy lifestyle choices, and do good for others. Whether walking or running, HEROES will count the number of steps they take in their journey towards healthier kids and healthier communities!

Each United Health HEROES project will begin on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, 21st January 2013 and end on Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), 26th - 28th April, 2013.

Schools, service-learning coordinators, non-profits, and students in the health professionals are eligible to apply. For more information and to view a detailed program overview and application guidelines click here.

The online application will close on 15th October 2012.

YSA will hold webinars to help applicants through the application process and answer all of their questions.  The first webinar will be on 13th September at 3:00 pm. Sign up here.

Source: YSA

Join the International Task Force

Peace Child International and UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report Team seek a Task Force of young people aged 15-30 to produce a young people’s summary of this year's landmark Report on Youth, Skills and Productive Work. They want a version of the Report that is accessible to young people to make sure that all of them, regardless of their background, have the skills needed for good jobs – and that everyone around the world has the same opportunities as you have had to be able to read and write!

Young people have produced several extremely popular Youth summaries of important UN Documents from the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the UNDP Human Development Reports on Water and Climate Change. Education for All is vital: for years, the UN has been urging governments to make sure that every child has the chance to go to school. Everything – from good health, to getting a job, to overcoming poverty – depends on every child – male and female – getting a good education. And yet - 61 million primary school age children are not in school (that's 1 in 10!), and 47% of those will never get to school at all. Even if they do, there is no guarantee that they will stay in school long enough to learn how to read and write. This means that many young people are entering the world of work without the skills they need to get good jobs. Those who are disadvantaged – whether because of poverty, gender or where they live – are most likely to be excluded from jobs that pay them enough to feed themselves and their families.

You will find these – and many other – amazing facts in the Report.
So, they are looking for young writers and artists to bring the messages and data in the Report to life by putting them into the words of young people, together with your personal reports, poems, stories and opinion pieces, paintings, cartoons and photographs - so that everyone can understand it.

JOIN the Task Force and share how education is – or is not – preparing young people for the world of work. They are particularly keen to hear ideas on the kind of support needed for young people who do not even make it through primary or secondary school, to ensure they get the skills needed for better work opportunities. Your contributions will be read by young people and many others (often senior politicians!) – around the world. And you, and your school or group, will be listed in the book as a Task Force Member. Further – if you send in a particularly good story, opinion piece or illustration – you may be invited to the Editor’s Meeting in the UK at the beginning of October with all expenses paid.

So - this is genuinely an amazing opportunity for concerned young people!

If you would like to participate, write back today to Willow Hewitt, the young editor who is managing the project, at: editor@peacechild.org. She will give you a password to the restricted parts of the UNESCO Report Youth Summary website and suggest to you the types of writing and the illustrations that they need to reinforce the key messages of the Report.

For more informations write them an Email and they will include you in the Task Force List – and you can take part in the Editorial Meeting online.

Source: World Assembly of Youth

Watch live: EU Youth Conference in Cyprus

Today starts the EU Youth Conference in the 'FILOXENIA' Conference Centre of Lefkosia (Nicosia). The thematic priority of the conference is "Youth Participation and Social Inclusion". During the conference, representatives from various youth organisations and government officials from EU member states, candidate countries and others will discuss how youth participation leads to the social inclusion of young people, with emphasis on young people with a migrant background. The importance of the participation of young people and youth organizations especially in decision making, as an important factor for the creation of inclusive, democratic and prosperous societies will be highlighted. A set of Joint Recommendations on the subject will be adopted at the end of the Conference.
To watch the opening and closing plenary live click here.

Opening Plenary - Tuesday 11th September, est. at 11.30-15.00 (CET)
Closing Plenary - Thursday 13th September, est. at 9.30-11.45 (CET)

Source: Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Young Professionals Programme (YPP)

The United Nations is looking for highly qualified candidates who are ready to launch a professional career as an international civil servant. The young professionals programme (YPP) is a recruitment initiative that brings new talent to the United Nations through an annual entrance examination. For young, high-calibre professionals across the globe, the examination is a platform for launching a career at the United Nations. This programme builds upon the national competitive recruitment examination (NCRE) which was held for the last time in 2010.
Are you eligible to participate in the young professionals programme examination?

• Do you hold at least a first-level university degree?
• Are you 32 or younger by the end of this year?
• Do you speak either English and/or French fluently?
• Are you a national of a participating country?

The examination is held worldwide and is open to nationals of countries participating in the annual recruitment exercise - the list of participating countries is published annually and varies from year to year.
This examination is also held for staff members of the United Nations Secretariat who work within the General Service and other related categories and aspire to a career within the Professional and higher categories. For more information about staff members participating in the young professionals programme, click here.
The examination tests your substantive knowledge, analytical thinking, drafting abilities, as well as your awareness of international affairs.
Initially you will be appointed for two years and then be reviewed for a continuing appointment. The Organization promotes mobility within and across duty stations and job families. As a new recruit you are expected to work in at least two different functions and duty stations within your first five years of service. You will be offered orientation and mobility training as well as career support. This will help you adapt and accelerate the learning period leading to productive work and job satisfaction as an international civil servant.

Your rights, your future - Tell what you think!

Hopefully you know that you, as a European citizien, have specific rights.
Between 9th May and 9th September 2012 you have the opportunity to give your view on your rights as a EU citizien.
Use this chance and think about following questions:

• Have you ever encountered difficulties moving to another EU country?
• Have you ever had problems when trying to shop online from another EU country?
• In what kind of Union would you like to live in 2020?

Tell your view, your stories about this topic to the European Commission and support to strengthen your rights. Also your answers will help to prepare the next EU Citizienship Report in 2013, the European Year of Citiziens.

Source: European Commission

Youth Essay Competition

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is inviting students and young professionals worldwide, from 18 to 30 years old, to share ideas on how to create opportunities for youth to strengthen democracy and the private sector in their own countries.
To apply you should write an essay of 1500 up to 2500 words on the following categories:

1. Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Beyond technology: What barriers do young entrepreneurs in your country face in translating their ideas into products and services? How do young entrepreneurs in your country foster new ways of acting and thinking? What supporting institutions do young innovators need to succeed?
2. Inclusive Growth - The entrepreneurial environment for scaling up business: What challenges do youth-led businesses and entrepreneurs in your country face when they're expanding their enterprises? What opportunities do youth-led businesses and entrepreneurs have to succeed in your country, and what are some of the success stories? In your society, what tools or institutions do entrepreneurs need to grow small enterprises into larger, more prosperous businesses?
3. Social transformations - The role of entrepreneurs in building democratic societies: How can entrepreneurship among youth strengthen newly-formed or emerging democracies? How are young entrepreneurs from different backgrounds participating in your country's democracy? In what ways are young entrepreneurs contributing to social transformations in your country?

For each category, CIPE will publish the winning first, second, and third place essays. Winning authors will also receive receive a cash prize. One grand prize winner will be invited on an all-expense-paid trip to attend CIPE's upcoming Democracy that Delivers for Entrepreneurs conference in the United States, which is planned for April 2013.

Deadline:19 October 2012

More details are available here.

Source: European Youth Portal (EYP)

Basic Education for Slum Girls

Maybe you remember, few days ago I published one entry about "Girls Education Challenge". They were looking for ideas and projects which can be robustly evaluated for their potential impact on providing the world’s poorest girls a real chance to improve their future.
Aarti Naik from Mumbai, India, sent me an Email and told me an interesting story which you should know about, too.

"My name is Aarti Naik. I am slum based Young Girl Changemaker from Mumbai, India. I have been staying in a slum area of Mumbai since my birth. Four year ago, I was 10th std. school dropout and there was no hope to continue my education. Because of my family`s poor condition, I was studying in B.M.C. school where I did not get quality education, so due to lack of proper guidance I failed in 10th std. and hence I became a one School drop out girl and parents insisted me to stay at a home. I strongly wanted to continue my education but due to poor conditions of parents, I decided to work and to continue my education. But I was not aware of any work in outside world, so I started to prepare ladies chains at home. Some women from neighbors were doing the same things, so they helped me to get such work. Every day I used to get 9 rupees of my work.  I worked for three years continuously. Then I started my education with the help of my three year earnings and some money from my parents. Hence after three year I passed in 10th std. exam. Now I am doing my graduation in B.A. (Sociology) from open university.
While I was studying , many thoughts came in my mind that whatever difficulties I had faced during my education, our slum based girl will face the same situation, because these slum girls also going to B.M.C. school. Also in my slum area, there is not supportive environment for girl`s education. There is a lack of awareness about the education of children especially for girl child.  These girls are facing so many socio-economic problems to continue their education.  Therefore I felt that I should do something for these slum girl`s education.
But there was not any support for me to help my slum girls. I started to talk with my friends, one day one lady from our slum suggested me about Ashoka`s Youth Venture. They provided me Changemaker Fellowship. I got financial help for one year. With the help of their continuous capacity building workshop, initially I started to conduct basic education classes of primary school going girls. Then gradually during 2008, I started my social venture “SAKHI” (a female friend of girls), especially for slum girl’s education.
Hence Since 2008, I have been conducting basic educational capacity building classes of slum girls (1st to 7th std.). The main purpose of venture SAKHI for Girls Education is to educate slum girls, to provide them an opportunity to express their views and to solve their academic & personal problems. Initially it became very difficult for me to convince the parents of slum girls. They showed ignorance to send their girl child to participate in different capacity building activities. Then I started to meet personally the girls’ parents, especially mothers. I talked with them about my activities, such as to provide opportunities to talk in public, to solve the problems of daily study, to discuss problems individually with each girl, to build their confidence through small group activities.
I informed them about the current worse situation of girls due to lack of education. I pointed out that due to school dropout and lack of education, their mother could not get a good job and forcefully they have to work as labor. It has been affecting on the continuation of their girls education. Gradually parents started to send their girls to participate in project activities. After three months, 23 girls enrolled in my venture SAKHI. Since then I have been taking reading, writing, alphabets activities, also I have started “Word Bank” activity to increase their vocabulary. So slum girls will aware of new words and its meaning in every week. So they will not find difficulty in English words during 9th & 10th std. and they will continue their further career.
I am happy to inform you that I started English Books Library on 11th July 2010 especially for slum girls of Mumbai.  Life Unlimited organisation supported me to ensure my dream into reality.  I have started my library with 100 books. Slum girls never get an opportunity to read books in English medium, apart from their school curriculum. So I strongly feel that every slum girl should have access to get valuable English books, it will give them exposure of essential knowledge in English. It will increase their confidence to pursue their further education in English medium without having any inferior complexes or fear of English language.
My aspirations : As I aware that due to my parents poor condition, I will not able to complete my higher education, but I can build the capacity of my slum based girls for their basic education with Life skills building, so they will continue their schooling and they will move ahead confidently.
My slum girls education is my life`s mission."

I felt a lot of respect for this work. The only thing what I can do is to publish this interesting and important story. But maybe you can get her a valuable guidance and kind support to realise Aartis dream into reality.
Here you can read about Aarti, read an interview or for contact aartidnaik@gmail.com