So the excitement has begun......we had a great workshop this morning. It was awesome to learn about the youth services offered by other countries. I am still amazed at how fortunate we are to live in America.

Matt and I have planned a great performance on Thursday that will be second to none. Wait until you see the pictures. It's going to be awesome.

We have made up nicknames for everyone and they're not quite appropriate to put on the site so be sure to ask us about them when we return. Elsa is rushing me and my journal so there will be another post later tonight.

For all of my faithful followers....oh hi mom...oh yeah she's not checking either.....so well.....I don't have any faithful followers....so goodbye Scott for now.


Boo yah

By Scott M. Dane (pf9s01a07.client.global.net.uk - 195.147.225.250) on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 03:03 pm:

Second post for today (not like anyone that cares about me is responding--*HINT*HINT*). We just presented about our YACs and I found it very difficult to explain ourselves. It took me two years to figure it out so I guess I shouldn't expect anyone to understand our concept in a hour segment. I'm glad that we're able to collaborate with youth from around the world and they shared as much information with them as they did from us.

I'm looking forward to our disco tonight where I'll be able to cut some rug. I think Matt and I may stay over here and become the first famous rap group...of course I've also posed as the Queen and a soccer ball today so I may have a future filled with surprises here in Northern Ireland.

I forgot...Danielle and I chased Eve through the Dublin Airport. She was there and Danielle spotted her and we chased her across the street and she allowed us to take a picture with her. We looked so stupid.

More tomorrow...though I'm not sure anyone's reading my postings.

Scott

By Craig (pf9s01a07.client.global.net.uk - 195.147.225.250) on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 03:15 pm:

Here is the issue of "The Youthstock Daily" our daily newspaper here at the Conference.


Official Welcome

Last night Trisha McNally of the Northern Ireland YouthBANK Committee set light to the fuse of what seems set to be a week long explosion of energy here at Youthstock.

Welcoming the gathering of grant makers from seven countries, Trisha echoed the event's programme in urging participants to grab the full range of opportunities that Youthstock's packed schedule has on offer.

She was followed at the official opening session by Tom Wylie, a native of Northern Ireland, who is the current Chief Executive of England's National Youth Agency. Tom reminded young people of the importance of working together to reconcile differences created by ethnic origins and politics.

Tom was followed by Albie Sachs, Justice of South Africa and former ANC political prisoner, who asked "Who are we?" and "What is important?" Albie stressed the error made in labeling others and to take pride and pleasure in meeting new friends.

The unique opening ceremony was performed by Native American spiritual medicine man Carl BigHeart. First, Carl lit a candle from the world peace flame to symbolise peace. Carl proceeded to conduct a traditional joining of the peace pipe and his message to those attending was not to abandon what is inside your heart.


Different Drums

In the evening, there was a performance of Irish percussion, by Different Drums in the marquee.
It was explained that the sizes of the drums represent the two different traditions. The small drum, called the Bodhran, mainly represents the Catholic Nationalist Community. The big drum, called the Lambeg, mainly represents the Protestant Unionist Community.

By Danielle Williams (pf9s01a07.client.global.net.uk - 195.147.225.250) on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 03:30 pm:

Hi Folks! Well, I guess you could call this our first day of real work. Elsa and I began the morning opening our Thai energy channels. Thai Chi over looking the ocean is a great way to start the morning. After breakfast, Carl BigHeart, a Native American spiritual medicine man, talked to us about the Native American sweatlodges. We will have more to tell you on Thursday, when we attend the sweatlodge. We were all given different workshops to attend. I attended teen eating disorders. It is so awesome to converse with youth from around the world about such an issue. "The Factory" is the grantmaking aspect of the week. Today we received the grant applications. Wednesday we will be going to Derry for site visits with the grant applicants. After lunch, Jenny, Elsa and I went off to show off a few of our drama skills. We did Image Theatre, and made a little music. It was quite a craic. After dinner, we broke off into our Echo sessions. We ( Elsa, Matt, Jenny, Scott, Gabi and I ) presented an Echo session on the Tobacco settlement and how our grantmaking process works.  We were a little afraid our attendance would be scarce due to the fact that a majority of the folks here smoke, and our session was simple titled "SMOKING" from our buddies from the U S of A. We had a great turnout, though. We learned quite a bit about how the grantmaking works over here and can't wait to share some of the wonderful information that we have gained thus far. For now, this is Danielle from Northern Ireland signing off!

By MacVey (pf9s01a07.client.global.net.uk - 195.147.225.250) on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 03:55 pm:

Things have been swell since my last message and we have really gotten into some hardcore programming. After the groggy haze left my mind this morning I made my way to my first workshop. It was unfortunately cut short, but it was valuable none the less. The subject of my workshop was loneliness. We began by discussing our definitions of the word. I found that my idea, someone not feeling connected at school, was quite different from many of the other people's. Many of the people from the Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia related their thoughts to loss of friends and family members from war. In the end however we were able to come to the same conclusions on how loneliness could be helped. We decided that organizations needed to provide activities for people to feel connected and also provide safe communication opportunities for people to talk about this very personal issue. After this we broke for tea and biscuits (cookies!) and then went to meet in our grant making groups. We broke into 8 groups of 8 and after a site visit we will decide on the distribution of actual money (scrilla). This is very exciting as a lot of the people here have yet to participate in a grant cycle and I will have a great opportunity to transmit my knowledge of grantmaking. This afternoon we were able to get involved in the "fun and creative" portion of the program. Scott and I signed up for a hip-hop production and we are really looking forward to it. I cannot reveal any more about our project now but you know you can watch out for us on MTV soon. Hold tight on that. This evening we presented about Healthy Youth/Healthy Seniors and the Blue Cross Blue Shield grants following dinner. We had about 20 persons in attendance and had a wonderful discussion. That takes me to the present moment on the computer where I have just enjoyed eating a banana. I am looking forward to a dance party tonight.

Booya!!
MacVey

By Jenny Zeisler (pf9s01a07.client.global.net.uk - 195.147.225.250) on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 04:00 pm:

Hello to all. The conference is in full swing!

Awakenings 8:00 am. This part of the conference features different holistic approaches to wakening. This morning T'ai Chi was the exercise of choice. Unfortunately, I am still suffering from a little jet lag and couldn't make it up.

Breakfast 9:00 am. Breakfast was light, and we were welcome to come and go as we please. After breakfast, Native American Spiritual Leader Carl BigHeart spoke to us about the sweat lodge. A sweat lodge is basically a sauna, but the Native American's also include a spiritual aspect. It's quite a lengthy process, but seems interesting.

Heart of the Matter 10:15 am. My first concurrent session of the conference was "Attitudes and Disabilities," a session lead by Martin, a man who teaches at a school for children with special needs, and Caroline, a young woman who has lived in a wheel chair her whole life. 

The hour session covered: stereo-types of those with disabilities, a mock exercise where we designed a festival for our communities and identified ways for those with disabilities to be involved in the festival, and ways to overcome the identified stereo-types about those with disabilities.

The group ranged in diversity, in many different ways. There were quite a few from England, a couple from Scotland, some from Northern Ireland, a girl from Bosnia and myself from the United States. We also ranged in age, the youngest in the room was around twelve, while the oldest was around forty. One last thing on diversity, out of the ten of us in the room, four of the group members had some sort of disability.

The Factory, 11:30 am. This is our chance to grantmake as a group. All of the conference attendants have been split into eight grantmaking groups. This will be one of my favorite parts of the trip!

My group is such an interesting mix. Again, each country is represented, but also, a wide range of grantmaking experience is involved. Some have never been through a cycle, while I have been doing grantmaking for seven years.

We have been given three grant applications from organizations in Derry (London Derry), Northern Ireland. We will have the chance to go through the applications as a group tomorrow, and actually visit each site on Wednesday.

Lunch 1:00 pm. Of course I love to eat! Lunch was really good, simple, but good. We had egg salad or tuna open faced sandwiches and soup. The most interesting thing about meals is that we each do our part to share responsibilities...i.e. after we eat, we all help clear the tables and clean the dishes.

The Word 2:00 pm. This is a really interesting piece of the conference. We each got the chance to sign up for four different things: drama, animation, video production, and outdoor recreation.

I chose drama. So far we are working with the theme Fire, Water, Earth and Air. There are twelve in our group, and today we focused on getting acquainted. We did all sorts of things to get us moving, and get us to a point where we could work together as one. We will be giving a final presentation on Thursday night when we have our "Summer Solstice Party"...theme to be determined later.

Echoes 6:30 pm. These sessions are designed to let conference attendants create their own sessions. We, the group from the United States, presented on MCFYP, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Tobacco Cessation and the Tobacco Settlement. In light of over 75% of the conference attendants are smokers...we didn't have high hopes for this session being successful. However, we had a group of about twenty all ready to hear about our project and programs in Michigan.

Free time??? 8:00 pm. Here I am, writing my journal...but there are several activities I could chose from, including: a movie, some other Echo sessions, and later some live disco music.

So, for now, I'm going to hold a meeting with my grantmaking group....and hopefully soon get to cut the rug with my new friends at the disco.

Final note for today. After talking informally and formally with my new friends and fellow conference attendants from all over the world, suddenly I feel incredibly fortunate for all the things I have taken for granted during my life. I hope for peace and a brighter future for all of them!

By Elsa Mersereau (pf9s01a07.client.global.net.uk - 195.147.225.250) on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 04:06 pm:

Yet another amazing day in NI (Northern Ireland.) Danielle and I were brave enough to make an early venture to the T'ai Chi to awaken our inner energy. My morning workshop dealt with the educational system and its problems. It was very interesting to learn about the different ways youth from other countries were educated. Next, we got to meet with our grant making groups for the first time. We reviewed grant applications from a poor town called Derry where we will be doing site visits on Wednesday. It was amazing how much more advanced the Michiganders are on youth grant making. We all have a lot to share about our experience on YAC. Yet another wonderful Irish meal, and then off to our "Factory Session." I chose the drama session (which was obvious because around here I'm known as DQ aka Drama Queen.) There the talented MI girls (Jenny, Danielle, and myself) participated in exercises that encompass inspiration from earth, air, fire, and water. Jenny and I did get in trouble for being a little to giddy.

And yes, we did survive our presentation on the tobacco settlement. We were a little scared because about 75% of the people here with us for the week smoke. But everyone was very open and we got to learn more about their experiences. Once again I realized how much more advanced and developed we are, and I also realized how much we have to teach. It is really brilliant (that is another bit of Irish slang for you.)

On a fun note, we did make up nicknames for some of us. But I have been advised not to repeat them. Sorry. But check out the pictures for today. I guess we had a little too much fun on the playground...

Until tomorrow--- Booya!!!

Elsa

By Gabi Lopez-Betanzos (pf9s01a07.client.global.net.uk - 195.147.225.250) on Monday, June 18, 2001 - 06:09 pm: