Youth Leader logo @ Another Berlin Wall to Fall

Genesis Institute reports of the Vision Summit

http://www.visionsummit.org/381.html?&tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=243&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=214&cHash=3fa98f4456

and there’s our logo!

The stone was created during Vision Summit, and right on top of the Another Wall to Fall slogan some of us recognise a logo. Right on, Eric mentioned he had been there, and invited to add to the stone. and that stone is kicing down the wall of poverty. Rocker!

Video of the stones falling @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rLSEZ52D28

Related post : http://youthleadermag.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/yl-mosaic-in-another-wall-to-fall-kicking-stone-berlin-9-nov-2009/

Geared for a National Edition for the Philippines

Denise Roque, one of our volunteers, is starting on an adventure. A National Edition for the Philippines! There is lots of potential with many active youth organisations, social movements… so YL will be just right. Also, Pay Canlas, who we interviewed at the UN conference (see our youtube channel “youthleadermagazine”) is jumping on! He’s been looking forward to it since spring

CALL for WRITERS & RESEARCHERS.
We are seeking those of you eager to join this team. It is about finding great projects, people, initziatives to feature. Keep in mind that we feature top class content that sets a shining example of HOW TO” to others, – of the people featured in our global edition, basically everyone deserves a Nobel Prize. Challenging to keep on a national level, but – this is our orientation.

YL Magazine gets a home editing office in Berlin

I just had another fun meeting with what I consider Berlin’s most progressive, creative school, and my favourite Germany school principal Margret Raesfeld – her earlier school won 30 awards, if I remember well, was in the news all the time, and received lots of sponsor money! and the new one also already has some of all this… after just three years. So much fun to be there!

We will set up a mobile office in the school – an ISLE, full scale Positive News Boards, co-editing with the students, launching a Local Berlin Edition, Youth Leadership Cinema screens, trainings… to support the positive action spirit.

- Just a few notes : the school exists for three years now, they have lots of projects, more learning than education, they have “Good News” as a subject class weekly, the school has no grades, has won lots of awards, and creates their own books about / in cooperation with changemakers like Muhammad Yunus (see our blog entry below). There is so much happening at this school! Their grounds are still evolving, they will have a great event hall from next spring, are preparing for great outdoor grounds, will evolve into a community, arts, theatre, conference centre… international youth gatherings ? yes, please!

We spent a lot of time together, imagining various scenarios, and our thoughts went just like ping pong always positive, always meeting exact resonance. Miraculous

… and another 7 projects from my quiver @ http://www.zauberhand.org were received with admiration. Some of them had already been implemented in smaller form at her earlier school.

*Fabulous times ahead*

all sorts of changemaker books on the table

YL Jam (Pakistan) – Media’s Role in Crisis

Youth Leader Magazine Pakistan just conducted its first JAM, or meeting on 5^th November, the basic motto of this meeting being projected towards the media of Pakistan.  The meeting was conducted as a moderated discussion in which members of Youth Leader (YL) spoke on different aspects of “Media’s Role in Crisis Situation”. After that a discussion session was conducted regarding the topic in which various attendees included their views and suggestions.

People who attended:

Marryam Chaudhry, Managing Director, Corporate Communications – Also a social media activist, webpreneur, and trainer

Farhan Masood, CEO “ Solo Smart”, CEO “QuickFix Advertising Technologies”, CEO “ SoloCards”, Director “Solo Tech” – Also, initiator of the Pakistan Youth Revolution, a visionary

Gohar Sultan – CEO, Plabesk (A telecom technologies company)

Iram Sana: Arts & Education dept, Ali institute of Education

Shoaib Iqbal: Festival Director, Lahore International Children Film Festival, Communication consultant, UNICEF CFS project, Arts education faculty advisor, Ali institute of education – Also, volunteer at Punjab Lok Rahs

Asim Riaz , Prime group of industries

Muddassir Lone, Head of institution, “Hannan Institute Electronic Media Studies” (The first of its kind in Pakistan), Also a business & Training consultant, TV & Radio Anchor, Director, Producer.

Moeen Irfan, Deputy Director R&D, Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Sohail  Azad, Mutimedia artist “Din Media Group” , Animator “Business Plus –TV Channel”, 3D Visualiser “Studio III” , and Printing supervisor “Packages Limited” – Also associated with Eyebee, & Media-Bridge

Saira Ansari, who is also working wth Eyebee & Media Bridge

Rukhsana Naz, from AAj TV

Marrian Sharaf, Manager communication &Networking, ALAAP – change through art. Also working with National Geographic to develop a cultural roadmap of Lahore

Hassan Zafar, Instructor Mass communications @ Lahore School of Economics, owner Montage Media Arts.

& enlightened students who, besides studying, are also

Himayat Rasool Qadri: Public speaker & debator, (YL Pak)

Abel Naeen Griffin:  Graphic designer

Shams Barry: Event organizer

Shiraz Ali: Web designer

Iftikhar Hussain: Freelance Marketeer, event organizer and coordinator

Usman Haider Khan:  Article writer & webpreneur

These are only a few names. Every single one of the souls there was a special being. People from different walks and majors, Finance, Marketing, Media, Web, Culture, & even Religion participated with a true heart and were there to actually come up with a sustainable solution to what is happening around us.

First up, I initiated the JAM by an activity known as “My big idea for the World!” The audience was invited to give a written detail about his or her big idea for the world. A flex had been constructed for this purpose and this activity received many positive views and comments from all. After  that we gave everyone an introduction of YL and its purpose. Then a basic overview of today’s media was given to the audience. The first opening of the discussion panel got a great response too. People agreed upon the Television being the most updated form of media and others said that print media is not recommended as it is sort of a recorded content. A slideshow gave us the list of negative news types shown today. The audience agreed that this type of news creates negativity in the society too and a social fear also develops gradually in such conditions. For this a person in the audience stated: “The things you do not know won’t hurt you!”

After that another member of YL Miss. Aarzoo Naeem told us about current journalism. This also included all the exaggerated details and add-ups to the real story. The audience was also informed that in Pakistan the type of journalism practiced includes all these factors and is generally known as Karbala Reporting. This refers to all the vocabulary and metaphors used for that incident being exploited in our daily news reports. Discussion lead to a common point that news channels and other mediums repeat gruesome news so much that the common population develops a permanent fear of attacks or common robberies. People also added that there is a need to support positive news reports physically by posting comments or so. Another solution to this problem was also to discourage channels for showing too much blood and gore in the news.

After that a very renowned professor of Mass Communication, Mr. Hassan Zafar came on to the stage to tell about the current media and its problems. At first he made it clear that the role of a journalist is only to report news and not as a prophet. A journalist is not supposed to comment on any news by himself to portray it as positive or negative by his will. This is a platform of education, communication, and coming together to do good. Cheap thrills shouldn’t guide us away from our focus.

Rizwan Takhar , also a member of YL, and a psychology major  talked about media and its influence on our minds. The growing violence in children and the lack of patience was noted. People reminisced about the PTV era when people were not exposed to such blatantly “nude” style of reporting, or overly painted, perhaps. Parental control was also an issue, and the concerned parents mentioned the problems they were facing with children.

Rohan David, a blessing who put the discussion LIVE on web added a new dimension: unnecessary focus on religion to divide views. This aspect was then discussed in light of media propaganda, political issues and how we could team up against this. The fact that Rohan & Marian were among the most active members of the discussion proved that we have the potential to rise above such discrepancies.  Thumbs up there!

Iftikhar hussain, a student at UCP, mentioned that the media is playing a huge role in delivering a wrong image to people outside of our country. “We aren’t all bearded and own guns!”

Hasan Zafar, along with Mudassir Lone, agreed that the media adds cheap thrills to gain volume of sales, totally disregarding the ethical or self censorship element of the profession.  Mudassir mentioned that the lack of proper education inthis field is also a major cause of this. He happens to be the initiator in this regard and has set up First electronic media institute. “Quality cannot come unless you Know what you’re doing”

Farhaan Masood, of the “Go green” campaign and also “Pakistan Youth Revolution”, said that we will have to unite to make a difference.

Maryam CHaudry, a professional trainer and a social media activist, was of the view that we cannot let past mistakes take better of us.

Marian Sharaf, a journalist, mentioned how the media has been playing this game for far too long. She gave quite a few examples and a detailed insight to how the media machine works.

Once the discussion was in flow and we were getting views wave after wave, we decided to use this opportunity to gather positive news and projects that were active right there in the room!

Here’s what we found:

Media bridge: Media-Bridge is an endeavour to harness the power of the media to bring about a change in mindsets; an awareness and respect for other peoples and cultures, with tolerance and appreciation of differences.

Media-Bridge supports a constructive role of the various storytelling mediums by facilitating the creation of socio-culturally relevant content, to help heal the differences and bridge the divides between ethnicities and religions – prevailing across South Asia in particular and humanity in general.

Media-Bridge is an initiative of eyeBee. http://www.eyeBee.biz

PYR – Pakistan Youth Revolution

Collecting data from All over Pakistan, good news and distributing it using sms, and internet as the new raging media of the youth. Active in 13 cities of Pakistan and growing bigger by the day.

PYR is not a part of any political party or religious group. Its independence is a fact. It does not follow any particular religious faction nor does it have any affiliations with any religious entities or factions or sects. This organization is purely based on the concepts of Akhuwwat (Brotherhood), Musawat (Equality) and Insaaf (Justice).

Mirian developing a cultural map of Lahore with National Geographic

HEIMS – First electronic media institute in pakistan. Offered  Free tutorials to youth initiatives such as YL =)

Prime Industries – Offering learning oppurtunities On job for needy students who could earn while they learn!

And on individual level,

People like Rohan David, Iftikhar Hussain, Zainab Iqtidar, Amna Usmani, Sana Arif, Hina Mehboob, Farhan Nisar, Wahhaj Anwar and other remarkable individuals who are angels of change in their own particular ways.

This electric discussion ended with the announcement of tea and refreshments and later a picture session that left everyone smiling the entire evening!

A definite success by all means, I must say!

Join Facebook group : Youth Leader Magazine – The Pakistan Chapter for pictures and all the fun facts daily!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pakistan-Youth-Revolution/163814246479#/group.php?gid=120342559678

YL LOGO mosaic in Another Wall to Fall “kicking stone, Berlin, 9 Nov 2009

Vision Summit 2009′s motto is “Another Wall to Fall” – the wall of poverty shall fall through Social Business, and poverty be museum history by 2030. On this occasion, the initiative has created 999 large size domino stones with school children in Berlin. On Nov 9, 20 years after Berlin War came down and the Cold War ended, they will be lined up from Potsdamer Platz via Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag Parliament Building. Then, the “kicking stone” will be added and it will fall first, kicking all the others. It will be a major event on the occasion in Berlin. Check out the Heart Piece of the kicking stone. Around the neck of the lovely photographer sister a shining – Krishna! Those with higher consciousness will laugh bright and clear! Rainbow Warriors. Ready for Utopia? We Are! YL logo on all headline pictures these days

media reports http://www.google.com/search?hl=de&q=mauerfall+aktion+domino&btnG=Suche&lr=&aq=f&oq=

UPDATE: Related post: in Genesis Institute’s newsletter you have the official start, kicking the domino wall, and there’s “our” stone. http://youthleadermag.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/youth-leader-logo-another-berlin-wall-to-fall/

YL Mag, Muhammad Yunus, Grameen about EDUCATION

Right before the day started, we took the chance of talking to Muhammad Yunus about YL and taking the world of change (incl Grameen’s various social business initiatives) to the world of education and the young generation). Coincidence enough, Muhammad forwarded me right to the person in charge, Lamiya Morshed, tcoordinatrice of the Yunus Centre, who was sitting right behind him.

So, we will see what we can do together. I like their idea of organising a national festival in Bangladesh in 2010 with universities for getting young people together to come up with a FESTIVAL OF IDEAS.

Next to Muhammad in the picture is Michael Otto, head CEO of Otto Group, a major sales house, operating on high environmental standards for many years. Thats’s what they say. Mr. Otto says he finds YL remarkable, but their foundation being focussed on water and forests in developing countries, it may not fit their requirements. Well, he may not be aware that a handful of his pocket money would suffice to run a national office for YL monthly. Next time, I’ll put the monthly sum on the table right away. I think they think media production has to be expensive… while we operate on such an efficient model that one or two modest salaries can cover a nation.

YL Mag @ Vision Summit 2009, Berlin

Like in 2007 and 2008, Youth Leader has been at Vision Summit, the world’s premier site for SOCIAL BUSINESS, a gathering of 1,000 people interested in making business a solution for overcoming poverty, building new alliances and developing new, ingenious approaches. Many good practices exist in various parts of the world from Bangladesh to Brazil and Germany.

This year, Eric’s personal focus at the event lay on making interesting connections, and they have happened. By now, interesting plants are sprouting in the field of MEDIA; with several people taking special change making initiatives through platforms of established magazines. “99 seconds for the planet” by forum, magazine for sustainable economy, “home goes business” organising moderated screenings (for staff audiences of major corporations) of HOME the MOVIE (a must-see, probably the MOST IMPORTANT, MOST BEAUTIFUL AND BEST MOVIE EVER PRODUCED… free!!! on the internet so everyone can see it http://)www.youtube.com/user/homeproject.

And also newly founded magazines about social business and more. People were pretty amazed by YL, and recognise us as a major source of top brilliant content in every domain, – just being unsure whether it fits THEIR tight format of social business, CSR…

Evening with Wilhelm Schole International

Our friends Heiner Benking and Farah Lenser of www.open-forum.de and Konrad Kutt’s (www.inbak.de) organised a round table evening with Marilyn in Konrad’s home art pavillon. An invited diverse crowd of fresh young and fresh veteran actors in the field of learning, social entrepreneurship, vocational education, leadership training enjoyed the mind expanding talk in which Marilyn unveiled many of the stars inside the bright universal sky of Wilhelm Schole’s practice. Amazing, diving through chinese, german, latin, greek, arabic word origins encapsulating the common deep roots of describing the universe and reflecting the living consciousness of universal unity. “There are not 3000 languages, but just 3000 dialects of ONE universal language..” And how this is inhaled by children from a young age, making them excelling students, and proven by brain sciences, too, that the OLD methods and words of teaching from thousands of years ago ARE the best…. and create responsible, super bright, loving, upright global citizens ballading easily through the structures of higher education, professions, culture, family life etc. Marilyn explained how she will soon start working ijn multiplying this knowledge and approach with teachers around the planet. And about her upcoming project DANCES OF ENLIGHTENMENT with the United Nations in New York and elsewhere, showing how the dances of the great traditions actually ALL speak the same and blend and move and dance with each other after a while. Amazing. With people standing up, crying witnessing the unity in everything that is so far conceived as being politically and historically separated but is in fact – culturally – the same.
There are not 3000 languages, but just 3000 dialects of ONE universal language…

A video recording of the evening may soon be available here.

Coop with Wilhelm Schole International

In a meeting between Marilyn Wilhelm, founder and 30 year long principal of the famous Wilhelm Schole in Houston, Texas, was agreed that Eric and YL will partner with Wilhelm Schole International WSI for their outreach strategy. Marilyn Wilhelm is now preparing for travelling the world as a travelling university, teaching teachers to become master teachers using the Wilhelm Schole approach of a unified global curriculum. This is a major honour, since we can consider WSI to be the most advanced holistic curriculum on the planet, nurturing absolute excellency in all sciences, global citizenship and deep cultural competence. For details and insights, soon visit the official website.

YL Magazine in Argentina’s major national newspaper “el clarin”

YL Magazine is featured in Argentina’s major newspaper el clarin with more than 1 million readers.
Our network partner Andrea Mendez Brandam of Noticias Positivas Radio Magazine has worked diligently to create a sponsor funded 8 page special inlay on POSITIVE NEWS!
Our article, and some of our YOUTH stories are featured.