At long last, "GEO for Youth in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Capacity Building Manual" is now available online :)

Although created by and for youth of the Latin America and the Caribbean region, it's full of information that would be useful to anyone looking to take action on environmental and sustainability issues.

See below for detailed descriptions of the manual and links to downloadable versions in English & Spanish, and let me know what you think!

Enjoy,
Cara


Por fin está disponible en línea el Manual de Capacitación de GEO Juvenil para América Latina y el Caribe :)

Aunque ha sido creado por jóvenes y para jóvenes de la región de América Latina y el Caribe, contiene información muy útil para todos los que están buscando realizar acciones en temas de medio ambiente y sostenibilidad.

Vean abajo para una descripción detallada del Manual y una liga para accesar las versiones en PDF en inglés y español, y díganme lo que piensan.

Diviértanse,
Cara


English: http://www.rolac.unep.org/geojuve%20ing.htm

GEO for Youth in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Capacity Building Manual

This manual, like all GEO for Youth in LAC publications, was created through a participative process involving youth from across the region. The last details regarding the manual and its contents were ironed out during the last meeting of the GEO for Youth network in November 2003 in Mexico City.

The manual is divided in three chapters. The first, The State of the Environment in our Region, deals with our most pressing environmental problems. Each section is followed by questions and discussion topics designed to help readers identify the causes and effects of the issues covered in the chapter.

The second chapter, Future Scenarios, looks at what could happen if we continue along our current path towards environmental degradation. It also shows how we might change our behaviours and environmental management methodologies.

The third chapter, Youth Action Guide, provides tools and guidance to help young people to work for our communities and our environment. This guide includes precise and practical information on how to start environmental groups capable of carrying out successful projects.

We will soon begin the promotion of the manual in various countries and the development of different programs to disseminate the manual and put its guidelines into practice.

We hope that everyone consults this manual, which encourages the region’s youth to actively participate in decision making processes, build their capacities and, through ongoing efforts, create a more sustainable region.
For more information on how to acquire a hard copy of the manual, please write to geoyouth@pnuma.org.


Español: http://www.pnuma.org/geo-juvenil-04/geojuve.htm

El Manual de Capacitación de GEO Juvenil para América Latina y el Caribe ha sido diseñado como un complemento al informe GEO Juvenil para ayudar a los jóvenes líderes, a los estudiantes, a los profesores y a todos los interesados en el medio ambiente en la enseñanza de la sostenibilidad, con la finalidad de traducirla en acciones concretas y generar cambios positivos a nivel local.

Esta publicación, como todas las de GEO Juvenil, ha sido creada a través de un proceso participativo. Durante la última reunión de la red GEO Juvenil celebrada en noviembre de 2003 en la Ciudad de México, se discutieron los últimos detalles y el contenido final de nuestro manual.

Este manual está organizado en tres capítulos. El primero, El estado del medio ambiente en nuestra región, examina los principales problemas ambientales en la región. Cada sección está seguida por preguntas y temas de discusión diseñados para ayudar a los lectores a identificar las causas y los efectos de las materias abordadas.

El segundo capítulo, Escenarios futuros, nos alerta sobre lo que podría pasar si continuamos por el mismo camino de degradación y nos indica cómo podemos cambiar nuestras acciones y nuestro manejo del medio ambiente.

El tercer capítulo, Guía de acción juvenil, proporciona herramientas y asesoría para ayudar a los jóvenes de la región a trabajar por nuestras comunidades y nuestro medio ambiente. Esta incluye información precisa y práctica sobre cómo comenzar un grupo ambiental y convertirlo en un proyecto exitoso.

Próximamente se comenzará a promocionar este material en diferentes países se desarrollarán diferentes programas para ponerlo en práctica.

Esperamos que todos consulten este material y que pueda reforzar el compromiso de incentivar a la juventud en la región para que participe activamente en la toma de decisiones y para lograr con la suma permanente de esfuerzos y capacidades, una región más sostenible.

Para más información sobre como adquirir este material impreso favor de escribir a: geojuvenil@pnuma.org.

So, I went in to talk to Kaveh (back from Brazil, back in the office) today.

He told me he'd love to have me stay on in DEWA and keep working on GEO for Youth.

Which would be great news had this not been accompanied by a big BUT(t): the project is broke. I mean, NOOO money.

They didn't even really have the resources to keep me on for my last extension. And since any immediate fundraising efforts would be unlikely to show results in the near future, there was no other answer he could give: I've gotta go. Y ya.

So, it's official. My time at UNEP is quickly coming to an end (at least for now - Kaveh said he will keep me posted on any future opportunities, funding pending) and I've got to seriously start thinking about next steps. Like maybe finding a new job, in some wonderful location, doing something cool...

Or maybe I should just worry about tying up lose ends for now, and save the serious worrying for after a well-deserved vacation (when I leave PNUMA on May 10th, I'll have 8 days of accumulated days off I never took, so I'm giving myself a bit of travel time before most likely returning to Toronto in time for Marni's wedding - fingers crossed!)...

Anyways, tonight I’m hooking up with Isaac and Maria at the new Zapatista café to bid her farewell before she heads back to Spain on Monday. It’s the end of an era, folks. Oof.

P.S. If anyone is interested in seeing my C.V., or forwarding it to influential people who may be able to offer me my (next) dream job (or something tolerable to pay rent in the meantime), please let me know! I swear, I'm good! I've got references!

Transitions suck. Especially if you're not sure what you're transitioning to.

When life gets vague and undefined, I tend to go abstract and otherwise not so together - hence the poetry-prose-type entries.

In more specific terms, here are some of the issues I'm dealing with at the moment:

My current contract at UNEP-ROLAC (PNUMA-ORLAC) ends in less than two weeks.

According to Luis, there may be a possibility of another extension, but as of yet, what with his having been in Brazil and then off sick, I haven't had the chance to bring it up with the boss. Beyond that, I'm not totally positive I want to stay in D.F., or what other opportunities are out there for me right now.

Since I don't know if I'm staying at PNUMA, I don't know if I should pay another month's rent or, on the other hand, do the last-minute things I'd need to do if I were leaving, like making travel plans and packing up, fast.

Since I don't have a guaranteed job, I've got to be looking for work, at the same time as trying to wrap up all my pendientes here.

Since I don't know where I'll be in a month, I can't RSVP to the weddings I've been invited in Toronto, or make any definite plans for that matter.

Likewise, since I don't have a fixed departure date, I've got to deal with the possibility of saying goodbye to all the people and places that have become my life over the last 7 months, while not being sure if/when that final goodbye will be taking place.

So, basically, that's my situation.

I love the excitement of living in different places, of getting to know diverse cultures and geographical locations and people, and feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to experience everything I’ve recently had the opportunity to experience...

But this grey area between coming and going, between the best job I've ever had and possible unemployment, between a mixed living situation (awesome roommates, but domineering landlady & politics, etc.) and homelessness, between a fixed schedule/home base and no schedule/home base, etc., is hard to deal with.

So, out come the imagery, the inability to speak in clear terms or see things clearly, the doubts and worries and all that fun stuff.

I was recently told that I will be successful in the long run, no matter how things appear to me from day to day, that the universe and nature are on my side.

I’m trying my best to keep the faith…

Hope this clears things up :)

not all visions captured
are beautiful and good
stories should prick sharp
like the barbed wires
circling the view
cutting through
your barred bed-room
window reflecting
the neighbour’s television
opening to the world
brick, cement, antenna, cloud
textures rough and brown
rusted silver linings caught up
in the picture of my (i)
mage out of focus too
often taking for granted
this site/sight/in spite
of tear-shined lenses
reflecting the bars
a/light through lids
moist voids clenched might
only an abstraction
a distraction, this moment
fading, depth receding
camera-less without a shot
in the dark i wander back
down the street to wait
for this weight to shift
this phase to lift…






p.s. thank you (you know who) for thinking of me last night, for reaching out from another world. just when the rabbit hole dropped me down, another story. thanks for reminding me there’s light back up top, that it was my choice to (s)p(e)lunk… our “hippy phone” (as M calls it) is still connected, i suppose.

they're watering the pavement
like they think it's gonna grow
like the world's got lots of water
to be wasted on their show

it makes me wanna vomit
that they just don't seem to care
that one in four lacks access and
their green lawns just aren't fair

i wanna plug their hoses
i wanna make them pay
the true cost of the liquid gold
they're pilfering away...

metro-bought tick-tock taps
my brain or is it a ghost
in bed - still - stained
slumber old dry thick
blue sheets beneath me shift
the sounds of cars outside
crashing perhaps and coughing
even within since air cycles on
no matter how altered my lungs
starve for the heavy stuff
damn addiction, benediction:

if i could sleep
i might dream

(*smash the clock*
fantasy)

but would i awaken

on time

stagnant pillow talk (tic)
fucking mental tic (talk)
under my lids light
dancing through obscurity,
obliquity, obsequy.

standing at his office door, she addresses her boss (who is also the regional coordinator of the division of early warning and assessment at the united nations environment programme's regional office for latin america and the caribbean, aka an environmental big-shot).

c: are you drinking honey tea or something?

k: yes i am, would you like some?

c: no, no, i just have a hyperactive sense of smell and was wondering where it was coming from. it smells lovely, though.

k: well, i was feeling a bit congested, so i decided to try to ward it off.

c: don't get sick. i was just there, and i'm very happy to be getting over it.

k: well, it's that time of year.

c: yes, seems to be. i've noticed all the candy vendors on the street selling kleenex.

k: well, when the rain stops and it dries up, the air gets full of... i would normally say floating particulates, but really it's floating poo.

c: ugh. yes, there's a lot of it here, isn't there? i remember reading about that before i came.

k: just try not to breathe with your mouth open. *laughs* it's not dust.

c: yeah, thanks.

Finally, the printed final version of the Manual de Capacitación has arrived!! It's pretty and shiny and colourful and finished, yay yay yay!

In looking over the hard copy, I realise I somehow managed to leave a visible mark - by mention of my name or by my having taken or my appearing in a pictured photo - on no less than 30 pages... I swear, the designer picked the images, not me, really ;)

Anyways, I must admit it's a bit of an ego boost to have contributed so much to a collaborative youth/UN publication, not to mention one that, if all goes according to plan, will help youth from across the region create positive environmental change in their communities. Can't wait 'til the English version is published (last comments were sent to the designer today).

Oh, and thanks to those of you who were concerned and sent nice messages telling me to feel better and stuff. FYI, my cold is way better, and very soon (I hope) I'll be back to normal, < griping > about the day-to-day pollution-induced symptoms, which funny enough are quite similar to "exceptional" gripa symptoms :)

< I love that the Spanish word for cold, gripe, is an English word that means: "To complain naggingly or petulantly; grumble." (www.dictionary.com) :P >

If so, the April 20 deadline is fast approaching... Note the criteria outlined below and muy buena suerte (good luck!) :)

------------
YCLSF Internship Program

The International Institute for Sustainable Development is recruiting for the Young Canadian Leaders for a Sustainable Future (YCLSF)international internship program. We are currently seeking 25 young professionals to take up 6 month positions in Kenya, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, South Africa, Costa Rica, India, etc.

Placements are with such organizations as, the United Nations Environment Programme, The World Conservation Union, The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Development Alternatives, Leadership for Environment and Development, etc.

Application deadline for is April 20th, 2004

Start Date: August and September.

The application form and additional details on the placements are posted at http://www.iisd.org/interns/

You will need to submit the following documents: transcripts, resume, cover letter, application form, a copy of a research paper and two letters of reference in order to be considered for a position. IISD is committed to equal opportunity.

To be eligible for the YCLSF program you must meet the following criteria:

* be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
* be between 19 and 30 years of age;
* be a graduate of a college or university program;
* be unemployed or underemployed;
* have not previously participated in an internship program funded under the Canadian Government's Youth employment Strategy (YES)/Career Focus program;
* have had no previous paid career related international work experience;
* have knowledge and understanding of sustainable development issues and practices; and
* be available for a minimum of 6 months

An amount will be provided to cover basic living expenses.

All inquires should be directed to: YCLSF Program Manager,
Phone: (204) 958-7700 Fax: (204) 958-7710 Email: intern-info@iisd.ca

Funding is made possible with support from the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy (YES) Career Focus Program, through contributions from Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency

Okay, so I guess I shouldn't complain about a common cold (at least I hope what this is), but the whole constellation of nose-throat-head symptoms is just no fun. Attempts to OD on agua, vitamina C, ginger (albeit the artificially pink kind that comes with sushi, as I have yet to find the fresh/natural version I was hoping to use in a limon-miel-jengibre tea), and other healthy things (like sleep) seem to be helping. Also skipping Capoeira to give the bod some time to descansa...

Yesterday I paid what could possibly be my last month's rent on San Lorenzo. Questions about the nearing future are getting increasingly pressing.

What country will I be in in 2 months? in 6? What will I be doing?

(Anyone with any psychic premonitions (or job offers), please feel free to share! Those who have been asking, for some reason expecting me to know more than you, I promise, I don't...)

Post-Semana Santa Monday, back to the grind, e-mails and projects and too many pendientes... Sweet, sweet memories of sweet, sweet things: mangos, air, coconuts, fire, clouds, tents, lazy mornings, beach-top meals, sun, starry skies, oh I could go on but I would get in trouble.

Thinking on my way to the office what a bad Jew I was this week. I mean, I am by no means religious in the traditional sense of the word (my spiritual leanings being more Pagan than Jewish and my ethical inclinations being more grounded in philosophy than biblical admonitions). But, as someone who was raised on the fringes of a large Jewish community, who has done grassroots work on Middle East issues from a liberal Jewish perspective (Tikkun), who was forced to spend my childhood Saturdays in religious school and later helped teach Hebrew school, who chanted my Bat Mitzvah portion from the Torah in front of a congregation, etc., I do consider myself a "cultural" Jew. So, as much as I haven't entered a synagogue of my own volition in years, Passover/Pesach is a holiday (one of the few) I usually make a point of making.

For me, it's about making use of all the senses, involving everyone at the table in a special way (great-granfather to youngest child), working together to keep an ancient but ever-evolving tradition alive and pass on living (hi)stories, memories, emotions, connections. But this year, in the most Catholic country in the world, Semana Santa took precedence over Pesach in the most secular of ways - the opportunity to ask for 3 days off and get 9 days straight to travel. Passover just couldn't compete. So, here I am, feeling kinda guilty, when I get to thinking - if I stretch the symbols enough, maybe I didn't totally skip out on Pesach. Here's what I came up with:

-Salt water. Moses was found floating in salt water. I floated in salt water at Zipolite. I also downed a fair bit of the stuff while flailing in the rough waves, thus mimicking the consumption of salt water as a dip for various foods during the seder to represent the tears of the slaves.

-Matzah. Okay, there was no Matzah in sight. But I did eat my fare share of heated tortillas, which can be equally flat, hard, and flavour-free.

-Carpas. Greens. Lots of green throughout - in fact, Saturday night, after hitching with a lovely couple from the beach to Morelos, we set up the tent under the stars at the campamiento the driver's brother owns, went to sleep, and woke up in a folial paradise.

-Egg. Another seder plate fixture. I ate plenty of these throughout the week, what with not so so many veggie options on most menus.

-Oranges. Traditionally not part of the seder, but over the last couple decades, oranges have made their way onto seder plates as an act of defiance against exclusive interpretations of Judaism (specifically a feminist/anti-homophobic slant). Different variations of the story exist, but I'm pretty sure the "true" version is at http://www.miriamscup.com/Heschel_orange.htm. Over the course of my vacation, I enjoyed many delicious fresh fruits and fruit juices, including naranja (orange).

-Afikoman. The search for the afikoman (desert matzah) became the search for my chancla at the beach near Acapulco, where we stopped for dinner on the way back from Oaxaca to watch the sunset. I took off my sandals at the beginning of the meal, and when we were ready to leave, only one remained. We looked all over, in vain. I suspect the dogs that had been feasting on our leftovers were culpable, but will never know for sure. I have often had a hard time finding the Afikoman, too, and left seders disappointed and empty-handed (usually the person who finds the afikoman gets a prize).

And might my arduous one-shoed hop from the beach to the car be somewhat representative of my ancestors' 40 years in the desert?

I´m stealing time in the Internet cafe as the dude tries to find software compatible with my camera so i can burn two CDs - one for me and one for Julieta´s sister´s family, since i have found a new favourite model - Georgina, their two-year-old daughter. I have a whole series of her bathing herself out of a bucket of water. It is adorable. I will try to put it up here as a global gallery exhibit if I ever figure out how and get the time...

For now, our bus leaves in less than an hour and a half to Huatulco, from where we have to catch rides to Pochutla and then Zipolite. It´s almost 12 hours to Huatulco alone, and now I´m sorta worried cuz César just wrote he´d be expecting us to arrive around 6pm, meaning he expects it to be at least 6 _more_ hours to the beach, which will suck... I´m not really feeling up to 18+ hours of road travel in this sticky heat... Oh well, tickets are bought, no turning back now!

Just spent the last several minutes trying to use up extra camera space by shooting tons of random night shots of the streets between the Concha residence and the Internet cafe. Julieta, who normally hates being in front of the camera, even modeled for me, sitting in the middle of the street and thus almost getting herself run over for the sake of ¨art¨... I have discovered a new love for Sepia. It just makes everything look so cool... Then it started to rain, ruining my plan to take 50 shots in 15 more minutes.

Anyways, I think the burning operation is now being pulled off, meaning I will have to start paying soon if I stay on much longer, and I´d rather spend my pesos on more rounds chilled coconuts on the (nude) beach than sit in front of a computer screen one second longer ;)

Cheers! and ¡Feliz Semana Santa!

First two nights in el Puerto de Veracruz spent in a hotel (Hotel Delfines) due to a planning mix-up on the part of Julieta´s family (yay mix-ups!). Tonight staying at the abuela´s house and tomorrow night we head to Huatulco, Oaxaca. YAY!!! (It´s been fun hanging with the nephews and cousins and aunts and inlaws, etc., but the best beaches in the world are seeming awfully appetizing right now...)

Yesterday we went to San Juan Ulua, the fort where Cortes arrived and that later became a prison, and today went to Boca del Rio and walked around and came back. Nothing life-changing so far, but it´s been fun and relaxing and very, very warm. And went on a photo frenzy yesterday that got me quite creatively buzzed. Julieta is good inspiration for such events, what with being a ¨real¨ photographer and all...

Oh, and there is definitely some weird conspiracy to sabatoge my vegetarianism down here. Like, for example, at comida today, Julieta´s aunt tried to convince me that a dish was vegetarian by reasoning that her neighbour who had made it was Zapatista. Like all Zapatistas are vegetarian or something... Got Gaby, Julieta´s sister, to taste the dark morsel looking oddly like carne but which was said to be hongo (mushroom) and, sure enough, it was indeed meat. Go figure.

May take tomorrow to myself and head up to Jalapa and let Julieta spend some quality time with the fam. Thinking white water rafting, but prices are a bit steep (almost 600 pesos for 3 hours, plus transportation, food, etc.) - waiting to hear back from Israel to see if he finds anything better...

Been at this internet cafe for like 3 hours now, I think, making plans for Zipolite and checking piled up e-mail and other non-vacation-type silliness... That´s ridiculous. Signing off.

Tomorrow I meet up with Julieta's family al Central del Norte to leave for Veracruz, from where I have in mind to go to Oaxaca. No specific plans, except either to go to beaches (because I know people who will be there) or to definitely not go to beaches (because beaches in Mexico are nutty crowded during Semana Santa). How's that for options? ;) I'll try to update, but if not, see y'all in a week or so!

This from a good friend of mine who has been studying yoga for the last while at the targeted school in Romania.

-----------------

Dear Friends,

I am calling your attention to a human rights abuse that struck close to home for me, and I have just signed the online petition:

"Against the Romanian Authorities’ Abuse of Human Rights"

hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/promisa/

I personally know people who were victims of this abuse and would have been one too, in all likelihood, had I still been living there, so if you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing the petition.

Best wishes,

Misha