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Meddling Kids Movement: telling the stories of grassroots youth activists
My name is Isabel Hope, I am 17-years-old, and I am the Founder of Meddling Kids Movement. When I was younger the phrases "you're too young to understand" and "children should be seen and not heard" were tossed around a lot. For a long time, I felt like I didn't have a voice in what is going on surrounding my future. Then, sometime amazing happened. It would probably be considered revolutionary. I started seeing kids my age speak about what they were passionate about. These kids were standing up for what they believe in and seeing that inspired me to do the same. That's why I created Meddling...
Silent Sea
I sit by the Silent Sea as the day drowns in the dusk I sit on the land of you and me with a tornado of grief among all of us I listen to the Silent Sea as she begins to weep I listen the mothers' cry with heads on their sons' bare wounded chest I see the Silent Sea as she is turning red at the shore I see my brothers being buried and their corpses bathed in blood I touch the Silent Sea as I feel anger and screams in her silence I touch the war marks on my arm no more giving me pride but only grief I am a victor in the war but a loser here of course the human in me is not letting me breathe...
Let's prioritize education
Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and whoever learns teaches in the act of learning. By Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of Freedom. People teach and learn at the same time, but what happens if people do not have a place to transmit, receive and share knowledge and opinions? I speak of a place, destined for education and teaching, a place where social interactions between equals are essential, a place in which one learns, thinks, discusses, and grows. Education feeds curious minds, teaches critical thinking and discovers the world around us. Millions of refugee children do not attend...
Why we don’t want TTIP and CETA…
Harassment
Sexual harassment or harassment in general is a big issue in today’s world. There are many different types of ways people can be harassed. It can be something as simple as looking ata person up and down, catcalling, or something more serious and dangerous like being kidnapped and sexually abused. There are many other ways people can be harassed which are too many to name, and the fact is that there really shouldn't be that many ways. Many people blame victims instead of blaming the attacker, which is always wrong and there should be no excuses for people who attack others in this way...
Free The Children
Child labor is one of the problems in the world that many of us don't see, but know that it's there. There is child labor occurring in many parts of the world and in other countries where we are not there to physically see it. Not seeing, doesn't mean we should just forget about that problem, but instead, we should spread awareness. Child labor is when children are either forced to work or have the need to work in order to help meet ends meet for their families or to make sure that they themselves survive. Like I said before, even if you don’t see child labor happening around you, that doesn’t...
The Importance of Indigenous and Cultural Memory in Post-conflict Colombia
Following the signing of the Colombian Peace Agreement in 2016, the deep impact of the armed conflict on Colombian society has become more evident. This conflict has touched, in particular, the communities which have lived in the territories that have been disputed historically. Indigenous communities have been one of the most affected not only in a physical, economic and social level, but also in terms of their cultural identity. Memory has been a fundamental tool for the construction of historical processes and, as we know, this is not only an individual process, it also has a collective...
Safer Internet Day 2020: Online kindness matters too
People rarely understand the importance that words have. I was only 14 years old the first time I experienced cyber bullying. After being bullied at school for a few years the girls in my class started this rumour that I had talked about them behind their backs, of course what they needed was a reason not to look guilty in front of others. And so they confronted me. And I tried explaining myself but they were clearly not looking for an explanation. When I got home they had opened Facebook group chats where they would continue talking mean things about me even though I would beg them to stop...
The Power Of Redemption
Redemption. The cure to all wrongdoings, the way to erase past mistakes while holding onto all we have learned from them. Forgiveness. Is such a thing even possible, or have we reached a point of no return. Hope. For our future, we will live in a better world, but only if we choose to. Determination. The ability to make change, and work tirelessly until we live in a world which we are proud of. Success. A mere illusion or dream of glory, of what could be. Reality. Reality is whatever we want it to be. When did we stop dreaming the brightest of dreams that allowed us to live in a world with...
Safer Internet Day 2020: a life broken by cyberbullying
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Black history month: The South African context
Often in the media, it’s very rare for me to hear South Africa mentioned. The history of the country is usually very blurred and many people are misinformed about exactly what happened. My country has such a rich history that I feel proud to have as part of my identity. This country has raised me and millions of others that came before and are still coming after me. It’s only fair that the world gets a taste of what goes into having such a strong attribute as part of your identity. The good, the bad, the ugly. This is the country in the most convenient terms. Until 1994, the government divided...
What is feminism? We want to be treated the same way as you...
Who is a feminist? Feminists are people who support feminism. What is feminism? Feminism is a theory that says that women and men should have equality, same rights. Some people say that feminists are crazy, but in fact they are not crazy at all. Feminists stand up for all of the women in the world, they are brave and strong. Don’t say that feminists are crazy if you don’t know who they are! Some people think they will lose something if women have equality and same rights as men, but they aren’t losing anything, actually they are making the world a happier and better place to live. Women couldn...
We live in fear
You would think that after 9 years of war, you'd be accustomed to bombs and bullets, but that's never true. Every bomb kills a part of you that you never thought would die, every bullet goes through your heart and never truly leaves. The pain and anguish goes deeper with each heart beat, and there's nothing left for you but to pray for any higher power to end this misery in anyway possible.
Peace Interrupted
Marking International Poetry Day (21 March 2020), a group of young poets and Voices of Youth contributors write about the power of peace. Their poems are a cry to end violence against children, and a message of support to the children and youth affected by conflict. Annie is a Voices of Youth blogger from South Africa. She wants a better future for children across the globe and for their voices to be heard. You can read her content here. I need not know what death feels like to understand the pain of all the widows and orphaned children who lost their fathers in vain. The sobbing of the broken...
Their problem is our problem
COVID19: a virus with the greatest humanitarian lesson
Without a visa or legal documents, the Novel Corona Virus (Covid-19) has succeeded in crossing the borders from East Asia to West Europe, affecting about 387,306 individuals (31 January 2020- 24 March 2020) from various corners of the world, failing to discriminate people based on their status, wealth, age or citizenship leading to a global lockdown. While the one-month lockdown has caused a worldwide commotion and has left people with dread and fear, people in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and in many other war-affected countries have been locked down for many uncountable...
The Comfort in the Uncomfortable
Can you?
You say all our people are the same and Equal. So let me ask men: Can you? So let me as women: Can you? Can you walk home at night, without the shine of daylight? Can you leave your drink at the bar, without waking up with a scar? Are you told your body distracts, because of "biological facts"? Is the size of your cleavage an excuse, an apparent "reason" for abuse? Have you been cat called, by men, old and bald? Are you told you're arrogant, 'cause you believe you're relevant? Have you felt disgusted in you body, because of the comments of somebody? This is why we need feminism, to fight with...