kenneth- Youth delegate experience

Finally blogging again

2010-08-27T04:10:00.000-07:00

Wow it's been a while since the last time i posted something on my blog. I am finally back home and i am just starting to come to terms with it. My last days in Norway were pretty hectic with the homecoming seminar, Øy 2010 National Youth camp and preparations to head back home in Rwanda.

Southern delegates at the homecoming seminar

The Øy 2010 National Youth camp was simply awesome with over 200 participants, lots of Red Cross information, courses, new friends, happy volunteers, great food and yes wonderful summertime weather.

Registration at the Øy 2010 National Youth camp

The Øy 2010 National Youth camp and homecoming seminar were the last activities that i and the other delegates participated in before heading home. It was a great way to finish and say bye to everybody especially the volunteers. It was so sad saying bye.

one of Participants got hurt....too much fun maybe

It's been really nice being back home with my Family and friends. I took a two weeks holiday and i am doing my follow up work with the Rwanda Red Cross. So far so good and watch this space for more updates.

April, April, April

2010-04-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

It is the last day of the month of April and i am finally blogging. It is not because i did not have anything to blog about, on the contrary i had so much going on i did not know what to blog about and what to leave out. The month of April began with the Easter holiday which i spent in Oslo and i had a really good time where i also attended a music concert by East African musical sensation Good Lyfe.

The crowd at the concert.

It was a wonderful show and i was also glad that i got something interesting to do since i did not travel during my holiday. I also got to meet and greet the superstars from East Africa and i was really excited because i am such a big fan.

together with one of the artists.

In the month of April, Fify(my co-delegate) and i also put up a stand at the Akershus University College where we talked to the Youths about Red Cross and the different work that we do as Red Cross Youth.

Akershus University College

In the begining it was quite difficult to get hold of the Youth because University students are really busy but when we put up our Red Cross Youth banner, got dressed in our cool Red Cross Youth sweaters, started giving out condoms and flyers, we finally got the attention of some Youth who were really interested and inquisitve about the work that we are doing and what we had to say.

waiting to talk to the Youth at the stand.

Still in the month of April, we attended the annual district meeting which was quite special because this time round there were some changes like election of a new President for Akershus district, and we also got the chance to see democracy being practiced in the Red Cross Youth since the youth coucil also got a new leader Magnus Sauro who had to be voted by the Youth that participated in this meeting.

Youth casting their votes

We also had meetings and seminars where the different participants talked about issues like the district budget, the work plan for next year, and other issues at hand.

Participants at the annual District meeting

group photo of the Youth that attended the meeting.

I ended the month of April by attending an Active Choice workshop at the famous Haraldsheim Youth hostel in Oslo. It is always a nice feeling to go back to Haraldsheim because it reminds me of my first month in Norway and it also made me realise how quickly time has moved since i am only left with two months now.

preparing for my presentation

The course was very interesting because it brought together Youth participants from all over Norway and it was nice to see what the Youth in Norway think is the best course of action for active choice in Norway.

Participants paying attention.

At the course, i made a presentation about HIV/AIDS in Rwanda and how the Red Cross and Red Cross Youth are dealing with this issue and also potrayed the different things the Red Cross Youth in Norway and Rwanda can learn from each other.

Ida...one of the participants at the course.

work without play makes the particpants dull.....play time!

So that was the month of April for me and i am now looking forward to May and June, but most of all i am looking forward to the Øy 2010 Youth camp because then i will be able to see all the other delegates and plus it will probably be the last major activity i participate in before i leave for Mama Africa.

Youth weekend

2010-03-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of the 12th of March, Akershus Red Cross Youth organised a Youth weekend. We got together with the different volunteers from Akershus district on Friday evening and left for the Cabin in the woods.

one of the cabins

It was a fun packed weekend with lots of games and it was so nice to interact with the youths because i had not seen some of them in a long time and we also had some new members or interested members so it was nice to show them what Red Cross Youth is all about.

Youths playing games

We also had two courses about Active choice and Leadership and these were very interesting, educative and informative.

brain storming with my guys

During the courses we had some debates, discussion, mock presentations and we did a lot of brain-storming about different issues and scenarios.

presentation time

By the end of the weekend, we had learned a lot about the Red Cross, made new friends, eaten good food and had an awesome time. It was a wonderful weekend and kudos to everybody that made it a success.

Help Haiti Heal

2010-02-12T01:28:00.000-08:00

On the 12th of January, the western hemisphere's poorest nation was hit by a devastating earthquake that left hundreds of thousands of people dead, injured, hungry, or stranded under the collapsed debris. There are all sorts of graphic images in the news of dead bodies, injured, miserable, hopeless and suffering people.

In Haiti 80% of the population lives on less than a dollar per day, more than 3 million people do not have access to clean water and 1 out of every 3 children dies before the age of 5 due to preventable conditions like malnutrition, and immunisable diseases.

photo of a man being rescued from a collapsed building

You probably ask yourself every day why you should donate to the Red Cross? The Red Cross is a humanitarian organization based on principles of Volunteering, humanity, universality, impartiality, all which are principles and core values that appeal to us as human beings. The situation in Haiti transcends all religions, races, and political ideologies.

first aid help from a Red Cross worker

The Norwegian Red Cross has provided 4 cargo airplanes already in Haiti, filled with medical equipment, beds, tents, and medical personnel. It has also collected 47.5 million kroner and the collection keeps getting bigger every day.

This support allows the Red Cross to continually provide mobile health units to support local clinics, thus preventing and treating possible epidemics and chronic diseases, as well as psychosocial trauma.

Bærum youth volunteers at a shopping center.

Akershus Red Cross Youth are actively involved in the collection by putting up collection stands at shopping centers, trains stations, as well as having made a short video to encourage people to donate not just money but also their time;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAes7Dkm1ZQ.

Donating to the Red Cross means more shelter for the homeless people, more medicine for the sick and more food for the hungry.

Skedsmo youth volunteers

The situation in Haiti is appalling and the people of Haiti are counting on us to show that we care. Please log onto http://www.gimedhjertet.no/ or contact your local Red Cross branch leader and make a world of difference. Thank you.

Obama in Oslo!!

2010-01-11T03:25:00.000-08:00

The 10th of december will definately go down in history as one of the best days of my life. I saw Barrack.H. Obama the first african american president of the United states, and got a feel of the Nobel peace prize day.

One love, one world

Obama was the 2009 Nobel peace prize winner which is an award that is given to individuals or institutions that have made an indelible mark in the world towards advocating for peace. It was an amazing day that i got to share with all the other delegates plus Lotte katborg our new contact person.

Secret service agents

The atmosphere in Oslo was simply unbelievable, the city was so alive with young,old, black, white people from all walks of life that wanted to be apart of history. We visited the nobel peace prize center, cheered on President Obama as his entourage by passed us on their way to the king's palace and to the city hall from where he recieved this priceless honour.

wow....looking at mandela(nobel peace prize center)

The president later delivered a typical Obama speech; eloquent, interesting, and informative as he justified using war to bring peace.

The Obamas at Grand hotel

I later on in the evening joined the other thousands of people that gathered outside the grand hotel to get a glimpse of the man who has changed world politics....I loved every bit of it. YES WE CAN!!

Celebrating the World Aids Day

2009-12-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

The 1st of December is a very special day world over, people from all over the world unite to make their voices heard against HIV/AIDS. According the USAID official website, about 32 million people have died from aids since the beginning of the pandemic; about 5,500 people die every day because of hiv/aids. Approximately 95% of people living with hiv/aids live in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most hit, and currently eastern Europe and central Asia have the highest hiv/aids growing epidemic rates in the world. It is also important to note that about half of all adult HIV infections occur among 15-24 year olds.

Ribon used for World Aids Day

World Aids day campaign in Akershus district

The theme for this year's world aids day was "universal access and human rights" so together with volunteers from akershus we organized for a stand at the lillestrøm train station on the 1st of December. Here we gave out condoms packed in Rode kørs packs, brochures and about Hiv/ aids, did condom demonstrations, and talked to many people as possible about this pandemic. We also gave out cookies, and served a warm drink to every body that visited our stand.

serving cookies and condoms..fify and i

We also visited sandvika high school in bærum where we talked to the students about hiv/aids, made condom demonstrations, and answered so many questions from these inquisitive students. Many of them were astonished by the how serious the hiv/ aids scourge has destroyed the world, and we managed to get 4 new volunteers willing to join the Red Cross Youth in order to help educate fellow youths through active choice.

together with Rita at the stand

Quick facts about hiv/aids in Rwanda

• population by 2008 9,900,000

• people living with hiv/aids, 2007 150,000

• women(aged 15+) with hiv/aids, 2007 78,000

• Adult HIV prevalence(%),2007 2.8

• AIDS deaths, 2007 7,800

photo of people celebrating world Aids day

This year, the widely spread gospel on world aids day in Rwanda was to advice people to use condoms, and not to be afraid to buy or talk about condoms and sexual health. Usually the youth volunteers are involved in talking to other young people about hiv and aids in schools, and also getting involved in public campaigns that are organized on this day. Given the fact that 70% of Rwanda’s population is made up of youths and women, I hope the youths can go a long way in fighting this scourge not only in Rwanda or Africa but around the world!

Youth delegate a.k.a Rwandese ambassador to Norway!!

2009-11-17T03:49:00.000-08:00

Last week my co-delegate and i had a presentation at our work place in kjeller. It was attended by the district employees at the office and members of the district board.

Hans Martin & other employees can't wait

It was a very interesting presentation as we presented how the rwanda red cross youth functions, and also made a presentation about rwanda as a country and we got so many interesting questions as many people were interested in finding out more about this small country that is widely known for it's horrific history.

Fify(co-delegate) together with Naomi making food

We later served a sumptuos rwandese buffet and not only did this presentation make me a little home sick but it also made me realise that i should campaign to be appointed as the rwandese ambassador to norway because i am literally doing an ambassador's job!

Employees enjoying rwandese food

The district employees clearly enjoyed the rwandese food and the presentation and asked us to organise more presentations like this with in our district in order to enlighten people about our country Rwanda and how far it has come.

Presentation time(Fify and i)

Thank you so much everybody that honoured our invitation. We really appreciated your presence.

saying bye to october actively!!!

2009-11-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

On friday 31st of october, we were invited to participate in an active choice instructor's course in oslo. It was really nice to be back at haralsheim hostel because it brought back a lot of good memories that i shared with the other youth delegates.

Youths playing with dildos at the seminar

The seminar also had IHL(international humanitarian law) and rules of war instructor's course. It was well attended with over 3o youths showing up. It was very informative, and we got to interact and learn from these really active and vibrant youths.

taking a break from the intensive presentations

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end so after everybody was now officially either an active choice or IHL instructor, what better way to crown it all up than partying....huh?? so we had a small farewell party on saturday and left sunday after noon....

save the last dance...before we left for home

I am pretty sure that wherever these youths will go, they will positively influence their peers because they got all the potential and skills that they need. Thanks guys and it was a pleasure to meet you all at the seminar.

Great trek to tromsø

2009-10-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

Last week on friday i took a flight to tromsø to attend the Red Cross youth autumn camp. The flight lasted about 2 hours, which is nothing to compared to the almost 20 hrs you would spend by train.

making a snow angel

Before my trip i had heard a lot about the north; like how cold it was, and how they had a lot of snow, and i just couldnot wait to check it out for myself.

together with the sudandese delegates chris & ahmed

The camp for this year focused on human traficking and the ongoing project of supporting the human traficking campaign in Nepal.

Red Cross workers in the role play

I also made a presentation about Rwanda as a country, Red Cross in Rwanda and how the youth volunteers there work. I also participated in på flukt(on the run role play),which was quite intensive though it lasted for just 6hrs!!

Crossing the border in role play

The volunteers were great, and we had a good time in the cabins because i also got to see the youth delegates from sudan, chris and ahmed after a long time so you can imagine how much we had to chat about!................

Chris(sudanese delegate) & I

Tromsø is absolutely beautiful and like they say" pictures say a thousand words!!"

Work without play makes Kenneth a dull delegate

2009-10-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

"Work without play makes john a dull boy" goes the common english saying. This sunday fify and i were invited to Oppegard youth branch for an activity which is dealing with young assylum children.

Playing hide & seek

These kids were so cute, young and so full of life! i kept asking vibeke the redcross youth leader if these kids were actually from the assylum because i had a completely diffrent mentality of depressed, sad and worried kids.

eating pop-corn while watching a movie

We had alot of fun with the kids, played games, ate pop-corn, watched a movie, the list is endless. In the begining it was kind of hard for us to interact with them because they hardly speak any english and you know "jeg snakker litt norsk", but that is also one of the most amazing things about children, the fact that they just want to have fun, and enjoy themselves and dont really care about what language you speak and where you come from.

enjoying the movie

Having fun with these kids on sunday reminded me of that time when each of us was once a child, when you are so innocent, sweet, crazy, and always have some body to take care of you.

play time!!

Wouldn't we all love to re-live those moments just once? kudos to oppegard red cross volunteers for giving these kids an opportunity to just be kids and have a goodtime!!

Old is Gold!!

2009-10-12T00:56:00.000-07:00

Last week, on tuesday we had the honour of being invited to the lørenskog red cross branch which was celebrating the 60th anniversary since the inception of the besøkstjenesten activity. The besøkstjenesten activity is basically an activity which involves care for the elderly or "senior citizens" as they are respectfully refered to.

mama Toril making a speech

In this activity, volunteers either go to the homes of the elderly people and have a one to one chat with them by talking to them, visiting them and getting to give them company or the red cross branch can organise activities like trips to the museum and other fun things where the senior citizens living in the homes of the elderly are invited.

senior citizens having a chat

Just like any other anniversay we had speeches from the branch leaders, a presentation about the activities of the redcross especially in war ravaged areas like afghanistan, congo, sudan, rwanda(after 1994) e.t.c which had some very emotionally moving scenes. We also enjoyed music and lots of cake!! Just before we left, one of the "senior citizens" told me " thank you for coming and now you have witnessed for yourself that elderly people in norway have a good time" and honestly, i couldnot agree more!!

Weekend in the woods!!!

2009-09-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend really was a splendid one! The youth delegates (fify and i) together with about 13 akershus volunteers headed for a cabin in the thick woods of Kolbotn. We arrived at about 21:00 pm in the night and my first impression of the woods was quite creepy! it was so scary i couldnot stop thinking about all the horror movies i have watched.

Having fun with Martina

But the next days Saturday and Sunday were beautiful, nice weather, beautiful site of the lake, and we got to Interact with the different volunteers who were really nice people. We exchanged views and made a presentation about Rwanda as a country ¨ and how the youth volunteers work.

On the lake side with other volunteers

We did some first aid training and also got to discuss about some of the activities that we can do together with the different youth volunteer groups. I also celebrated my birthday and had one of the best cakes ever .....

Peace and love with the youths

In a nutshell, it was a weekend well spent!!

One on One with Akershus

2009-09-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

Akershus or lillestrøm for that matter is amazing. It is just 10 mins away from Oslo by train and it is so beautiful, and most importantly i think this is the best climate i have experienced in Norway for the past month. I have already settled in and i are looking forward to working with the district office staff who have been very nice, i must say and i can not wait to finally meet the volunteers and get the Red Cross volunteer spirit going!!!