Finally blogging again

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

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

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

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!!

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

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!!

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.