TYO Recommends: February 10, 2012

‘Tis the season of giving! TYO checks out the modern face of global giving around the world, examining new ways to give and exciting causes to rally behind. Give a little; it does a lot! (Plus the perks of being young, passionate, and involved!)

 

Ready, set, RAP! We give two thumbs way way up for the RUN ACROSS PALESTINE that 'rapped up yesterday. The five-day feat was a 129-mile journey to raise funds and awareness for Palestinian olive farmers hosted by On The Ground in partnership with the Palestinian Fair Trade Association. With their journey, five Michigan runners helped secure resources to plant trees and fund scholarships for the children of Palestinian olive farmers. Congrats to On the Ground!

Future of Fundraising: Fascinating INFOGRAPHIC decoding the rise of social giving through popular social media mediums like Facebook, YouTube, GooglePlus, and Twitter. Asks several questions, including: how influential are these mediums in encouraging mobile giving? How well do they procure higher dollar signs and increased volume of donations? Just how important is social media to fundraising?

Yalla, youth-- SPEAK UP! UNICEF strikes again, targeting our young people with an interactive blog encouraging youth to learn about global issues affecting peer populations and to support positive causes fostering awareness and interaction amongst world youth. VOICES OF YOUTH tackles topics like the UNICEF “Schools for Asia” campaign, entrepreneurship in Nigerian education, media training in Haiti, and global summits on Child Rights, among a slew of others.

But don't stop at blogging! As the global recession drags on with employment at an all-time low and education prospects struggling, UNESCO broadcasts a broader call to action for the youth of the world:

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Wading in Waste: The Children’s Museum Jordan and the Arab American National Museum unite Jordanian and American youth to design and launch an online e-museum dedicated to increasing awareness of global garbage creation. WATCH YOUR WASTE tracks children ages 12 to 14 examining their personal and community consumption practices who then create documentaries about their experiences and craft solutions to build a greener, garbage-reduced globe.

V is for Valentine! Share in the V-Day love this year by supporting TYO's Love-Raiser! To show our appreciation to you for spreading the word, on February 15 we will randomly select five winners – who have either donated OR helped us recruit by plugging @tomorrowsyouth on Facebook or Twitter - to receive sweet treats and personalized e-card made by the students of the Women’s IT classes!

Flowers of a New Spring: “The spring cannot come without flowers. And women are the flowers of the Arab Spring,” writes popular Egyptian blogger Dalia Ziada. As we creep towards April showers and May flowers and reminisce on events last spring, CNN recognizes the heroic and laudable efforts of EIGHT EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN fomenting change in their home countries and around the Middle East. Freedom-rider Manal al Sharif challenges Saudi Arabian provisions against women driving; one of Newsweek’s 150 most influential women, Dalia Ziada presses for women’s turn in the Egyptian political arena; founder of Yemen Rights Monitor Maria Al-Masani uses media to shed light on human rights abuses; Yasmine El-Mehairy founded the Middle East’s first online parenting community Super Mama; Lamees Dhaif tells the story of political oppression in Bahrain; Shahinaz Ahmed addresses Egypt’s economic free-fall with her Education for Employment Foundation; Fida Ouri mans 96 NISAA FM out of Ramallah, the first women’s radio station in the Middle East; and 20-year old Danya Bashir chases dreams of becoming the next president of Libya while running her company Relora. Talk about catalysts of change!