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Jen's Journal

Living Your Dreams

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

things at TIG have been really stressful for me lately -- from a 'fundraising' perspective. i have been working with vanessa on trying to create several proposals for: the Laidlaw Foundation, the Canadian International Development Agency, YMCA, Trillium Foundation, Human Resources Development Canada etc. We are also trying to develop sponsorship packages for Microsoft, the Royal Bank, McDonalds, 3COM, Erricson -- and other corporations who might be interested in sponsoring our Global Gallery, Workshop Kit, Technology Development, Global Youth Advisory Team, Packages for International Youth reps and Zone coordinators...etc. etc.

It feels like everything is stalled -- or just suddenly pushed to a pause -- in the midst of fog...grey skies...with streaks of bright yellow light that give hope -- but as soon as we draw near, suddenly seem very distant...

in the midst of the slowness, powerlessness, fear of 'UNSUSTAINABILITY', fear of being put in the position where we might not be able to keep doing what we love...fear of having to give up living a dream that is so beautiful - that is changing people's lives...because we don't focus on $$ or structures or the 10 year plan -- but rather -- the community -- the people -- the ideas -- the vision.

in the midst of being torn, i realize that people are living their dreams. I am living my dream - today - this very moment in time -- because of people like you, who are actually reading this update...and because of people like nordine, ashley, derek, manny, emily, ben, vanessa, vittoria, amanda, amity, martin, jarra, michael...(THE LIST GOES ON!!)...people who BELIEVE in themselves enough to live their own dreams -- and share them with people like me -- so that we can live our dreams together.

here's what i mean:

'Making Connections' - tonight (july 25) Ashley conducted her first workshop ever called 'Making Connections'! She did research on what organizations are out there involving youth from across Toronto and created a workshop to allow the different groups to connect, get to know eachother and build potential partnerships / relationships. While we went around the circle to get feedback from all the participants (about 20 people in the room!!), just watching Ashley's face light up with confidence and satisfaction based on the fact that everyone got something valuable from the bit of time that we spent together -- WAS INcREdIBLE!!

'Creating Opportunities for Yourself' - This morning, Derek, Vittoria and Martin co-presented and gave a workshop at St. Stephen's Employment and Training Centre about getting inspired, informed and involved with TIG and how to create opportunties for yourself. Here's a quote from Suelyn (the teacher who invited TIG reps to come and speak): "I've been teaching for quite a number of years, and rarely have I attended any workshops that simply leave me speechless! Once again, TIG has got me all choked up...This morning's presentation was absolutely fantastic! I really appreciated meeting Derek, Martin and Vittoria (great seeing you again) and listening to their dynamic 'dialogues'. Thank you ALL for taking the time to address this audience at St. Stephen's...I know your presence this morning made a substantial impact on my students."

'HTML Workshop' - Nordine organized a workshop for marginalized, inner-city youth at Serve Canada's training Centre on Monday and several TIG members went as part of her support team...every word of feedback from this workshop has been extremely positive!! From what I've hear, Nordine had people creating web pages within a few hours and totally related to people -- she played loud hip-hop music, was wearing a a bright basketball jersey, was loud, energetic and really engaged her audience!! I'm looking forward to reading the 'diary entries' that she writes about her experiences as a workshop leader.

aside from the people who have already conducted a workshop -- there's people like Ezekeil from Ghana who will be promoting the Global Gallery contest to youth in his country through an Arts Council that he runs -- and will be conducting a workshop called 'Building a Global Community "thru" Networking with TakingITGlobal (GHANA)

Manny (who was born in India and is currently in the Netherlands) has also fully motivated me after our chat on msn yesterday!! We talked about how he could start a TIG project in his community and after our discussion, he posted an update about how he felt excited about making things happen!!

THIS is what TakingITGlobal is about.

WOW!!

yes.
life is tough.

every choice we make, has inevitable concequences that we can't always foresee. but everything we experience today, is the result of a seed that we planted yesterday.

we do not have very much money flowing in because we don't focus on making money. we have new members joining every day, we have people posting updates about their experiences, we have people sharing their artwork, conducting workshops, passing by the TIG office for a visit, people holding meetings or discussions about tig in their own communities, people browsing through our site and looking for new initiatives to get involved in, people GETTING INSPIRED...because we have invested our time, energy and FOCUS into creating community.

we aren't there yet -- far from the vision that we are truly striving for...but this week...i really feel one step closer - towards that streak of yellow light...and i just want to share this moment of joy, hope and perspective with those who are interested -- and with myself -- in the future -- for the next time that i feel down or frustrated...

[ps. the pic is of me getting a bit stressed -- but the good thing is that i'm living my dream -- so it's all good]

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a fun day outdoors

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

on Friday, a bunch of us tiggers went to the McMichael Art Gallery and had a picnic, played frizbee, blew bubbles, and created paintings together!! it was great fun!

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derek's decentralized network model!

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

a few weeks ago, derek and i sat on a rock outside and talked for a while about the future of TIG...the thoughts that he shared has a lot to do with the diagram in this picture!! some of his thoughts stem from a book about the 'indvidualized corporation'.

Having conversations that tap into new paradigms of thinking, working and collaborating is not only exciting, but necessary! derek is someone who is always providing brilliant perspectives on where we need to go, and how we need to get there...

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so proud of breslin!

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

i just wanna recognize breslin and her involvement with TIG! She has been staying with her brother Derek (our Workshop Kit Coordinator and Technical Advisor), hanging out at the office as a volunteer for the past few weeks...

Since we didn't have an extra computer for her to use, she spent a LOT of time just drawing different pictures with pencil crayons in her sketch book...After about a week, i asked if i could have a look at what she was working on and was totally impressed!

We had a chat about how she could use her talent as an artist to add value to the community and realized that Ashley arranged for TIG to have a booth at a play about 'body image' and this would be the perfect opportunity for breslin to display her art! although the turnout wasn't what they had hoped for, i think that breslin gained a boost of confidence!

the next milestone was reached when I asked Breslin if she was interested in posting her artwork online as an Exhibit in our Global Gallery! She was fully psyched about the idea and got started right away. This involved her learning how to use the scanner along with Photoshop, our online Administration Tool and a few other 'tech tools'. With a special thanks to amanda for pulling things together, You can check out breslin's exhibit

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2-hour long distance phone call from Australia

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

today i had an intense conversation with our Director of Visual Development and Oceanic Zone Coordinator - Jarra McGrath...

all i can say is that it was quite inspirational, thought-provoking and awe-inspiring.

thanks jarra!

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a learning adventure!

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

this picture was taken of vittoria while she spoke about her vision for the global gallery at a workshop called 'How to think like Leonardo DaVinci' held at the Ontario Science Centre...

As the global gallery contest starts to take off, i thought i'd share some of the challenges faced and discoveries made along the way!

This morning, we had a quick inspirational discussion about how to focus our efforts around the global gallery - and we decided that it was important to get into some local art galleries and museums involved in order to connect with 'youth program coordinators' or others who might pass along the gg flyers to interested talented individuals!

She ended up spending the afternoon on the streets of Toronto with Breslin, going to different galleries and museums including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario!

After a reflective discussion, we realized that one of the key things learned was the importance FIRST IMPRESSIONS! It is important to have a good opening line to catch the interest and respect of the people you are interacting with.

"Are you an artist?" - was a statement that caught the attention of young people.

Good opening lines to people in galleries were: "What is the focus of your organization? Do you just cater to professional artists? What is your involvement with youth?

When i asked vittoria what she learned, she said "It took courage to get out there and talk to people. Something that might be be really simple can be really intimidating and overwhelming"...

...until you FOCUS on your mission, set a direction and take initiative - it's not going to get done!!

The major advice that Vittoria would give to other Global Gallery Representatives would be to "bring someone with you to provide support and encouragement!! Breslin came along for the adventure, who helped me stay positive and focused on goals that we set out to achieve."

Once Vittoria started making connections with different galleries, she found herself gaining confidence and creating further opportunities! "Every door lead to another exhibit"..

The other bit of wisdom gained from this whole experiece comes from the realization that "you are more effective at creating partnerships if you meet with people in person!"

I hope that Vittoria and Breslin will be sharing their perspectives on their first adventure some time soon!

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the art of facilitation!

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

In May, I attended the International Association of Facilitators conference and picked up a few techniques on the 'art of facilitation'! It didn't take long for our team to get a taste for some of the tips that i picked up along the way! Here we are, discussing what value TIG provides to young people, governments, business and other NGO's!

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inspired by updates from other tiggers!

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

every day i think about what i might be able to write in my update and the ideas grow and change shape to the point that i don't end up getting around to it!! well, it's time to put an end to the procrastination!! to all those who have been posting updates steady and strong, i just wanna say thanks!! i will do my best to start communicating more with the rest of this awe-inspiring network :)

ps. the picture is of our cool office space!

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