This week in the Global Program: GRANT PROPOSALS!
We will be taking our research, the project and its data, to the next level by preparing ourselves for the next step – getting money to continue our work. My head is spinning with possibilities, so the task at hand is to sift through all of these to discover what it is I’m really interested in pursuing. This could turn into something that’s for real, or something that ends when I graduate the program. Who knows! Time will tell and that’s really what will be going on in the next 3 weeks!
On a lighter note, it appears as though Dwight’s operation was successful. If anything, I was successful in gluing my hand to Dwight for a moment and spilling the super glue all over my other hand. So there’s that. Dwight will remain in his bandages for 24 hours to ensure a secure hold. Plus.. I just kinda like his current look!
(Video coming soon!)
Showing posts with label UMFGlobal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UMFGlobal. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Take Action
Simple concept.
Organize, inspire and motivate youth to do something good and in turn be a part of something bigger than themselves... together.
We're calling it "Take Action" (for now), and it will run on a website with a new "action" to take each day. When you've completed the action you click "I've Acted" and you get added to the total number of people who have taken action. On the website, people will be able to share their thoughts and experiences via a forum, upload photos and upload videos. There will also be links to resources about why their actions are important (they are related to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals).
Check out the video for a little bit of what we envision this to be.
Organize, inspire and motivate youth to do something good and in turn be a part of something bigger than themselves... together.
We're calling it "Take Action" (for now), and it will run on a website with a new "action" to take each day. When you've completed the action you click "I've Acted" and you get added to the total number of people who have taken action. On the website, people will be able to share their thoughts and experiences via a forum, upload photos and upload videos. There will also be links to resources about why their actions are important (they are related to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals).
Check out the video for a little bit of what we envision this to be.
The Project...
Eureka!
On the list of "To Dos" for my classes here in Geneva, figuring out a project idea was basically THE most gratifying item to check off the list. My parter Ben and I were able to check it off on Wednesday!
Since then we've been busy working on video to present the idea, concept mapping for the web page, goals, a "one-pager" which we can give to potential partners (NGOs that would work with us on the project) and... lots of other things we haven't even thought of yet. However, we couldn't get started on any of this other stuff until we figured out our idea. So I'm thrilled that we have it worked out on paper and people seem excited about it when we tell them what we'll be doing! I'll post our video when it's finished so you can get a sense of what I'll be working on for the next year. It's going to be very cool.
And no... I'm not going to tell you the idea until we finish the video. I'm interested in everyone's opinions, and I think the video is a good way to get the basic idea of what the project is about!
Peace,
Kira
On the list of "To Dos" for my classes here in Geneva, figuring out a project idea was basically THE most gratifying item to check off the list. My parter Ben and I were able to check it off on Wednesday!
Since then we've been busy working on video to present the idea, concept mapping for the web page, goals, a "one-pager" which we can give to potential partners (NGOs that would work with us on the project) and... lots of other things we haven't even thought of yet. However, we couldn't get started on any of this other stuff until we figured out our idea. So I'm thrilled that we have it worked out on paper and people seem excited about it when we tell them what we'll be doing! I'll post our video when it's finished so you can get a sense of what I'll be working on for the next year. It's going to be very cool.
And no... I'm not going to tell you the idea until we finish the video. I'm interested in everyone's opinions, and I think the video is a good way to get the basic idea of what the project is about!
Peace,
Kira
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Geneva - it's more than just the landscape
We’ve been really fortunate.
I’m not just saying that because I get to hang out in Geneva, Switzerland and stare out at some of the most beautiful landscape I’ve gotten the chance to gaze upon in my life. I’m talking about all of the people we’ve heard from the last week and a half. Leaders of all sorts of NGOs have come to talk with us, brainstorm with us and listen to us – about how to help affect some positive change in the world. This is pretty cool since a NGO is sort of like a non-profit organization working to better the world. Why are we in Geneva to listen to them? Since the UN Office in Geneva works with human rights, a lot of the NGOs are based here. This is important because what makes an NGO so special is that they have special permission to present documents (in a sense “lobby”) to the UN. So, it’s fairly powerful that we get to meet with these groups.
This program is pretty unique. I will hopefully finish the program completing a project for my Masters that will have made a difference in some small way, and without explaining what my project is right now, let me just say it’s going to be pretty awesome.
All my best to you! I hope you find my updates informational (sometimes) and characteristically “Kira-esque” (all the time) :)
Peace,
Kira
I’m not just saying that because I get to hang out in Geneva, Switzerland and stare out at some of the most beautiful landscape I’ve gotten the chance to gaze upon in my life. I’m talking about all of the people we’ve heard from the last week and a half. Leaders of all sorts of NGOs have come to talk with us, brainstorm with us and listen to us – about how to help affect some positive change in the world. This is pretty cool since a NGO is sort of like a non-profit organization working to better the world. Why are we in Geneva to listen to them? Since the UN Office in Geneva works with human rights, a lot of the NGOs are based here. This is important because what makes an NGO so special is that they have special permission to present documents (in a sense “lobby”) to the UN. So, it’s fairly powerful that we get to meet with these groups.
This program is pretty unique. I will hopefully finish the program completing a project for my Masters that will have made a difference in some small way, and without explaining what my project is right now, let me just say it’s going to be pretty awesome.
All my best to you! I hope you find my updates informational (sometimes) and characteristically “Kira-esque” (all the time) :)
Peace,
Kira
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
So... Geneva? Why Geneva?
People have been asking me what I am doing in Geneva. Some of what I'm doing in class is easy to explain and some of it is hard, so I will try:
1) We're learning Ruby on Rails which is a web design programming language that we will use in the design of our projects during the next year.
2) Digital video. We've made a couple videos, but we haven't spent as much time on this as we have on #1 and #3.
Speaking of #3...
3) This is the big one. This is the time we spend researching and listening to people who are working on some sort of project that is trying to improve conditions in the world. My final project will have something to do with this Project conceptualizing/speakers/collaboration - this is a lot of why we are here in Geneva. We've spent time hearing from all sorts of people working to change the world for the better in their own ways. We've heard from a man from the UNA in Congo who is working to improve the lives of people in the Congo (trying to prevent malaria by getting people mosquito nets, for example), we heard from the Director of Projects at WFUNA (World Federation of United Nations Associations), the ILO (International Labor Organization), the Loi Gai Project (this refers to people in prisons in China... there are some really horrible things happening there), tomorrow we will hear from the International Red Cross, and we've heard from some others as well... anyway. We've spent a lot of our time here on this part, but that's because it's the hardest part. I'm not totally sure what my project is going to look like yet, but I'm getting there...
Does this clear up, ever so slightly, what I'm doing here? Basically. We're learning the skills we will need in order to use technology to educate/advocate others/students about global issues. Or maybe I'm just here to hang out in Switzerland for three weeks! :)
I hope you are all well! Let me know if you have questions..
Peace,
Kira
1) We're learning Ruby on Rails which is a web design programming language that we will use in the design of our projects during the next year.
2) Digital video. We've made a couple videos, but we haven't spent as much time on this as we have on #1 and #3.
Speaking of #3...
3) This is the big one. This is the time we spend researching and listening to people who are working on some sort of project that is trying to improve conditions in the world. My final project will have something to do with this Project conceptualizing/speakers/collaboration - this is a lot of why we are here in Geneva. We've spent time hearing from all sorts of people working to change the world for the better in their own ways. We've heard from a man from the UNA in Congo who is working to improve the lives of people in the Congo (trying to prevent malaria by getting people mosquito nets, for example), we heard from the Director of Projects at WFUNA (World Federation of United Nations Associations), the ILO (International Labor Organization), the Loi Gai Project (this refers to people in prisons in China... there are some really horrible things happening there), tomorrow we will hear from the International Red Cross, and we've heard from some others as well... anyway. We've spent a lot of our time here on this part, but that's because it's the hardest part. I'm not totally sure what my project is going to look like yet, but I'm getting there...
Does this clear up, ever so slightly, what I'm doing here? Basically. We're learning the skills we will need in order to use technology to educate/advocate others/students about global issues. Or maybe I'm just here to hang out in Switzerland for three weeks! :)
I hope you are all well! Let me know if you have questions..
Peace,
Kira
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)