Monthly Digest - July and August 2013.

JUL/ AUG ISSUE

MONTHLYDIGEST a summary of what is happening in the world JB-wise

EDITORIAL This year started off with a lot of changes for CISV, and that includes JB! In this MD edition, we will present some of these changes. We also have an article written by James, our former IJR (Internacional Junior Representative)!

Enjoy reading in our new publication format, with lots of color and funny pictures just for you!

IJBC (Internacional Junior Branch Conference) was held in Salvador, Brazil.

Wanna know more about this awesome conference?

Check out the page NEWS OF THE IJBC and also the IJBC Minutes!

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WHY IS JB IMPORTANT FOR YOU? On this video, JBers present the importance of JB to them and to CISV at IJBC 2013.

AIM NEWS J-01 and J-02 were approved at AIM (Annual International Meeting) 2013!

Don’t know what they are? Find out!

TRUTH OR DARE The truth is that IJB Thinks #21 is incredible!

We dare you to read it, share it and write an article for the next IJB Thinks.

RIGHT ON - STEP #4 Step #4 has finally been launched!

‘Digging Deeper’ - An activity to get to know international Human Rights instruments beyond the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and identify their impact on world events.

PEACE ONE DAY 21st of September just happened! What did you do for peace day? Share your success stories! peaceday@ijb.cisv.org 2/4

SO, 2 YEARS HAVE PASSED...

By James Pattinson

I’ve been joking for the past couple of months about the things I’m going to do ‘when I get my life back’ after finishing my term as IJR. I was looking forward to making plans to do all sorts of things instead of spending evenings on skype and making documents at weekends. Looking back however, I hope it’s not the number emails I remember but something about the contribution I made, the people I worked with or the fun I had!

In 2011, IJB was in a pretty different place than we are today. IJB was a much more inwardlooking organisation, focused on solving its own problems rather than looking out to work with others or having an impact outside CISV. This wasn’t anyone’s fault, but the natural stage after a long period of growth which saw a lot more JBers involved regionally and internationally than ever before; IJBC nearly reached 100 people in 2010, and 40 people had joined the IJB Team. Everyone wanted to cooperate and communicate but it took time to work out how.

Over the last two years, IJB has seen the leadership structure (the IJB Team) change twice, each time learning from before. A new working group structure allowed any JBer anywhere to join in projects internationally, and more importantly, the number of projects and people involved has grown from a small handful to many diverse projects in the regions and around the world. The biggest challenge for me two years ago was how JB could keep up with its growth, and I think these developments are just the beginning of revealing the full potential of what JB can do.

these last two years have certainly been a big challenge for the IJRs. With the organisational changes going on, I personally felt a lot of pressure to ‘speak up’ for JB, but actually I discovered two things that really helped: 1) Junior Branch is an integral part of CISV, as it is where CISV puts its educational purpose into action, where youth can ‘learn by doing’. The idea that an IJR has to ‘fight for JB in CISV’ is seriously flawed as we are very much at the heart of CISV. 2) I never felt I had to ‘speak up’ because the work and dedication of JBers around the world, and the experiences of individuals who had been involved in some way with JB were enough to support and ‘speak up’ for Junior Branch, and demonstrate our value and how we fit in CISV. OK so I’m beginning to ramble, so what are 3 highlights of the last 2 years?

1) Getting J-01 and J-02 approved at AIM 2013.

2) Attending the 3 regional meetings, and learning something new each time.

3) Working with a lot of very interesting and very talented people.

This last point is perhaps the one that I will remember the most when I look back. I was very lucky to have Mateo and Cande as my inspirational co-IJRs, but also the two IJB Teams I was lucky to have supporting us, and also the many, many great people I have met over the last two years. The opportunity to meet so many interesting, funny, entertaining people each year is unique, and one I will value and remember.

The last two years have been huge for JB, and it has seen a lot of fundamental The other part of the IJR’s job of course is organisational change, but now I am very to represent JB to CISV as a whole, and excited to see where it will go in the next two years, and then after that!

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AJB

Team

(Americas’ Junior Branch Team) have two new members.

Welcome Zinho and Majo!

Thanks Ana and Grace!

hat’osn w up regi

Thank YOU!

WELCOME!

Former NJRs

New NJRs...

PHOTO SECTION If one picture could describe JB for you, which would it be? We want you to show us!

Send it to monthly.digest@ijb.cisv.org

MONTHLY DIGEST TEAM please feel free to email us, share information about your region, projects, event, etc. <monthly.digest@ijb.cisv.org>

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