Together: A Song for Haiti

Music students were moved by the tragedy in Haiti and wanted to help, so they decided to apply their skills to raise awareness and show their support of the people of Haiti.

The High School for Recording Arts (HSRA), aka Hip Hop High, is an alternative high school in St. Paul, MN. HSRA provides youth the opportunity to achieve a high school diploma through the exploration and operation of the music business and other creative endeavors.

Play the video below to hear their song (link to YouTube here).

Technology used to Support Haiti

The Next Web’s Weekly Recap for January 17 by Mike Bracco reports on the positive impact technology has had to support Haiti:

The tragedy in Haiti has been all over the news recently and many have turned to technology and social media to support the effort.

The most popular method people have been using is mGive. The service allows you to donate to support the Red Cross Haiti relief effort by simply texting HAITI to 90999 to give $10. The donation is then simply added to your mobile phone bill.

As of a couple days ago, the text donation effort has pulled in over $4 million.

Google has also launched a Crisis Response page to support disaster relief in Haiti at Google.com/Relief/HaitiEarthquake.

Follow @SUFC on Twitter, where we've been tweeting updates and links to articles on the situation in Haiti.

Canada and the G8

By Kristen Ostling

It’s been a pretty interesting New Year in Ottawa so far. The decision to shut down parliament dominated the headlines, but just 24 hours after that story broke, Canada also took over the presidency of the G8, a group made up of the leaders of the eight of the world’s most powerful countries, and a critical decision making body when it comes to supporting the world’s poorest people.

It is once again Canada’s time to lead and it’s our time to remind Ottawa that even though parliament may be prorogued, we can’t prorogue the fight against global poverty.

Ask our leaders to develop a new Canadian plan to invest in meeting the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty and disease by 2015. Take action now by clicking this link to add your name to our urgent petition.

The petition, which we'll deliver to Prime Minister Harper and opposition leaders Ignatieff, Duceppe, and Layton, reads:

As Canada assumes the presidency of the G8 for 2010, please honour the tradition of leadership in the fight against global poverty by announcing a new commitment to investing in proven solutions to extreme poverty and disease, as part of a Millennium Development Goal action plan with a strong focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.

Canada is uniquely positioned to be the catalyst for a new, global push to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Across parties and governments, Canada kept its promise to double foreign assistance between 2005 and 2010. It’s an accomplishment we can celebrate and use as a jumping-off point this year.

With that in mind, ONE is teaming up with Make Poverty History Canada to take advantage of this historic moment. In 2010, Canadian leadership at the G8 will play a crucial role in keeping the focus on the incredible opportunity we have to make this the decade when we keep the global promise to meet the challenge of global poverty and preventable disease.

But it will only happen if we come together and remind our leaders in Ottawa that we’re watching and expect bold action against global poverty in 2010 and beyond.

Take action here now.

Kristen Ostling is a member of the activist group ONE

No one can take away your Human Rights

December 10th commemorates the United Nations’ adoption and proclamation of the International Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration was first ratified in 1948 and since then the United Nations has worked tirelessly to provide “dignity and justice for all.”

Even though the document has stated that all human beings are entitled to certain rights this has not been the case for many in the past. Youth for Human Rights has produced a series of videos on each right. Featured below is the right to your own human rights. Watch the video below and visit the link below for more videos.

Human Right #30:

No One Can Take Away Your Human Rights

Human Rights are the most important assets citizens of the world can enjoy without any doubt that they will be upheld.

What are human rights? Find out at youthforhumanrights.org.

World AIDS Day: What does it mean?

By Dorothy Garcia & Tom Harding

Photo by Tom Harding

For the 1,000 African mothers who today will give birth to a child infected with HIV, probably not much. AIDS is a reality they live with every day, and they most likely face imminent death, or witnessing the death of their child, or both.

In wealthy nations, modern medicine has nearly eliminated mother-to-child HIV transmission through a relatively simple procedure that could also be available to African mothers. To make that a reality, we citizens of wealthy nations must exercise our political and economic power to pressure our governments and pharmaceutical companies to collaborate with African governments. In our day-to-day interactions, we must educate our children, students, friends, family and colleagues to make healthy choices and to understand their power to make positive change.

Last year we spent World AIDS Day in South Africa leading a service learning group to celebrate the opening of our organization’s new center in Khayelitsha. It was a euphoric experience after three years of community collaboration, planning, fundraising and building, and brought to mind Nelson Mandela’s words: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
After the opening, as we moved through the day, we were struck by the widespread collective effort to educate the nation about AIDS. Employees in shopping centers not only wore red ribbons, but t-shirts with potent messages discouraging stigmatization and promoting unity. On television, there were more than the obligatory public service announcements; every television soap opera and sit-com involved plotlines focusing on AIDS-related myths, human rights issues and safe sex practices. And this occurred in a country where just a few years ago the President at the time was, at least to a degree, an AIDS denialist.

Like any day of recognition, World AIDS Day is meaningful only if it spurs us to reflect on the issues and problems, to consider our responsibility, and then to take action toward a solution on that day and days to come.

That’s how we make the impossible possible.


Dorothy Garcia and Tom Harding are co-founding Directors of Art Aids Art, a nonprofit organization promoting health, arts-based literacy and sustainable economic development in South Africa. In North America, Art Aids Art works with colleges and schools to create awareness about South African culture and the AIDS crisis through art exhibits, presentations and student-led chapters. Art Aids Art leads annual social justice trips to Cape Town. For more information, visit www.artaidsart.org.

Canadians can take action Environmental Change today

By Bilaal Rajan

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark (Cop15) this December 2009 is a great opportunity for Canada to show the rest of the world how serious we. as Canadians, are about climate change and what we are prepared to do in order to reverse its devastating impact on our ecosystems.

There is a great deal of concern from scientists and other policy experts, however, that Canada is not pulling its weight to stop climate change. A recent study by German insurance company Allianz SE and the global conservation group WWF puts Canada at the bottom of the list for having one of the world’s largest per capita emissions and failing to implement any program to change this.

I am afraid that this kind of inaction will damage Canada’s reputation as a forward-thinking and progressive country. The fact is that we have a highly-educated workforce and a strong entrepreneurial spirit that can help move us away from fossil fuels and towards more environmentally-friendly forms of energy. Not only will this create tens of thousands of new jobs, but will put Canada on track to reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

At Cop15 this December, Canada has the opportunity to lead the world and show how environmental sustainability and economic strength can go hand in hand. But this won’t happen unless we let our elected leaders know how we really feel about this most important issue.

I am urging each and every one of you to write letters to your members of parliament (MPs) today and tell them to step up and take action on the environment right now. I wrote to several MPs and even members of the Ontario Provincial Parliament. It takes very little time. And don’t forget to write to Prime Minister Harper as well. My friends at Roots and Shoots have produced a document that lists all the emails of MPs on the Environment Committee, among others available here.

Please forward this message to as many friends and family as possible so they can get involved too! Time on the environment is running short. But if we send enough letters, it will force them to act on climate change. Thank you for making a difference, and happy writing!

Bilaal Rajan is a Canadian fundraiser, motivational speaker, author and founder of Hands for Help. He has raised over $5 million for various causes and is the youngest Ambassador ever for UNICEF, worldwide. Visit bilaalrajan.com for further details on his work.

10 Ways to Support Charities in Social Networks

Originally posted July 14, 2009 at Mashable.com by Josh Catone

1. Write a Blog Post
2. Share Stories with Friends
3. Follow Charities on Social Networks
4. Support Causes on Awareness Hubs
5. Find Volunteer Opportunities
6. Embed a Widget on Your Site
7. Organize a Tweetup
8. Express Yourself Using Video
9. Sign or Start a Petition
10. Organize an Online Event

Read the full details and see examples of these tips in the full post at Mashable.com!

This post is a collaboration between Mashable’s Summer of Social Good charitable fundraiser and Max Gladwell’s “10 Ways” series. The post was simultaneously published across more than 100 blogs.

To the Fallen

By, Mozafer Rajabali

Remember the day that voice shook the earth,

Your arms and legs didn’t tremble in the face of death,

It was the beginning of a new birth,

An essence entangled against the will of Macbeth…

Remember, Remember, the day we went asunder,

When the world was illuminated with those that never make a blunder,

They blessed us, forbade us, and sacrificed change,

For it was written in their blood, to forever exchange –

Their blood for ours in a deal inexplicable,

In a transaction unaccounted,

In a contract with a timeless seal,

Thus Remember, remember the fifth of November*.

Remember the true sword, to show who’s boss,

Much like the Mexicans El Dio De las Muertos,

A pledge to remember those that have fallen,

Under the motive that remains not stallen.

The Muslims call it Jihad,

In two different fads,

The most important curing the inner self,

The lesser ordains removing weapons from a shelf.

No matter where you look – change seems to breathe,

Yet a stimulus remains hanging, in the midst to believe –

That one must fight an inner war of desperation

To come out and be of an alteration.


* - a quote taken from the movie “V for Vendetta”, representing the pain that can be suffered under the hands of the government by the people. The movie illustrates very carefully, how the political change in a country can have a psychological affect on people and determine their lives forever. Although this is a hypothetical situation, it demonstrates the will power of those that want to bring about immediate change and can go to the extreme of sacrificing their own lives as an epitome for those that remain alive.

** Mozafer Rajabali is a grade 11 student in the IB program, who wants potential to be recognized in the most deprived countries.