Issue 8: December 2009

In this Youth Media Group Edition of Echo you can read the words and opinions of our youth media group, we look back on a busy few months in the YIC and Loft and look ahead to all that is coming up in the YIC and Loft in 2010. Enjoy!Martin KeeneyYouth Information Officer

Speak Up What’s Coming Up?News Youth Media Group articles YIC & Loft News

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre Newsletter

16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny

Tel 074-9129640 Text 086-3499998

www.donegalyouthservice.ie/yic

FREE

YOUTH MEDIA GROUP EDITION

A BIG MERRY CHRISTMAS

& HAPPY NEW YEAR

FROM ALL AT THE YIC AND LOFT!

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IRISH YOUTH MUSIC AWARD HEATS The Irish Youth Music Award Regional Heats have already been taking place, with two heats in Letterkenny and one in Donegal Town. This year has seen unprecedented interested in the Awards, with over 20 bands already having performed in the heats with the hope of gaining a place at the Regional final in the Regional Cultural Centre in February. Plans are also underway to hold a heat in Inishowen. The winner will then go on to the National Finals on April 17th in Dublin, where they will compete against bands from all over Ireland for the opportunity to record an album with the other finalists from Donegal. This is the third year of the Irish Youth Music Awards, with Donegal having claimed victory in the national final two years ago. Last years Donegal finalists, Dear Science (see pic left), also appear on a new album, These Pesky Kids, which has been released on a nationwide basis. You can also pick up a copy of this album through the Youth Information Centre.

DONEGAL YOUTH SERVICE IN HUWY LAUNCHA group from the Youth Information Centre recently travelled to Glasgow to help launch a new e-participation project.HUWY aims to get young people talking about policies and laws which affect the Internet and channel their ideas to governments and parliaments, national and EU. The YIC will be training young people from all over Ireland in the new year so if you would like to take part in this contact us now. See www.huwy.eu for more details.

CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS IN THE YIC & LOFTThe Youth Information Centre will close on Wednesday 23rd December at 6pm, with the LOFT LK drop-in finishing up at 8pm on the same day. The YIC and LOFT LK will open again on January 4th with drop-in from 1pm-6pm on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th January with both returning to normal opening hours from Wednesday 6th January.

YIC & LOFT NEWS

NORTHWEST YOUTH FILM FESTIVALA group from the centre have recently taken part in the second phase of the Peace III funded North West Youth Film Festival, producing another short film, which will be premiered at the upcoming Festival in 2010.

For more information on the Northwest Youth Film Festival contact the Regional Cultural Centre now on 074-9129186.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE INFORMATION IN ECHO SEND IT TO yicletterkenny@donegalyouthservice.ie

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We look at some recent highlights in the Youth Information Centre.

PARTY IN THE PARKSEPTEMBER-DECEMBER ‘09

Left Mid: Dear Science caught in action at Town SquareMiddle Right: Youth Media GroupBottom Left: Enjoying the IYMA album launchBottom Right: Gareth, Claire, Kevin and Tommy at the Huwy European launch in Edinburgh

Youthreach Radio Training

Recording sound effects

Intercultural food Night

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PARTY IN THE PARK

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre’s Youth Media Group meet every Tuesday evening. Over the last year they have produced short films, written articles for Newspapers and produced radio shows. This is just a sample of some of the articles written recently by the group.

YOUTH MEDIA GROUP

The Reputation of Aliensby Theo BoakyeAliens! They take all our jobs and mess with our women, they just don’t belong here! Those aliens and their unnecessary probing into our lives, those aliens and all other foreigners, should leave us to our land and our lives. It seems they just don’t know that they shouldn’t invade other planets. They appear when work looks good and leave us when the work is scarce and take the money back to their home plan-et.Their invasion targets the major cities and the lesser cities just for the confirmation of total colonisation.

There was an invasion in Letterkenny. An alien family, a mother alien and a father alien and their six alien children arrived, looking for a better life but they were told that they should go back because their kind are just leaches. We also had a fleet of former alien soldiers in Letterkenny, they put down their weapons for work and for a better life of peace in a world, free of war and unneces-sary pain to the innocent, but to

their surprise they became part of a new war. A war that some-times can take lives but that was the old days nowadays the war involves psychological attacks and techniques that lead to emotional scarring and the sense of displacement.

Recently a student alien went to a conference in Letterkenny. A conference about the issues facing aliens living here. Some brave students took this opportunity to abuse a defence-less female alien attending the college.

This war is complex; some say it comes from misplaced hate and anger, some say it’s the fear of the other aliens that left this planet fearful, so fearful it never wanted to be afraid of anything let alone anyone. The fear need-ed an everlasting fuel and they used hate instead of love, it’s uglier and it feeds itself, it cleans after itself and it takes itself for a walk. It’s the perfect pet for those, who do not accept the fact that we cannot live without each other. If you stop to say to yourself, hey what are you doing here? Know that we are here for you.

WHY TRANSITION YEAR SHOULDN’T BE ABOLISHEDBy Jack DuffyDue to the recession many commentators believe transition year should be abol-ished due to the government funding that goes into the project. It is popular to be-lieve transition year should be abolished due to the belief that it is a ‘doss’ year. I believe however this common gener-alisation of transition year or ‘TY’ is unfair and completely untrue. Transition year provides many new opportunities for young people including a view of what

the working world is like through work experience and showing them how hard it is to find work and what it involves.

It also offers new modules such as first aid, cooking, electronics and theatre studies. Transition year also provides an oppor-tunity for people to mature and also a chance to decide on the subjects they are taking for leaving cert.

Transition year is activity based. Due to this funding, we were able to help the students who could not afford it. Getting rid

of the TY would just further disadvantages those who are already disadvantaged.

Statistics show that students who com-plete TY come off generally better in the Leaving Certificate and therefore have better qualifications for college and university courses and thus a wider range of courses to choose from. This also will means the future Irish workforce will be prepared for challenges that lie ahead, with better skills and more experience of what it takes to really succeed in life.

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PARTY IN THE PARK

Bottom Left: crowd 4 - Bottom Right: Selection of crowd enjoying the 18 bands who performed on the band stage

YOUTH MEDIA GROUP

DOMESTIC VIOLENCEMy storyJohn (not his real name) tells his story of experiencing domestic violence in his home.

“At the age of 4 I was awaken by the sounds of running water followed by the noise of my mother screaming for help. The screams were loud to start with but soon became low as if silenced by water. Jumping from my bed scared of what was going on I rushed into the bathroom only to find my father with his hands wrapped around my mother’s head banging it off the bottom of the bath.

Terrified of what was happening to my mother I ran up to my father and started to kick him screaming, “get off my mummy get off my mummy”. With hearing the desperate

screams of her son my mother summoned all the strength she still had left in her body, and launched her self back knocking down my father and kicking him out of the bathroom door and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was the front door. The door was made of glass pains, so when my father hit the bottom his head went through the glass door. Soon later after the neighbours heard all the commotion the police were called to investigate what was happening. Later after taking everybody’s statements, my father was arrested for domestic violence and being drunk and disorderly.” If you or anyone you know has been affected by Domestic Violence help is out there. Donegal Domestic Violence have a 24 hour HELPLINE. Telephone 1800 262677. Their serv-ices are CONFIDENTIAL.

GINGERVITIS

Providing a little light relief Dia O’Rourke takes a satirical look at what is an Irish obsession with all things ginger.

I just saw the Harry Potter film, bit unrealistic if you ask me, I mean a ginger kid with two friends? Everyday, worldwide, there are many people suffering from gingervitis. The sub-ject was brought to the public eye in an episode of the popular television show, South Park, in 2005. South Park is believed to be a non-factual, comedy programme, although said episode was very informative and truthful.

Gingervitis is a hereditary disease caused by a recessive gene, and so, although popularly believed other-wise, not contagious. Symptoms of gingervitis include; red, or ginger hair, pale skin, freckles, and a “soulless” feel-ing. Some children with the ‘ginger’ gene may show symptoms such as violence, aggression and depression, but we can’t blame them for this, after all the only thing they have to look forward to in life is going gray. It may not be commonly known, but gingervitis is not life-threatening yet it may be very serious. At present, there is no cure for the ginger gene, but teams of highly trained scientists battle to find the solution. Some try to hide their disorder by dyeing their hair different colours, and wearing heavy orange make-up, to obtain the orange com-plexion that “normal” people aspire to achieve, but this is only a quick fix, and not a permanent solution.

Ginger kids are widely thought to be dangerous, but in most situations, this is not the case, even though the ginger gene contains a genetic predisposition towards aggression, but this is usu-ally caused by ignorant, and taunting peers. These ignorant taunts may in-clude; ginger (pronounced in a slightly different manner), matchstick, and off course carrot-top. When I was younger, “carrot-top” gave me a misconception, I had thought it was rather odd, a person with green hair. The people who taunt those suf-fering from those suffering from gin-gervitis also suffer from a disease, that of stupidity and ignorance, they drive these ginger kids to depression, to try to hide their true genetic make-up, and they feel good about themselves for doing this?The fact of the matter is many people are just uninformed about gingervitis, arousing fear. There is nothing to worry about, and soon there will be a cure.

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THE YOUTH MEDIA GROUP HAVE THEIR SAYThe young people of the YIC and LOFT LK have their own fears over what cuts in government funding may mean for youth and community projects over the coming year. When planning for this edition of ECHO a number of us in the Youth Media Group discussed how much young people have been affected by the recession and how it is having a huge effect on our future.

Theo Boakye“The loft to me is my heart. It is my heart for through pain I grew. I learned to respect others in a way of accepting their opinion and views. The loft is my home away from home it has people I can call family. It has giving me countless memories of times when I knew little and felt useless in the projects I have taken and memories of times when I knew enough to allow me to shine among my fellow friends. I learned no matter who you are and where you’re from The Loft is here to embrace you with open arms.”

David Hegarty“I like the LOFT and YIC because I can take comfort in the knowledge that I can come here at anytime and relax during my lunch break, or talk to the helpful staff about prob-lems at home or school, or just enjoy the company of likeminded young people who never judge or criticise me.”

Emmanuel Boakye“The LOFT and YIC is a very important place for teenagers and a lot of them go there. It makes teenagers feel normal because they aren’t judged by their appearance or faith. Many of the teenagers that go to the LOFT or YIC are different in many ways e.g. the way they think or what they like.”

Tatjana Vasilevska “In my opinion the government should not cut off funding to youth projects. The LOFT is one of very few places where teenagers can go and spend their free time and also educate themselves in a fun way. This place helped me a lot when I arrived in Ireland. I found new friends and learnt so much stuff from projects like Peer Education , Cultural Diversity, Art Project and Media group.”

If you would like to get involved in the Youth Media Group you can talk to a member of staff now in the Youth Information Centre to find out more or tel 074-9129640.

Declan Maley“I am a regular user of the loft/YIC’s facilities. I attend multiple courses that are run by the LOFT and the YIC. The courses that are provided by the loft and YIC are done in such a way that it is like school but a kind of school that is what a teenager would like school to be. You can learn the same things that you would learn in school but it is done in a way that the teenagers find enjoyable and fun and it is easier to get a grasp of compared to the traditional methods used by schools. If the LOFT or YIC were to close then the youth of Letterkenny would be missing out on a great opportunity to learn more than what is offered at school.”

SPEAK UP!

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STAFF CHRISTMAS WISHES

Name: Gareth Gibson

Favourite thing about Christmas:

Family Time & Christmas Pudding

Most annoying thing about Christmas:

The use of “xmas” instead of

Christmas

Ideal Gift: Something Sporty and Fun

Worst Gift ever: Lynx Deodorant

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELFI come from Ghana in West Africa but have been blessed enough to live and study in other places of the world. I studied sociology and social work in the University in Accra and worked with the Social Welfare in Ghana. I proceeded to do my masters in Counselling in Bath, UK. I came to live in Ireland in December 2001. I moved here then because my best friend from school was here with her family and told us how quiet and family- friendly the place is. I came to find out about it for my-self and have since then, never regretted. I am a mom to 3 beautiful kids who were all born here and looooove it here!!!!

HOW DID YOU END UP IN YIC?I love working with young people, creating drama and singing projects and wanted to put my skills as a people per-son into practice. I sent my CV here a few months ago in the summer for a job and was told there were no vacancies here, I then applied for a Youth Leadership Training but missed the times. I went to FAS for the CE scheme and my CV was sent here again!!! I think I was meant to be here somehow someday.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT HERE SO FAR?

I love what I have been offered here. I get to meet different people and experience different attitudes everyday. Everyday has something to offer and I get to work with the Irish youth as well, which is new to me because I was mostly dealing with people from my ethnicity. I am learning a lot on a daily basis and because it’s a busy place, time flies fast as well.

HAVE YOU ANY OTHER HOBBIES/INTERESTS?

I love dancing, travelling, going out with friends, though I don’t get to do that a lot now, and of course I love cooking spicy food.

ANYTHING YOU DON’T LIKE?

I still cannot get used to the Irish weather after 8 years. I am always cold and cannot differentiate between summer and winter and of course the ever pouring rain!!!!.

ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD?

Yes, yes, I would like to say a big thank you to all the staff I work with, they are tremendously nice and extremely kind, right from day one. Thanks to Marty, Frankie, Giulia, Gareth, Lee and all for a nice welcome and of course to all the youth without which this place wouldn’t be so vibrant. It will be a pity when my year ends because I love it here.

Some of the Staff and volunteers share some of their own Christmas crackers!

STAFF PROFILE: Gifty Ohene-Asare joined the YIC in October.

Name: Tommy Kho

Favourite thing about Christmas:

My favourite thing about Christmas is

enjoying a big celebration party with all my

friends and my family in my sweet home (In-

donesia). Unfortunately, there is no snow in

my home place, but I still enjoy my Chirstmas

without it!

Most annoying thing about Christmas:

Some people are bad at Christmas because

whenever they are getting drunk they are

making trouble. That’s what happened to me

last year.

Ideal Gift:

Tickets for Holiday to Christmas Island

Worst Gift ever:

Sting perfume from Morocco

Name: Giulia Dematte

Favourite thing about Christmas:

I am going home soon, so this year for me it’s

great to see my family and my friends after 5

months! In general I love the food, the

atmosphere, the snow...and the hot sweet wine

that we have in my city

Most annoying thing about Christmas: Every year

during the Xmas dinner my uncle tells boring

stupid-old jokes: nobody laughs, but he doesn’t

give up! AAAH!

Ideal Gift: MONEY! Then I can take my time and

choose the ideal gift on my own!

Worst Gift ever: In general I hate socks, soaps,

perfumes, underwear and all those things that

I want to choose for myself (Hello Kitty socks:

AAAH!)

GIFTY OHENE-ASARE JOINED THE YOUTH INFORMATION CENTRE TEAM IN OCTOBER. WE ASKED HER HOW SHE IS SETTLING IN.

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SPRING PROGRAMMES AT THE LOFT Now EnrollingPeer EducationThe Peer Education programme gives young people the opportunity to develop leadership and facilitation skills, to work with other groups and to try new things. The group will meet Tuesdays at 4.15pm.

Young Women’s GroupThere are two young women’s groups, one for girls aged 15 to 18 which will meet on Mondays from 4.30pm - 6pm at the Letterkenny Women’s Center and one for ages 12 to 15 which will meet on Tuesday afternoons at the LOFT.

Year One ClubThis is an activity-based programme for first year students. The activities include drama, art, games, workshops on friendship, identity and personal development. The group meet Thursdays at 4.15pm.

LYACThe LOFT Youth Advisory Committee makes sure the views of young people are considered in what happens at the LOFT. Talk to any of the LOFT staff for more information.

Cook ItCombining basic cookery skills with nutritiion information the Cook It programme is the place to find your inner Jamie Oliver. The group will meet on Wednesday afternoons at 4pm-6pm. Talk to John for more information.

Circus SkillsThere will be a demonstration on the 16th of January in the drop-in for anyone who’d like to find out more about what will be happening within the circus skills group.

Get ActiveThe Get Active group is an opportunity to try new sports and make friends. The group will meet on Wednesday afternoons.

Under 15s NightWednesday nights are for ages 12 to 15 within drop-in. Its also the night for some freebies if you fit into that age group.

Study SkillsPreperation for exams, study skills, oral practice and relaxation sessions coming up this term. If you are in an exam year speak to a member of staff for more details.

Coffee Dock CrewWe have some vacancies for coffee dock crew. If you’d like to help out an hour or two a week in the coffee dock please speak to Marty or Orla. Coffee dock crew is also eligible for the Gaisce award.

VolunteersIf you are aged 18 or over and would like to become a volunteer with the LOFT or YIC please contact a member of staff for a volunteer application pack. YOUTH INFORMATION CENTRE

YOUTH MEDIA GROUPThe Letterkenny Youth Information Centre Youth Media Group will continue to meet in the New Year on Tuesday evenings from 6-8pm. We will be beginning a new radio training course in the New Year so if you would like to take part talk to Marty or Frankie in the YIC now.

YOUTH FORUMThe Youth Information Centre Youth Forum gives young people the chance to have a direct input into how the Youth Information Centre operates. If you would like to join the Youth Forum talk to a Marty or Frankie now.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY GROUPThe Youth Information Centre Cultural Diversity Group will continue to meet on Wednesday from January onwards. If you would like to join this group talk to Frankie.

STUDENT TRAVEL CARD Letterkenny Youth Information Centre are the main agent for the Student Travel Card in Donegal. If you would like to purchase one come into the centre today.

WEEKLY ACCOMMODATION & EMPLOYMENT LISTSThe Youth Information Centre Weekly Employment and Accommodation Lists are now available online. To download a copy of the most recent lists see our website www.donegalyouthservice.ie/yic

ABOUT THE LOFT LKThe Loft LK is a Youth Project and Adolescent Health Advice Café managed in partnership between the Donegal Youth Service and Foroige with funding being provided by the Health Service Executive.

NOW ENROLLING!

Youth Health - Art - Drama - Media Skills - Personal Development - Peer Leadership - Peer Education - Young Women’s group - Much more....

Call in and see how you can get involved. Loft LK Youth Project & Health Café16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny, Co DonegalPhone 07491-88271 or email loftstaff@gmail.com

ABOUT THE LETTERKENNY YOUTH INFORMATION CENTREThe Youth Information Centre is a well established resource for the local community providing Young people and those who work with them a one stop shop for information and training opportunities in the following areas:

Job and Housing Lists - Law and Justice - CV Preparation - Travel opportunities - College applications - Student Travel card service - Practice for Driver Theory Test - Leadership training - Media skills training - Drop in service

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre, 16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny, Co. DonegalTel 0749129640 or email yicletterkenny@donegalyouthservice.ie

WHAT’S COMING UP?

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