17th WC Observer

Ken Colloton, Helen McEwan and Fernando Ondarza

THURSDAY, JULY 22nd, 2010

Newly Elected Officers Commit to Steer the Way to Stronger FutureTo a huge round of applause, Ken Colloton of the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) was announced the President of the World Alli-ance of YMCAs. A delighted but humbled Ken said, “It’s my hon-our and privilege and pleasure to be able to serve the World Al-liance of YMCAs.”

Ken has a long history of service to the YMCA movement dating back to the 1970s. He served as YMCA of the USA’s Board Chair from 2007 – 2010, representing 21 million members (including 10 million children and youth) and 550,000 volunteers in 10,000 unique and diverse communities across the United States. Cur-rently chair of Y-USA’s World Service, Ken has played a critical role in shaping the strategic focus and direction of the mission imperative to strengthen inclusion of diverse communities and build global community. He has been a member of the World Alliance Executive Committee since 2006.

A Chartered Accountant, Ken is the Senior Vice President and Director of Government Banking at RBS/Citizens Bank. He has more than 30 years of experience in bank management includ-ing five years in Hong Kong heading Asia/Pacific operations and two years in Brazil leading the Central and South American re-gional office for Bankers Trust Company. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Management, and an advanced de-gree from the Bank Administration Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a recent graduate of the Global Insti-tute for Leadership Development in San Diego, California.

A delighted Fernando Ondarza from Mexico, was elected as Deputy President. “I think it is time, as it has always been, for the YMCA to be a voice, to be a platform and to be the space where young people can develop,” he said.

With 30 years involvement in the YMCA, Ondarza holds leader-ship positions in his local YMCA, the Latin America & Caribbean Alliance of YMCAs, and is the immediate past Treasurer of the World Alliance. An architect by profession, he has been respon-sible for many important building and restoration projects in Mexico, and has been curator of various museum expositions. He is also a director of a publishing company and founding partner of an organisation producing cultural and scientific programmes.

Newly elected Treasurer, who was “overwhelmed” by her ap-pointment, Helen McEwan, said “I’d like to see the YMCA really growing and becoming stronger and more vibrant. The stron-ger we can get, the more people we can reach.”

With 26 years experience in accountancy, and a Bachelor of Commerce, she is a Partner of a Chartered Accountancy firm. Helen has held treasurer and leadership positions locally and nationally and served as a member of the World Alliance Execu-tive Committee in the immediate past term.

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By Rebecca Morton Doherty, World Alliance of YMCAs

A Defaced Globe

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How Can We Dance When our Beds are Burning?Worship at World Council By Clarissa Balan, World Alliance of YMCAs

Every morning at worship, a huge globe becomes the centre of our songs, prayers and reflection. This morning, we were in-vited to “dirty” our hands and “deface” the globe, to express the violence that we do to the earth, whether consciously or not. Seven small basins filled with paint or mud were placed around the globe and delegates were invited to dip their hand into the basin and smear paint on the globe. This act was not intended to do “more violence against an already depleted globe” but rather to “make visible the violence we do even when we don’t want to or are not aware of it.”

For me, the worship this morning spoke as powerfully as any of the declarations I have heard in the past two days. As we were preparing the hall for worship last night, we didn’t have to go

far to find things to litter the globe. The plenary hall was filled with empty or half empty water bottles, copies of speeches and reports that were presented during the day, paper bags, plastic bags, and pens, anything that people no longer had any use for.

My hands are dirty; our hands are dirty. All are complicit in the transgressions committed against the earth. All of us contribute to global warming and climate change, whether we like it or not, but worse because we do not see the connection between our actions and the harm that we do to the earth. “How can we dance when our beds are burning?” the famous song asks. As several speakers at our World Council have underlined, we need to act urgently to address the harm being done to Gaia.

Kie Cummings, YMCA Europe

I have been intrigued by the discussions and debates relating to brand. The diversity of opinion and critical approach of the emerging conversation, can eventually only mean positive steps for YMCAs at every level throughout the world.

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Skills Building WorkshopsGlobal Citizenship Education in APAY By Carmen Hui, Hong Kong

Participants in yesterday’s Forum on Global Citizenship Educa-tion took part in a role-play game to get a taste of life as an as-sembly-line factory worker. The 20 workshop participants were ordered to produce a quota of iPhones (made from paper), and were told not to talk, meet or request breaks, otherwise their wages would be reduced or they would lose their jobs.

“The game helped me understand that non-skilled workers are under tremendous pressure to make ends meet and are often subject to harsh working conditions,” said Carmen Hui, a univer-sity student from Hong Kong. “Labour rights are very important for safeguarding the welfare and interest of workers.”

During the workshop, representatives of the Asia and Pacific Al-liance of YMCAs (APAY) shared their perspective on global citi-

zenship as “an awareness and act of commitment rooted in the spirit of global consciousnesses and interdependencies of the world.”

Goshi Ito, member of APAY’s Youth Committee from Japan said, “Global citizenship is about making changes for a better world, and global citizenship education helps inspire and equip youth to do this.”

“I believe I can. I stand up for what I believe. I take responsibility. I take action. I am a global citizen. Moving forward will be the perfect concluding statement of today’s workshop,” said Fiona Lee, member of APAY’s Youth Committee from Hong Kong.

Global Citizenship Workshop

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By Gil Harper, Africa Alliance of YMCAs

In yesterday’s workshop on migration, YMCA Toronto shared its strategy for the next 10 years to help accelerate the social inte-gration of new immigrants in Canada. With a population of 13.6 million, Canada has welcomed around 2.3 million immigrants in the last 10 years under the government’s selective immigration policy.

“Various groups (of new immigrants) are struggling to make ends meet, this is where it breaks down,” said Medhat Mahdy, CEO of YMCA of Greater Toronto. According to a 2006 report, around 34% of newcomers were in the low income bracket when they set foot in Canada, compared to 20% after settling in the country for a decade. “Some of the youth immigrants are from communities with high levels of violence and pover-ty; they feel bullied and alienated” Mr. Mahdy said. He added that “YMCA Toronto is taking responsibility in making sure that

Skills Building WorkshopsMigration: Opportunities and Challenges for the YMCA in Canada

youth not only have access to information and resources, but also have a voice in public policy making.”

YMCA Toronto’s settlement programmes are designed for new-comers, immigrants and refugees to better connect to the local community. Offering programmes such as language enhance-ment, youth leadership training and social inclusion, YMCA To-ronto has served 51,289 new immigrants from 2009 to 2010, making it the top choice for newcomers to go for help. Mr. Med-hat said the YMCA was the first place he felt welcomed when he emigrated from Egypt, “YMCA does value difference and sees it as an asset instead of a liability.”

Stressing the needs of youth immigrants to find their own Cana-dian experience, YMCA Toronto has also invested considerable resources in facilitating the social involvement of young people.

By Clarissa Balan, World Alliance of YMCAs

Today’s Highlights

- Skills Building Workshops and Dialogues on YMCA Cutting Edge Issues11:00 - 12:30

Join one of the 25 one and a half hour workshops on issues relating to capacity building and resource mobilisation, advocacy and programmes, and communica-tions and branding. Details of room allocation for each workshop can be found outside Hall 2.

- Social Exposure Visits (12:30 - )This afternoon’s social exposure visits aim at giving World Council delegates a pic-ture of Hong Kong through visits to programmes and services being delivered by the two local YMCAs as well as non-governmental and church-related organisations all over Hong Kong.

THURSDAY, JULY 22nd, 2010

A Day in Photos... Photo by Simon Williams