My ICS Experience and Raising Awareness

Presentation Schedule Information about YCARE International/ICS Information about Guatemala. What I did in Guatemala and what have I taken from it? How can YOU relate to problems young people face in Guatemala and Worldwide? Q&A

Founded in 1984 by Terry Waite and is part of the YMCA movement. Work to improve the livelihoods of young people globally. Promote health, education, peace and justice. Encourage cross-cultural teamwork and education. Offer emergency aid to people in need such as the Nepal earthquake and the conflict in Syria. Empower the young!

What is CS? International Citizen Service (ICS) For 18-25 year olds Volunteer overseas for up to 12 weeks Work with local YMCAs Help the world’s poorest people

GUATEMALA!!! Central America. Capital: Guatemala City. 15.5M Population. Currency: Quetzal. Legal minimum wage: Q26,500 (around £2,200). Language: Spanish. Main exports: Sugar, Coffee and Bananas. 61% of Guatemalans live below the poverty line.

My Experience

Worked with a domestic charity called Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes (ACJ).

ACJ focused on the planning of activities for the young people aimed at achieving specific goals to help them grow. Many children in Guatemala have poor or no educational background often being forced to work instead.

Worked with underprivileged young people from a local school called Guatemaltecos Extraordinarios. They helped children who had behavioural problems find direction and succeed.

Just spending time with the children showed that there are people who care about their welfare. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference.

An example of the living conditions where the young people’s homes were. Their ‘neighbourhood’ was high in crime, extreme poverty, overpopulation and poor cleanliness.

Made Me Think! Think about solutions to the issues young people face in Guatemala. Made me a lot more aware of the problems in the world. In Guatemala, I learned how precious water is and changed my lifestyle once I returned to lower my water usage.

The Global Water Crisis 800+M people don’t have access to clean water. 2.5B don’t have access to sanitation 8-10M people die a year due to water related illness. (Over 500k children under 5). Water related issues lead to illnesses such as dehydration, diarrhoea, severe headaches, typhoid, malnutrition, arsenicosis etc. Destroys industries such as agriculture. In Guatemala, the majority of people only have access to water in certain parts of the day which means it has to be rationed.

Causes of the Water Crisis Pollution. Population growth. Climate change. Agriculture. Deforestation. Natural disasters.

The Water Crisis and Us (People Living in the UK) A five minute shower we have in the UK equates to a days worth of water an impoverished person in Africa during one day for everything. And ours is CLEAN! A UK based family of four uses around 500 litres of water a day. A commercial car wash use an average of 75 litres of water per wash. The UK is going through it’s worst water shortage for 90 years. UK population booming. Unpredictable weather.

The key to water efficiency is reducing waste, not restricting use!!! How Can You Help? The key to water efficiency is reducing waste, not restricting use!!! Shorter Showers. Turn taps off when possible (brushing teeth, shaving etc). Hand wash cars (or let the rain do it!). Let rain water the garden. No baths (or less often)  Reuse products such as plastic bottles as they take twice as much water to make than what’s in the bottle! If it’s yellow let it mellow. (Each toilet flush uses an average of SEVEN LITRES!) Recycling every product you can means less water will be used to produce new material. (Plastics, papers, tins, glass etc). Use eco friendly appliances. Restrict your lifestyle: Chocolate, meats, clothes and beer use water to be made. World leaders and elite business people are aware of the water crisis issue and are indentifying plausible methods of combating it. An example of this... (HERE) To learn more about water conservation check out theses websites: http://www.waterwise.org.uk/ http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/06/innovative-solutions-water-shortage-crisis/ https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-water-developing-world http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity

A Few Final Points... It’s easy just to read/listen to the information on this PowerPoint but the earth really needs your input into tackling these issues. The young people in Guatemala and the world over need the things most of us take for granted. Charities such as ICS, YCARE International, ACJ and Guatemaltecos Extraordinarios are working every day making a difference. Please give them some support by raising their profile through social media and even consider doing a fundraising campaign for them by living on around 15-20 litres of water a day (harder than it sounds) for one week. Water conservation is an issue that affects us all and it’s definitely an issue that can be beaten with work and raising awareness.