jci london magazine april 2014

Issue 4 April 2014

JCI LONDON TO TAMALE: A PROJECT THAT SAVES LIVES

JCI London Issue 4 April 2014 2

CONTENTS

4 Word from the president 3 Thoughts...

7 JCI London to Tamale Saving over 2,000 lives

26 Challenging Task Starting up the project to make £10,000

30 LEAP forward Leadership academy in August Get a bursary while you can!

time passes too quickly

32 International Events What is an area conference and a world congress? Get the senate to sponsor you.

36 Event highlights in May See what is planned this month

APRIL IN PICTURES



1. Smile“Sometimes it starts with a smile. Smiling is the great-est act of defiance, and sometimes asking for help is the most meaningful example of self reliance. Some-times the best medicine is to laugh until you cry and, sometimes the greatest wisdoms come from accept-ing you will just never know why. Sometimes just go-

ing to bed is the best antidote to trials and tribulations, and sometimes just being blessed to get up again and face it all, for one more day is worthy of the celebration”

(Thanks Sofie!)

2. Do It...!Great people do things before they‘re ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you‘re afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like these - that‘s what life is. You might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that‘s re-ally special... and if you‘re not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself.

Amy Polehler

Word from the president3 Thoughts...


(The gentleman on the left is Tony Buzan - read his books as a kid)

3. Let Go

2014 is a great year..

LET THE TEAM TAKE YOU ON A JOUNEY

& LEARN ALL ABOUT

JCI LONDON TO TAMALEThe dream...

Hiwot Wolde-Senbet When you are based in London, there are many things that come to mind when you think about social issues. However, malaria isn’t one of them! Since ma-laria is not consid-ered to be a major issue in Europe,

not enough is done to prevent this disease, which is one of the biggest killers in the world. Therefore, running a fundraising project against malaria wasn’t going to be as easy as walking in the park. We were going to face obstacles along the way!

When you understand the issues around malaria, raising money and just passing it on wasn’t going to cut it! We wanted to provide an op-portunity that will give our members access to see the effects malaria has on communities first-hand. We envisioned a project that will create the maximum change and impact individuals that are involved. And, I am not just referring to the people that would be receiving the bed nets but those that are actual-ly involved in raising the funds and travelling to deliver the bed nets.

With that in mind, a project called JCI London to Tamale was born!

I remember having the initial chat with Rafael, International Director of JCI London and Justin Walker, Deputy Community Director at the time. We were so excited about the possibilities and the adventure we were about to embark. Once we started sharing our thoughts, fellow excited members started to join and expanded the pro-ject; Soraya Bowen, JCI London’s Deputy Pres-ident to be, enforced her skills so that we can perform an assessment to identify where we can add the maximum value. Rafael’s attribute allowed us to kick off our across Atlantic rela-tionship in Ghana.

By running an assessment that will ensure our team’s safety during the delivery stage, JCI Tamale, local chamber in North Ghana was selected to be our destination.

Thereafter our journey followed, met with un-containable excitement, disappointments, clashes, cancellations and success, without forgetting to mention our Azonto dance battles during our video shoots!


Raising money and just passing it on wasn’t going to cut it! We wanted to see the

effects malaria has on communities first-hand.

Fundraising Walk from Warwick Avenue to Camden Market on a beautiful Sunday with InterNations

The beginning...Rafael Tselikas Mauro

From April to De-cember 2013, we launched an am-bitious fundraising campaign. After some time, we de-cided to increase our goal from 100 to 1,000 malar-ia bed nets. This change had two purposes, which

were to save more lives and also create a bigger challenge. The fundraising campaign was a real learning and exciting experience for all of us.

To help us kick start the project, we implement-ed a marketing strategy to help us spread the word and create awareness. The more people heard about the idea, the project started to grow and became everyone’s project. When we met our fellow team member Paa, who previously suffered from malaria, the project became personal. We knew someone who suffered from it, not to mention other members who came forward to share their personal stories with us such as Daniela from JCI Canary Wharf.

With a strong reason behind us, we started our fundraising by organising a pub quiz night on Wold’s Malaria day, followed by fundraising walks, Q&A Session with the first Apprentice winner, Tim Campbell, made and sold French Crepes and cupcakes, hosted auctions and a Spin session event etc...

After those intense months of fundraising, we started to plan actively our visit to West Africa. And in April 2014, our London Team finally went to Ghana, to complete this beautiful project.


We decided to increase our goal from 100 to 1,000 malaria bed nets.

The fundraising...Winnie Mak

The project was under fund raising stage when I joined the project team. I attended a few fund-raising events organised by other members and I was impressed to see each team member try different means to make it happen. I then de-cided to do something, by connecting with my local community, I held a few Christmas stalls in my neighbourhood selling crepes, doing face painting and Chinese calligraphy which helped me raise about £300.

Through the collective fund-raising effort, we managed to achieve our goals and raise enough funds to buy 1,000 malaria nets. I am lucky enough to be one of the team members that could phys-ically be in Ghana to witness the achievement of all our team.


The fundraising...a brilliant ideaRicky Kothari

An idea came to my mind, for a worthwhile initiative, to support and raise awareness for fighting malaria through bed nets. I decided to use my skills as a fitness Instructor and set up five hours of indoor Cycling Spinning for December 2013 entitled - V Cycle for bed nets for members of Virgin ActiveHealth club who would endure a marathon session of back to back spinning and donate funds to purchase bed nets. It was a fantastic atmos-phere withwhistling ad shouting with African style music in the background with three great instructors. Many members lasted five hours, we overall raised over £275.00 with over 30 riders. Would I organise and do it again - Absolutely!

THE PERSONAL JOURNEY AND CAUSE

FOR ACTION...

Paa Kwesi Inkumsah For me, saving lives and helping this world be a better place is something that I wholehearted-ly support. Hence, when the call to save lives came, I wel-comed it. And I em-braced the idea with

both hands and even more so when it was clear my home country was selected to be the country of inter-est.

Having fallen victim to severe malar-ia once, I promised myself never to repeat it and made it my responsi-bility to help others. From been part of various fundraising campaigns in London, I enjoyed the fun and bonding it created. More so when the dream was realised and some team members made it to Ghana.

There is so much pleasure in volunteerism. The joy and fulfillment one has inside when their contribution be it small, still goes a long way to make a difference.

Soraya Bowen I have been working in public health edu-cation for over eight years in London and malaria has been on agenda in my area, Hackney. Due to the number of people travelling back from

Africa having contracted malaria. We don’t real-ise the danger of contracting malaria, and that having access to medication and bed nets to take on holiday can help us protect ourselves.

In 2013, seven people in the UK died from ma-laria! This might not be high in number in com-parison to figures we see in Africa. However, it highlights the lack of the awareness we have about malaria here in the UK.

So I joined the team and got in-volved in realising our vision to raise £5,000! This project pro-vided me with the opportunity to learn new skills like fundrais-ing and event management. The highlight for me was organising an event Q&A session with Tim Campbell (MBE) and winner of

the Alan Sugar first series ‘The Apprentice’.

Svenja Koeppe I moved to London when the project was already in full swing, but the cause and the ideas of the team made me want to help out and raise money.

The poject was strik-ing me as special, since all of the money raised would go towards the bed nets and not towards administrative costs etc. Furthermore I liked the idea that the members would personally deliver the nets to Ghana.


Having fallen victim to severe malaria once, I promised

myself never to re-peat it and made it my responsibility to help others.- Paa

Fundraising Walk from Warrick Avenue to Camden Market on a beautiful Sunday with InterNations Happy kids receiving malaria nets in Datoyili Community, Tamale, Northern Ghana

PaaIt’s one thing reading about a place but another experiencing it! Little kids singing their hearts out to welcome us while we distributed nets. One net per child. Inhabitants gathering with their communi-ty chief to be a part of a simple ceremony was heart-warming. I observed a single selfless action by a religious leader who was given a mosquito trap, a donation made by JCI Ghana Senator Veronica Mills Lamptey. He said, “well, I would let each household benefit from the trap. We will alternate its usage” For me, this brought it home how people that side looked out for each other.

The trip up north wasn’t all rosy, the adventure was necessary, the long five hour wait at the bus station and the blurring sound of the microphone alerting passengers to board to various destina-tions created some fun for team members. High temperatures, more drinking of water was needed. For me as a native Ghanaian, there were many things new to me, an eye opener, and a pleasant experi-ence. The first time I made it up north of Ghana was in 2001 and on the 7th of April 2014, I fulfilled my promise of returning, this time to help the people.

The personal experience…in GhanaWinnie

Having lived in developed cities throughout my life, I only got to know about the lives in that part of the world through media, and therefore wanted to get involved in this project to have the first-hand experience.

During the week in Ghana, we visited an orphanage in Kumasi, a village and a school in Tamale region and local authorities which gave us a better understanding of their living and studying condition. The most memorable moment for me was the encounter of a small boy. That was a night when JCI Ta-male organised a documentary evening to show local villagers an educational short film about malaria. While our team was there early, we played some games with the children and soon bonded the relation-ship with a few of them. By the time we had to go, one of the kids held my hand tight and kept asking, “Madam, where do you stay?” all the way to our car. That genuine gesture moved me and I almost went speechless. Knowing that I might not see the boy again and nothing more I could do at that point, all I could say to him was to ask him study hard.

I wish I could contribute more to change their lives and do so by inspiring more people to care about it.


The trip up north wasn’t all rosy, the

adventure was necessary

THE BUMPY ROAD TO GHANA...

Fundraising Walk from Warrick Avenue to Camden Market on a beautiful Sunday with InterNations

Delivering malaria nets in schools in Mion District, Northern Ghana

THE GRATITUDE...Aggie Weryszko

Having had the opportunity to be part of this project opened my eyes to the problems that some people on this planet are still facing and how much work still needs to be done and how ready are

the most vulnerable ones to receive our help. It was an enormously motivating, inspiring and unforgettable experience. It taught me to show more gratitude for who I am and what I have.

PaaThis trip taught me great lessons, to al-ways remain thank-ful for little mercies and living together as a team and then a family, looking after each other’s inter-ests. While we drove

through the hamlets, I felt connected with Ta-male and its people and thought to myself, what next we can do in this place full of need, yet many welcoming smiles, free spirits living their lives regardless of the many odds.

Ade Adedunmade OnibokunWow, it was an awe-some experience planning and putting together our fund raising events. It was a great example of what people could achieve together when they set their heart to it.

Achieving our goal was the best part of it, sav-ing lives through our mosquito nets and playing our part in the fight against malaria in sub-Sa-haran Africa is tremendously satisfying. It was a great pleasure to be part of it.


Meeting Tshepo, JCI VP Middle East & Africa in Accra, Ghana

Delivering devices against mosquitoes in Kumasi, with JCI Kumasi

Fundraising Walk from Warrick Avenue to Camden Market on a beautiful Sunday with InterNations JCI London Team meeting Health Officials in Mion District, Northern Ghana

Rafael

JCI London to Tamale was a great adventure. I am very grateful for all people that helped us re-alise this project. As mentioned before, this was a great learning experience. One of the things we would need to make sure in the future is to coor-dinate better with all people involved in project. In fact one of our biggest challenges was the fact that when we arrived in Ghana, two communities were expecting the same nets and hence we had to find a solution to overcome this issue.

In terms of the positive outcomes, we managed to bring 1,300 malaria nets to communities to help them protect against malaria and save lives. Our London team members that travelled to Ghana discovered a whole new world and came back to the UK, grateful for what they experienced and for the blessings and opportunities they have in their life. Also all along the way, from London to Accra, to Kumasi and Tamale, we made new friends that share the same desire as we do, to create positive change.

JCI London Issue 3 March 2014 12

Hiwot

From the start, this project was full of ambi-tion, excitement and challenges. Having gone to Ghana and seen the struggles first hand, we cannot say we have done our bit and go back to our own little lives! We still have unfinished business!

So, we hope our project will inspire other chap-ters across the world to create projects that span over several continents. We believe that the future lies in cooperation between people from all across the world!

Therefore, we want to raise the bar and invite all of you to join us in the second round of JCI London to Tamale project, which will be even bigger and better. Join the movement, you will not be disappointed.

THE FEEDBACK... WHAT‘S NEXT...?


Before closing, we would like to thank all Team Members and Friends from United Kingdom and Ghana that have helped us organise this project! As we say in Ghanaian, Medaasi Paa!!! (Thank you very much!!!)

To know more about the project, see how you can help or get involved, just get in touch: [email protected]


Chief of Datoyili Community receiving malaria nets in Tamale, Northern Ghana with JCI VicePresident for Africa and the Middle East Tshepo Thlaku , JCI Tamale President Albert Korsah

Challenging TaskS t a r t i n g u p t h e c h a l l e n g e t o m a k e £ 1 0 , 0 0 0

By Immaculate Birungi

On Wednesday 16 April 2014, our Special Projects’ Director Matt Bea-van officially launched the proposed project/challenge for this year which is known as the Million Makers Chal-lenge. as you all know the theme this year is to “Think Possible!!!!”. And we feel that this is a challenge that meets with JCI’s objectives.

There were seven members in attend-ance and we are so excited about this Challenge. The Million Makers Chal-lenge is an entrepreneual fundrais-ing challenge which is run by various teams of 10 individuals on a national level and together we all aim to raise £1m for the Princes Trust.

This challenge will greatly develop and sharp-en our skills as we are supposed to create a team which will go before the Dragons Den to pitch for the initial investment of £1,500 which we have to then turn into £10,000 over 6 months.

As we obviously aspire to win the Challenge and be named the National Million Makers Champion, we seek the JCI Members coop-eration as we take on this excellent initiative which is aimed to help The Princes Trust support disadvantaged young people in our local areas.

Thanks all, watch this space for more up-coming news on this Million Makers Chal-lenge.


The Corporate challenge

Million Makers is an entrepreneurial competition which challenges teams

of up to 10 individuals to turn an initial investment of £1,500 into at least

The aim is for all the teams to raise a combined total of £1 million for The Prince’s Trust.

G e t t i n g S t a r t e d


L E A P F O RWA R DL e a d e r s h i p e x c e l l e n c e i n a c t i o n p r o g r a m m e

The Leadership Excellence in Action Programme (LEAP) is a brought to you by JCI UK on Fri 29th to Sun 31st August 2014.

Following on from the great success of the programme since its launch in 2012, this weekend will be the 3rd year where delegates will be offered a unique opportunity to experience first class training to become better leaders.Personal development is one of the core areas of opportunity offered within JCI and we be-lieve in developing the leadership skills of our members so they have the confidence and authority to make a real difference in their business, their community and their personal life.

Whether you are working for yourself, working for someone else or looking to take on a role within your local chamber, you will undoubtedly need to lead others. Over the course of the weekend you will be given the opportunity to develop your skills and pick up the tools required to become an inspirational leader who can create positive change!

Course themes: - Understanding yourself and others - Motivation and leadership of a team - Tips and tools for effective leaders - Leadership opportuities and challenges in JCI

The programme - This residential programme starts on Friday afternoon from 4pm for an introduction to the programme and an informal social evening. The programme will finish at 3pm on Sunday.Where? This year we will be hosting the event at the fantastic facilities of BPP in Birmingham. By keeping the location central, we hope to make the academy accessible to as many JCI UK mem-bers as possible.Who can come? - The academy is targeted at current and future local leaders within JCI. Non-JCI members can attend for a higher cost.What does it cost? - Exceptional value at just £125 per person (early bird) for JCI members, which includes: - Accommodation at the Thistle Hotel, Birmingham on Friday and Saturday evening - Two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners. - First class training and materials to take away. - An unforgettable experience.

The early bird rate is available until 22nd June and payment must be received by 30th June. The price will increase to £175 from 23rd June and include all of the above.The cost for non-JCI members is £200 until 22nd June and will increase to £250 from 23rd June


JCI UK has four £75 bursaries available for JCI UK members wishing to attend LEAP 2014, taking place 29 to 31 August in Birmingham. We want to make our flagship leadership academy acces-sible to as many members as possible and hope that the bursaries will support members who might not otherwise be able to attend.

Gareth Carson from JCI Sheffield describes his experience of receiving a bur-sary to attend LEAP in 2013:

„I was very excited to find out that I could attend LEAP through a bursary. I was really nervous to fill in my application form but I just made sure that my passion for JCI came across and made sure that I made clear what my JCI journey would look like. I talked about how I wanted to progress to be-come a council team director but didn‘t have the confidence in getting to that stage and wanted to go on LEAP to help build that confidence. I also talked about how I would share my experience of LEAP with other members of the Sheffield chamber and of the wider region hence why I am writing this blog. I received an e mail within a few days of completing my bursary application form from Dan Senter, our local president at the time, advising me that I have been successful and received a full bursary to attend LEAP. I was over the moon to find this out as I had just started my own business and wouldn‘t have been able to afford the cost on my own.

Gareth presenting with confidence and receiving his well-deserved „Greatest LEAP“ award

The experience I had at leap was second to none, I was very proud to pick up the award for gre-atest LEAP on the last day and won my ticket to inspiration day as well. I gained confidence and learnt how to conduct my self around other people with different personality styles as well as how to deal with people with the same personality style as myself. I would encourage everyone to apply and to attend LEAP as without it I wouldn‘t currently be Membership and engagement director for Sheffield as well as planning to run for Deputy President next year. I am hoping to also be part of the training team for LEAP this year. So don‘t delay apply today.“

Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VylxqJjfdo5jH1Id1lczYeo3IQqQGUsJGtANgZIYBx4/viewform

B u r s a r i e s a v a i l a b l EA P P L y u n t i l t h e 1 5 t h M a y


I n t e r n a t i o n a l E ve n tsG e t a S e n a t e b o u rs a r y


The Wolrd Congress (WC)The biggest international event of JCI will take place in Leipzig, Germany under the motto “Freedom.Passion.Change.” 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and for the 60th anniversary of JCI Germany.When:24 - 29 November 2014Cost: Regular fee (01.04. - 24.10.) : EUR 400

The European Conference (EC)Every year for a period of 4 days the members of JCI are given the opportunity to meet for networking, training, formal and informal ex-changes. This year the conference is held by JCI Malta. When: 11 - 14 June 2014Cost:Late Fee (14.02. - 02.06.2014): EUR 405

Are you a new member? Have you been interested in attending an international event? If you want to go you can apply for a £200 boursary form the UK senate for international travel within the first 12 months of your membership. - Contact JCI UK International Director, Debbie Worthington, at [email protected]

Why should you be interested? An international event is the best way to get to know the ins and outs about JCI and strengthen an international network with friends from all around the world. In-ternational conferences such as the World Congress or the European Conference have had a lot of people fall in love with the organization. The pictures on the side let you get an idea about what conferneces, twinning weekends or academies with JCI look like. TRY IT and see for yourself!

What is an Area Conference? Every year, JCI Members unite in their regions for JCI Area Con-ferences to exchange ideas, learn how to maximize their local impact and collaborate with other National Organizations in their Area. The four Area Conferences--Africa and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, the Americas and Europe--give members a chance to take advantage of JCI’s in-ternational network while enhancing their National Organizations.

What is the World Congress? Every November, members from across the globe come together for the peak of the JCI year at JCI World Congress. At this global forum international officers will be elected for the upcoming year. JCI Members also explore ideas for international initiatives and recognize the achievements of outstanding active citizens. With JCI in more than 100 countries and territories, members have the opportunity to meet fellow citizens from highly diverse backgrounds. JCI Members will share experiences and find new ways to create positive change on both local and global levels. At this event, JCI’s critical mass of young people will unite to magnify the positive impact of the JCI movement.

Event Highlights in May

JCI London Issue 3 March 2014 36

Creating Content & Getting Heard - PR & Content Training

What makes good conent today - what is the key to writing a good Press Relase and how can you get heard today. Cater your audience and be better at marketing.This is the first installment in the Marketing Academy of JCI London by Marketing Direc-tor Svenja Koeppe.Next up:20th May Video Content creation - what makes a good video & how to create a storyline26th May How to create videos with iMovie (for iPad, iPhone and Mac)4th June How to design & create marketing material - without Adobe Programmes

For more information or if you have any ques-tions contact: [email protected]

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C mmunity talks...Cancer

Eat for LifeMonday 12th May 2014

6:30pm - 9:00pm

JCI London 1st Debate Training Workshop for 2014!

Benefits to JCI London members and Guests:Get exclusive access to specialist trainingLearn how to write a speech and argument quickly and effectively.

Build your confidence by practising in a com-petitive but supportive environment. Find out the secret to thinking on your feetDiscover the speaking style that works best for you WIN the JCI national and world debat-ing competitions!

What will be included:* Guide to winning a JCI debating competition* Practice debating with expert feedback* Simple tips on the practical applications of debatingteam.

What are you waiting for?

About the Trainer:Tony Koutsoumbos is the CEO of CLS Debate Training and the Founder of the Central London De-bating Society.CLDS Debate Training is a new enterprise dedicated to providing expert debate training to those who need it most. It offers the services of expert trainers with years of competitive debating expe-rience to guide people through the step by step process to becoming a top debater.

The Central London Debating Society (CLDS), a debate club which meets every two weeks, so that participants can practice and refine your new skills throughout the year.

Tony’s Specialties: Preparation and research, structuring a proposal, deconstructing an argument, taking questions and handling objections, summaries and closing speeches.

More information:Get in touch with Rafael, JCI London Training Director 2014: [email protected]

21.05

Wait - there is more! Keep on reading

More Events in May


Content, Context, & Personalisation - Driving Effective Online Conversions in Today’s World!

Getting visitors to your website is an important part of any digital strategy, but what happens whenvisitors arrive at your site? How is your website helping visitors to continue their dig-ital journey with your organisation, and what goals is your organisation looking to achieve? What do you know about the users that vis-it your site – do you recognise different user types and adapt to theirneeds?

This session on driving better results on your website, which will include some elements ofinteractivity, will cover:* How to understand your users – and their buying/conversion phases* Improve your calls to action and create clear value propositions* Importance of testing – split testing such as A/B and Multivariate* Where the future of digital is going and the power of context in personalisation

Target audience:Business Owner / Brand Marketers / Digital Marketers / Website Managers – anyone whomanages a website and wants to give their customers a personalised experience online to driveresults and learn about the future of digital marketing

About the Speaker:Tom Head is joint founder and director of Lab, a digital agency with offices in the UK and South Africa, working with brands who want to offer their customers a personalised experience online. Lab specialises in customer-centric websites, digital consultancy & marketing. Since building the business up from scratch in 2003 in partnership with managing director, Jonny Tooze, Lab has grown to be a top 20 digital marketing agency in the South of England. Tom has delivered numerous success-ful websites and digital marketing projects for clients including Motorola, Hearst Magazines, Future Publishing, Subway, and the BBC. Known within the UK digital industry for his thought leadership in ecommerce, conversion rate optimisation, and online personalisation, Tom is a highly sought-after speaker, and has quickly established himself as a go-to expert on these topics.

22.05

Netwoking

every

month

29th May 2014

JCI Achieve and JCI Impact 2 in 1!!!

Do you want to fully understand what JCI is about? Do you want to create long lasting positive change? Then join us for those 2 ex-ceptional leadership courses!

The JCI Achieve course uses discussions and analogies to help members understand one’s own values and the values and principles of JCI, the role of all members in establishing the Local Organization’s identity, the activi-ties needed to fulfill JCI Mission and devel-op JCI members into active citizens who will create positive changes in the communities. JCI Achieve is a half day course and should be taken by all new members who want to fully understand the principles, meaning, purpose and dynamics of a JCI Local Organ-ization.

JCI Impact is a course aimed for JCI members who want to become active citizens and make long lasting positive changes in their communities. The course discusses the active citizenship con-cept, covers the analysis of community needs, the establishment of the real causes of problems and discusses the projects a Local Organization can conduct with other partners in order to create long lasting and definite positive changes in the community.

24.05

IMPACTACHIEVE

Next issue coming May

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