iGJoY The Island of Gozo is the Joy of Youths
THE VOICE OF GOZITAN YOUTHS
It’s been a busy year for GUG 2011 was a very important both social and academic, important organisation.
The
y e a r f o r t h e s t u d e n t restructuring within the coming year 2012, is already organisation GUG. It signified structure of GUG, a wider looking to be more busy than a n e w representation of the Gozitans 2011. First and foremost 2012 executive y o u t h s a n d s t u d e n t s , is the 30 years of GUG and 25 with new strengthening of relations with years of recognition from the e n e r g y various entities and other senate of the University of a n d organisations and nonetheless M a l t a . T h e s e t w o i d e a s , a a n e w i m a g e f o r t h i s anniversaries undoubtedly
Ryan Mercieca GUG President
series of successful
highlight the important role GUG has toward
events
Gozo and its society.
DECLARATION ON VOLUNTEERING
VISIT US VISIT US!!
GOZITAN TALENT
M IC HAEL TA B ON E INTERNATIONAL OFFICER
OWS III was held in Adrasan, in Turkey, within a pla8orm of NGOs from the Mediterranean lands . The name entails the blending of different nomennclature used to describe the Mediterranean by various civilizaFons including the Islamic mights and the Roman empire thereby indicaFng the cultural blend of this parFcular scenario, as well as the final aim which is to bridge our gaps, bringing together people and promoFng respect and tolerance.
ParFcipaFon and empowerment two ideas of debate. ParFcipaFon does not necessarily entail empowerment. Support and nurturing of skills are crucial for the eventual empowerment to take place. Youths are a social category l a d e n w i t h r i s k a n d uncertainty, a Fme of crucial decision-‐making. Being acFve and interested in the running of society and community in general enables youths to shape and contribute to the poliFcal agenda, be it on a local, or internaFonal level. NGOs are the mainstream opportunity for acFvity within the community by the youths in general, and the value of voluntary work is underrated. It is true, materialisFcally there is liMle to gain, but money and physical credit should not be the only moFvaFons for which one works. Being of service is a vital concept to be emphasized and contrary to common opinion, it is rewarding, certainly not materialisFcally, but surely in experienFal and informaFve terms. Empowering youths is not only about transferring existent power, but informing and educaFng about the methodology with which to approach and use power. Everyone has a potenFal power, but one must be nurtured on how to gain and rise to that power. I think we can safely say that GUG is not only working for the youths, but more importantly, it is funcFoning with the youths, effecFng empowerment through informaFve meeFngs regarding past, present, and through the youths, future poliFcal policy, as well being a medium for exposure of student abiliFes, needs, and achievements.
JUL I A A N N
GUG Office Opening Days During
these
days
AC DOLOR AC ADIPISCING AMET BIBENDUM NULLAM, MASSA LACUS MOLESTIE UT LIBERO NEC, DIAM ET, PHARETRA SODALES EGET, FEUGIAT ULLAMCORPER ID TEMPOR EGET ID VITAE. MAURIS PRETIUM EGET ALIQUET, LECTUS TINCIDUNT. PORTTITOR MOLLIS IMPERDIET LIBERO SENECTUS PULVINAR. ETIAM MOLESTIE MAURIS LIGULA EGET LAOREET.
the
office will be open from 15:00 to 17:00. If any of the members would like to use the office not on the days below please send and email
on
info@gug.org.mt. The
office
is
fully
equipped and has free wi-fi.
7th January 2012 14th January 2012 21st January 2012 11th February 2012 18th February 2012 25th February 2012 3rd March 2012 10th March 2012 17th March 2012 24th March 2012 31st March 2012 14th April 2012 21st April 2012 28th April 2012
“Fejn se Mmur” is a newly-‐launched inita7ve by Radju Ka7dral, which will be featuring some of the best talents, aiming to create a social network between the producers, ar7sts, organisers, and creators, and the general public which constantly looks for the latest events happening around our islands. This new challenge the team decided to face is making it discover how much hard work and strenuous effort many people put in organising an event, whatever the genre. This, the team feels, deserves all the aEen7on possible. That is the basic concept and mission of this new ini7a7ve: that of promo7ng local arts and culture, whilst informing the general public about the latest events happening out there. Albeit small in size, the “Fejn se Mmur” team is commiEed to work hard in order to provide high-‐quality material, relevant and extensive informa7on, as well as superior promo7on for all those who make every effort to produce quality material and high-‐class events. The ini7a7ve consists of a radio sta7on program, airing every Sunday b e t w e e n 1 2 . 1 5 a n d 1 3 . 1 5 o n R a d j u K a 7 d r a l ( 9 0 . 9 F M | www.radjuka7dral.com), as well as a new online magazine, with a new issue published every month. The first issue, published in late November, managed to get over 400 views in just two months. Apart from this, the ini7a7ve also operates through its Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ fejnsemmur, as well as its official email, where anyone can contact the team either to obtain informa7on, as well as to promote one’s upcoming ac7vi7es or events: fejnsemmur@gmail.com.
VISIT OUR REFRESHED WEBSITE WWW.GUG.ORG.MT
Joseph Refalo Joseph Refalo, born on the 16th February 1993 from Xaghra, Gozo, is a young prospecFve arFst. Although, in Gozo, he’s mainly known as a singer, Joseph has also another talent, which is that of photography. About 3 years ago, Joseph started experimenFng with his normal camera. He expresses his love to photography by saying that, “Through that lens I can see the things that I want and the way that I want them to be seen by me. I am the one dictaFng the angle, the contrast, the focus, etc. In simple words I can see something in my own way. I can build my own world through that lens!” A]er some Fme, Joseph invested in a more sophisFcated camera and finally took a course in photography. Nowadays, Joseph takes photo shoots of those who want a set of photos of themselves. He is more focused on portraits. Actually, this year, Joseph arranged his photo studio, so that he can experiment more with lights and shadows. He loves what he does, and that is shown in his final results. He likes to experiment with new faces in order to find in them that parFcular feature that makes them unique. Joseph was also asked to take photo shoots of Maltese presenters, singers and also models. Last year, Joseph exhibited also his work with 4 other Maltese photographers at the Excelsior Hotel. Presently, while he is a BsC Business and CompuFng student at the University of Malta, Joseph is working on new ideas and new interesFng shots.
PHOTOS TAKEN BY JOSEPH REFALO
GUG Student Representatives
CH R I S T IAN A Z ZO PA R DI AGE: 19
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER GUG HAS BEEN ABLE TO REPRESENT ALL
INSTITUTE: MCAST LOCALITY: VICTORIA
THE GOZITAN STUDENTS. THIS WS DONE BY ESTABLISHING A STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE FOR EACH INSTITUTE AND ALSO A SUB-COMMITTEE FOR THE OTHER
COURSE: I.T. HOBBIES: MUSIC & TRAVELING
STUDENTS INTERESTED TO WORK WITH GUG AND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE GOZITAN SITUATION IN THIER RESPECTIVE INSTITUTE.. THIS WAS A IMPORTANT STEP
ATTENTION FINAL YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS!!
SINCE THE GOZITAN STUDENTS IN THESE INSTITUTES ARE NOT REPRESENTED ORGANISTATION
BY
ANY
OR PERSON
AND GUG HAS BEEN ABLE TO START THIS.
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU
For proofreading of your dissertation or long essay contact 79061851 or dmenglishteacher@gmail.com
W I T H S AT I S F A C T I O N T H I S R E P R E S E N TAT I O N
WA S
SUCCESSFUL IN ITS FIRST SINCE THE PROPOSAL OF GUG TO HAVE ALL THE GOZITAN STUDENTS
MALCOLM C AMILLERI
RECEIVING THE SAME AMMOUT OF THE SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT I R R E S P E C T I V E LY TO W H I C H
AGE: 19
INSTITUTE THEY ARE ATTENDING AND THUS FROM NOW
INSTITUTE: I.T.S.
ONWARDS ALL THE GOZITAN STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE THE SAME AMMOUT. W WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE MINISTRY FOR GOZO IN SUPPORTING THIS PROPOSAL
LOCALITY: VICTORIA COURSE: FOOD MANAGEMENT HOBBIES: MUSIC & COOKING
MA RC SCHEMBRI EVENTS OFFICER
Electronic Song As a DJ, producer: & businessman. His continued efforts both in and out of the booth have paid off. Teaming up with studio partner Nathan Barato to create Rawthentic Music, Carlo has been pounding out numerous quality hits which have received plenty of local & International support. His unique signature style that’s driven by a relentless, sexy, hypnotic, techy groove is sure to leave you mesmerized. http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=FgXpeuttj5U
Classic Song Searching for that romantic album to play? Wanna know what earlier R&B and soul music sounded like? check out "Mr. and Mrs. Jones" by Billy paul - deep voiced vocalist with noticeable tracks such as "Brown sugar" and the re-take of "your song". Perfect for your candle light dinner! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfr6jmJOGA8
Alternative Song An avagarde Dub Reggea band, Salmonella Dub are one of many to revolutionise reggea sounds. cheekily named for their bent dub versions of “bad taste” covers, they've recieved praise for tracks such as "for the love of it" h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v=LvrK0qj_P84
M s Es............
PHOTOS FROM THIS YEAR
M s Es............
Can Catholics FRANCIENNE be good M US CAT politicians? SOCIAL POLICY KDZ (Kummissjoni Djoċesana Żgħażagħ) together with GUG
OFFICER
organized a meeting for Gozitan youths in which President Emeritus of Malta, Dr Edward Fenech Adami was invited to give a talk. The title chosen for this talk was, “Can Catholics be good politicians?”
The President Emeritus started the talk by telling us what he first thought when he saw the poster for this event. Beneath the title there was a photo of three great politicians; Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman and Alcide De Gasperi. He told us that when one reads the question and than looks at the photo, the question becomes a rhetorical one.
Dr Edward Fenech Adami also shared with us his personal experience in Maltese Politics. He acknowledged the fact, that it is hard to be a good politician and also a good Catholic. In fact sometimes it was hard for him to take decisions which reconciled secularism – Malta being a secular state – and Christian values.
Moreover he
declared that in a couple of events he himself had a conflict with the Ecclesiastical Entities. However, he always tried to make the right decisions by posing the question What is the right thing to do for the common good?
The students present also asked the President Emeritus his opinion on the current issues of divorce and the proposed cohabitation legislation.
SA B RINA P O RT E L L I FINANCIAL OFFICER
Mone%za%on of Social Networking, a blessing or a curse? Technology has become a vital part in our everyday life, and so is the use of social networking. This led to businesses starFng to use social networking sites to increase their profits.
This type of moneFzaFon include adverFsements, corporate sponsorship and the usage of certain applicaFons. AdverFsements are used to promote some product or service which are offered by some businesses. These adverts will encourage the individuals who see these adverts, to want the product or service being offered. Corporate sponsorship is when someone becomes a fan of a page of a business. The business can then use the customer's informaFon to send him emails regarding the products and services they offer. Some applicaFons used in social networking systems allow the users to pay some money from their credit card in exchange with some virtual coins so that they can make transacFons in the applicaFon. CommuniFes can be built when an entrepreneur creates a Facebook fan page. The more fans you have, the more established your business is because people tend to follow what others do. Also entrepreneurs become more producFve, efficient and creaFve because they have to create a product or service that saFsfies the consumer, otherwise the laMer would not buy it. It is easier for entrepreneurs to post newsleMers and to respond to forums in this way, because everybody can see the replies and there is no need for the entrepreneur to respond to the same quesFons over and over again. Also, when using social networking systems, entrepreneurs can find like minded individuals who can share with them their ideas. However all good things can have some negaFve impacts. Privacy and giving out too much informaFon are two of the curses of social networking. Also some companies use the informaFon available on social networks for their benefits and to increase their sales and end up spamming the customers. Hackers are being provided with easier access to gaining credit card informaFon when these are used to buy from applicaFons and adverts, thus increasing online fraud. One can obviously noFce that social networking systems can be used both in a posiFve and a negaFve way. MoneFzaFon of social networks can help the businesses and entrepreneurs to gain more money and the customers can have more choice as in the case of adverFsements. However they can also be used negaFvely to make money from other people as in the use of certain applicaFons that ask for real money in exchange for virtual money.
PAU L CAMILLERI GUG MEMBER
GAME REVIEW
There’s a preMy decent chance that if someFmes I will own a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, I will never actually drive it more than a 100mph down some dusty road at Kenya. Come to think of it, even driving that fast on some of the narrow and bumpy roads over there takes most of my guts to do it in real life. As tempFng as it seems I would sFll have second thoughts about actually doing it or not. But to be able to do it in the commodity of someone’s home is more than just epic. Dirt 3 manages to portray the fun of driving in such way with splendid graphics and realisFc physics.
To be able to describe the game would take me more than just a few words. The graphics are astounding and if you are lucky as me to afford a decent gaming rig, maxing out the game really pays the price and gets you right in the driver’s seat. It is not the first Fme that I find myself banking on my chair trying to mimic the car’s moFon especially whenever I choose to drive from the driver’s POV. One must also not forget the environment. Codemasters really put a lot of effort on the surroundings; the people cheering you on and the occasional firework now and then really add life to the game. They also put a huge aMenFon to starts to collect dust and snow, dirty, making it seem like you track. Moreover, and this really is game, the car is prone to damage dealt to it. For example hijng a might dent the frame and your car making it even harder for you to
details. With Fme, the car itself the windshield itself gets a liMle bit really are driving in a dusty/snowy one of the best feature of the according to how that damage was rock with your le] wheel really hard would start to pull on one side, thus drive.
Although the game has been out is sFll personally one of the best you the truth I could barely find having a relaFvely small amount of and being really addicFve! Finally added to your collecFon, that is cars a]er leveling up which have been beMer if they hand that you acquire a]er winning a great game and I would give it a
for quite a while now (24/5/11), it driving simulators out there. To tell any cons to this game other than cars from which to choose from there was also the way cars got sponsors automaFcally ‘send over’ personally seems lame and would introduced some sort of currency race. All in all this was a really raFng of 4.5 out of 5!
Nowadays,
F R A NKIE M E ILAK
it
has
become
very
easy to travel. Until some years ago, traveling was not so easy as
is
today.
With
the
use
of
online booking and online check-
GUG
in it has become very easy to travel, especially for European
MEMBER
citizens traveling within Europe itself.
TRAVEL
Another
factor
contributing
for
increased
traveling
the
fact
is
that
flights are now cheaper than they used to be. This is because of low-cost airlines and competition.
With the help of the European Union, young people have a higher chance of going through youth exchanges and meeting different people coming from different cultural backgrounds. In turn, these youths will have the possibility to visit these friends, thus experiencing different cultures, and ideas.
These visits are essential for the European Union, because they strengthen the relationships between different youths of different countries, and also bring about change in stereotypes about different nationalities.
Experiencing different cultures inspires people to appreciate more their cultures and also to expose themselves to new ideas about different daily topics, such as religion. In my opinion this is important because this helps people to become more conscious about different aspects of life.
YOU SPEAK - WE LISTEN
GIVES US YOUR OPINION
http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=05199768-d2eb-49fd-b9bc-dd16e6bd6a9d http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=fbcf54c5-6685-4be7-bceb-b62fdd83931a
DECLARATION: “VALUE OF YOUTH VOLUNTEERING IN A CHANGING EUROPE” Istanbul -‐ 27th N o v e m b e r 2011 The Gozo University Group (GUG) has taken part in the forma7on of the Declara7on: “Value of Youth Volunteering in a changing Europe” Below is the final version: We, the par7cipants of the Interna7onal Seminar “YOUTH VOLUNTEERING IN A CHANGING EUROPE”, organised by Toplum Gönüllüleri Vak2 and Youth for Exchange and Understanding Interna?onal in the frame of the European Year of Volunteering 2011, have developed a declara7on on the importance of youth volunteering addressing stakeholders who dedicate their work to young people. Preamble: Youth volunteering is a proac7ve role model that presents alterna7ve ways of ac7ons and developments in the changing Europe by addressing the needs of society, whether they are composed of individual or complex socio-‐poli7cal structures. By building a sense of belonging among people who share common values and by overcoming any barrier, youth volunteering proves that ac7on is possible. Youth volunteering raises awareness and increases the visibility of people’s needs by crea7ng and offering equal opportuni7es on all levels of society. It creates posi7ve social impact and contributes to the crea7on of the state of welfare. Declara%on: We believe that youth organiza7ons must be accessible to all young people interested in volunteering. Like that they can reach more diverse groups of young people. The organiza7ons must provide a sustainable framework by keeping a balance between the number of volunteers and the exis7ng organiza7onal resources. Furthermore, it is the youth organiza7ons that must mo7vate volunteers and members by suppor7ng and mentoring them in a learning environment. It is also of great importance to give volunteers a detailed descrip7on of the voluntary process and a cer7ficate of par7cipa7on to be able to measure personal development. We fully encourage youth organiza7ons to work on the development of programmes, combining as well formal and non-‐formal educa7on. In this way, the process, outcomes and competences of youth workers such as trainers, facilitators, educators and teachers is improved in order to strengthen the human resource development. We call for joint ac7ons in all European countries to establish a common framework for the recogni7on of non-‐formal educa7on and to regard it as a contribu7on to the
DECLARATION: “VALUE OF YOUTH VOLUNTEERING IN A CHANGING EUROPE” European, na7onal and local authori7es and ins7tu7ons dedicated to young people and youth organiza7ons must ac7vely cooperate between each other when promo7ng the social and economic value of youth volunteering. In this way, they can develop support structures for these organiza7ons and create addi7onal volunteering opportuni7es. Interna7onal ins7tu7ons and especially governments must support and encourage partnership between formal educa7on ins7tu7ons and civil society organiza7ons by working with non-‐formal educa7on to s7mulate the exchange of best prac7ce and experiences. Youth organiza7ons must use different tools for the recogni7on of competences of young people developed through volunteering. The establishment of the legal status of volunteering in every country in Europe must be recognized as a necessary step to provide a legal frame for voluntary ac7vi7es. Therefore, we strongly encourage governments to develop suppor7ve tax systems and to remove legal obstacles of voluntary work to ease youth mobility and provide free access to visas and to health care. In the changing Europe, youth organiza7ons must be supported by European authori7es and governments and be provided by sustainable funding in the form of administra7ve and project grants in order to consistently empower young people and provide volunteering opportuni7es.
!
!
PHOTOS FROM THIS YEAR
GUG gives a helping hand for a day at the Arka ISTRINA DONATION
The GUG executive has collected the sum of 300 euro during its events and has donated this sum of behalf of the Gozitan youths and students to the Malta Community Chest Fund during the Istrina 2011.
The Gozo University Group spent a day at the premises of the Arka Foundation, helping and cheering the people in need. GUG decided to kindly offer their assistance and to aid in the daily needs and necessities of the Arka Foundation to make the best out of this festive season. Through this voluntary deed, GUG hopes that the Gozitan youths and students continue to recognise the great and vital role that this foundation has in the Gozitan society.
society’s needs and requirements and thus encourages them to continue their work for the upcoming New Year with more enthusiasm and more eagerness. GUG believes that this should not be a one off event because this is only the start. The group will persuade more youths in helping other people; not only during the festive seasons but also all year round.
The GUG executive would This experience also served to like to wish everyone a blissful give the members of GUG a and memorable coming new holistic view of the Gozitan year to all its members and followers.