Birna Björgvinsdóttir (8. bekkur 1), Iceland

Development of I have a dream continues full speed ahead. More funding has been received from the Norwegian Ministry of Education. " The dream projects start" module (number 4) is due completed this month, and the rest by year-end together with a comprehensive online workshop for teachers.
The program aims at helping kids and youth realize their dreams about their future and a better world. Like the eight-month multi-lingual Who-Am-I?, it will run in parallel in many languages:

Module 1: Develop a dream Teams of students or individual kids examine their personal dreams. They identify one that might be a foundation or base plan for an overall collaborative dream plan effort by a global team of peers.

Module 2: Select a dream Teams promote their own dreams to others, and evaluate dreams from potential partners who might have similar dreams or dreams that might extend their own project definition. They decide which dream project to participate in.

Module 3: Organize dream projects Teams organize their dream projects, and create a plan of action to make them a reality.

Module 4: Your dream project starts Teams implement the dream project they have designed. They maintain, assess and revise their project activities to ensure success during this implementation phase.

Module 5: Evaluation What have we achieved so far? What can we do to make our project more exciting/successful?

Module 6: Apply for financial support Writing applications for financial support to take the project further.

In addition to help teachers enhance learning experiences in schools, it will provides youth with practical experience and skills of perceived importance for their future, like

• the art of planning, designing and implementing an Internet based project
• promotion/marketing of project ideas (using the web and other net tools) to potential partners
• negotiations for partnership, including decision making (ranking methods, shortlisting, evaluation, making partnership agreements)
• fundraising
• international cooperation/project organization, including recruiting of "the best person for the job."
• use of productivity software to enhance planning, negotiations, cooperation, fundraising, follow-up, etc.
• assess outcomes of their project compared with objectives

To families, I have a dream will be a means for close cooperation with their kid on something important to them and their future, and to coach them to important knowledge, opportunities, and experiences that may be useful in their adult lives.

To educational authorities, it will be a means to help teachers enhance their curriculums, promote collaboration and sharing of experiences between teachers, and on-the-job training in the use of Internet in classrooms.

To NGOs, it will be a means to empower youth in need of support. It may include increasing their ability to start businesses in their communities supported by peers in an interpersonal network of friends around the world.

To sponsors, it represents an extraordinary public relations opportunity.

From Kidlink's Gallery of Computer Art

Some new participants

Ever heard about The Republic of San Marino ? It is a small country completely surrounded by Italian mountains on all sides. Specifically, it lies at 43 46 N, 12 25 E, totals 60 sq km, and has a population of some 26,000 people. One of these is a young girl named Genni Muccioli (8), who lives in Serravalle, and attends the La Ginestra school.

Onwards to Grand Baie Mauritius , an island in the Indian Ocean, off the the east coast of Madagascar. The home of Benjamin Caleb Winans (13), a student of the Shalom Christian School.

By Fernanda Cooke (7a), Escola Móbile, Brazil
Kidlink's Gallery of Computer Art

New developments

Our web pages have been fundamentally restructured this summer. For easier and faster access to information. The source language is English, so the enhancements will show up in the other languages when our volunteer translators are ready. If you think it takes too long, consider translating a page for us. ;-)
Tailored information is now available for the following audiences: Kids and Youth, Teachers, Parents, Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles, Educational Authorities, NGOs, Sponsors, Volunteers, Press, and Other (includes museums, libraries and Internet cafés). If you are a teacher, make sure to browse the "Teaching and Learning with the Internet" pages.
Ah, another thing! Kidlink's history archives were reworked a while ago. Take a look. We bet there is much that you have missed.

Programs

In September, the Who-Am-I? educational program starts again for schools in the northern hemisphere. Students in the southern hemisphere will be completing the My friends and family module, and then embark on What are my roots?. Teachers and individual kids may join the program any time to follow any schedule (southern or northern) for as long as they wish. Click here for further instructions.
Who-Am-I? is a means for kids and youth to get friends in other countries. This eight-month, multi-lingual program guides them to knowledge about themselves, their place, rights, friends, families, roots, and brings them in contact with youth around the world. Browse what they are doing at the program's Student Contribution page.
To teachers, it is a means to classroom instruction within their curriculum: writing, research, social studies, history, geography, foreign languages, economics, mathematics, science, the arts, current awareness, as well as personal development, Internet networking skills, information and communications technology skills. To educational authorities, it is a means to help teachers enhance curriculums, promote collaboration and sharing of experiences between teachers, and training in the use of Internet in classrooms.
To the kids' families, Who-Am-I? is a means for close cooperation with the kid on something important to them, and to coach them to important knowledge and experiences. To NGOs, it is a means to empower and develop youth in need of support.
Being a Who-Am-I? support person offers some extraordinary learning opportunities. If interested, contact Patti Weeg for information, or see the support guideline page. In the English area, they will be working with the following persons:

Module 1: Who Am I?		Dennis Buccola Epi Supelveda
Module 2: Where Do I Live?		Carolynn Bruton
Module 3: What Are My Rights?		Tamara McCulloch
Module 4: My Friends and Family		Carla Hurchalla
Module 5: What Are My Roots?		Mary Tuttle Oscar Becerra
Module 6: Virtual Vacation		Claudia Hermes

For coordinators in the other language areas, see the support organization page.

Volunteers Melody Ren (right) and Lilian Li , both living in Shanghai, China , have translated the Who-Am-I? program's first module into Chinese.
If you want to help translate some page for the next module, contact Melody for instructions. Click here for the program's Chinese language home page.

STOP PRESS: Melody has just volunteered to be Kidlink's Chinese language Who-Am-I? coordinator! Soon, a Kidleader-Chinese mailing list will be opened, and hopefully also a Kidcafe-Chinese.

These are the other language coordinators for the program's first module:

Norwegian	French	Spanish	German	Icelandic
Tor Arne Richvoldsen	André Rombauts	Lely Nuñez	Adrian E. Hohenstein	Eygló Björnsdóttir
English (module 1)		Saami	Danish	Italian
Dennis Buccola	Epi Supelveda	Mathis Persen Bongo	Bent Karkov	Stellan Kinberg

Things are cooking in Kidlink's Galleries of Computer Art . In the Spanish area, they have a "Diamond Poem" project going. Students create a picture using a program such as "Paint" or "Corel Draw," write a paragraph that describes the picture and then compose a poem in the shape of a diamond that also describes the picture. The diamond poem should be composed of a noun, two adjectives, a sentence, two nouns and an infinitive (verb) as in this example:

For more information, or to join, contact Beverlyn Ferris . The Portuguese language art exhibition has a new home page.

Then, there is the fabulous multi-lingual Grandmother and Me Project, moderated by Carolynn Bruton , Rubem Paulo , and Patti Weeg . It evolved from the simple question: "How do you call your grandmother?" [granny, Mom-Mom, etc.]. Almost immediately, schools from Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, USA, and Zimbabwe jumped right in, and sent drawings by students and text about their grannies.
The project is for all students through secondary school. A key ingredient is collaborative writing of the Grandmother Storybook. By mid-August, the book had contributions from Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Peru,Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, and Zimbabwe.
Here's a text submitted from a student in South Africa:

Hello my name is Chelsey l have two grannies and l call them gran and Mrs Baldie. l love my gran because when l am in trouble she is on my side. l love Mrs Baldie because she moves up a class for me, in Sunday school. In Afrikaans: [translation kindness of Rean Opperman] Hallo, my naam is Chelsea en ek het twee oumas. Ek noem hulle Gran en Mrs. Baldie. Ek is baie lief vir my ouma, omdat sy altyd aan my kant is wanneer ek in die moeilikheid is. Ek is net so lief vir Mrs. Baldie, omdat sy my 'n klas opbeweeg in Sondagskool.

If you are a grandmother, or grandfather, make sure you also visit your Kidlink web pages to see what else we have in store for you. :-)

Kidclub, a weekly topic chat by youth for youth, takes place every Saturday at 17:00 GMT. These meetings of young minds are moderated by Rean Opperman, South Africa . To get to KidClub, simply connect to Kidlink IRC, and join the #kidclub channel.
On Kidlink's c2d, Hanne Wolff, Denmark , and Tsutomu Iyangi, Japan, moderates a c2d "Family Crest" project, and Inez Ward, USA, has posted a "Watershed Atlas Project" on the Arkansas Mississippi River Valley.
Hanne Wolff, Kidlink IRC manager, has translated the Kidlink c2d help into Danish. Help is also available in Spanish. This summer, Beverlyn Farris , Lely Nuñez , Froilan Herrera , Daniel Basilio , and several others had online planning sessions on c2d Thursday nights...

Classes are signing up for the next Kidforum topic, "The Faces of Friendship," due to begin on October 1. In this topic, kids will share ideas about making friends and keeping them, while improving their communication and thinking skills. They'll share stories about important friendships, ask each other questions about resolving problems with friends, and share art and music about friendship. Check the new Kidforum Web Pages for information, and plans for the coming four topics.

In September, the Swedish language "Tänk tillsammans" math project will start on the Swedish mailing lists, kidleader-svenska and kidproj-svenska. Students will work on a challenging math problem over a longer period of time, and in cooperation with other students. All Swedish and Scandinavian speaking students are welcome to join! Moderator is Anders Wallby. (Project overview in English.)

In the Danish area, the "Nature around us" project is currently running. Participation from other Scandinavian countries is welcome, as well as anyone who understands Danish.
On Kidproj1-Dansk (for kids up to about 10 years), this autumn's projects will be about where they live, collaborative writing of a fairy tale, and a Christmas calendar.
On Kidproj2-Dansk (from about 10 - 13), the next project will be "Børn år 2000," a debate on topics like sexual roles, boy-girl, from child to grown-up. Later, comes "Lego/Robolab," "Gæt vores by," and "Nikolaus rejse" projects.
On Kidproj3-Dansk, there will be a "Robinsonade" project. Like Robinson Crusoe, make efforts to survive in a virtual desolate area. A diary with descriptions of happenings and solutions will be the product. Finally, a "Mushrooms" project will run for all ages.

Rosella		Daniel		Froilán

Around Kidlink

Daniel Basilio Romero (12) has joined the Spanish language team as Kidhelper and "kidreportero." He also works with us on c2d.
Rosella Campari, Italy , is the new KIDCAFE-FRENCH coordinator. She works with French language area manager André Rombauts on the Dico project, an online multi-media French dictionary made by students.
Froilán Herrera,, living in Tacna, Perú , has taken over coordination of the KIDLINK-SPANISH announcement list. For some time now, he has been the one translating these newsletters into Spanish. Also, Froilan organizes and coordinates the "Celebrando en 10 imágenes" project (The Kidlink's 10 years Celebration in 10 images project).
The KIDART-SPANISH mailing list for kids and youth has been opened for discussion about art, and submission of art to Kidlink's Gallery of Computer art. The list is moderated by Jim Varillas from Peru .

Hannah Sivan		Oscar Becerra

The Kidlink Society 2000

The Kidlink Society's annual meeting ended on July 30. Hannah Sivan, Israel was reelected as Board Member for Asia until 2003. As the Society had no members from Pacific this year, the Board appointed Mr. Oscar Becerra, Peru to represent this area for one year. Oscar was one of the founding members of the Kidlink Society way back in 1993, and has served on the Board before. Click here, if you want to sign up as a member of the Society. Please note that (eing a member is not required to enjoy Kidlink's free services!

New resources for helpers

Kidlink's support network is run by some 500 people in 34 countries. They all have real jobs that "compete" with their Kidlink volunteer work. Our resulting management challenge is that it takes more people to get a job done, coordination by email, that it often takes longer time, and that help requested must not be too time consuming for the individual helper.
At our new home page for Volunteers, it may now be easier find things you want to be involved with. There are relatively detailed descriptions of some of our needs. Sometimes maybe too detailed . The details are needed to try overcome the complexity of cooperation virtually beyond borders and time zones.
Sure, you can jump on a big task to do it all by yourself! On the other hand, it may make sense to start small and just volunteer for some little subtask. No task is too little in Kidlink. Everything helps. When you know more about how it works, you can go for more.
If you speak another language than English, please note that translations rank very high on our list of needs, and that there's also a special home page for Kidlink translators.

About "A Kidlink Diary"

A Kidlink Diary is published four or more times a year presenting short news from the global Kidlink community: people, programs, services, and student results across language areas. This issue is posted at http://www.kidlink.org/history/2000/diary3.html. New issues are announced through our announcement lists, and the KIDNEWS mailing list. (Spanish language translations: http://www.kidlink.org/spanish/kidnoticia/news.html)
Reports and commentaries from users of Kidlink's services for possible inclusion are welcome. These may be edited for clarity or space. Send to Odd de Presno.
A Kidlink Diary is compiled and edited by Odd de Presno with additional assistance of Kidlink's international team of coordinators. Kidlink ^sm is a non-profit grassroots organization working to help children through the secondary school level be involved in a global dialog. It is owned by a non-profit organization named the Kidlink Society with registration number 976 536 258 in the Norwegian "Enhetsregisteret."

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