Europe Direct Letterkenny are delighted to host a Live Art Exhibition this month with Self Help Africa and Donegal ChangeMakers. The exhibition runs in Central Library from 21^st February until 8^th March and will offer the general public an insight into women at the Frontline of Climate Change. There will also be a speaker event at 12.30pm on Tuesday 8^th March.

Created by Self Help Africa this exhibition shows that Women are the engine of Agriculture, working on small scale farms that support the majority of the continents people. Women till the soil, plant the crops, weed the fields, harvest the produce , transport the goods and prepare the food. But although Africa’s women carry out up to 70% of the manual labour on small farms , they receive only a fraction of the available support .

This photo exhibition takes a close look at the lives of these women, such as Togolese farmer Yendoukoa Assibi  who is educating her community about the dangers of deforestation, and Minata and Baba Wedrago from Sika village who dig Zai in the 40 ⁰C heat in Burkina Faso.

And stories from Lipolougou village, where Sana Mamata lives with her daughter-in-law Yougbare and granddaughter Aisha, where 30 villagers have banded together to rehabilitate a water well and are using the water to irrigate a communal vegetable garden. In doing so they have created one small plot of green in the dusty ground and provide enough to feed themselves and their families.

Self Help Africa and Donegal ChangeMakers are together tackling the root causes of injustice and poverty, locally and globally, so that we can create a bright and sustainable future for all. As a partner of ChangeMaker’s in Donegal, this photo exhibition will allow us to look through the lens of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and to learn more about Climate Justice, Sustainable Agriculture, Gender Equality and Ethical Trade.

Started in July 2012, Changemakers is now in its 10th year. There are four Project Partners, Inishowen Development Partnership, Donegal Education & Training Board, Self Help Africa and Trocaire. Over the years Changemakers has worked hard to raise awareness of local and global development issues with adults across County Donegal. We have done this through a range of activities, including workshops, accredited learning, ETB tutor education, community arts projects, horticulture and environmental projects, activities for specific groups e.g. older people, community debates and more

Europe Direct is located in Central Library Letterkenny and is there to answer your questions on the EU. We can provide Information on the European Union, access to publications and brochures from EU institutions, access to PCs to search for EU material, a freephone link to the Europe Direct helpdesk, events, talks, exhibitions and competitions. For more information please visit https://www.librariesireland.ie/services/europe-direct or why not have a look at our Europe Direct Letterkenny Facebook page or contact Central Library on 074 91 24950

Please contact ChangeMakers at changemakers@inishowen.ie if you would like an invite to the event on Tuesday 8^th March. Due to covid restrictions numbers are limited.

Wanna grab a Fairtrade Coffee and chat tomorrow and Friday morning ? Then do check out Revive Dunfanaghy between 11am and 1pm for a coffee and Fairtrade chat . We will be there offering information and more so do come in and say hello – you can also pick up their crossword competition with some fantastic prizes to be won !

IN 2022 FAIRTRADE WILL HOST THEIR ONLINE ‘CHOOSE THE WORLD YOU WANT VIRTUAL FESTIVAL FROM
21ST OF FEBRUARY TO 6TH OF MARCH.

For two weeks each year 100’S of individuals, companies, and groups across Ireland come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food people who are often exploited and underpaid.

Here at ChangeMakers we are hosting a number of online virtual events also and we also are supporting the Fairtrade Towns and Groups across the county .

We are currently looking for volunteers to help out in our Fairtrade Towns and Projects across Donegal and also just finalising our line up of county wide events so do keep an eye out on our socials for the event advertisement or contact changemakers@inishowen.ie for more information and to Get Involved !

We are kicking off 2022 with our 2nd community debate workshop as part of the ‘Greening Rural Donegal-  Just a Burden or Just Transition? Series’

Our first debate took place in December 2021 and looked at ‘Energy’ – the challenges (fuel poverty and green energy poverty) and opportunities (green and community-owned energy projects).

For the second debate in this series we will explore ‘Transport’: Rail, Electric Vehicles (EVs), Rural Transport, and cycling infrastructure.

Greening Rural Donegal: Just a Burden or Just Transition: Transport- we will be holding the second of our ‘Greening Rural Donegal’ debate series on Tuesday February 22^nd at 7pm.

We are just finalising a great speaker line-up which will cover rail, electric vehicles, and our cycling infrastructure in Donegal.
Eventbrite registration is requireed so do keep an eye out on our socials for the event advertisement or contact changemakers@inishowen.ie for more information

In partnership with Think Equality Donegal, ChangeMakers will be running another Bookless Book Club (BBC).

Following its success, our BBC 2022 will explore gender inequality- its local and global dimensions and how it impacts us, our community, and our world.

Art is a powerful medium to understand the world around us. Our Bookless Book Club (BBC) is an approach we piloted in 2021 to explore racial inequality and the Black Lives Matter movement using film, art, poetry, podcasts and other media.

The Think Equality Donegal Project is an initiative working to eliminate prejudice, discrimination, and racism across the county of Donegal. Their aim is to promote Human Rights and positive institutional change, with the goal of full and meaningful inclusion of Black Minority Ethnic Communities, including Traveller and Roma Communities, across rural Donegal.

The Bookless Book Club consists of 4 evening sessions delivered online from Thursday February 17th & 24th and Thursday March 3rd & 10th @ 7pm

The club will be limited to 15 part for more informationcipants. Participants must commit to attending all four sessions and Eventbrite registration is required.

Register HERE. or Contact changemakers@inishowen.ie

QQI Local and Global Development- Sharing the Learning!

ChangeMakers has been running QQI accredited Level 4 and Level 6 courses on Local and Global Development in Donegal since 2012. We are now running a series of online events between February and June 2022 to showcase a selection of projects from our past students.

The research conducted by these students is of a high-quality, involving the collection of primary data and addressing social justice issues of salience to Donegal, Ireland and globally.

Our first showcase
‘Is Consumerism Costing us the Earth? What about the impact of Misinformation Tech on Global Development?’
kicks off on Wednesday February 9th at 7pm to discuss fascinating research of our past QQI DonegalETB students.

Registration required and can be found on our Eventbrite Page : HERE or contact changemakers@inishowen.ie for more information

ChangeMakers has reopened its small grants of up to €650 to community and voluntary groups who wish to support the objectives of ChangeMakers by offering a Development Education activity or project around one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The aim of the ‘Seeds of Change’ Grant Scheme is to enable Donegal Community Activist and Voluntary Groups to raise awareness and action around the identified global development issues.
Community groups can make applications under three categories :
• Category I- Social Justice
• Category II- Economic Justice
• and Category III- Environmental Justice
We encourage projects that address multiple categories acknowledging the reality of many of the local and global justice issues we are trying to address in our community. Such applications should identify the ‘main category’ under which their project falls.
To get an application for and full guidelines please email changemakers@inishowen.ie
Closing date has now been extended to January 31st at 5pm

That’s right ChangeMakers has been running since 2012 and since then we have been working hard within the National Development Education and Adult & Community sectors both in terms of receiving awards (2019 Aontas Star Award Adult Learning Initiatives that support Social Inclusion category) and presenting at national conferences (Bookless Book Club pilot at the 2020 IDEA National Conference) , (Supporting climate action at the 2020 Community Work Ireland Conference)  & (2021 Fair Trade Ireland Annual Conference)

BUT this year we want to celebrate with YOU , our dedicated ChangeMakers in Donegal – We will endeavour and continue to work hard this year with our annual reach of approximately 700 adults across County Donegal !

If you want to get involved in our workshops , debates , grant awards , mentorships and more,  please do get in touch at changemakers@inishowen.ie or check out our webpage www.changemakers.ie

Oh! and make sure you subscribe to our YouTube Channel HERE to see some amazing past projects and participants around the county that have made a change in their community.