Be The Change NI 2024

Hello! I am Juanita Rea, founder of eduSOIL and the Design For Change Northern Ireland Country Partner. I am also a Visiting Scholar at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in support of my socially engaged work. 

This year eduSOIL is aiming to empower youth who participated in our Art For Change programme funded by Arts Council Northern Ireland and supported by QUB to represent NI at the Be The Change Dubai event that is bringing together youth social activists from 30+ countries to celebrate the change they have been driving in their local communities.

We are raising funds to showcase the 2024 NI Story of Change and a Cultural Performance and have our current NI Student Council Member at the global Be The Change (BTC) gathering in Dubai, November 21st -24th.

BTC Dubai, Nov 21st - 24th expenses are £1,250 per person for:

• Return flights: £595.00 
• Visa: £60.00 
• Accommodation: £120.00 (for double sharing, breakfast included)
• Local Travel: £100
• Dinners (for 2 nights) £60
• Conference Fee: £76 (includes lunch)
• Sightseeing Tours : £38 (includes lunch)
• Coordination Fee: £200 (per representative)

Help us reach our target of £11,000 which is what we need for the following country delegation to make NI proud at Be The Change Dubai!

1. Country Partner 

• Juanita Rea : Accomodation, Visa, Local Travel and Mentorship @£150 per day for 5 days) Total £1,000

2. Story of Change Youth Representatives (eduSOIL)

• Swara Joshi
• Snehal Patil
• Nandini Italya
• Layla Singh

3. Cultural Performance Youth Representatives (ACSONI)

• Anashe Muchinapaya
• Ricardo Makamanzi
• Matipa Jayden Njanina

4. Student Council Member (eduSOIL)

• Karma Vyas

Please include the name of the person you are supporting when you donate. All sponsors will be named in the final Stories of Change videos showcased in Dubai.

About the Programme

The Art For Change (AFC) summer programme at QUB welcomed 40 youth (12 - 18 years) from immigrant, asylum seeking, refugee and vulnerable backgrounds to explore arts-based wellbeing strategies and lead group social action projects addressing mental health issues. Since 2011 eduSOIL has supported 16,000 people in 12 countries and is delivering AFC in partnership with Design For Change Global and with support from Arts Council Northern Ireland and QUB School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL), Performance Without Barriers research group and the Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility Directorate.

Due to the racial unrest in Belfast we had to postpone the showcase that we planned to do on August 10th at the Brian Friel Theatre featuring talented youth artivists (12 - 18 years) from eduSOIL, Diverse Youth NI, ACSONI, NI Indian Community and ANAKA Collective. 

We shifted our programme online and despite the challenges our team and community faced, our youth persevered with unleashing  I CAN superpowers and creativity to take action on issues affecting their mental health and to inspire change in the world.  

You can book a spot to to attend our in-person Celebration and Awards Ceremony on October 11th and leave your donation here!

Or you can book a spot to access recordings of the amazing projects on our Virtual Showcase website as a reward for your donation.

Last year eduSOIL showcased 3 Stories of Change ( two for NI and one for Sudan) at the global gathering in Ahmedabad India where Karma Vyas represented NI in person. He was later selected to join the Design For Change Global Student Council 2024.  Check out Karma's video in which he describes his transformative journey. 

Support Arts-Based, Youth-Led, Civic action.

🙏🏾🌻
Juanita Rea