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This blog is a global conversation among young people on poverty and other development-related issues. It's maintained by the World Bank's Youthink! team

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culture

Gender: Still An Issue

Submitted by María Rodríguez on August 19, 2009 - 10:26

The other day I was studying with a couple of friends and, while we were on a break, one of them offered me a beer that had entered the Colombian market a couple of years ago. This beer’s marketing strategy is based on the idea of it being “the beer for women.” I said that I wasn’t going to try it, because I think that products that are promoted using ideas of a “macho” culture are not compatible with my way of thinking. And hence we started a very interesting debate that motivated me to write this post.

Friends for global change

Submitted by María Rodríguez on August 6, 2009 - 11:04

Aren’t you amazed at how many networking opportunities the Internet offers? Today I started to think about it when I received a Facebook invitation from a friend from Romania that I haven’t seen in over 6 years! How else would I have heard from him again if not through the Internet? This made me realize that nowadays people all around the world, and most of all young people, have very international networks of friends thanks to the Internet and to how easy it is now to communicate and travel. In my case, I know people in almost every continent! That’s crazy for an average youth… or at least it was crazy in the past, but now we’re just used to it.

Culture affecting development: more ideas for social innovation

Submitted by María Rodríguez on June 12, 2009 - 15:06

In my last post I mentioned a consulting project, and the second trip I took for this project was to Pasto, Colombia. This city is located in Nariño, a region blessed by nature and its people’s vocation for the arts. On the other hand, it also faces a complex social situation that is deepened by its society’s cultural traits.
Pasto is a medium size city (close to 400,000 inhabitants) located at 2,527 meters above the sea level. Its cold weather contrasts with the warmth and kindness of its people. It is located at the foot of Galeras, the most active volcano in Colombia, which reigns in Pasto landscape. People say the city is going to disappear one day because it’s not a  matter of whether the volcano is going to have a big eruption or not, but when. In fact, the volcano has been erupting a lot lately. Nonetheless, the city has been there for over 470 years, and even though it has been affected by a lot of eruptions and earthquakes, they have never made the city disappear.

Culture and its confusions...

Submitted by Saadia Iqbal on June 3, 2009 - 10:30

As you may have heard, May 21 was the World Day for Cultural Diversity. I love the idea of having a day to celebrate our world’s amazing cultural heritage; its diverse languages, traditions and arts. Personally, learning about the customs, festivities and beliefs in other countries has added a huge dimension to my understanding of the world and my ability to see things from different perspectives. In fact, a lot of projects these days are focusing on inter-cultural understanding and tolerance as a means of promoting peace. Check out the work of the Alliance of Civilizations and UNESCO to  learn more.

Images courtesy We Are What We Do

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