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“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

It is with great excitement to announce that the 2010 recipient of Twestival Global for education will be Concern Worldwide.

“Concern tweets, blogs and creates a good amount of content to get their message out, but could really use our help to take their organization to the next level, in the way Twestival was able to do for charity: water in 2009.  During the selection process, we spoke with partners who work with @concern and found it inspiring to hear on more than one occasion how well respected the organization is operationally. Our 200+ city organizers around the world are enthusiastic about hosting events on 25 March 2010 which will put a global spotlight on the great work that Concern does for education.”  - Amanda Rose, Twestival Global

Concern in 140 characters :

@ We work to eliminate extreme poverty by tackling its root causes and bring education to child laborers, streetkids and out-of-school girls.

@ Worldwide 72m children don’t go to school and never learn to read or write. We work to provide education to the most vulnerable among them.

Candid reaction from the Concern team after finding out the news:

“We are still all abuzz here!  Bursts of applause and yelping in every room I told!  They were so, so excited about all of this.  Thank you again for choosing Concern… we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to it!”                          - Erin Sorce, Foundations and Programs, Concern US

Feedback from a few local organizers about Concern Worldwide:

“We like the fact that they focus their attention on the poorest people in order to help them preparing their future in a sustainable way…” - Paris, France

“(We) feel the organization is best equipped to help us deliver on our mandate to bestow aid in the form of providing access to education in developing countries. Appreciate their transparency in expenditures, their track record in enacting positive change for over 40 years and their below average administrative costs.” - Toronto, Canada

“Concern does a lot of grassroots work…” - Nairobi, Kenya

“It’s great they can ensure 100% of our fundraising efforts will be put towards project costs so we can see exactly where it goes…” - Melbourne, Australia

“(Concern) will benefit from raised social media awareness.” - London, UK

“Concern Worldwide seems to offer the most comprehensive approach in the education field.” - Helsinki, Finland

“All of the charities put forward are excellent, but I like the excellent working history they (Concern) have. It is important to know our efforts will go (to) help people in different parts of the world.” - Tokyo, Japan

“I like Concern Worldwide’s broader focus on attacking poverty through a number of means, including education.” - Ubud, Bali

“Concern’s focus on the poorest people and the most at risk is compelling. They appear to have a mission that goes deeper than their peers. They strive to help those that in many cases are at material risk given their circumstance; such as war, aids, and disabilities. Further, the cause extends to construction, water and other aspects which are vital to a successful education.” - Santa Barbara, US

About Concern Worldwide.

Concern Worldwide was founded in 1968 to meet the needs of people living in extreme poverty, for whom every day is a fight for survival. Concern is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty. Concern’s mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives - improvements they can sustain without ongoing support. Concern meets the needs of the poorest people in a caring and personalized manner, respecting their human and cultural dignity. They are committed to reaching the most vulnerable, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Concern’s work is informed by a vision for change.  Concern’s education programs target the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world, with particular emphasis on reaching out-of-school children such as girls, orphans, street children, working children, children affected by conflict, children affected by HIV and AIDS, and children with disabilities. Concern’s education programs reach over 700,000 people in 25 countries across the regions of Africa,  Asia, and the Caribbean.

How Concern operates and where the Twestival funds will go.

For as little as $28USD they can provide the uniform, books, pencils, and paper a child needs to attend one year of school. Concern Worldwide are able to guarantee that 100% of Twestival funds would go directly to project costs.  This means that the money would be used for material purchases (curriculum, desks, pencils) as well as project activities such as construction of schools; rehabilitation of classrooms; teacher/management training; PTAs; HIV/AIDS school clubs; water and sanitation in schools; health education in schools; education advocacy; vocational/life-skills training for youth, farmers and women; and curriculum development for secondary school/university. Money will not be used for things like administration, overhead, reporting oversight, etc. Concern Worldwide requires all fields that receive money strictly adhere to a six- and 12-month formal reporting protocol in which the field details the specific activities it has undertaken and how the funds were utilized. This system provides a very tangible case studies, evidence and updates, and other detailed information about how programs have progressed and benefited program participants; including the financial allocation in field; the GPS locations of schools in receipt of funds; digital video clips and photos from the schools; and case studies/quotes from people who have benefitted from the projects.

Visit Concern International and Concern US

Special Thank You to the Shortlisted NonProfits for Twestival Global 2010:

The selection process for Twestival Global 2010 was never clear cut, as we are learning as we go, but what was unanimous among everyone involved is that all four of the shortlisted nonprofits were standouts.  We considered over 200 international nonprofits that fit the criteria asked of Twestival and were impressed with the unique approaches to education of our four shortlisted organizations.  Many cities encouraged us to support all of them with our efforts.  However, the best decision for Twestival is to have one clear organization to keep the communication clear.  We have invited Room to Read, Architecture for Humanity and the World Food Programme to work alongside us in 2010 with sideline initiatives and as education advisors.  We could not ask for a more transparent, efficient and all around fantastic group of organizations to highlight.  If you haven’t already, please visit their sites and follow them on Twitter.  We look forward to showcasing their superb work via Twestival.com in 2010.  Thank you.

What is next…

On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together to rally around an important cause by hosting local events and creating awareness.

In 2009, Twestival aligned with charity: water who we saw doing incredible work to help the almost 1 billion or 1 in 6 people in the world that don’t have access to clean in safe drinking water.

In 2010, we turn our focus to education and 72 million children in the world who don’t go to school.  Concern Worldwide has been selected by local organizers to be the recipient because of their comprehensive approach to education.  This is an issue that involves many different elements; hunger, water, teacher training, building of schools, etc.  We hope to use the power of our global events and social media influence as a vehicle to give people insight into this cause on a deeper level.

City Registration:

Between 16-31 December 2009, we will be confirming with previous Twestival cities the status of their organizing teams to ensure things are in place to accept new volunteers.  Due to the already overwhelming demand to establish new cities and organizers wishing to start planning, we will begin to process new cities starting 1 January 2010.  If you have any questions, please tweet @twestival.  In the meantime, if you want to put your city on the map, start to ask in your community who is interested and establish a team.  More details will be posted soon about the timeline of Twestival Global 2010.

New Twestival Website:

We are currently in the process of our new website development.  At the moment Twestival.com will remain as the Twestival Local version until we change over in early 2010.  We appreciate your enthusiasm to get set up, but it is important to get established properly so cities can hit the ground running in January.

Want to Join the Global Team?

We are currently opening up a number of volunteer positions on the Twestival Global Team including Regional Coordinator Positions in Europe, South America and Australia.  If you want to get involved, we’d love to find a role for you either locally, internationally or even online.

Stay tuned for descriptions of specific roles this weekend and in January 2010 we will start to match general volunteer requests. Twestival would be nothing without the skills and time of its talented volunteers around the world.  Let’s see what we can do to bring education to the forefront in 2010 one tweet at a time!