Youth Going Mobile

Un Mundo Sin Mordaza (27/04/2010).- Parece difícil para muchos imaginarse una forma de vivir sin los teléfonos celulares, mientras que millones de jóvenes por todo el mundo carecen de esta "necesidad básica". En "Roots of Hope" (Raíces de Esperanza) comprenden la falta de comunicación que actualmente tienen gran cantidad de jóvenes en Cuba (sólo 1 de 12 cubanos poseerá un celular al final del año). Por tal razón están haciendo algo por ello...

Youth Going Mobile
Roots of Hope, Inc.
Miguel Cruz and Alex Salamanca

What would you do without a cell phone?

In every country, in every corner of the globe, the cell phone is becoming one of the most, if not the most, essential accessories used. The ability to communicate via voice and text message, to snap pictures and instantaneously share with others, even to check Facebook or update Twitter, goes with you in a purse or pocket each and every day. Just try to imagine how a day in the life without it would be. Now a week. How about a year? Had you ever imagined your little device was THAT important?

While it may seem difficult to imagine a lifestyle without our cell phones, millions of youth world-wide still lack what we may consider a basic “necessity”. We at Roots of Hope realize the lack of communication in Cuba, recognize that by year’s end, only 1 in 12 Cubans will own a cell phone, and we suffer in seeing the denial of the modern human right of communication to millions of youth in Cuba. Most importantly, we’re doing something about it.

Through our existing Cell Phones for Cuba project (www.cells4cuba.org), we collect old or used cell phones, promote sustainability by selling them to a recycler, and use the funds to purchase brand-new, Cuba-capable cell phones and distribute them to youth on the island. In conjunction, we send calling cards so the youth can sustain their new phones. However, we firmly believe our cause is not just a Cuban issue—it’s a human issue.

Thus, Roots of Hope is launching a global initiative aptly named Youth Going Mobile. With the help of other non-profit organizations and of private institutions, we seek to provide youth in all closed and under-developed societies with this simple, modern human right of communication.

Youth Going Mobile will oversee Cell Phones for Cuba and any additional “Cell Phones for ___”-themed projects other non-profit organizations would like to create. These projects will individually advertise to their respective communities and audiences in the United States and abroad to collect old or used cell phones. They will then be shipped to the United States, recycled and sold, and new cell phones will be purchased and given to the organizations for distribution in their country-of-interest. Youth Going Mobile will serve as the logistical center of these multi-national projects, operating on an international scale.

This groundbreaking project has already garnered support from organizations in Columbia and the Middle East, and is now happily supported by Un Mundo Sin Mordaza. Roots of Hope is actively seeking any non-profit organization wanting to start a campaign aimed at empowering youth—in their respective country, or in other closed or under-developed societies—with cell phones. For more information, or to find out more about working with Youth Going Mobile, please email C4C@raicesdeesperanza.org.
Imagine your life without a cell phone.

Now… imagine what you can do to change that.