The Solidarity Youth Card Project is part of the Catalonia Carnet Jove CONNECTA’T Programme. Cardholders were asked to choose a country from among nine African countries that are victims of the so-called "forgotten crises".
Young people who participated in the consultation that was done on line by means of a small questionnaire decided to assign €75,000 from the project to: ETHIOPIA. The money was collected from the contribution of part of the yearly fee of Carnet Jove (Catalan Youth Card) card holders and the mission was carried out by the Red Cross who developed a food security programme.

In 2008, so as not to disassociate itself from the progress achieved and to help ensure that the results would be more satisfactory, it was agreed to continue with the action in Ethiopia and that the development NGO to develop the project should continue to be the Red Cross. Youth card holders were able to decide on the website which specific action of three possibilities (agriculture and women, water and women or health and women) was to receive the €100,000.

Trip to Ethiopia
-Technical trip-

In a parallel way, in order to check out the development on the terrain of the project that has been developed over these two years, at the beginning of March 2008 a technical trip was made to Ethiopia with the aim of involving young people more clearly in matters of solidarity and co-operation and a call was opened so that one of the youth card holders could carry out the follow up on the project in situ. A competition was set up so that one of the card holders could carry out a follow-up in situ on the Solidarity Youth Card Project in Ethiopia and accompany the technical committee on the trip. The conditions to be able to participate in the competition were being a holder of the Generalitat of Catalonia's Carnet Jove youth card, being over 18 and being committed to being available when the trip was planned.

Blai Tomàs Velasco, aged 25, was the Carnet Jove card holder who was able to check out for himself in situ on the development of the project in the technical trip that was made from 14th to 20th of March 2008.

The Red Cross was the NGO responsible for developing it and is still acting on the food security projects in the most vulnerable population of the communities situated in the south of Wollo.

Blai Tomàs accompanied the delegation with the object of being able to disseminate the task to other young people, and he prepared this video, appart from other actions.

Have a look at the video!