What have we been up to lately? We are so glad you asked! Hello dear Otesha Lovers of all shapes and sizes - welcome to our final newsletter for 2011 - We hope you have time to read it as we would LOVE to tell you about all the wonderful adventures we have been having in Otesha land  (currently located in a train carriage near you!)  We have just completed a VERY successful year of Otesha inspiration - a successful bike tour to visit our National Leaders and inspire new ones along the way, completed our pilot drama program with the help of an awesome partnership with Kildonnan and a group of inspirational young girls from Whittlesea Secondary,  and not only that we are in full swing with strategic planning for 2012 - and do we have plans for you!  In 2012 there will be (fingers and toes crossed)

Come along and join us in a fun night of delicious food and awesome trivia with some fantastic prizes to win. Otesha will be doing a a presentation about the highlights of their latest tour, followed by a scrummy vegie dinner and tempting trivia. Are you up for the challenge? Come and meet some of the awesome 2011 crew, see some cool photos and eat some awesome vegie goodness. Only $20 for food and trivia or $15 concession. Places are limited so make sure you RSVP ASAP!!  

Newsletter - Awesome August Welcome back from Tour Land Its been a HUGE gap between newsletters - but The Otesha Crew are back to tell you all about their most recent adventures.  For those of you who were reading our tour Blog, Vanessa and Kate, our Co-Directors , Nyssa, Emily and Michael our 2011 Coordinators and the rest of the fantastic crew have cycled their way from Melbourne to Canberra and BEYOND!!! And upon arriving back in Melbourne town we jumped straight into a 6 week high school workshop program up in Whittlesea which will see 10 inspired year 7, 8 and 9 students perform The Otesha Play at a Sustainability Festival in early September. We hope you missed us and our little emails - as we really want to tell you all about what we have been up to these past few months, that we are all still alive and kicking and about where we and Otesha will be heading in the future!   Please keep reading....its worth it we promise!!! Tour Report Whittlesea Workshop Report AGM Announcement and Management Committee Call out Co Director Position Call Out Spring Welcome Otesha Trivia and Catchup Fundraiser Super Sunday - Fun and Fundraising for Otesha Tour ReportIf you ever wanted to know what its like to be on a tour - here is an amazing description written by one of our Tour Coordinators from 2011 - Michael Brittain - who came all the way from LA in the USA to be part of the adventure!

Hello Oteshaites! We have a couple of things to announce...

• Peddle Powered Film Festival
• 2011 Capital City Tour: Apply Now!
• Strategic Planning Weekend
• Help Otesha for Christmas

Peddle Powered Film Festival CERES Global and The Otesha Project (Aus): Cycling for Sustainability are joining forces to bring you an evening of inspirational films (powered by YOU), food, drinks, and other very fun activities all in the name of raising funds for two projects whose common mission is to  educate and act towards a sustainable and equitable world. Some come out and help support our projects!

Hi everyone, its Vanessa here! And I’ve recently joined Kate as her new co-directing buddy! While still adapting to the freezing Melbourne conditions from the tropical climate of Indonesia, I’ve been warmly welcomed by Kate (and Ange), the new management committee AND thanks to the great guys down at Human Powered Cycles, I’m back on my (now) trusty, wheeled steed, cycling the wintry streets of Melbourne and feeling the warmth flow back! Thanks Bill, Joel and Lewis! You amazing humans you! As I ride the streets and smile at my fellow Melbourne riders, bypassing traffic and happily puffing up hills, I feel the fire of possibility burn within me. I’ve only been away a year, but I’m heartened to see some positive ‘sustainable’ changes in Melbourne. With new bike lanes  being added and old bike paths being upgraded, and Bicycle Victoria hosting its second annual Bike Futures Conference http://www.bv.com.au/bike-futures/  in October this year, Melbourne continues to build itself as biking city and is making cycling safer and more accessible for more people! Yay, go Melbourne!  WOOT WOOT! Over the last couple of weeks Kate and I have been talking tours, fundraisers and workshops and we have a few exciting developments to announce...

• 2011 Tour Announcement – It’s been decided!
• TOUR COORDINATOR ADVERTISEMENT
• OTESHA PARTNERS
• MELBOURNE SUSTAINABILITY WORKSHOPS - Looking for volunteer workshop presenters

2011 Tour Announcement - It's been decided!

So we are running just a little bit behind schedule in letting you know our June Otesha happenings – but things have been happening!! (mostly behind the scenes) BUT now we can reveal them to you! Yay!

The BIG news is our amazing, inspiring, fun loving, ever laughing ever smiling sustainabot for ever in action Co-Director Ange is stepping down from her position with Otesha to – GET MARRIED and BUILD A SUSTAINABLE HOUSE in STAWELL!! WOW!! Congratulations Ange-Woo!! We love and will miss you!! Ange has been with Otesha for 5 years! And believes it is time to let someone just as inspired and active to take the reigns while she moves on to a new and amazing adventure in her life!   So, read more about how you can apply to be the next Funky Co-Director, or nominate yourself to be on our inspiring Management Committee, with our AGM only 1 month away! Or come to our next little Otesha gathering in Melbourne and warm your little Otesha hearts with recent tour adventure stories and smiling faces!! AGM Announcement Funky Co-Director Final Reminder – 30 May Application Deadline Winter Warmer Otesha Catchup Gathering   AGM Announcement   It’s coming to that time of year again where we review our successes and our lessons learnt, and bring together our members old and new for our AGM. This will be held on Wednesday 30th June. At this meeting we can officially nominate and vote for new committee members as well as announce those wishing to stand down. If you are interested or know of anyone who may be interested in being on the management committee it would be great to hear from you!

Energetic and passionate Co-Director required for The Otesha Project (Australia)   If you have fresh ideas about sustainable consumption, are highly motivated and want to inspire youth then this job is for you!   The Otesha Project (Australia): Cycling for Sustainability is currently seeking a dedicated, experienced, and passionate individual to join our organisation.    A not-for-profit organisation, The Otesha Project (Australia): Cycling for Sustainability, offers bicycle tours and educational programs to engage youth about sustainable consumption. Using theatre, multimedia, and interactive workshops, Otesha (Aust.)’s creative focus provides a unique approach to understanding environmental and social justice issues, enabling youth to become role models and sustainability advocates.   The objectives of The Otesha Project (Australia) are to increase awareness about the impacts of the products and resources we consume, increase the number of responsible consumer choices made by young Australians, and increase the number of young role models and sustainability advocates.   Job Description This is an ideal opportunity to gain leadership and management experience while working for an ethical not-for-profit organisation. Specifically the following duties are shared with the other co-director:  

So much news to tell!! Where do we start? The best news is of course the 8 strong cycle tour crew have successfully completed the East Coast cycle from Melbourne to Sydney!! Woohoo!! The crew cycled an amazing 1600km in total and along their cycle route performed at 16 schools and community groups to a total of 1138 students!   WOW – HOW INSPIRATIONAL!   Read more about the end of tour welcome to Sydney and fundraising party below! And if that hasn’t wet your whistle – we also have some news about some other inspiring groups - one that will cycling around THE WORLD and looking for crew and volunteers! The other, one of Othesha's partner organisations, who are lobbying the Federal Government to make sustainability a key school curriculum topic! Go Youth Power!!   Tour Fundraising finale party Our new home for at Loophole Bike the Earth- looking for support in riding, everything! AYCC Greening Our Curriculum   Tour

The South Coast Tour is Underway! Well the funky little band of 8 Oteshalings (Alice, Ania, Tony, Mat, Kelly, Tim, Marieke and Rachael) is now off on their merry sustainable way cycling their little hearts, minds and legs from Melbourne to Sydney –They have already been to lots of schools as well as performing the skit for the first time at The Sustainable Living Festival on the River Stage! They have already performed and presented workshops to almost 500 students, and they are only about 3 weeks into the 8 week tour! They are all so excited and positive about inspiring as many of the youth (and grown ups!) they meet along the way that they can!   Check out the travel blog to stay up to date with their amazing adventures – http://www.otesha.org.au/biketours/2010/southcoast-tour-crew/blog/finally-we-get-blogging   On Route Support Support Otesha on the Road! Hugs and Thank-you’s! Other Important Thankyous Melbourne Workshops Program Human Powered Cycles