Youth Taking Action: Serving Iraqi refugees

by James Bach

category: Young Leaders

Published July 22, 2009 @ 09:02AM PT

Ashoka's Youth Venturer Sky Choi is one busy 12-year-old. Apart from starting The List Kids to serve young Iraqi refugees in the U.S. he is also starting his university studies in physics, speaks multiple languages, has a third degree black belt in taekwondo, and says that he hopes to always make a difference in the world!

He started The List Kids in 2007 to help serve a forgotten population - the Iraqis who assisted the U.S. Military and had to flee Iraq for their personal safety. Sky has raised awareness of the challenges that these families have faced and provided their children with monthly care packages.

We spoke with Sky about his work with The List Kids, the importance of raising awareness and creating understanding between different communities, and how kids can welcome other children in need to their new country.

Why did you start List Kids? Why is it needed?

I founded The List Kids in order to reach out to the Iraqi refugee children who are resettled in the US in connection with The List Project. Their parents risked their lives working as advisors, interpreters, clerks, and construction workers, alongside American soldiers.  Many US-affiliated Iraqis have been kidnapped, beaten and killed; many others were forced to flee to neighboring countries. A small number make it through the long and difficult screening process and are able to resettle here in the US.  It is very difficult for the Iraqi refugee families when they arrive here as they have to not only adjust to a new culture, but find homes and jobs as well. While there are various agencies that provide limited support in terms of food and housing, no one was addressing the needs of the children.  That is why I founded the List Kids.  For their first year in the US, the List Kids sends a special care package every month to each child in order to let them know that they are welcome and safe here. The care packages contain cards, letters, school supplies, toys, books, gaming systems and other items that are donated from companies and volunteers across the US. Our goal is to help make their transition to life in the US a little easier.

You serve a lot of kids, where do you get all the donations and support to put together the care packages?

In April 2008, I shipped the first set of care packages ---there were 14 Iraqi refugee children on our list in April 2008.  To date, we have shipped over 700 care packages, and we currently send over 110 care packages to children each month.  People from all over the country have donated items to be included in the care packages. One way is through The List Kids' "wish lists" on both Amazon.com and Target.com where people can shop online for items to donate to The List Kids.  The List Kids also has a chapter with over 130 members on Netroots, social networking site. Some of the members make cards to include in the care packages and help raise funds to cover the postage costs, which is our biggest expense and can run up to $1000 a month.  The List Kids also has several corporate sponsors.  Penguin Books donated 1000 pounds of books.  Teschkeel Media donated 250 annual subscriptions to the comic book series, "The 99."  Independent Means has provided and amazing summer camp for two Iraqi refugee children for the past two summers.  And most recently, Talking Fingers has offered subscriptions to its amazing online program called "Read, Write & Type," a program helps kids learn to read and write in English.  I run the day-to-day operations of The List Kids, but I could not get the care packages out each month without the help of my two cousins, Christian and Cayla Reis.

I imagine it is hard to for most people to understand the reality of what life is like for Iraqi refugee children. How have US kids responded to your project?

I think the average American knows very little about the Iraqi refugee crisis in general and even less about the dangers faced by those who risked their lives and the lives of their families helping our soldiers in Iraq.  It is very difficult to get people interested in this cause.  I think there are two main reasons for this.  First, because of the bad economic situation in our own country, many people have taken the approach of looking out only for themselves.  Charities across the nation have suffered a severe decline in support since the end of last year.  While it is understandable that people are concerned about their own financial situations, I don't feel it is right to simply turn our backs on these families that are in danger because they helped the US.

The second problem is ignorance.  I think people fear what they do not understand or know.  Until this past year, I had never met someone from Iraq before.  I think that is likely the same for many Americans.  After 9-11, our lives changed and many Americans now look through at people, especially those from Middle Eastern countries, through a lens of fear associated with terrorism.  I bet that if people were able to meet these families they would see that they have far more in common than not.  They are moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and grandparents.  They worry about employment.  They worry about school and making friends.  They worry about life in their new country --- a country they willingly served and risked their lives for.

I have faith though that people will understand that we are dealing with children, who did not choose to live through a war and did not choose to live as refugees.  Last week, my cousin donated his Playstation to The List Kids instead of selling it.  His five-year-old sister, clearly not wishing the Playstation was leaving her home, asked me why we help the Iraqi kids.  I explained to her how these children have lived through a war and have ended up here with very little.  They often have no books or toys when they arrive.  Sometimes they don't even have a bed!  She looked at me and said, "Oh, I understand.  This is the right thing to do."  If a five year old can understand that this is the "right thing to do," I am optimistic that others will understand as well.

What has been the outcome of your work between the refugee community and the US students? In what ways do you hope that your project will have long-term impact on the participants?

Spreading the word about the plight of the US-affiliated Iraqis is so important.  Most people know very little about what the List Project families have been through.  I hope that through my blog and public speaking appearances that I can help change this.  I have found that kids seem the most willing to help.  Check out my blog entry titled "Greenglades Elementary Rocks!" as an example of how students have received the message.

When I speak with students at schools or various student groups, the response has always been great.  They have made some of the coolest cards for the care packages.  They have volunteered to collect ink cartridges for recycling to raise funds and to assist with putting the care packages together each month.  Most kids don't care about the political issues; they only care about helping other kids in need.  They know what it is like to be the "new kid" in a school and can relate to how hard it is to make friends.  Many students, especially in Miami, know how hard it is to come to a new country and have to learn a new language, get used to new foods, and figure out how to fit in.  A connection is made because we focus on what we have in common, not on the ways we are different.

Who or what inspired you to start List Kids? Is your inspiration the same today as it was when you started?

There were two main inspirations for starting The List Kids.  The first person that inspired me is someone that I have never met.  I don't even know his name.  He is an Iraqi boy my age.  My mother represents his family and, through The List Project, is helping them through the resettlement process.  She told me about how he had been kidnapped and held for a week until his family could raise enough money to free him.  He was kidnapped because his father worked with an American team rebuilding schools in Iraq.  His family fled from Iraq to Syria where he lived in a one room apartment with his parents and siblings.  They did not have enough money for him to go to school.  They barely had enough money to pay for food.  As refugees, his parents were prohibited from working while in Syria.  After two years, they ran out of money and were forced to return to Iraq, even though it was still dangerous because of his father's prior employment with the US.  His father resumed working for an US agency and they continue to live in danger, waiting for their day to come live safely in the US.  I cannot even begin to imagine what this boy's life is like.  His story made me realize that the kids that were lucky enough to be resettled here had also been through so much.  I knew I wanted to help in some way so I came up with the idea of The List Kids.

I contacted Kirk Johnson and told him my idea of sending care packages.  Kirk is the second person who really inspired me to take action.  He is an amazing guy.  If you have not read his story, you really need to do so: http://www.thelistproject.org/AUaboutkirk.html.  He started out by helping one interpreter that he had worked with at USAID in Iraq and now spends just about every waking moment helping thousands of US-affiliated Iraqi refugees.  It has been amazing to see how one person can have such a huge impact on the lives of so many people.  Kirk truly is one of those inspiring people that not only does remarkable things in his own right, but he also has the power to inspire others to go beyond what they thought possible.  I am extremely grateful for his support and his friendship.

What are your plans for the project? And how do you foresee yourself continuing your work?

I plan to continue running The List Kids as long as the need for it exists.  At some point, all The List Project families will have made it to the US and The List Kids' original mission will be complete.  I am not sure whether I will continue to do work with refugees or whether I will take on some other causes that are important to me.  I can only tell you that I will always find a way to hopefully make a difference in the world around me.  I know that one person can make a difference.

Get to know other young social entrepreneurs by reading their stories and seeing videos of them in action at http://genvcampaigns.org/

If you are a young person between the ages of 12-20 and want to create positive change in your community join the global movement of young changemakers at http://genv.net/

Preteens Build Top Selling iPhone App

by Nathaniel Whittemore

category: Young Leaders

Published July 02, 2009 @ 09:34AM PT

A great little article published by Inc. Magazine yesterday tells the story of Finn and Owen Voorhees, 9 and 11 year old brothers who recently designed an iPhone application that became one of the top selling apps.

The application was pretty simple. Called MathTime, it's a math drill program that allows people to practice their math skills in a rapid paced, fun environment. Owen taught himself how to do the coding and had his younger brother Finn design the logos in Photoshop.

Of the experience, Owen said: "I thought it would be cool...It's really cool to make something work, to make a little money, to do something like this and see it up..It started booming...I woke up and I was like, I'm an entrepreneur now."

I like this story for a couple reasons.

First of all, it's such an affirmation of the creativity and capacity of young people. If you encourage them to explore instead of boxing them into stereotypes of what they can achieve, amazing things can happen.

The other piece of this though is how different it is for these young creatives to have a platform for their work. Photoshop and the Apple App store coding platform gave them the tools they need to build something; the App Store gave them a place where they can be affirmed for their good work and where they value they created could be accessed by others.

This is one of the powers of technology that I've been most excited about. I've had the lens of an extremely precocious younger brother to see just how both hardware and software can unleash creativity.

I think it's worth thinking dilligently about the platforms for socially impactful creativity we encourage with young people as well. I love that groups like Do Something and Ashoka Youth Venture promote, reward, and highlight exceptional work of young leaders, but I want to see that facilitation of youth creative towards social problems institutionalized in schools across the country.

Are there good examples of where this is happening?

Youth Taking Action: Toilets for a Cleaner Environment and Improved Health

by James Bach

category: Young Leaders

Published June 17, 2009 @ 12:05PM PT

The toilet is a modern convenience that most of us take for granted, not making the connection between its function, the environment and our health. Ashoka's Youth Venturer Moses Odhiambo not only understands this interplay, he has also invented a toilet to meet local needs and generate income in his native Kenya. We spoke to him about the Eco-San Toilet, the message it holds, and how it can improve the lives of people living in poverty.

This is a very unique toilet, can you tell us about your design and how it works?

Ecosan Toilet is a sanitation system that does not require any water to function. Not only does it save on water use, but it is entirely isolated from the surrounding environment and cannot contaminate underground water resources. The system utilizes a natural biological process to break down human waste into a dehydrated odorless compost-like material.

Through the uniquely designed ventilation pipe, adequate airflow is provided for the dehydration / evaporation, deodorizing process. Human excrement consists of roughly 95% moisture. As the solids dry in the conveyer the urine and moisture is vented into the atmosphere. The solid waste then dries into a compost-like material, roughly 5 - 10% of its original mass.

A standard component of the Ecosan toilet system is a urinal. Using the urinal will divert some of the liquids that otherwise would have ended up in the helical screw conveyor. Diverting part of the liquids will assist in the evaporation of moisture in the conveyor and will prevent possible bad odors that can be emitted. Three ventilations options are available to ensure a flow of air down the toilet bowl, through the screw conveyor and out via the ventilation pipe.

After six months of anaerobic decomposition the manure is pulled out from the vault and spread on the organic farms while the urine is continually used on fruit trees to provide more greenness to the leaves and therefore aid in photosynthesis. The urine is mixed with water in the ration of 5:1.

Can you tell us more about the problems that you are addressing and how environmental degradation in the Dunga wetlands impacts human health?

In the riparian community unique birds and animals rely on this swamp for survival. However, anthropogenic activities threaten the aforesaid as the swamp is shrinking at an alarming rate due to encroachment for agriculture/cultivation and livestock grazing, setlement , unsustainable papyrus harvesting and use in material culture industries leading to habitat loss as exemplified through cutting, burning and pollution of the swamp. Papyrus cover loss in Dunga has been to the tune of 50% between 1969-2000, and if it continues unabated at current rate, Dunga Swamp will disappear before 2020. The proximity of the swamp to Kisumu City puts particular strain on the swamp through pollution in the form of sewage and solid wastes. The community has been cutting down the wetland to open up areas for farming therefore the wetland does not perform its natural functions, including flood control. Because of the lack of proper toilets the floods wash down all the wastes into the streams and the lake and this is the same water that is used by the community for domestic purposes.

These problems are compounded by the fact that, the wetland is not under any protection and Kenya is yet to finalize a wetlands development and management policy. Being a slum, Dunga experiences a myriad of problems including sanitation, High infant mortality rate due to poor nutrition, flooding, water borne diseases and lack of clean water amongst others. This is the main reason why we started this venture to try and reduce or if possible eliminate some of these problems from the community.

Environmental degradation through burning and clearing of the wetland for agriculture is the main problem we have been trying to address. Even though we cannot do this in isolation because sanitation is one of the highest and a more priority problem for the community. Therefore with these in mind the Ecosan Toilet has tried to look at an integrated solution by providing the compost manure and also improving the sanitation standards of the households and the community at large.

Through the project we have also been trying to empower the women by using the produce from the organic farms to start up small scale businesses and a revolving fund for them.

Your project clearly links environmental protection and improved water and sanitation services by offering an integrated solution, but how do you plan to change current behavior regarding healthy practices and increased respect for the environment?

1.The most effective method that we have been using is going to schools (mostly because we believe that the young ones are a proper agents of change because they will grow up with the positive attitude to the environment). We do school outreach programmes in the 18 schools around the community and also do debates and workshops with the teachers and students.

2. We do radio talk shows: We use the local radio station, which is listened to mostly in the community since its broadcasted in the local language. In the radio programmes we try to reach the wider community and mostly its on awareness creation and the opportunities that lie in the region that they can tap and benefit from.

3. Elder meeting: The village elder and chief normally have meetings with community leaders every month and we have always been invited to share with the elders on our projects. This is also a good opportunity to have the leaders know about the project and spread it more.

Poverty clearly has a great impact on the health of the population, can you explain how your project also positively contributes to the local economy?

Poverty is normally the hidden main root cause of all the environmental, social and economic problems. It is never possible to try and educate or talk to the community about conservation or protection of the environment without giving them solutions about how they can get food to the table. The project tries to give the community an eye opener and for them to see these opportunities that they can tap while they sustainable utilize the wetland.

Selling of the organic farm produce which is now in abundance, selling of the ecosan fertilizer and starting of the revolving fund are some ways that the ecosan project tries to improve or raise the income or lifestyle of the community.

Where do you see your project going and how do you foresee yourself continuing to contribute to the development of your country?

I see the project being a starting point for a self sufficient community. It might be a long journey for the impacts to reach a larger level but taking each step at a time and with the support of the community at large I believe that the community can become a model to the town and the country about how simple initiatives can make the greatest impacts. Having been brought up by a single mother and going through hardships to get education I have always wished to give back to my community all that I have learnt and continue learning through the opportunities I get.

Having been selected amongst more than 200 youth around the world to come to US and learn on environmental restoration with Earth Corps humbles me and gives me the motivation that I can achieve whatever ambitions I have and my community will one day come out of the problems facing them without always waiting for handouts but by working hard on projects that uplift there living standards.

My personal goal and objective is to one day be able to become the effective leader that my country is yet to find.

Get to know other young social entrepreneurs by reading their stories and seeing videos of them in action at http://genvcampaigns.org/

If you are a young person between the ages of 12-20 and want to create positive change in your community join the global movement of young changemakers at http://genv.net/

Youth Taking Action: A 15 Year Old Invents the Future

by James Bach

category: Young Leaders

Published June 03, 2009 @ 07:22AM PT

At the tender age of 9, Javier Fernández-Han found his calling: design for the other 90 percent - help the world's poor meet their basic needs sustainably.

Several years of research and design have led to an innovative solution: The VERSATILE System - a mashup of new and adapted technology that treats waste, produces methane and bio-oil as fuel, produces food for humans and livestock, sequesters greenhouse gases, and produces oxygen.

What drives this complete energy resource system? Algae - the little organism that could.

For his work, Javier, 15, won the top prize in this year's Invent Your World Challenge, sponsored by Ashoka's Youth Venture and the Lemelson Foundation.

We spoke to Javier about the VERSATILE System and the need for holistic thinking in the invention sector.

1. If your invention - VERSATILE System - is the answer, what is the question?

What system can improve the quality of life in a village by providing the basic necessities of food, sanitation, energy-fuel, and income in an environmentally sustainable and technologically appropriate fashion?

2. So how does VERSATILE System answer the question? What does it do?

The innovative VERSATILE System answers the question by tightly knitting together a dozen existing and new technologies to meet food, sanitation, energy, income and environmental needs (in a way that's affordable to the world's 90% of the world).

At the heart of this efficient system - the secret ingredient - is algae... salt-water loving algae powered by the sun.

Elegant interconnectedness makes the VERSATILE system unique. Waste from one part of system is nourishment for another, making the system extremely efficient. The VERSATILE system consists of six subsystems:

• Anaerobic digester (AD) - converts food scraps and sewage into "clean" products
• Bio-gas upgrader - takes harmful gases from digester and treats them, turns them into fuel and nourishment for algae
• Vented methane burning stoves - burns methane without polluting, resulting carbon dioxide is captured
• Algae bioreactors - use sunlight, saltwater, carbon dioxide and nutrients from digester to produce oxygen and algae biomass, which can be used as food for livestock and people
• Flush latrines
• PlayPump - turns human energy (from children playing) into stored energy that can be used to power VERSATILE system and other electronic devices

Click on presentation for details of the system.

The VERSATILE system is also a source of income. Algae biomass can be processed into livestock and aquaculture feed, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products (DHA, omega-3s, etc). Extra methane and algae oil (SVO) produced by the AD can be stored and sold as fuel or to a refinery for processing. Finally, carbon credits can be sold to factories.

All parts of the VERSATILE system are modular. This allows the system to be highly customized to meet the needs of the owner(s).

3. Most inventions aim to do one thing well. You chose to multitask. Why is it important to link the different processes into one system?

By interconnecting the 12 technologies in the 6 subsystems the VERSATILE system provides a complete solution in a practically waste free manner. As much as possible, waste created by one part is used as nourishment and fuel for another. An invention that is narrowly focused on solving a single problem often inadvertently creates more problems because nature is highly complex and interconnected.

A single invention rarely solves an entire problem. Often we only see a small part of a larger problem without seeing the connections between the many parts. If we focus on only one small part of a complex interconnected system we may not understand the full extent of our impact on the rest of the system.

4. What does this type of holistic thinking mean for today's inventors?

Holistic thinking means that today's inventor's need to think broadly about the problems they attempt to solve. Technology is often only a small part of an entire solution. To fully address an issue, inventors need to also consider cultural, religious, political, economic and environmental implications.

For example, there is a village named Djenne in the African country of Chad. Not long ago Djenne had no running water. A group of engineers learned about the village's lack of running water and installed an entire system that provided the homes with running water. At first, the project seemed like a complete success. Then the project became an environmental and sanitation disaster. The problem was that the village had no sewage system. When there was no running water, each family's sewage and dirty water was simply collected in a bucket which was emptied at the end of each day. But when water became readily available, the villagers began using much more of it and quickly overwhelmed their bucket system of sewage removal. As a result, dangerous open sewage flowed into the streets and caused a major sanitation hazard.

5. If we were to set up VERSATILE System in an African or Indian village tomorrow, what changes are we likely to see in the village in a year's time?

• Less coughing due to drastic reduction of air pollution thanks to replacement of wood burning stoves with cleaner burning stoves that use methane. Villagers enjoy better health.
• Less time spent foraging for wood as fuel thanks to methane produced by VERSATILE. Children have more time available for studying because they don't need to forage for wood as fuel. Children gain education.
• Electricity generated by Playpump powers LED lights at night, allowing people to work and read at night. Villagers can be more productive.
• A medical diagnostics company has shown interest in buying bulk algae-biomass from the village for processing into pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products (e.g. Phycobiliproteins which have market value of up to $10,000 per kg).
• More villagers can afford to raise goats, pigs, and fish due to availability of algae as livestock and fish feed. Villagers enjoy better nutrition and gain income from sale of livestock.
• Villagers no longer have to buy tanks of methane or propane for use in lighting, heating, and cooking thanks to the methane produced by VERSATILE. Villagers sell excess methane for income.
• Villagers use the algae oil produced by VERSATILE to power a variety of labor-saving machines (flour mill, corn husker, water pump, etc.) that can use straight vegetable oil (SVO) as fuel. Villagers sell excess SVO for income.
• Villagers negotiating to sell carbon credits due to VERSATILE's greenhouse gas sequestering capabilities.

6. Do you foresee your invention/innovation being scaled up to serve larger communities or cities, what might that look like?

Due to the VERSATILE system's innovative modular design, it can easily be scaled up or down to serve communities with populations ranging anywhere from 100 to 200,000+ people. A village simply adds additional modules as their population grows. Another benefit of having a modular system is that a village can build or buy the stock VERSATILE system and add extra components one at a time as they can afford them. This way, they do not have to buy an entire new system at once or obtain a costly high interest loan.

The VERSATILE system can also be installed nearly anywhere with a warm climate, including deserts irrigated by saltwater, and even in submarines and cruise ships. All that you might have to change is the algae. There are literally thousands of algae strains - some are better suited for certain conditions and functions than others.

The VERSATILE system can also be scaled down in size. I am currently developing a family-sized VERSATILE system for developed countries. It is the same concept as the VERSATILE system 2.0, just scaled down to fit the size limitations of a small house or apartment and with an estimated cost of $300.

We are at the dawn of the algae era.

I envision my grandchildren asking me in amazement one day as we tour the Boston Museum of Science:

"Granddad, was there really a time when the versatility of algae was not harnessed but rather algae was treated as pond-scum... a nuisance?"

Get to know other young social entrepreneurs by reading their stories and seeing videos of them in action at http://genvcampaigns.org/

If you are a young person between the ages of 12-20 and want to create positive change in your community join the global movement of young changemakers at http://genv.net/

TED Announces Fellows for TEDGlobal 2009

by Nathaniel Whittemore

category: Young Leaders

Published May 26, 2009 @ 08:09AM PT

TEDGlobal 2009: The Substance of Things Not Seen

For the uninitiated, TED is one of the greatest modern gatherings of thinkers, doers, and general polymaths. Their 20-minute TED talks, framed to presenters as the "speech of their lives" have produced some of the most brilliant nuggets of wit and inspiration this side of YouTube. The TED Fellows program gives creative innovators from around the world the chance to attend, cost free, one of the world-reknown TED conferences.

Today, TED announced its first class of TEDGlobal fellows, each of whom will join speakers like The Second World author Parag Khanna, musician Imogen Heap, and child-soldier-turned-rapper Emmanual Jal at the  TEDGlobal program in Oxford in July. I was thrilled to see a few familiar names on the list:

"Jonathan Gosier (US/Uganda) — Founder, Appfrica, an organization nurturing and investing in East African software startups...

Peter Haas (US/Haiti/Guatemala) — Founder, Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, bringing appropriate technology to the developing world; tinkerer...

William Kamkwamba (Malawi/South Africa) — Inventor; student, African Leadership Academy"

As regular readers know, I think Jon's model of African entrepreneurship incubation is a little glimpse of the future and the smart money should be betting on him. Peter Haas' model of supporting community driven appropriate technology has been an inspiration for young changemakers since he founded the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group a few years ago. He served as one of the earliest keynotes of the Global Engagement Summit that got me started in this crazy world. William I haven't yet met, but along with so many others, I've been inspired and touched by his story of ingenuity and inspiration.

Youth Taking Action: Sexual and Reproductive Health Education

by James Bach

category: Young Leaders

Published May 20, 2009 @ 08:46AM PT

Imagine you're in high school and you start to notice that more and more of your classmates are getting pregnant. What would you do? Ashoka Youth Venturer José María Mora Luna of Puebla, Mexico, had an answer - organize youth to teach other youth about sexual and reproductive health. At the age of 15 José María started Services for Youth Sexual Education (SESEJ), which has trained more than 2,500 youth through experiential education workshops. At times SESEJ has pushed the envelope in conservative Mexico by engaging youth through sex education videos and demonstrations using dildos and vagina prosthesis. We spoke with José María about empowering fellow youth, work challenges, and the need to shift society's views on sexual and reproductive health.

What inspired you to start SESEJ?

SESEJ was conceived, designed and started in 2004. That was the year my friends and I began our studies in high school. When we entered the school we noticed a large number of pregnant girls! This really worried us because most of them believed that pregnancy sidetracked (sometimes permanently) their plans. We were also shocked that so many of us youth started to become sexually active at such an early age without having sufficient information to prevent unwanted pregnancies as well as the possibility of infection from Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs). This project is based on and inspired by the youth with whom we live on a daily basis, many of whom are our friends, neighbors or even relatives.

Why are schools so ineffective or inefficient in teaching such topics as the importance of knowing more about sexual and reproductive health?

The education system in Mexico is used to censor certain topics related to sexuality. Teachers are not used to openly choosing topics on sexual and reproductive health for fear of retaliation by parents, many of whom think that young people will learn everything we need to know about sexual health in due time. But the question is, when is that time?

Parents, teachers and even religions have a hard time accepting that youth must be well informed now, and not be isolated from the realities we live with from day to day. In many places in the world lots of young people get some kind of infection or die because they lack the information to protect and care for themselves when it comes to their sexual lives.

In many parts of the world reproductive health and sex education can be controversial. Have you experienced any resistance to your work? If so, how have you confronted it?

The resistance we have encountered in our work has mostly been from the schools, by the obstacles that the "older" generation puts in our way. Some teachers do not allow us to develop and carry out the workshops because they have the misconception that we do not have sufficient information to properly inform and empower other young people; how can youth inform and educate other youth? Frankly, we were able to demonstrate that we had the knowledge and skills to work with them, and those same schools ended up recommending us to others. For us, this was a great success!!!

Fortunately, we were able to prove to them that we had the capacity (knowledge and skills) to train other youth, and in most occasions we invited the teachers that doubted our ability to do an "adequate" job to observe our workshop and judge our performance for themselves. As it turned out, all of the schools that had doubted our ability had changed their minds after observing one of our trainings. This cleared the way for us to continue our work!

What do you think needs to happen in our society to achieve a lasting and positive change regarding the way sexual and reproductive health is viewed?

I think the most important step is to open the door to freedom of expression. I also believe in different social groups joining forces. I truly believe that we all have the gift of giving and we all bring positive things that contribute to the different processes that lead to our development and help us grow s human beings and have a better life.

It is important that adults understand and allow us to participate openly in the issues that affect our society, youth are not what the adults view us to be, we are the ones who bring the benefits to all, the ones who innovate and those who believe in change. It is important that adults help us achieve these changes and to forget the bad ideas that they alone have created, we are NOT irresponsible youth, and youth are NOT the future, but one thing I am sure of is that THE YOUTH ARE THE PRESENT AND WE ARE CHANGING THE WORLD.

What are your plans for SESEJ? What are your hopes for the youth that you continue to work with?

As a team I think what interests us most is that other young people participate and get involved in the work that we are developing. We hope to make SESEJ a Civil Society Organization (CSO), while offering more and improved services for youth. We hope to have a strong social impact by contributing to the decrease in the transmission of STDs as well as the reduction of unwanted pregnancies among youth. We also want to motivate the youth to raise their voices and to believe in their own ideas, THE YOUTH ARE AND WILL BE THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE OF OUR SOCIETY!
Get to know other young social entrepreneurs by reading their stories and seeing videos of them in action at http://genvcampaigns.org/

If you are a young person between the ages of 12-20 and want to create positive change in your community join the global movement of young changemakers at http://genv.net/

GES Project Challenge: Providing Clean Water for Villagers in Kerala

by Nathaniel Whittemore

category: Young Leaders

Published May 07, 2009 @ 08:46AM PT

Summary: To build rainwater storage reservoirs and provide management training to conserve water, empower women, and boost community health in Kuttanad, India.

Project Needs and Beneficiaries: Eight out of ten of the 700,000 citizens of Kuttanad have no access to clean water. This scarcity results in over 20,000 cases of water-borne disease each year, millions of rupees in medical costs, and hours of physical labor spent collecting contaminated water. Women and children in the poorest neighborhoods suffer the most, and waste valuable time that could be spent on childcare, generating income, or gaining education.

Activities: We provide rainwater harvesting structures to reduce water-borne disease, unnecessary medical costs and physical labor. Each storage reservoir will capture rainwater for 20 years, empowering women financially and improving the community health.

Resources: Rainwater for Humanity website (http://rainwater.betterxdesign.org/)

Each weekday between now and May 8th, I'll be posting one or two project profiles of students participating in the annual Global Engagement Summit-GlobalGiving Project Challenge. The Challenge is a chance for students from around the world to raise money for and spread awareness about their projects. Students that mobilize also have a chance for additional matching resources. If you're interested in supporting this work, Tweet or blog about it or visit the project homepage on GlobalGiving.