Some of YES!'s 2004 World Youth Jam Participants
Dakar, Senegal, November 15-24, 2004

 

Note: We are still raising funds to cover the travel for many of these outstanding young leaders. Please contact us if you are interested in sponsoring any of their travel, or donating frequent flyer miles.

the participants:

Salim Mohamed, 28, Carolina for Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya
Salim has been described as a man who "brings hope, love, possibility and empowerment into peoples lives on the most grassroots level and in the most real ways." Originally from Nyeri, the capital Kikuyu lands, he was abandoned by his parents at an early age, spent his first four years of life on the streets of Nairobi with his grandmother, and was subsequently taken to Mama Fatuma Children's Home. While there, he set up a youth soccer team, and within a few years he was chairman of the entire youth sports association. He now coordinates a community development, sports and health program for over 4,000 youth in Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa. The program addresses ethnic violence, youth unemployment, and public health. Salim has worked as a consultant to help launch youth sports associations in Ghana and Nigeria. He was recently accepted to the University of Nairobi and has been nominated to serve on the Diversity For Peace Advisory Board with Nobel Peace Laureates Oscar Arias Sanchez, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, and Norman Borlaug. Learn more about Carolina for Kibera at http://cfk.unc.edu.

Mohammed Saif, 21, A Better Iraq is Possible, Baghdad, Iraq
A university student born and raised in Baghdad, Mohammed is determined to present an accurate picture of Iraq and Iraqi youth to the world. As founder of A Better Iraq is Possible, he strives to combat global stereotypes of his country and its people, as well as promote anti-fundamentalism and free thought among Iraqi youth. His organization is working with HBO, Next Entertainment and other media sources to this end; most notably thus far, the organization has been contributing to the production of Bridge to Baghdad. He is setting up a website that will highlight the youth and culture of Iraq and build further intercultural, international alliances.

Motaz Attalla, 24, Salama Moussa Foundation, Alexandria, Egypt
Since graduating from the American University in Cairo with degrees in Economics and Philosophy, Motaz has been documenting various grassroots projects in Egypt. His most recent reports cover 2 alternative education projects established by Salama Moussa Foundation, an education and development NGO. Formerly, he profiled schools owned and run by the Upper Egypt Association
for Education and Development. This 60-year old NGO has helped countless communities throughout Upper Egypt improve their lives through its progressive, community-oriented, activity-based schools and development centers. He is now working on a project to promote community participation and improve conditions in public primary schools in one of Cairo's low income neighborhoods. He also writes prose and plays the tabla.

Malika Sanders, 30, 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement, Selma, USA
Malika was 16 when she organized 200 students to shut down Selma High School for four days in an ultimately victorious protest of the school's racist "tracking" system. She is President of 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement, an organization created in 1985 by civil rights movement veterans to help youth (primarily in the African-American community) to be skilled community leaders, empowering themselves and their communities for positive change. She also helped to organize the "Joe Gotta Go" campaign that recently unseated the 36-year reign of racist Selma mayor Joe Smitherman, the same man who presided over the "Bloody Sunday" violence in the voting rights march of 1965. She won the 2001 Reebok Human Rights Award.

Amrita Bhatia, 17, Seeking Needed Actions for Peace, Maharashtra, India
Amrita is participating in a global project created by Seeking Needed Actions for Peace students. This project uses preventive education and creative arts, such as photography, to develop critical thinking skills in K-12 youth. Amrita's membership with Harvard Model United Nations has inspired her to work towards combating HIV/AIDS. Her other aspirations include promoting Hindu-Muslim cooperation, ensuring the development of affordable housing, and supporting the Iraqi peace movement. She has been involved in social work since the age of 12.

Devorah Brous, 33, Bustan, Jerusalem, Israel
Devorah has spent the last 10 years working on human rights and land rights. She is founder and director of Bustan, an environmental justice NGO operating in Israel and the occupied territories. She has successfully managed building and planting actions for ICAHD and Rebuilding Homes, and serves as Israeli coordinator of Compassionate Listening. Her Masters degree thesis (in Israel Studies and Peace Studies) researched environmental policy as both overt and covert elements perpetuating war.

Augusto Cuginotti, 25, Ellerni, Sao Paulo, Brazil
In the language Esperanto, ellerni means "learning originating from the inside." The group (www.ellerni.org) strives to raise awareness about processes of learning, community building, sustainability and personal accountability within local, national and international youth movements. In less than 3 years, over 1,000 youth have benefited from ellerni's free workshops. Augusto is also exploring new forms of human interaction through singing, theatre, circular dances and aikido.

Marwa Seoudi, 27, Fat'het Kheir, Cairo, Egypt
Marwa is leading Fat'het Kheir (FK), one of the most successful and active NGOs in Egypt. This development organization aims to improve the lives of the half-million impoverished earthquake survivors living in El Hadaba and El Wosta. More than 75% of the homes in these marginalized communities are headed by illiterate females. Thousands of families have benefited from FK's economic, educational, socio-cultural development programs. The organization is also meeting its goal of creating an empowering, replicable development model; the project has been duplicated in 5 areas in the past 3 years. Marwa is also heading the Publication Unit in the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Cairo and creating a community space where diverse people can learn from and inspire each other. Her organization's website is www.fathetkheir.org.

Juan Pablo Estudillo, 23, Vida Silvestre, Mexico
Juan Pablo has been interested in nature as long as he can remember. His father, world-renowned ornithologist Dr. Jesús Estudillo, founded Vida Silvestre 30 years ago. This organization creatively links humans and the natural world in an effort to increase people's consciousness about and dedication to wildlife conservation. 325 species, the majority of which are birds at the edge of extinction, are preserved through Vida Silvestre's genetic banking system; recreated wild ecosystems support the rarest of species, including the quetzal. Juan Pablo initiated Vida Silvestre's environmental education center 2 years ago. As coordinator of the educational center, which receives over 2000 visitors a month, Juan Pablo ensures that guests engage in deep learning experiences about the environment. A global traveler, mathematician and lover of music, Juan is also a member of Pioneers of Change Mexico. Read more about his organization at www.vida-silvestre.org.

Tiffany Brown, 24, YES!, Santa Cruz, CA
Tiffany is the National Coordinator of YES! and co-founder of CAI, the Community Alliances Initiative. She has worked with a local anti-racist group called Women As Allies, as well as the national civil rights organization, the NAACP, in the Southeast Regional office's Prison Project. Tiffany's is passionate about bringing people together, community, relationships and communication. She is thrilled that her life is currently a manifestation of what she holds dear. Tiffany also loves hosting and attending dinner parties, and dancing.

Saima Gull, 28, Institute for Development Studies and Practices, Quetta, Pakistan
Saima has committed herself to fighting for women's rights in Pakistan and other parts of southern Asia. Her career began with Society for Community Support for Primary Education in Balochistan, an organization promoting girls' education. She is presently Learner and Community Development Manager at the Institute for Development Studies and Practices. She has also provided technical support for Sindh NWFP and Islamabad, contributed to The Asia Foundation's "safe motherhood initiative" and written several articles on women and development. A member of the traditional pashtoon family, Saima has earned Masters degrees in Sociology and International Relations. The IDSP website is www.idsp.org.pk.

Timofticiuc Iulia, 23, Constanta Youth Center, Constanta, Romania
As Youth Activities Coordinator at the Constanta Youth Center, Timofticiuc is redefining "activism" for nearly 400 youth aged 14-29. She is broadening the historically political connotation to a more resonant one; in her own words, "being active, self-motivated and really concerned." Informing, guiding, supporting and promoting young people and their visions are the main objectives of the center. To meet these goals, Timofticiuc coordinates a journalism club for/with HIV positive youth, a debate club, exhibitions for young artists, a theater/drama club, a counseling program, job training and youth employment summper, team building training, and meetings about international youth programs. She is assisting in development of a youth event space and a cyber-research center for youth.

Evon Peter, 27, Native Movement, Arctic Village, USA
Evon Peter is the youngest ever chief of the Neetsaii Gwich'in tribe of Arctic Village, a remote village accessible only by small plane in northern Alaska. His primary responsibility is for the wellbeing of his tribe. This entails recovery from the impacts of colonization while bridging relationships with the contemporary global community. Revitalization and sustainability of language, culture, ecology and world-view are fundamental to this effort. Evon is a well-recognized advocate of indigenous peoples' rights and responsibilities, and is active as a speaker and facilitator within the State of Alaska, nationally and in the international community.

Olivia Martin, 28, Ashoka & Global Youth Action Network, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Olivia, a British/Spanish Sociologist, has an MSc in Development Studies and a training certificate in Human Rights and teaching. She is Regional Coordinator of the Innovative Learning Initiative, at Ashoka, a global initiative linked to youth entrepreneurship ("youth as agents of change"). After completing a 3-year assignment as the International Youth Programme Coordinator for the Hague Appeal for Peace, an international organization based in Switzerland, she moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil to work with the Latin American office of the Global Youth Action Network (GYAN). She helped GYAN coordinate several initiatives linked to social inclusion and youth participation, including the development of the first Local Jam. Olivia currently serves as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Global Campaign for Peace Education and is an official representative of the Parlamentary Council for a Culture of Peace of the State of Sao Paulo. Among her published articles is the chapter on Youth and Violence of the Oxfam Publication "Highly Affected, Rarely Considered". For more information, browse her organizational websites: www.haguepeace.org, www.takingitglobal.org and www.ashoka.org. Olivia can be reached at olivia@youthlink.org.

Michael Pokawa, 27, Nonviolent Peaceforce, Sierra Leone/ USA
Michael is originally from Sierra Leone, where he experienced the economic and social disintegration of civil war. Since moving to the United States, he has worked as Youth Coordinator and board member of Nonviolent Peaceforce. This member-driven organization trains international civilians to go to conflict areas, protect human rights and create a space for local groups to seek peaceful resolution. His leadership led to the formation of the Nonviolent Peaceforce Youth Wing, which ensures that youth are provided opportunities to engage with non-violent theories and practices. Current projects are in Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Michael also recently met with governmental and civil society leaders in Zimbabwe regarding their national food crisis.
To learn more, visit www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org.

Lindsay Telfer, 26, Sierra Youth Coalition, Ontario, Canada
Lindsay was the National Director of the Sierra Youth Coalition, Canada's first national youth environmental organization, from spring 2002 until fall 2004. It has been a busy couple of years and the projects continue. Lindsay's passion to make the world a better place has led her to two new exciting initiatives, a documentary production based on the Deconstructing Dinner Caravan to Cancun, to the development of a new Canada-US youth energy activist coalition called Energy Action. She's been concurrently working to launch a new Enviornmental Justice Campaign within the Sierra Youth Coalition! For more information check out the SYC website at www.syc-cjs.org.

Sai Lang Won (Harn), 25, Alternative Education for Social Engagement, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Harn, originally from Burma, moved to Thailand to pursue a university education as Burmese schools were shut down by the ruling military regime. After interning with the regional human-rights organization Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, he joined a youth program called Nationalities' Youth Development Program. In 2003, he founded Alternative Education for Social Engagement. This non-profit social movement aims to build a just, peaceful and radically democratic society in Burma. The themes of his work include human rights, socially-engaged spirituality, gender equality, social analysis, non-violence, the rights of refugees and internally-displaced persons, multiculturalism and globalization.

Nuttarote Wanginyoo, 31, Kwan Muang Institute, Chiengrai, Thailand
Nuttarote Wangwinyoo is the co-founder and Deputy Director of Kwan Muang Institute in Chiengrai, Thailand. In search of spiritual practice, a deeper understanding of life and ways to serve society and the earth, Nutt decided to become a Buddhist monk for one year. He then became socially engaged with rural development for indigenous people of highland communities and in 1995 joined the Spirit in Education Movement (led by the Livelihood Alternative Nobel Prize Laureate Sulak Sivaraksa).

Coumba Toure, 31, Institute for Popular Education, Mali
Coumba Toure is coordinator of the Youth Leadership Program at the Institute for Popular Education in Mali. Coumba works for women's empowerment through popular education, and has facilitated hundreds of educational workshops. She speaks regularly at college campuses and conferences internationally, and she also works with 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement to organize numerous exchanges between African-American youth from the Southern United States and African youth from throughout West Africa.

Shilpa Jain, 27, Shikshantar, Udaipur, India
Shilpa Jain is a learning activist with Shikshantar based in Udaipur, India. Shilpa has conducted research, written books and articles, and facilitated numerous workshops on globalization, life expressions, ecology, democratic living, gender, and innovative learning. She loves learning (and unlearning!) with/from children and youth, especially around self-esteem, creativity, critical media, collaboration, identity and conflict transformation. Her latest passions include natural healing, organic farming and organizing a diverse network of walkouts, misfits and border-crossers.

Kiritapu Lyndsay Allan, 20, arc, Wellington, New Zealand
Kiratapu is dedicated to the national and international movement for indigenous self-determination, or Tino Rangatiratanga. Through arc, she educates other Ngati Ranginui (Maori) peoples about the social, environmental and cultural impacts of colonization on Aotearoa, her homeland. Recently, Kiratapu assisted in the organization of the largest protest mobilization in New Zealand's history: 25,000 people marching for seabed and foreshore rights. Her frequent national speaking engagements focus on freedom and challenging power structures, with specific regard to sexuality and culture. She sits on an advisory panel to the AIDS Foundation and is currently in the process of organizing a conscious music celebration for Matariki, the indigenous New Year.

Amani Burai, 27, Canaan Institute of New Pedagogy, Gaza, Palestine
A refugee born and raised outside of her native Palestine, Amani and her family were forced to move from country to country for years. Through these early trials, she gained the strength and vision to work for the rights of Palestinian youth in refugee camps. Since returning to Palestine 8 years ago, Amani has worked with Canaan Institute, an NGO specializing in social, cultural and educational training that promotes new pedagogical trends, creates an educational movement based on "free and responsible choice and nonviolence," and addresses the need for professional workers. As the Institute's Media and Public Relations Officer, Amani coordinates the resource center activities and develops educational materials. For example, a book called "small pens" was produced through extensive workshops with groups of Palestinian children. The book contains stories, articles and poetry of the Canaan Parliament youth and describes their lives under occupation and their dreams of a better world. Amani also coordinates and directs debates and discussions that inform, move and persuade people about the importance of a real political, economic, and cultural change. She writes and travels extensively to promote refugee rights.

Olufemi Dele-Ijagbulu, 25, Global Network for Environment and Economic Development Research, Ibadan, Nigeria
Olufemi grew up with a passion and determination to make a change and lasting impact in his generation, and has been a youth leader since elementary school. Currently, he is a Research Fellow and head of the Youth Movement for Global Network for Environment and Economic Development Research. This NGO conducts research that provides environmental indicators for Nigeria and uses this research to mobilize youth, local communities and the government against environmental abuse. Olufemi's focus includes environmental education, research, and campaigning against pollution of surface and groundwater by multinational corporations and local industries. He aspires to mentor a new generation of African youth leaders committed to environmental protection and sustainable development and hopes that Nigeria will take the lead in being the greenest country in Africa.

Fatim Dia, 33, Africa Consultants International, Dakar, Senegal
Ten years ago, Fatim completed a research project on the impact of HIV/AIDS in Senegal. She has been committed to fighting against the disease ever since. As a Health Program Coordinator at ACI, Fatim works on developing effective responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its consequences, and to related problems of sexually transmitted infections and reproductive health, with particular emphasis on women and adolescents. The program takes a multilateral approach, reaching people at the grassroots and policy-making levels throughout West Africa and parts of East Africa and Asia.
Fatim, who believes the fight against HIV/AIDS is also a fight against social, economic, and political injustice, is mobilizing grassroots leaders and working towards reducing stigmatization and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Catherine Kamping, 23, Save Mother Earth Movement, Cainta, Rizal, Philippines
This dynamic, energetic leader states that her personal responsibility and mission in life is youth leadership development. She has been involved in local, national and international initiatives that promote youth participation, enhance their capabilities and develop their potential. Cathy coordinates the Youth Caucus of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, is International Youth Advisor of the Youth Employment Summit, member of the Youth Advisory Council for the Conference of NGOs with Consultative Status to the United Nations Congo, Regional Coordinator for Global Youth Action Network Asia, and VP of External Affairs for Save Mother Earth Movement. This last organization, which serves as Cathy's base, is on the Philippines Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations list. Currently, she is pursuing a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship and Social Development.

Lifa Henry Sehlaku, 24, Youth with Vision, Cape Town, South Africa
When his friend was diagnosed as HIV positive, Lifa realized that he and his community had "very little knowledge and a dangerous, irresponsible attitude towards the disease." After training with Treatment Action Campaign, Life Line and Planned Parenthood, Lifa founded Youth with Vision. With Lifa as Project Manager, 15 youth from a South African township promoted AIDS awareness and activism in schools and the larger community. In 2001, Lifa was granted the National and Provincial Community Builder of the Year award by SABC (The Old Mutual and Sowetan). Recently, the youth of Khayelitsha presented him with a Youth Veteran Award for 10 years of service to the community.

Thembile Smuts, 29, The Saartjie Bartmann Indigenous Medicine Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Themba has been in the process of actively re-claiming his Khoi-San roots for the last 4 years. Compelled to share his journey, he founded and directs the Saartjie Bartmann Indigenous Medicine Institute (SBIMI). In the early 1800s, Saartjie Bartmann was unjustly displayed in "freak shows" throughout London and Paris due to European fascination with her bodily proportions. She died at the age of 26 and was put on display again; this time, in a French museum. After nearly 200 years, the young Khoi-San woman's remains were returned to her homeland for a cultural burial organized by SBIMI. Thus, the institute positions the act of re-claiming one's Khoi-San culture as a healing process and a form of self -assertion for youth who are either directly or indirectly affected by a high rate of HIV/AIDS infection, increasing drug abuse and continued social dislocation throughout South Africa.

Harry Gbetuwa, 20, Voice of the Children Project, Freetown, Sierre Leone
Harry is a student at Njala University College, Sierra Leone studying Linguistics and Literature. During the war in Sierra Leone Harry served in the Red Cross Society as a volunteer, where he performed First Aid assistance to war victims. Harry interned as a public Information Assistant with UNHCR, Kenema, Sierra Leone where he worked in eight refugee camps with over fifty seven thousand Liberian refugees. Harry helped found a child advocacy organization called the Children's Forum Network (CFN). He is also involved in a project called the Voice of Children where he works as a reporter, researcher, and producer and assists in the coordination and administrative activities of the project. He is program co-coordinator in Sierra Leone for Miracle Corners of the World (MCW), a non profit organization based in New York that promotes youth entrepreneurship for the sustainability of young people around the globe.