It’s no surprise that YES alumni go beyond Global Youth Service Day to foster positive change in their communities all year round. As Acting Assistant Secretary Mark Taplin said at the most recent YES commencement of the 2016-2017 year, “Around the world, YES alumni, whether individually or in groups, are using the skills they learned on their exchange to empower others in their home countries.” 

Empowerment is exactly what YES alumni, Garmai Gayflor (YES 2013-2014, Liberia, hosted by AYUSA in Los Osos, CA) and Winston Chayee (YES 2012-2013, Liberia, hosted by PAX in Orange, MA), brought to the city of Tubmanburg, Bomi County in Liberia. The YES alumni visited the city to follow-up on the outcome of the 2017 Global Youth Service Day that was held in that city. Gayflor and Chayee met with thirty (30) high school youth leaders and conducted a mini workshop to promote the idea of youth volunteerism.

In his opening remarks, Winston Chayee said, “We are inspired to organize a volunteer club in Bomi County to help young people be proactive in community service projects. Our interactions with the youth in Bomi during our 2017 Global Youth Service Day celebration helped us realize that most of the youth in Bomi were not involved in voluntary community service projects. Instead, they were more focused on activities that they would profit from financially.” According to Chayee, some of the students showed interest in promoting volunteerism, but they had no framework on how to get started. The alumni mission was to help them set up a youth volunteer club in the city of Tubmanburg which has a population of about 13,000 people. The youth make up 65% of the city’s population. Garmai said, “We thought it was wise to establish a volunteer club to help youth get involved in community service projects and promote youth engagement in the city."

Garmai also shared her Girl Scouts and YWCA volunteer experience as an exchange student in the city of Spanaway, Washington state. She noted that her community was small like Tubmanburg, which made it easy to witness the impact of volunteering. She said, "You feel fulfilled when you see and feel the impact of your volunteer work." The alumni used pictorials in their presentation to help the workshop participants brainstorm community service project ideas that would be meaningful to the participants’ communities. The workshop presentation also covered the following topics: Why do We Volunteer and The Reward of Volunteerism. Chayee and Gayflor conducted a voluntary event where the participants help dispose of trash from an orphanage without compensation. The alumni used their own funds to buy a more convenient and effective trash bin for the orphanage.

The alumni also met the mayor of Tubmanburg, Hon. Rebecca Benson. In their meeting, they introduced themselves as YES alumni and informed the mayor that the youth from Tubmanburg’s three major high schools were ready to engage in voluntary community service work. They asked the mayor to provide support to the youth initiatives. They told her that the workshop participants would contact her office with ideas to promote voluntary youth service throughout the city. The mayor pledged her support and said that her office was receptive to helping the young people participate in any activities that promoted volunteerism and civic engagement within the city.

At the end of the workshop, the participants pledged to be committed to their volunteer efforts and encouraged youth engagement and volunteerism among their peers. The YES Liberia Alumni Association made a commitment to help the city’s youth plan and implement voluntary projects in Tubmanburg.