By Dewi Soerani Karijopawiro, YES 2012-2013, Suriname, hosted by AFS in Flint, Michigan

Since returning from my YES year in 2013, I have tried to volunteer as much as I can because it makes me feel good to see how much my work can mean to my community. My first project as a YES alumna was tutoring at a local elementary school. After school, I joined the children at their after-school program and helped them complete their homework. I also led them in an online project through iEARN called “My Name Around the World,” which gave them their first opportunity to connect with students who live in different countries. It was incredible to see them get to learn about other cultures, just as I had done on the YES program.

Seeing how impactful global learning with iEARN was for the students, in August 2015, I helped children in my neighborhood engage in a different iEARN project. Together, alumnus  Roopesh Badloe and I worked with the children on the "Talking Kites Around the World" project. For this project, students around the world make kites and discuss their dreams for a better world; then, everyone flies their kites on the same day as a symbol of peace and unity. To get our local neighborhood children thinking abou the greater world, we invited them to my house and helped them make their own kites. Then, they each wrote their own messages and advice about how to improve the world in terms of education, health, and friendship. They loved feeling like a part of a global movement, and were inspired by what children in the other countries wrote on their kites.

As an alumna, I have both volunteered on projects led by my fellow alumni, like distributing food at the mosque during Ramadan, and led my own projects. Last year, for Global Youth Service Day, I implemented a project that aimed to help reduce hunger by planting fruit trees with local children at their elementary school. I chose that theme because I wanted to teach the children the value of the environment, and how its resources can be used in a sustainable way to combat hunger and poverty. 

Doing community services is not something a lot of youth of Suriname do, but our small YES Alumni Assocation sure makes a difference for others!