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Six Ways YES Alumni Contribute to Greening our World

Mangrov

Check out these six incredible ways YES alumni do their part to preserve and ‘green’ our world! 

1. Mangrove Seedlings in Philippines: Four YES alumni participated in an all-day event implemented by the Street Law Program, a U.S. Embassy- Manila sponsored initiative designed to help youth become “street smart,” by encouraging youth to be aware of their rights and obligations under the law, and to involve youth in actively improving their communities. The goal of the activity was to connect theoretical in-class environmental lessons to actual community service by planting 100 mangrove seedlings (picture above). Fifty volunteers in total participated (picture below) – including students, teachers and members of the Philippine army, who provided the transportation to Bayug Island near Iligan City. We can’t wait to watch this great idea take root!

Green

2. Forest Conservation in Lebanon: Three YES alumni attended an intensive conservation training of trainers workshop provided by Arcenciel, an NGO focused on social integration programs in mobility, employment, social, youth, health, environment, tourism and agriculture. This training aimed to form a youth conservation volunteer team to keep Lebanon’s forests safe and to fight threats caused by climate change and urbanization. The workshop included sessions on: trail building, drainage systems, bio pesticides, food safety, pest management and control, first aid, search and rescue, and basic ecology. In the spirit of volunteerism, these three YES alumni then held a follow-up training wherein they served as lead facilitators to share their green knowledge with 15 more YES alumni! Great job paying it forward!

Arcenciel Training 2

3Planting Flowers in a Nigerian school: Three YES alumni purchased flowers and helped to create a landscape feature at the secondary school “Destiny Success Academy” in Jalingo, Taraba State (picture below). Alumni activities are definitely “blooming” in Nigeria!

Nigeria

4. Third Youth National Sustainability Camp in Egypt: YES alumna Laila Maghawry (YES ’15) was one of 40 students selected from 500 applicants to attend the annual Youth National Sustainability camp organized by YouThinkGreen in August. The camp aims to empower youth to develop innovative project ideas to help solve Egypt’s major environmental and sustainability challenges through entrepreneurship. Participants pitch project ideas to a jury consisting of business and sustainability professionals from Misr El Kheir Foundation social innovation program, GESR, and Nile University. Laila (far left in picture below) worked on the BioNex project, an integrated system between wetlands and bio-gas units that transforms wastewater (including sludge) into electricity and liquid fertilizer. Laila’s team was one of seven teams that won a prize of 3000 Egyptian pounds (about $330) to help build a better prototype. The teams also received the right to use facilities at Nile University and ask for assistance from the business and engineering departments. Laila’s role on the team was focused on the business development aspects of the BioNex project, including creating a business model canvas, income statement, balance sheet, and business plan. Congratulations, Laila!

Egypt Laila Magawary Photo 2 Laila Number 1 From Left

5. Greening in a Village in Mali with Trees: YES alumni organized a visit to Bancoumana, a village just outside of Bamako (picture below). Upon arrival the group visited the City Hall, and met with the mayor, village members, and representatives of the village chief. Alumni decided to plant trees in Bancouma as a way to build friendships with villagers, to improve the environment, and to create a partnership with the community. After intensive planting, the alumni both formally and informally shared American culture, volunteerism, and their individual YES experiences with the villagers for an hour before the project concluded. We’re so excited to see these seeds of friendship being planted!

Tree Planting Mali 2

6. Community Clean-up and Tree-planting in India: Chinmai Parikh (YES ’12), a member of the National Service Scheme (NSS) unit of her college participated in a tree planting activity along with 30 other student and teacher volunteers on August 2. Each student was given a sapling to plant around the college campus and is now responsible for nurturing their sapling until it reaches maturity. Chinmai also participated in a community clean-up on August with 17 other volunteers; together they collected the flags discarded around the town after the Indian Independence Day celebrations. Great job, Chinmai!

We are looking forward to hearing about more great eco-projects from YES students in the United States and YES alumni around the globe. Keep up the great work! Both alumni and on-program YES students can join greening efforts by starting your own eco-project today. Don’t forget to use #YESAlumni and #KLYES hashtags to let us know!


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