Ask twelve YES alumni about their “Global Citizen’s Journey,” and you get twelve, very different, heartfelt, thought-provoking stories. The YESTalks event, which was held in Tunis, Tunisia on April 23, 2015 featured Lili Valtcheva (Bulgaria), Aadil Fahim (India), Adea Gafuri (Kosovo), Umme Kulsoom (Pakistan), Mohana Ramanee Thamilarasu (Malaysia), Baya Inggas (Indonesia), Nesrine Mbarek (Tunisia), Mohammed Abu Zaanona (Gaza), Patricia Meche Tamgno (Cameroon), Waad Aljaradt (West Bank), Rubaiyat Kamal (Bangladesh) and Mahmood Mahfoodh (Bahrain).

Each speaker discussed his/her own global story, which ranged from overcoming fear to seize opportunity, to turning personal burdens into beauty; but each had one thing in common, the distinct affect the YES program had on all of the speakers. From Lili’s opening message of the importance of spreading love, to Mahmood’s final words, “Life starts at the end of your comfort zone, so do not fear to get out of your comfort zone,” the talks were filled with insight and lessons the speakers had learned along the way. The talks brought the audience of Embassy officials, YES program staff and alumni, and select local community members to both laughter and tears.

During the event, five YES alumni who had previously attended digital storytelling workshops, acted as the production team. Ahmed Touqan (West Bank), Abdillah Said (Tanzania), Gabriela Veleva (Bulgaria), Hafida Faraj (Morocco) and Mariam Konate (Mali) were responsible for stage management, filming, editing and photographing the YESTalks event. Now, thanks to their extremely hard work, you are able to view all twelve talks! 

You can see the final product of all of the speakers’ and production team’s work on the YES YouTube and Vimeo channels!