By Godwin Baraka Ashiruma, (YES 2016-2017, Kenya, placed by AFS-USA in Washburn, WI)

My time in the United States molded me both academically and personally. Since my exchange year, I have become more active socially and am better able to identify needs in my community and come up with necessary projects that help make my community better. For that, I am forever grateful to YES.

Last month, 50 YES alumni from all over Kenya gathered in Mombasa for an interactive alumni workshop organized by the Kenya Association for YES Alumni (KAYA) together with AFS Kenya. The first day of the workshop focused on media literacy. We learned about misinformation and disinformation, how misinformation is spread, and how it affects our judgment about important facts in our communities. The most essential skill we learned was how to identify fake versus real information. 

We were also graced by the presence of representatives from the US Embassy — Esther Kihang’a, Director of American Spaces, and Marcy Carrel, Regional Public Engagement Specialist. They enlightened us on how the Embassy coordinates with AFS Kenya and spoke about the importance of alumni being active in community projects.

The second day of the workshop focused on grant proposals, including sessions on grant writings, grant budgets and projects. The alumni were encouraged to be creative in coming up with community projects. Group discussions helped us to identify and share group projects based on the different realities and needs in each of our communities.

Overall, the workshop was a great learning experience for all of the alumni. The social interactions, bonding activities and networking made the workshop a complete success. All we can say is Asante.