Gaza YES alumni came together for a two-day session to brainstorm ideas as a first step towards developing them into applicable and constructive initiatives that would enrich their community service experience.

The workshop was two parts; first was a panel of presentations covering the alumni different interests. The panels were led by the more seasoned alumni to assist other ACCESS and YES alumni in developing their ideas and presentations. By the end of the first part, Alumni prepared 10 presentations covering a wide range of topics such as: Personal Hygiene, leadership skills, youth empowerment, assisting people with disability, and movie making.

During the second part of the workshop, alumni presented and discussed their initiatives before judges (Embassy and AMIDEAST staff) who were to choose the best two that would receive alumni grants to implement in June. The two initiatives that won were: Get Out There and Be Safe.

Get Out There was an initiative that targeted disabled students by joining them with other able-bodied students in an attempt to improve their skills and guide them to put their talents to good use. The purpose was to inspire students with disabilities to better decision-making leading them to a happy and successful life. 

Leaders of the initiative selected 20 students, 10 of which were disabled. The students participated in a leadership course given by experts. The enhancement course’s mission was to motivate them to take advantage of their talents during two days full of activities in which they were split into groups to brainstorm how to apply the new skills learned.

Be Safe focused on raising the awareness of personal hygiene and first aid. Trainers conducted a Training of Trainees (TOT) session for the ACCESS and YES alumni. The trainees were then sent to train young kids in less-privileged areas who would also receive a first aid and personal hygiene kit.

By the end of the YES Alumni Awareness Campaign, the alumni gained new experiences and were young leaders. It all started with having ideas that flourished to help their local community.