By Abdulkadir Hassan Sheba (YES 2017-2018, Kenya, placed by AFS-USA in Defiance, OH)

As I reflect on 2017 and being one of 20 students from Kenya accepted to the YES program that year, I feel privileged because it sparked a huge transformation in my life. Through 100 hours of community service on program, I gained skills in leadership, teamwork, and networking; skills I never had before I came to the U.S.

I am profoundly proud to say that I have become an asset to my community. I am now a second-year university student pursuing a degree in computer science, but, first, I am an active alumnus, eagerly giving back to my community. Since returning home to Kenya, I have learned to put my ideas into action to build a better community and country. We can all be changemakers – it just takes a spirit of determination and not being afraid of hard work. 

This year, I’m very grateful to have received a YES Alumni Grant to implement Youth for Peaceful Elections. With the help of five fellow YES alumni and three other volunteers, we conducted the project throughout August and September. The goal was to prevent the kind of post-election violence that Kenya witnessed in 2007. In Kenya, election-related violence has become common. Youth often are misinformed, misguided and engage in acts of violence that cause damage to people’s property and businesses, and there have even been lives lost. Given proper guidance and education on the importance of maintaining peace even in times of high tension, I believe our youth can be ambassadors for peace during elections. Youth for Peaceful Elections was an avenue for youth to become peace builders in their communities.

Three workshops were conducted in three wards – Mjambere, Magogoni, and Bamburi – of the Kisauni Constituency, which is one of six electoral constituencies in Mombasa. The workshops were held in collaboration with the community organization Lonamac and taught about 100 youth the importance of peaceful elections and how to be ambassadors for peace in their communities. A powerful tool that helped initiate some engaging discussion was footage from the 2007 post-election violence. Participants really opened up, shared their experiences, and spoke about how it affected them.

As a result of the project, several participants served as election observers and monitors during the elections, and, unlike other Mombasa constituencies where violence and fatalities occurred, Kisauni saw no incidents of youth violence during or after the elections. I would like to believe that my project contributed to this through our youth participants helping to spread messages of peace and encouraging their peers to avoid violence. Seif Kombo, a representative of the Mombasa National Assembly, congratulated participants for promoting peace within Kisauni. He also asked me to work on additional youth projects in the community.

I strongly believe that when youth are given purpose, they can make a huge difference in our communities. As Nelson Mandela said, “A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”

I really thank the YES program, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, AFS Kenya, and Lonamac for trusting me to organize this project. I plan to make my journey as a changemaker an example to my peers, and I welcome everyone on board!