AROUND THE WORLD WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

EN AROUND THE WORLD

WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

In 2020, our founder, Maja Dębowska, was invited to participate in the International Visitors Leadership Program. It is an invitation – only exchange program organized by the U.S. Department of State for people from around the world.Each year, the US Embassies worldwide nominate participants who visit the USA for a 3-week-long educational program and learn more about their area of expertise from the American perspective and experts; learn more about the US culture and American people – as well as from other participants. The people we have interviewed were participants of the IVLP online in October 2020 that focused on working with and for young people.

Full versions of the interviews can be found on our website: www.redakcjaBB.pl/IVLP

About IVLP

The International Visitor Leadership Program is an invitation-only exchange program organized by the US Department of State for people from around the world. Each year, the US Embassies worldwide nominate participants who visit USA for a 3-week-long educational program and learn more about their area of expertise from the American perspective and experts, learn more about the US culture and American people – as well as from other participants. All interviewees were participants of the IVLP in October 2020.

WHEN YOUR SECOND CHOICE BECOMES A PASSION BUILD BRIDGES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN BUILT BEFORE

Rowel Padernal

He wished to become a lawyer, but instead – he is on a mission to reform an educational system spanning across 7642 islands, 104 million people and 200 languages. Not an easy task, but he is all up for it. Meet Rowel Padernal - Senior Education Program Specialist in the Bureau of Curriculum Development of the Department of Education in the Philippines.

The fact is, it wasn’t always my dream to become a teacher. Since I remember I wanted to work as a lawyer, but in my country good law courses are really expensive. My dad is a tricycle driver, my mum is a vendor in the market… we simply couldn’t have afforded it. My second choice was teaching. Then, a big chance heaved into sight – I was invited to be a part of the Bureau of Curriculum Development of the Department of Education. I needed to use this opportunity. And it has become my great passion. I want our youth to be educated, so that they will be able to elect competent political leaders in the future. One of the biggest challenges is that the Philippines is a very multicultural country. We’ve got 7642 islands and speak about 200 languages… imagine that! It is impossible to implement a particular medium or policy because of the differences between the islands. But what we all have in common is that we tend to smile all the time and generally are really happy and resilient people. It is our spirituality. I don’t have any plans to move to any other country. There must be someone to stay, and I guess – I’m one of those people. I want to serve my homeland and change it for the better. Most of my colleagues are already married and have children, but I opted not to. I feel I need to do a lot more for the Department of Education. I know that proper education is an urgent matter and serving the Filipino people is something I find myself to be happy with. My advice for the youth? Find your place on Earth and do your best in the process of changing other people’s lives for the better. Appreciate what you already have and try to share it with others. AUTHOR: WIOLETTA KOCZWARA

Urias Brooks

Urias Brooks from Liberia tells us about his mission of improving access to education for children and how COVID-19 forced teachers to pick up schoolwork from pupils on bicycles and start teaching mathematics… over the radio. Interested? Read on!

I had been helping kids that fought in the civil war in Liberia to reunite with their parents and then made sure they went back to school. Those people I’d helped then are today managers, have PhDs, are teachers and community activists. This experience made me dedicate more years of my life to working with young people. Today, as an organization – Youth Movement for Collective Action –we work with the government and currently manage 25 schools, but they have been shut due to the pandemic. In order for students to continue learning, we provided them with kits for individual learning. These are designed in layers so that the completed part can be detached and left in front of the house. This way our teachers, on bicycles, can pick them up and assess them. In addition, we introduced remote learning using radio. Students who have no other options listen to mathematics or language lessons over the radio. Others, who have access to the Internet, watch the lessons recorded by our teachers on YouTube. Education is the key to solving poverty and creating a better future for families and children. If you wait for someone to solve your problems, you may wait forever. When you are educated, you can pass on your story. You can build bridges that have not been built before. It doesn’t have to be formal education that involves sitting at desks. Use every educational opportunity that is available to you. It can be workshops, technical school, volunteering – start where you can. In this way your life will change.

AUTHOR: BARTEK PASIERBEK

ASK MORE QUESTIONS, GET MORE ANSWERS MAKING THAT DISTINCTION BETWEEN PASSION, GREED AND OPPORTUNITY

Rafael Minatogawa

Rafael Minatogawa, born in 1996, is an economist from Brazil and chief of staff for congressman Kim Kataguiri (who was 22 when elected to Congress in 2018). He is a member of Free Brazil Movement. One of their aims is to engage young people in politics – show them it is relevant and can be interesting. But they don’t shy away from complex issues either. It is often difficult these days to attract young people to politics. So, how come Rafael ended up in this place?

As I was finishing my degree in economics, Brazil was getting into economic crisis. It was very hard to find a job. Most of my friends started working in big corporations. I didn’t want that. At that time, Kim Kataguiri, whom I had known for a long time, decided to run for Congress. We were both just over 20 years old back then. He invited me to be a part of his campaign. Back then, I was studying in Canada, but planned to return to Brazil soon. We started working together. Kim got to Congress in 2018 as the fourth most voted candidate! Actually, we didn’t expect that. But our strategy to communicate with voters over social media paid off. We now have over 700 thousand subscribers on YouTube. The main purpose is to communicate and somehow help people to understand what happens in Congress because sometimes it’s not easy to understand how politics work. What keeps me going is that I have the opportunity to really make a difference. To really apply what I’ve learned in college and at university, debate different important things like tax reform and have influence over it. Right now, the tax system in Brazil is very unfair. Poor people pay more tax than the rich. We need to change that. My advice to other young people? Read. Read a lot. I believe the most important thing is to never get enough and try to improve yourself, study, ask more questions and get more answers.

AUTHOR: ŁUKASZ PARTYKA

Fay King

On how to make a change, make your voice heard and become an influential leader. Meet Fay King – a 22-year-old female chairperson of the Youth Advisory Group of the United Nations Population Fund Suriname, who advocates for sexual and reproductive health and women’s rights. She is also a student of BA International Business and Management.

How did it all start? Honestly, I was just a bored teenager. I didn’t have a lot to do and one day a friend of mine asked me to get involved. We were doing a survey about people’s knowledge of sexual health. For me it was just so alarming to see how uninformed people were when it came to certain facts. I enjoyed the activities we did, and I was so inspired to educate others more. Now I’m the one that’s really all about human rights. When you find yourself in such a field, you want to change the entire world, but you have to focus on what is key for you right now to ensure that you can really make a change. I’m also a student and I currently work at a local bank too. When I’m not busy studying, working or advocating and fighting for women’s rights, because that’s really what my life mostly consists of, I really like to go out with my friends and spend time with my family as I am a very family-oriented person. As a young leader, the hardest thing for me is not to fall for this kind of impostor syndrome that others try to impose on you. It’s the feeling of not doing enough and wanting to grab every opportunity, because they don’t come often. When the opportunity presents itself, you really need to put it into perspective. It’s about making that distinction between passion, greed and opportunity. And what would I say to other young people? We shouldn’t underestimate our power and our voices. We should be aware that we’re stronger together and we shouldn’t be afraid to make that impact.

AUTHOR: PATRYCJA LEŚ

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF NO COMMITMENTS

Colleen Adenan

“You’ll never be fully prepared. The best is to just have an attitude that’s open to new experiences and being very flexible”. How volunteering and teaching English to speakers of other languages can spark interest in international development. Meet Colleen Adenan who is a project coordinator of International Visitor Leadership Program.

I grew up in Annandale, Virginia which is like a suburb of Washington DC. The area is pretty wealthy because a lot of people work for the government. But the high school I went to was actually very diverse. We spoke about my Indonesian ancestry, which let me be more curious about the world. The thing that sparked my interest in international development was my teaching English to speakers of other languages. I volunteered in college and I really liked the experience. I then joined the Peace Corps [a volunteer program run by the United States Government providing international social and economic development assistance] to gain work experience and went to Kyrgyzstan for 18 months, to teach English. After returning to the US, I started studying to get my Masters in International Development and I combine it with my work as a project coordinator at the IVLP. I think the most challenging thing in working with people from various countries is cross-culture communication. Whenever it doesn’t go well, it is the most difficult. Especially because it’s very hard to fix once it becomes a problem! What would be my advice to other young people? I think that you should just be really open to whatever opportunities come your way in terms of your career. And if you’re interested in something, you should learn more about it, e.g. through volunteering. This is the time to take advantage of the fact that you don’t have any commitments.

AUTHOR: LIDIA LE THANH

YOUR WORK SHOULD RESONATE WITH YOUR HEART

Oleksandr Fomichov

As it turns out, being a lawyer doesn’t necessarily mean football won’t be something you do as part of your job. Meet Oleksandr Fomichov, CEO of League of Tolerance, whose path to working with young people leads through the experience of a military conflict, and learn how to make a great impact through football with [just!] 10 hours of volunteering a week.

I was born and raised in Donetsk in Ukraine. I became a refugee in my own country once the military conflict with Russia started in 2014. Me and my wife had to move 7 years ago. We now live in Ivano-Frankivsk. The situation required me to adapt quickly. Before, I was a businessman, going after profit and reputation. But my perspective has changed. For the past 4 years, aside from working as a lawyer, I’ve been the CEO of League of Tolerance (fb.com/loft.cfco). We mainly work through sports and focus on democratic participation, equality and entrepreneurship. Working for a charity, you have various roles and responsibilities. It is a dynamic environment – sometimes you are a leader, sometimes a coach. Even though our team of 18 are all volunteers – working, roughly 10 hours a week each, we have managed to achieve amazing things: working with UEFA and FIFA, as well as launching projects abroad. A person who wants to work with young people needs a willingness to develop and learn. Otherwise it’s nearly impossible to pursue this path. What’s most important, in my opinion, is setting a good example to the younger generation. Whenever we can create a situation of growth, it is a job well done. My advice to young people? Everything you do should give you pleasure and joy. We need to take care of our mental health. That starts with our joy of living. Your work should resonate with your heart.

AUTHOR: KAMILA KATSU CHROBAK