Sky High Mural Arts in Santo Domingo

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The glucose-inspired design for my mural project in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

In this latest blog I will describe my experience working with the community of artists, students, faculty and staff of the Instituto Tecnico Superiore Comunitario (ITSC) in San Luis, a section of Santo Domingo towards the east. We worked on a wall that was part of the Science building, a four-story surface that faced the highway (carretera). All traffic headed from Santo Domingo towards the eastern part of the island would pass directly in front of the wall. It was where the city became rural; pastures were across the street and cows grazed freely on the grounds in front...

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IYLEP Alumnus Promotes Peace through Debate

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Al-Rawi receives recognition for his public policy proposal at the Regional Youth Forum

Yousuf Al-Rawi, a fifth year medical student at the University of Baghdad and an alumnus of the 2013 Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (IYLEP) , is already putting the skills he developed into practice by working with his colleagues to make a difference in his home country. In his early years of undergraduate study, Al-Rawi learned of IYLEP through his university and was drawn to apply by the chance to experience American culture firsthand while being exposed to new ideas that could be applied in Iraq. Upon becoming a finalist and participating in IYLEP 2013, he took full advantage of this opportunity. Al-Rawi...

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Even in Norway, youth fall between the cracks. Exchange participants study how to save them.

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From left: Carl Boone, Rico Rush Jr., Eddie Eidsvåg, Tyrone Parker and Lene Walle at Alliance for Concerned Men headquarters in Anacostia, Washington, DC.

After flying from Norway that afternoon, Edvard Eidsvåg (Eddi, for short) was left wide awake on a late night in March. He wandered the streets around his Dupont Circle-area hotel, searching for those many view as the outcasts of society: the drug addicts and the homeless. That night in March, Eddi sought out the very people he claims society tends to ignore. Eddi is Founder and CEO of People Project (or Pøbelprosjektet), a Norwegian organization dedicated to providing opportunities for at-risk youth. He and his colleague Lene Walle, Regional Manager of People Project, arrived in Washington, DC on March...

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Tragedy and opportunity | Reflections from a YLAI fellow

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YLAI group in DC

Kheston Walkins is a young entrepreneur from Trinidad and Tobago who was selected to attend the 2016 Young Leaders of the America’s Initiative (YLAI) pilot program by the U.S. Department of State. This presidential initiative supports social and business entrepreneurs from across Latin America and the Caribbean. Here are some of his reflections on his experience attending this prestigious U.S.-based exchange. Tragedy and Opportunity: it is a strange courtship that is as clumsy as a duck’s waddle, yet the two travel abreast almost inseparably. My name is Kheston Walkins, and I am from Trinidad and Tobago. Let me tell...

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Spotlight on Soft Power: April 2016

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Aerowaves, which organizes the annual Spring Forward contemporary dance festival

 

Feathers, black paint, garden implements, platform shoes, lightsabers and some gold foil.

These are just a few of the items that will appear in the performances of 20 of Europe’s most promising young dancers and choreographers when they convene in Pilsen, Czech Republic, for the 5th annual Spring Forward festival of contemporary dance, April 22nd to April 24th, 2016.

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