Mapping IVLP Volunteer Service

The spirit of community service has grown stronger every year since Congress enacted the National and Community Service Act of 1990. From President Bush’s Points of Light Award to President Obama’s United We Serve initiative, successive presidents have helped to strengthen this part of the American cultural fabric. After Martin Luther King Jr. Day was designated as a national day of service in 1994, Americans everywhere worked to make it not a day off but a day on. Continue  

Community Development in Iraq through Volunteerism

By Ameer Sabri, Manager of Volunteers of Duhok University (VDU) Alumnus IYLEP 2015 Volunteers of Duhok University (VDU) is an initiative launched by a group of students from the University of Duhok – a fast-growing institution in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Established in March 2015, the idea of setting up a youth center was pitched by a student, Saeed Qasim, and his mates, Zeena, Pekhatin, Karzan, Matty, Khosh, Iman, Yoshia, Khalid, Shihab, Ahmed, and Iman Na’man to create and spread the culture of volunteerism among students. First of all, the VDU team developed a registration form for membership...

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Three Months Out

In his capacity as Project Manager of the Sustainable Development Program at the Industrial Modernization Center in Cairo, Mr. Al-Amir Mohssen manages projects that focus on entrepreneurship and micro, small and medium enterprise development that support young entrepreneurs working across Egypt. He frequently volunteers for youth initiatives and is interested in learning about a broad variety of youth engagement strategies in the U.S. in addition to programs to encourage young entrepreneurs.

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Mural Arts Recap: Community Engagement through Art

21 de Febrero
Honduran artist Walter teaches local youth how to prime the mural wall in 21 de Febrero, Tegucigalpa.

In 2013, Meridian partnered with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to send mural artists abroad for the Community Engagement through the Mural Arts exchange program. While away, these artists were able to collaborate with local groups and artists in various community- based mural arts projects. Their goal: to create tangible pieces of artwork, while simultaneously fostering community engagement with the various populations of each country.

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