Valuable Lessons learned at Folktale Night

Folktale Night

Our talented participants engage in folktale night once every session.  Folktale night provides our participants a chance to express their creativity by dressing up as different characters and acting out a folktale for everyone.

Each tale teaches a valuable lesson to the participants such as forgiveness, compromise, understanding, that laughter really is the best medicine, even the smallest people can be the biggest help, humbleness and the value of teamwork. 

While learning these lessons, the participants are able to learn a lot about each other and their own artistic ability.  The students love folktale night and all the entertainment, laughter and sharing they are able to take part in.

Iraqi Participants make Dolma

Each year we have participants try their hand in the kitchen by making a dish for everyone during dinner.  This year our Iraqi participants made Dolma, a favorite Iraqi dish.  It is a very traditional dish mader with squash, onions, green peppers, tomatos and rice.

DOLMA

3 cups uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
1 (16 ounce) jar grape leaves, drained and rinsed
3 Large Onions
4 Large Green Peppers
4 Large green squash
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 potato, sliced into rounds
1 cup canned tomato sauce
2 cups water, or as needed

Directions
1.In a medium bowl, mix together the uncooked rice, parsley, allspice, pepper and curry powder until well blended.
2.Pour oil into the bottom of a large pot, and spread to cover. Make a layer of potato slices to cover the bottom of the pan. The dolmas should not be able to touch the bottom of the pan.
3.Lay the grape leaves out flat on a cutting board. Place about a tablespoon of the rice mixture in the center of one leaf. Fold sides in towards the center, then roll up from the bottom loosely. Set in the pot seam side down. Repeat with the remaining mixture and leaves. For large leaves, you may cut them in half at the center vein. Place a heavy dinner plate on top of the dolma to keep them from unraveling. The cooking pot should be about 2/3 full.

4. Carve out the squash, green peppers and onions.  Stuff all three of these with the rice mixture as well and add into the pot with the grape leaves.

5.Pour tomato sauce and water over the dolma. The liquid should cover them by at least one inch. Adjust the amount of water if necessary. Bring to a boil, then cover, and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until all liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender.

Summer Participants Volunteering at Local Soup Kitchen

This summer several students volunteered at the RAM House in Roanoke, VA.  The RAM house, also known as Roanoke Area Ministry, is a non-profit organization that serves the Roanoke Valley by providing a safe shelter for the homeless, a nutritious lunch, and emergency financial aid to those in need.  The RAM house opens its doors to those in need 365 days a year from 8:00am to 4:00pm

Some of the participants helped to prepare and serve lunch, while other participants assisted with administrative tasks.   Many of the participants said they plan on volunteering more within their local communities after such a positive and rewarding experience.

25 Things American and Iraqi Teens Have in Common

 When we asked U.S and Iraqi teens participating in the Global Youth Village , this question, they said:
1) Dancing!  The Iraqis taught us Kurdish line dances , and we taught them the cha-cha slide
2) We all want the effects of war to be alleviated.
3) We want to learn about each other.
4) Competitive nature – we’re constantly playing games and sports.
5) Tolerance.
6) Creativity
7) We listen to the same music, and are having fun singing together.
8) Friendship. 
9) We actually share a similar culture.
10) We’re teenagers!
11) We all love movies.
12) We have had difficult life experiences and have survived.
13) Ice cream!
14) We all use Facebook.
15) We all plan  to go college.
16) We have hope.
17) We want to live green!
18) We all believe we should do our part not to waste food and help alleviate world hunger.
19) We all like pizza.
20) We brought the same kind of pajamas to GYV.
21) We want to change the world, and our communities.
22) We like making art together.
23) We like to sleep.
24) We’re into fashion and design.
25) We want to be good mothers and fathers
26) We’re building peace at GYV!

GYV Alumni Inspired to be a Social Innovator

Amir Dajani attended the  Global Youth Village in 1986, 1987 and 1989 where his experiences inspired him to become a social innovator and a global citizen.  Today,  Amir is Deputy Managing Director of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company, where he oversees the Rawabi project, the first Palestinian planned community. Dajani directs all technical and business development operations of the Rawabi project and oversees and coordinates donor community participation.

Prior to joining Bayti, he worked in the Private Enterprise Office of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) West Bank and Gaza Mission in Tel Aviv. In this capacity, he oversaw the design, implementation and monitoring of multimillion-dollar institutions and capacity-building programs, along with trade facilitation and loan guarantee programs. Dajani formerly worked on a European Commission-funded program as the small- and medium-size enterprise (SME) technical assistance specialist in Jerusalem, gaining extensive experience in private-sector sustainable growth and sustainability.

Amir received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College (Dublin) and a master’s degree from Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom.

“Let’s Move” at GYV

First Lady Michelle Obama recently unveiled her “Let’s Move” campaign a national public awareness campaign against childhood obesity.  A staggering statistic….one in three American children are overweight or obese, putting them at a higher risk for developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other illnesses.  Here at the Global Youth Village, healthy eating habits are a way of life and we teach our participants the importance of a healthy balanced diet.

“Let’s Move” is a campaign geared to target all aspects of a healthy lifestyle including helping parents make better food choices, serving healthier food in school vending machines and lunch lines, making healthy food more available and affordable, and encouraging children to exercise more.

Here at the Global Youth Village, our daily activites and diet mirror what this campaign is trying to promote. Our menu is predominately vegetarian with tasty international foods and all of our dishes are prepared with natural foods and whole grains. The youth learn the importance of a healthy diet for their physical and emotional well being. Each day of our sessions we encourage our youth to get involved in one of the numerous recrational activities we offer!  So if your looking for a place to “Let’s Move” visit us at GYV!