The Global Youth Village environment encourages an attitude, an identity, a set of new skills and understandings that allow leadership to emerge from individuals.  Young people see the source of leadership coming from within rather than solely on public acknowledgment.  It becomes solidified, based on the confidence of “this is what I am” rather than upon the effort of “this is what I am trying to be.”  Our primary teaching method is experiential in a highly supportive environment.  In all aspects of GYV - workshops, action teams and cabin life individuals are  given opportunities. Young people are encouraged to try new things and develop teamwork skills.  Young people leave with:

• Improved self-confidence, maturity; a positive outlook on life; renewed hope for the future
• Heightened commitment to active participation in the future of their communities
• Increased understanding of various cultures, global issues, and their interconnectedness
• Reinforced ability to respect people as individuals with unique strengths and weakness rather than to stereotype individuals by ethnic, national, racial or cultural prejudices and biases
• Increased self-discipline in setting, working towards, and achieving group and individual objectives
• Strengthened ability to organize and carry out community improvement projects successfully
• Enhanced ability to promote understanding among people
• Improved ability to find win-win solutions to interpersonal disputes and disagreements
• Acquired new perspectives on their own day to day dynamics

Learn more about our Program Choices, Dates and Fees

Discover Who We Are and what  A Typical Day at GYV is like.

Read more articles about developing Leadership skills at the Global Youth Village

• Service and Advocacy
• Summer Participants Volunteer at Local Soup Kitchen
• GYV Alumni inspired to be a Social Innovator
• GYV Alumni Receives Prestigious Award

While changing activities and moving from place to place, you’ll mix with others continuously throughout the day.  You’ll soon become fast friends with everyone at GYV.

Typical daily schedule 2012

• 8:15                      Breakfast
• 9:00-12:30         Morning Workshops
• 12:30-1:15           Lunch
• 1:15-2:00            Siesta Time
• 2:00-3:15            Afternoon Electives
• 3:15-3:45            Camp Store open
• 3:45- 5:00          Teamwork, Leadership and Community
• 5:00-6:30           Recreation time
• 6:45                     Dinner
• 8:00                     End of day gathering time
• 8:30-10:00         Evening programs

Kashawn Rogers (front, right) with friends from around the world

From Jennifer Lewis, Global Youth Village 2011 Peace Building Instructor

As a Conflict Resolution Facilitator with the Richmond Peace Education Center, I gained the facilitation skills I needed to lead the Dialogue and Peace Building workshop with the Global Youth Village international summer camp.  After having taking a year off from this position, I was a bit nervous returning to lead a workshop leading young people with behavioral challenges.  Lucky for me, whenever facilitating with RPEC, I am blessed with youth co-facilitators, who often are the most influential leaders of the workshop.  Being closer in age to the participants, they often can make deeper connections with the participants and provide real-world examples that adults are simply unaware of.  During my most recently workshop I led, my youth co-facilitator doubly blessed me.

Due to scheduling difficulties, I did not meet my co-facilitator until the day of our workshop. When I arrived at our host organization and met my co-facilitator, I realized I knew this young man!  It took only a few seconds to for me to place Kashawn Rogers as one of the Global Youth Village’s 2011 participants!  I wish a camera had captured the smile on my face when I saw Kashawn.  Knowing that a GYV participant, especially Kashawn, was my co-facilitator for this workshop, which I had been nervous about, instantly put me at ease.

Kashawn was easily one of the most charming and genuine young men at the Global Youth Village that summer.  His positive demeanor carried over to his work as co-facilitation for our workshop.  He led activities with confidence and passion. Kashawn truly believes that young people need healthier alternatives to violence and most impressively, he makes non-violence sound cool!  Kashawn is applying the lessons he learned at the Global Youth Village to young people who genuinely need to hear that there are alternatives to violence and that youth are powerful leaders in our world.

Jennifer Lewis

Lead Conflict Resolution Facilitator – Richmond Peace Education Center

Dialogue and Peace Building Instructor – Global Youth Village, summer 2010 & 2011

**To learn more about Jennifer and Kashawn’s work with the Richmond Peace Education Center (RPEC) and Richmond Youth Peace Project (RYPP) visit: http://rpec.org/

Photo Courtesy of Ksat.com

In 2012, this paradigm shift looks set to continue.  What are your thoughts on the shift? What kind of changes would you like to see take place? To help you process these issues, we’ve created a short 4-question survey.  Tell us what’s on your mind. We’ll share results with you in February!

Mohammed Bouazizi, initiator of the Arab Spring

friends from around the world at the GYV carnival

According to TIME magazine, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other civil rights groups, there has been a dramatic rise in the increase of  hate groups and militias  in the past two years.  Last month, the department store chain Lowe’s was came under fire for pulling ads from the popular TLC show “All-American Muslim”.   The controversial immigration laws recently passed in Arizona and Alabama have created heated debates on issues of racial profiling. It seems as though everywhere we look, we can see flags of racism, intolerance and misunderstanding. But, pockets of tolerance and understanding do exist and one such place is our international summer camp in Virginia.

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains, Global Youth Village stands out as a place where racism and intolerance are openly discussed. These difficult and complex topics  often come up during our peace building and dialogue workshops where young people are encouraged to confront their own stereotypes or racist attitudes; they are then equipped with the tools to constructively address their issues.

After being forced by the Serbs to flee his home in Kosovo in 1999,  alum Kreshe Kacaniku P’03  says, “I had a lot of prejudice towards certain people groups before I came to GYV, but  I changed.  At GYV, I  learned not to hate, not to be prejudiced. ” During the past 33 years, Global Youth Village has trained young people from conflict-ridden countries like Cambodia, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, and Ireland and provided them with tools to become more conscious, tolerant and compassionate peace builders.

Most recently in our 2011 program, the stereotypes that lead to ignorance, intolerance and racism were shattered once again. Participant Jacob Trump P’11 said, “In American culture, when we look at Iraqis or anyone from the Muslim religion or faith, we generally think about a head covering, a suicide bombing or war. I think I had that stereotype. I really did, but it has genuinely been torn down for me at Global Youth Village.”

Against the backdrop of an increasingly intolerant world, Global Youth Village continues to be place that creates common ground among people of different backgrounds. The program demonstrates that universal  human values such  as peace, justice, tolerance and understanding can be a reality. Our 2012 programs hope to continue this legacy.

 I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality…. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
— Martin Luther King, Jr

1. A discussion on belief systems
2. A nature walk
3. An art project “what does home mean to you”
4. Serving our GYV community
5. Discussion of U.N. Millennium Development Goals
6. Stress relief methods
7. Team building exercises

Read more articles about developing Leadership skills at the Global Youth Village

• Service and Advocacy
• Summer Participants Volunteer at Local Soup Kitchen
• GYV Alumni inspired to be a Social Innovator
• GYV Alumni Receives Prestigious Award

Nationality: African American

GYV Staff/ Participant during: Staff in 1999 and 2003

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Sociology – Hampton University

Occupation: Professional Dancer & Instructor as well as Graphic Designer

Most Interesting Country Visited: Egypt and Turkey

Favorite GYV Memory: Dancing and creating with the “Crazy Sisters of Siochain!” For some reason both years I worked at GYV I was assigned Cabin Siochain and each time the ladies I got to live and work with were always Phenomenal! Oxanna and Ebru were the perfect co-counselor cabin mates I could have ever asked for. The camp experience truly changed and inspired my life!

Volunteer/Civic Engagement since Global Youth Village: Member of S.G.I-USA Buddhist organization that promotes world peace and culture. Board secretary and volunteer for Camp Butterfly, programming volunteer for Teens on the Move and A.M.E.N. (African Male Empowerment Network) in Pittsburgh, resident artist at Johnson Elementary School in Chicago, workshop presenter at Bellevue Hospital day school in New York.

Biography: Asali Locke-Ellison has a knack for motivating others. Although a Pittsburgh, PA native she’s lived in New York, Atlanta, Virginia and Chicago where she’s worked, volunteered and delivered workshops in the corporate, non-profit, education and performing arts sectors. With an analytical brain and creative drive her diverse background has allowed her to present her thesis research topic “How to Overcome Conflict in Black Male and Female Relationships” at the Eastern Sociological Meetings in Baltimore, MD; create and facilitate an after school arts program “The C.A.F.É Club” (Creating Art For Expression) to students at Johnson Elementary school in Chicago; conduct workshops for “Teens on the Move” (a local youth program in Pittsburgh) and work with ARCH Productions (Artists Raising the Consciousness of Humanity) in Atlanta as director to a cast of teens in a touring theatre production to promote awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. Asali currently serves on the Board of Directors of Camp Butterfly, a Chicago-based organization that promotes advocacy for girls of African descent.

A recent newlywed, in July 2010 Asali got married to her husband Brian whom she met in 2008. Today she is self-employed as a graphic designer, professional dancer and instructor of North African and Middle Eastern dance (aka “Belly dance”) where she performs American Cabaret, Egyptian, Turkish and Whirling (Sufi) dance styles. Not just a soloist, she performs as a duet with her husband a skilled fire/poi dancer and designer. Her goal is to help women and young girls “rediscover how cool it is to be a woman” and to employ the power of dance in a manner that evokes respect and admiration from themselves and others in a healthy and positive way. To learn more about Asali visit www.shimmysoul.com.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq_bkIk8KK8

June Kirubi Project Coordinator

Telephone:  720-451-345

Email: pamojaworld@gmail.com

 Option for Kenyan participants: Three-week program with international and US youths at the Global Youth Village and  6- day Community Involvement Program (CIP) in Washington DC

Ages: 14-18

Dates:  July 17-August 4

Fee: $3,300

• First Morning Workshop:  everyone takes Dialogue and Peace Building 
• Second Morning Workshop:  you choose either Crossing Cultures Through the Arts or Green Your World. 

GYV offers in-depth training.     Instructors show the interdependence of topics, draw on successful models of problem solving from around the world and help you see how one person can make a difference. 
Take all this new knowledge and create a plan of action to make a difference in your hometown!

Watch slides from recent workshops

Dialogue and Peace Building

Learn peace building skills and how to respond productively to conflict and prejudice. Understand conflict styles, learn mediation techniques, and how to create a better balance of power.  Explore non-violence movements, and how to constructively deal with anger. Develop listening and feedback skills and study facilitation techniques.

“I have accomplished the goal of being able to speak in a large group. I learned about dialogue and conflict resolution.

Now I can go back home and resolve conflicts whether they are personal, family, or community conflicts. I can start to make change.”

~ Philip Kane, Northern Ireland

Crossing Cultures through the Arts

The arts play an essential role in preserving and transmitting culture as well as commenting on the issues of the day.  Work with Artists-in-Residence  who have specific expertise in storytelling and music from around the world.  Build writing and interviewing skills. Create stories, video blogs and more using the peers at GYV as your youth voices.  Work with professional musicians and ethnomusicologists exploring different musical styles e.g. Middle East, American roots music, African influences in American music.

Green Your World

Explore the natural world and the complex issues facing our ecosystems. Learn how to be a friend to the environment through changing your every day habits to incorporate sustainable living practices. Discover the meanings behind concepts like eco-tourism, permaculture, fair trade, green building, organic agriculture and renewable energy.

Watch Video from workshops in the past:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPr7t7cKF9Q

Name

Nationality: Albanian from Kosova

GYV Staff/ Participant during: P ’03

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in International Business from from Royal University of Illyria

Occupation: Banker

Most Interesting Country Visited: Egypt (before revolution) can’t wait to go there again now after revolution and see the changes (hope so)

Favorite GYV Memory: Hmmm… there are simply too many.  I have to say that GYV was really special for me, every single day was special there but I can mention  that our peace building workshop was amazing. Our instructor Cloe Liparini was great. Cultural nights were awesome.

Volunteer/Civic Engagement Activities since Global Youth Village: I’ve worked  with a local NGO and occasionally volunteer as a judge for our high school debate team.

Biography: I was born and raised in Mitrovica a city in north of Kosovo. We had a terrible war in 1999.  The war has affected us a lot because we didn’t have the chance like other families to escape and go to neighboring countries.  Our houses were robbed and burned. The Serbs made us walk from our city which is in north to the south-east city on the border with Albania; they used the whole city a human shield so  NATO wouldn’t bomb them. We survived on onions and  whatever we could find along the way.

I’ve finished high school here and then moved to Prishtina (the capital) for 3 years to finish university. After that I was employed at a local bank and from then I work there as Client Adviser. I’ve tried to be an active member of society.  I enjoy hiking, rollerblading, mountain biking , watching movies and taking photos as an amateur.  I had a lot of prejudice towards certain people groups before I came to GYV but  I changed.  At GYV, I  learned not to hate, not to be prejudiced. I learned to love people for who they are.