I had the opportunity to attend the Young People For (YP4) National Summit in Washington D.C. as a 2008 Young People For Felllow. It was a great opportunity to meet other fellows from across the nation and a wonderful learning experience through the workshops and the speakers presented. A workshop that I found particularly interesting was the one on "elevator pitches". The term "Elevator Pitches" points out the reality that generally we have a very short time to make our point across, so we have to deliver our message as quickly as if we were to have a moment to talk to someone in an elevator. I also liked the session called "Fishbowl Reflections" which gave the YP4 fellows the opportunity to share their thoughts among each other about the sessions they had already attended. I learned a lot from Van Jones presentation about how to create jobs through the environment and how to present the environmental causes to marginalized communities in such way that the community can visualize the positive impact environmental causes may have on their community. The energy of the people at the conference was tremendous. From Elody Gyekis mural project to Haya-Abdel Latif's work with international students, if you had a particular area of interest you could find someone at the conference that could share his/her experience with you. I encourage people look at the website and learn more about this excellent event. http://www.youngpeoplefor.org
Another case of genocide in the world? The death of hundred of children in Kenya, with the bodies piling up. How much is too much? When reading about the current situation in Kenya I have to agree with the CNN article characterizing the situation as genocide. Regretfully the current events in Kenya bring back to my mindscenes described in a book I read in my English class this semester, "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, about children and the effects of the violence of war upon them. I highly recommend his book which tells the story of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. Children are victims of war, either because of death, injuries or from being conscripted to become soldiers in a war between is still tribal groups. The question that comes to mind when reading the article on CNN is what can we do that is effective to change the situation? The campaign regarding Darfur has been going on for some time and yet the problem on violence is still there. Do we have any ideas on how to deal with a crisis that repeats itself throughout the African continent? I know Senator Obama is busy trying to win in Iowa at this moment, but this is a good moment to show that he can give some creative solutions even if he is not the most experienced candidate. He can try to show why he is the real hope for change. Genocide has happened before and is happening again. The question is, do we have the ideas for solutions, the will-power and the leadership to try to stop it? Genocide is a moral issue that most be dealt with.
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