A New Year's toast to some Youthlinc Superstars

As we count down the moments till 2012, we reflect on how amazing this past year has been at Youthlinc and for communities here and across the globe.  Whether through your donation, your hours of serving others, or your encouragement and support for humanitarianism, your impact has changed lives. 

In particular, we have some Youthlinc superstars that we’d like to raise our glass to and thank for their contributions.  Youthlinc would not be the organization it is today without these folks.

Mae Chin

Mae & her 3-generation Youthlinc family!

How do YOU spend your coveted Saturday mornings? Our guess is that you aren’t doing database work. But for our dear Mae Chin, she has sacrificed countless Saturday mornings to maintain our database.  The work is far from glamorous, yet Mae's efforts have played an essential role in our day-to-day operations. 

Mae, her daughter, and her granddaughter have been involved with Youthlinc since 2010.  Mae reflects on why she got involved: “Whenever I'm in the Youthlinc office, I am aware of the energy generated there. It's the same devotion that instills awareness of global needs and trains our youth to serve as ambassadors. How can one not feel privileged to be a part of this mission?”

It has been our privilege to work with Mae, and we extend our sincerest thanks to her for being Youthlinc’s behind-the-scenes MVP and database guru. 

Colton & microenterprise participants - Cambodia

Colton Matheson & Erin Grieve

As many of you have discovered, there can be lots of changes in Youthlinc Land. Our international approaches and activities evolve as we become more reflexive of the villages we visit, and learn of practices that truly empower people.  This year, a group came together to improve our microenterprise program.  We'd like to recognize two team members, Colton Matheson (2011 Cambodia team) and Erin Grieve (2011 Kenya team) who went above and beyond in advancing our microenterprise program, and introducing new practices to the Youthlinc program.

  

Erin in her element! - Kenya

Spend a few minutes studying microenterprise, and you'll quickly learn that although microenterprise can be a very successful approach in alleviating poverty, it is quite complex.  For this reason, we're lucky to have had Colton & Erin dedicate many hours researching, considering and articulating what might work best for our future teams. Thanks to these two, and the many others who contributed their ideas, our 2012 teams now have a comprehensive and concise guide to microenterprise, and how to make a lasting economic and social impact internationally.  The efforts made this year to improve the microenterprise program will undoubtedly make a huge impact for years to come. 

 

Scott in Kenya with a couple team members

Scott Bawden & Britnie Powell

Okay, okay, we confess: we're obsessed with Scott Bawden and Britnie Powell (and dare we say, they are a bit obsessed with us too?!).  As our ongoing Youthlinc Team Leaders, and some of the most thoughtful, progressive and compassionate people in the world, we cannot not express our gratitude for what they contribute to Youthlinc. They've worked extremely hard to be the excellent leaders that they are.  The ripple effect of their positive energy, year after year, is mind boggling! 

Britnie on one of her many adventures

For those of you that have had the fortune of working side-by-side Scott or Britnie, we know you'll agree: they are true humanitarians. We are honored to have Scott and Brit in Youthlinc Land, as they continually inspire us and teach us how to better serve others.  

______________________

So, as we ring in the new year, we celebrate our superstars and each one of you who made 2011 an epic year in Youthlinc history.  May we build on our momentum and do even more great things in 2012!  

Cheers to all of you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Games, Puzzles and Gingerbread Houses!

The 2011-2012 Real Life session began this December and has been a huge success so far.  The first week of Real Life focused on everyone getting to know each other and learning names.  More than 25 refugee teens met the new Youthlinc volunteers and things got off to running start with a pizza party on December 5th.  Later in the week the group played "get to know you" Game Show games that included Bingo and Jeopardy.  That first week we also held a Team Challenge Day where 5 teams battled it out through a variety of team challenges including building a marshmallow tower, relay races and a human scavenger hunt.

The second week of Real Life we were able to start really getting to know each other.  The Real Life teens and the amazing Youthlinc volunteers discussed their dreams and goals for their lives that they then created into "Dream Flags" that were beautiful and inspiring.

The Real Life group was sick of there being no snow and ice this winter so we decided to split into teams of two and give them loads of ice cream themed puzzles to solve.  Once the duo was able to crack all the codes they were able to make ice cream together and eat it! Most batches turned out delicious with a few tasting a little salty!

We are only able to have two weeks of Real Life activities in December because of the holidays so the last day of Real Life for December we had a Christmas party, complete with a freeze dance party and gingerbread houses.  It was a perfect ending to the START of Real Life for this year! We will start up again on January 9th with a field trip to the new Natural History Museum.  We can't wait to get back in the groove of things after the holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Real Life Kick-off meeting introduces our volunteers to the refugee community

Real Life in Salt Lake City (RLSLC) had its kick off orientation meeting this past Friday to get everyone excited and ready for the new year to begin on December 5th.  There were over 40 volunteers in attendance!! 

The meeting began with introductions from the group. It was great to see so many volunteers from all of the different Youthlinc teams and the community.  Youthlinc volunteers are the reason we are able to run the program but community volunteers incorporate the program into everyday Utah life.  We love having such a variety of volunteers! 

 

Raunde Everett, the director of the Hser Ner Moo Community Welcome Center, kicked off the business part of the orientation with an introduction to the goals of the Hser Ner Moo Center.  Some reminders and requests from her for the volunteers were:

                        - Park on 500 E instead of in the South Parc parking lot

                        - Make sure to clean-up the Columbus Center after every RLSLC session

                        - Be good examples to the kids. (ie. Have fun, but also don’t make Julia and I be

   the disciplinarians all of the time.)

- Any inappropriate behavior should be reported to Julia, Lisa or Raunde immediately.

Following Raunde we listened to a very interesting and informative presentation by South Salt Lake representative, Keri Cutler, on the demographics of South Salt Lake and why RLSLC is both a unique and important program. (And we could not do it without our volunteers, so thank you!)  Kari lead the group through a Bingo Game that explained the different risk factors that refugee teens are up against. The game gave an amazing visual to understanding background behind refugee hardships and successes in the community.  The Salt Lake Tribune had a great story that illustrates a lot about what Kari talked about.  (Fitting in and catching up: Life as a refugee teen in Utah)

We wrapped-up the meeting by with a quick run through of what Monday, December 5th will entail for the Kickoff party with the teens. We will be having a pizza party and A LOT of get-to-know-you games so everyone can start learning every one's names and becoming comfortable in their new surroundings. 

We ran out of time to plan January so we will have our January Planning Meeting on: Monday, December 19^th at 4:00pm at the Youthlinc Offices.  Please be thinking about and emailing Lisa ideas of activities or field trips that you would like to do with the teens!

Hope to see everyone at the kickoff party Monday December 5th from 4-6pm at the Columbus Center on 2530 South 500 East! (Meet at Hser Ner Moo Center on 479 East 2250 South to walk the teens down to the Columbus Center)

  

Check out our Facebook group Real Life in Salt Lake City

Want to be part of Real Life in SLC? Help with our teen refugee mentoring program!

Youthlinc is gearing up for a new year of Real Life in Salt Lake City!  Heading into our 3rd year we will again be partnering with the Hser Ner Moo Center in South Salt Lake to pair Youthlinc volunteers with teenage refugee students to learn life-skills and have a great time while making new friends. This year we will focus on respect, gender equality, art expression, financial literacy, health and hygiene, school and career counseling, English practice - all while participating in fun activities and field trips. 

General Orientation kicked off the Service Year for the 2011-2012 teams.  We held a general information session for participants interested in choosing Real Life as their main service site.  We had well over 50 students come to the meeting and we all looking forward to getting to know them all!

December 2nd will be an Orientation with the Hser Ner Moo Center at the Youthlinc office at 4pm.  The Hser Ner Moo staff will discuss what the Center's goals and how they do things around there.  Following that discussion we will have our first planning session to plan for the January meetings.  This will give all new volunteers an opportunity to bring their ideas to the table and have ownership of this program.  We are excited to see what you come up with!

Lisa (Real Life Intern) and I are excited and anxious to get this year of Real Life underway.  We couldn't do it without our amazing volunteers and from what I can tell so far from this year's group is that this year is going to be amazing!

Lisa is on the left!  She has been involved since the beginning. We love her!!!

If you have not signed up but want to be involved with Real Life in Salt Lake City this year please email us office@youthlinc.org  We would love to have you participate! (and I promise you will love it too!) Also, we are always looking for fun field trip and activity ideas.  If you or someone you know has connections that could help our program succeed, please let us know!   Check back to the blog for updates on the program throughout the year and join the Real Life in Salt Lake City group on Facebook!

- Julia Wee, Youthlinc Local Service Director/Office Manager

Field trips!

Last year's Real Life leaders and Hser Ner Moo staff!

Lots of new friends!

Shopping for group dinners

Ice Skating

So many fun games

General Orientation: Saturday November 12, 1-5pm. It's the Kick-off of our 2011-12 Service Year!

If you are an incoming student or mentor participant for our 2011-12 Service Year - Congratulations! This year set a new record for the number of applications. We have more students on the waiting list than ever in our 12 years in operation. If you are one of them, don't miss General Orientation. We fill any drops with students who are in attendance.

At this point, everyone has gotten their letters, and you are wondering? What is this all about? A whole afternoon?

B O R I N G. Well, it is anything but. The feedback we've received from our annual General Orientation meetings is like this: "Wow. That went by fast." "There was so much information. I was at the edge of my seat." "I was pumped. Now I'm really pumped."

General Orientation is our opportunity to tell you all about what to expect from the Service Year: locally and internationally. It's the first time you will feel the incredible positive vibe that occurs when 200+ service leaders assemble in one place, and catch the vision of what it means to give back, to be part of a service community, to really put your mind to it, and make good things happen for you and for others in need.

You'll meet for the first time people you will know and remember for the rest of your life. You are embarking on a service journey and each of them is going with you. All you know about each other at General Orientation is 'this is good person or she or he would not be attempting this challenge.'

Be sure to arrive early because there is a football game at the University of Utah that day, and traffic and parking could be a problem. Though there is a parking lot across from the Warnock Engineering Building, we have been advised to use the lot to the north and take the short walk over. If you will be under 18 at the time of your international travel, students: don't forget to bring at least one parent! That's mandatory. The whole meeting is mandatory and for good reason.

Youthlinc Executive Director and Founder Judy Zone will speak very briefly about the mission and strategies Youthlinc uses to create lifetime humanitarians. She'll speak later in the Opening Session about the nuts and bolts of your payment schedule and fundraising for your international service trip.

Youthlinc Local Service Director, Julia Wee, will give you an overview of the local service which earns each student -- regardless of family income -- the final payment. If you do not complete the required local service, you don't go. Good news though: In 12 years and well over 1,000 student participants, only two have not completed their local service hours, and so were dismissed. We are confident you will be one of the 99.98% who have so much fun helping others who really need your help.

Youthlinc International Service Director, Miriam Kramer, will review the wide variety of service activities each of our teams plans and implements in all five of our international sites: small impoverished villages in Kenya, Guatemala, Peru, Thailand, and Cambodia. Miriam will briefly discuss the role all of you will take in all this service: construction, vocational training, education, microenterprise, community health, cultural exchange.

Before you know it, students will be at our Service Fair where ten local service agencies will be waiting to tell you their stories and hopefully enlist your help. Students can also take this time to review our 2012 Local Service Directory: more than 120 service sites statewide recommended by Youthlinc alums for our incoming groups.

Or students can attend an overview of the Youthlinc flagship local service program, Real Life in SLC. If you live in or near Salt Lake City, this three afternoon a week teen refugee mentoring program might be your main service site this school year. Our student volunteers plan and implement the curriculum of life skills, financial literacy, health & hygiene, English language practice, and lots of fun cultural exchange activities.

Parents will attend a session with the parents of past Youthlinc students. In past years, incoming parents have reported that this session lowers their blood pressure significantly :-)

Mentors attend a session designed especially for them, led by some very seasoned team leaders. As mentoring is a critical aspect of the Youthlinc Service Year, mentors: don't miss this session. You will learn a lot and understand the tasks before you. This is a student leadership program, so we'll go over some of the strategies you can use to become a great delegator, resource, cheerleader, guide, and constructive helpmate along the road to young humanitarianism.

Last but hardly least, each team will meet on their own to view a slide show of the international site, and get a peak at what the whole trip will look like. Full of photos from past years' trips, all participants get the flavor of the country, culture, and service in store. You will also meet the amazing team and alum leaders who will facilitate every aspect of this service journey. So exciting!

If there is time, you'll get to know your teammates a bit, but don't worry, you have monthly meetings, starting in December to work on that.

We couldn't feel luckier to kick off our 13th Service Year, and we couldn't feel luckier to have you all a part of it. Welcome. Enjoy. Savor. Get your service face on. We can't wait to meet you!

Intro meeting for Cambodia Friends & Family Trip: Sat. January 14, 4pm Youthlinc office

Chum-reap-sua!

Come to the first team meeting/informational meeting about our 2012 Cambodia Friends & Family Trip: Saturday, January 14, 2012 4pm at the Youthlinc office. Email miriam@youthlinc.org to RSVP.

Mint and cilantro tied in bunches lay drooping next to the taro roots and galangal. Bins full of bright red, orange, and yellow curry powders are adorned with garlands of starfish anise and chili peppers. Lumpy purple mangosteens, jungle green avocados and mangoes are stacked in pyramids next to the freshly cuts spears of golden pineapple and papaya. Bins of fried grasshoppers, tarantulas, and cockroaches, lightly salted, entice the local passersby. Tuk-tuk drivers lazily yell out from their coaches for fares, smiles on their faces and in their eyes. It’s another day in Cambodia: the site for 2012 Youthlinc Friends and Family trip.

Youthlinc is stoked to be returning to the village of Peak Sneng in northwestern Cambodia from June 10 to June 23rd, 2012.  Peak Sneng is a village about one hour away from Siem Reap, the burgeoning town next to Angkor Wat. Though Youthlinc participants will be staying in pretty nice accommodations in Siem Reap, Peak Sneng truly is a rural place. There is no electricity, no paved roads, no indoor plumbing, and very few vehicles. It is a beautiful, sleepy place nestled in a jungle of trees and full of people with smiles so welcoming you’ll feel like you’re home on day one.

Welcome to Peak Sneng

In June 2011, Youthlinc traveled for the first time to Cambodia and started many amazing projects that we are stoked to be following up on and improving this coming year. We have a school garden to help maintain, a livestock-exchange program to oversee, water filters for families to install, children to play with, young parents to support, and community leaders with whom to plan for the future.

Angkor Wat

SR-21 Prison Victims

 On this trip, we will be flying into Phnom Penh to visiting the SR-21 prison/torture camp and Killing Fields to learn first hand about the devastation of the Cambodian Genocide which killed an estimated 2 million people, which was more than 20% of the country's population.

From there, we will head up to Siem Reap, where we will be staying for the remainder of the trip at cozy Mom's Guesthouse, complete with a salt water pool.  From Siem Reap we will travel daily to the village of Peak Sneng to work.

We will be working on the Livestock Exchange program, teaching English & health lessons, installing water filters at people's homes, installing playground equipment, and mingling with the locals- just to name a few of the many activities! We need your help and your special talents to make these and other projects are successful. In addition, we will be visiting a floating village, a land mine museum, and of course, the magnificent Angkor Wat temples!

APPLY NOW!

Monks at Angkor

Angkor Wat

Night Market

Floating Village

Teaching

Peak Sneng

Angkor Wat

Bayon

Yummy Treats

Floating Village

Cute School Kids

Ta Phrom

Ta Phrom

Assembly at the School

Thank You Note