Do our Service Year teams work hard internationally? Check it out - the schedule for one of our Vietnam teams!

Here is an example of how our teams work in country.

Our standing committees are:
Education (always involving English teaching as requested by the villages we partner with)
Health (our 'medical' committee which focuses are basic health and sanitation needs, as well as question & answer sessions with our medical professionals)
Microenterprise (teaching small business lessons, setting up small loans & animal exchanges)
Vocational Training (teaching requested and common skills needed to set up a business or support a family)
Construction (we build everything from schools to medical clinics - in Vietnam we are building homes for the community's most needy residents)
Oral Histories (a part of our Cultural Exchange committee, these interactions help our U.S. students understand the lives of the people we are partnering with).

Even though each Youthlinc student (and mentor) has a primary area of focus and leadership, we feel it is important that every person does a little of everything, so that each person gets the big picture of international service.

Here is a working schedule of how that might happen, courtesy of one of our Vietnam Team Leaders, Justin Powell, who like ALL our just incredible Team Leaders, puts his all into the activities of our participants in-country. It gives you an idea of how hard our team members work! Thanks all!

Introducing the 2013 Youthlinc 2013 Lifetime Humanitarian

Our 2013 Youthlinc Lifetime Humanitarian is Britnie Powell.  Though we usually honor individuals with a few more gray hairs, this relatively young woman has distinguished herself through more service, locally and internationally, than most people twice her age could hope to accomplish.

In Cambodia as Team Leader

Because she came from a very service minded family, Britnie has been aware of and actively engaged in helping others since childhood. In high school, Britnie joined joined the first ever Youthlinc team in 1999. After completing 100 hours of local service, mostly at Cottonwood Hospital, Britnie traveled with the team of just 16 students and 4 mentors to Samburu, Kenya.  On this trip, we came to know her as a committed humanitarian and exceptionally hard worker, and as a very funny person. She kept the team in stitches, reciting entire movie scripts, horsing around with the Kenyan children even those she was helping at a meager medical clinic. She was the 'Patch Adams' of the group, making even the most ill child smile with her shenanigans.

The year after her Youthlinc Service Year, she traveled back to Kenya with another 'Youthlinc First Year' student to work in a classroom for kids with disabilities. There she met Caroline, who became a cause for these two young Utahns. Caroline was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, a birth defect that causes facial disfiguration, and a lack of an ear canal. Though Caroline's inner ear functioned, she lacks an outer ear, so hearing is difficult. Britnie entered the Miss Murray, Utah competition to raise awareness of Caroline's condition, and raise funds for a special hearing aid for the child. In 2006, another Youthlinc team delivered this hearing aid to Caroline in Kenya.

Britnie has also participated in an international service trip to Guatemala with another Organization, and she traveled to China to teach English for three months.
There has never been a year since 1999 when Britnie has not volunteered with Youthlinc. She has done student presentations, been part of our Benefit committees, and since 2006, she has served as a team leader  to Thailand, Kenya, Cambodia, Peru and is the current Team Leader for our Vietnam Team. This year she will be bringing her baby with her to Vietnam, introducing him to serve at even a younger age than she was involved!

Britnie with her new son, Atticus

Britnie's influence on the Youthlinc Service Year curriculum has been consistent and wide ranging. She has been a mentor for many new team leaders, has been instrumental in molding our committee structure, our microenterprise program, our Team Leader Binders. She has undertaken site visits in Southeast Asia, a critical part of assuring the productivity and safety of our teams.  Judy Zone, the Youthlinc Founder, readily admits that, outside of herself, there is only one person who has done more to shape Youthlinc: Britnie Powell.


Locally, Britnie has - through the course of her life - volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club, Cottonwood Hospital, a battered women's shelter, tutored ESL students, made meals for the homeless, and has been involved in Sub-4-Santa for many years. In 2005, as Britnie was finishing her undergraduate degree, she was the very first Youthlinc Utah Young Humanitarian.

Britnie currently teaches 6th grade at Salt Lake Center for Science Education. Her tremendous emphasis on service learning has been featured in local newspapers, and her principal reports that she is a model for other teachers at the school. Britnie has her M.Ed. and has taught other teachers to teach not only content, but service as part of their curricula. She is the Service Learning Club adviser at SLCSE for years, inspiring students of all ages to give back to their communities. Her students are involved in a range of service activities: supporting a local care center for the elderly, environmental projects, organic gardening, helping the humane society, and they have even helped Youthlinc put together hygiene kits!

So it is with deep gratitude and respect for a lifetime of accomplishments that we honor Britnie with this Award. She has inspired hundreds, even thousands, of people on a path of service, awareness, and engagement. It is impossible to estimate all those who will be touched by her enthusiasm, heart, intelligence and passion for helping others throughout the rest of what we know will be her long and productive life.

Meet the 2013 Young Humanitarian Award Finalists!

This year 95 amazing applicants submitted application for the 2013 Utah Young Humanitarian Award. Four finalists have been selected from the original group and each will be receiving a scholarship for their commitment to service in the Utah community.  The winner of the 2013 Utah Young Humanitarian Award will be announced at the Youthlinc Annual Benefit on May 11, 2013 at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center and will receive a $5,000 college scholarship.  The 3 runner ups will receive a $1,000 college scholarship.  

We are proud to introduce the 4 finalists! 

Ruth Arevalo 

Throughout Ruth's life she has had an insatiable wanderlust and passion to not just learn about but to truly know other cultures and people of the world. Despite an evolving home and family life, she has persevered in her studies and maintained a hunger to understand the world.  She jumped feet first into the field of culinary arts at a young age and allowed her love of food and passion of culture to take her through multiple countries and life changing experiences.  Her work and ambitions led her to return to Salt Lake in 2007 with the desire to work with many communities locally.  Ranging from simple volunteer work with the Red Cross and the 4th Street Clinic to working extensively within many refugee communities, Ruth has had her hand in many worthy causes right here in Utah.   Working with and mentoring youth, teaching English, working with Women of the World, educating on domestic and sexual violence, working with immigrant populations, working on climate justice, fundraising, and doing outreach are all tasks that Ruth currently takes on with excitement and determination. 

Sena Belgard

Sena is a student at the University of Utah studying Human Development and Family Studies with a minor in Leadership Studies. She holds multiple student leader positions in the Bennion Center, is a service-learning scholar and a member of the scholar’s leadership team. Sena is a program director for the Social Justice Gardens where she teaches underprivileged students and their parents how to grow fresh food in their community.  Sena’s service goals are to impact her community by continuing to serve the families who garden at the Social Justice Gardens, finish the service-learning scholars designation with her degree and continue to serve and make an impact in others lives.

Megan Dolle

Megan is currently a student at the University of Utah pursuing a double major in Spanish and International Studies. She is a student at the Honors College and is a part of the Bennion Center Community Engaged Learning Certificate Program. One of Megan’s most fondest service activities was her trip to Yanamono, Peru with Youthlinc in 2012. She taught lessons on public health, built bridges, painted classrooms, taught English and aided in micro-finance and vocational activities.  She will be visiting Yanamono again in 2013 with Youthlinc as a Cultural Committee Mentor. Megan has also served with the Real Life Salt Lake City (RLSLC) mentoring program for teenage refugees for the past two years. This year, she serves as the Youthlinc Local Service Intern and has been able to develop meaningful friendships with both refugees and volunteers at RLSLC.  In addition, Megan has been involved with and held leadership positions in a variety of service clubs and organizations including Salt Lake County Youth Government, ONE.org, Good in the Hood, Salt Lake City Rotaract, ASUU Community Service, and more. Megan strives to set an example for her peers and inspire them to make a difference in their community. She has learned the value of meaningful, dedicated service to communities and the profound life-changing effects it provokes. Megan has discovered what it takes to be a true humanitarian and will continue pursuing her passion for service. 

Jessie DuPre 


Jessie is a second year student at the University of Utah studying Psychology and Human Biology in the Honors Program.  This year, she has worked as a Sustainability Ambassador at the Office of Sustainability on campus and currently works with the youth at Red Butte Garden teaching kids' science classes.  Jessie remains involved on campus as she pursues and assists with research in the Psychology Department in a Health Psych and Developmental Psych lab.  She has focused her service efforts on engaging others in service at her position as the Bennion Center Service Corps Chair, and assists in a special education classroom at Bryant Middle School where she has fallen in love with her students.  

Our Youthlinc Teams, and the projects keeping them busy

What are our Youthlinc Teams are up to?

There is never a dull moment in Youthlinc Land!  Currently, our 2013 Teams are incredibly busy preparing for their lessons, planning cultural activities, collecting donations, and gearing up for their team fundraisers.  Below are some of the projects they'll be working on this summer:

GUATEMALA TEAM:
This year, the team will continue to help Ak’tenamit expand the campus to accommodate for the 100 new students arriving to the school. The team will be building bunk beds, painting dorms and helping expand the library. Additionally, the team will teach about environmental degradation and the importance of waste management. Before the team arrives, Guatemalans will collect trash, which will be stuffed into old plastic bottles (known as ecological bricks), which will then be used to create the infrastructure for several benches that will be used around the Ak'tenamit campus.

Due to the poor soil in the area, the folks at Ak'tenamit do not grow their own food and must import all their produce. In order to improve the self-sufficiency of Ak'tenamit, our 2013 team will help build agricultural micro-tunnels to allow for the production of food. Our Guatemala team will also be teaching microenterprise lessons and offering chickens to help a nearby village become more self-sufficient. Additionally, the team will teach 12th graders basic business lessons, and the skill of making candles.

PERU TEAM:
Our Peru Team will be returning to the small village of Yanamono II. They will complete the medical clinic that the 2011 and 2012 teams have worked on-- specifically, cement work, painting, install solar electricity and construct a bathroom. Also, during the rainy season, many folks lose access to schools, medical facilities or docks due to flooding. The team hopes to construct 2 bridges and cement sidewalks which will improve accessibility in the area, thus impacting the economy and community health. Additionally, access to clean water is a huge health issue in the region. The 2013 team hopes to orient the community to a new water filtration system purchased through a Rotary grants financed through Utah Rotary Clubs.

The 2013 team will follow up on microenterprise, animal exchange and soap co-op participants, as well as raising funds for additional small loans. There are currently 12 women or families that are diligently preparing for this project. This year's vocational training will consist of teaching sewing, and possibly making reusable menstrual pads and cloth diapers. Finally, the medical committee will offer more lessons on different diseases, nutrition, blood pressure, parasites, worms, menopause, cycle beads, STDs, prenatal care, and how to properly use cloth diapers.

THAILAND TEAM:
Our 2013 team looks forward to our new site, a small Moken community, and partnership with the Mercy Center Home and Koh Lao Moken village in Thailand. As sea nomads, the Moken people were particularly devastated after the 2004 tsunami when they lost their boats—and thus, their way of life. Moken villagers do not own land, have citizenship, or rights to travel or work. They have lived for generations without fresh water, electricity, toilets, or schools for their children.

Our team will be working to expand the Mercy Center, which is currently a home on the mainland that accommodates 26 Moken children that transport from the Koh Lao Island in order to go to Thai schools. The expansion will allow for more Moken children to have access to education. Also, the Mokens do not have prior knowledge of gardening or surviving on land. This year, our team will create a garden at the Mercy Center, and teach the children about how to grow food.

The Moken community could greatly benefit from a microenterprise livestock exchange program to improve the local economy. We hope to build a quail house for the community on the island. Also, one of the most important projects our team will work on is learning more about and preserving the history of this unique community. Finally, our 2013 team will also plan a number of cultural exchange activities, as well as develop lessons to teach the Moken community about sanitation, health care, waste management, and business.

CAMBODIA TEAM:
Our 2013 team will be partnering with Sustainable Cambodia at the Chomony Primary School, which is a new site for Youthlinc. Compared to many neighboring schools, this facility was in very poor condition. Our 2013 team will be installing water filtration systems, building a structure where students can study outdoors, creating a garden for the school to use for supplementary food, building a library, a volleyball court, and a fence surrounding the school, as well as repairing latrines.

Additionally, our team will help teach business lessons to students at Sustainable Cambodia, teach how to make candles, and raise funds for 2 families to receive cows. The team will put on health fairs, cultural activities, and conduct oral histories.

KENYA TEAM:
Our team will return to Kajuki, Kenya in 2013. Our 2013 will finish the renovation of Ntumbara nursery school, and the kitchen and dining hall. Also, the team will build a new vocational training center, which now is a three sided shack. We hope to donate sewing machines and offer sewing classes. We also hope to provide access to clean water by installing water and rain catchment systems.

The team is also raising funds for chickens for the livestock exchange, and for small business loans to members of the Catholic Women’s Association who were prepped in 2012, and will continue their preparation for receiving loans until the team arrives in 2013. The team will also do home visits and oral histories of those living in the area.
 

VIETNAM SERVICE AND FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEAMS:
We are thrilled to announce Youthlinc’s newest site, Song Cau. Song Cau is a small town nestled between Central Vietnam's highlands and the South China Sea. The villagers are still recovering from a devastating past. This area was highly affected by the war with America decades ago. Youthlinc will partner with Solidarities Jeunesses (SJ Vietnam) a French based NGO and UNESCO partner which has organized international youth service in Vietnam for a decade.

Due to long lasting economic instability, drought and poor soil conditions, and the destruction of the Vietnam war, people in this village struggle to meet their most basic needs. Youthlinc has the opportunity to enhance the quality of life in Song Cau for people who don't have the means to do it for themselves. Our team will be building simple brick and mortar homes for Song Cau's most poor, renovating two classrooms, which are in major disrepair.

Also, the people of Song Cau could greatly benefit from a microenterprise livestock exchange program to improve the local economy. We will be raising funds for cows that will be delivered to families. Finally, our team hopes to improve the health of the Song Cau community by teaching lessons about health, and outfitting a health clinic with a freezer to store vaccines, as well as providing b

Youthlinc creates lifetime humanitarians & we have the research to prove it

The Youthlinc mission is the creation of lifetime humanitarians. Our intense local and international Service Year requires students to serve locally, take a leadership role in planning international service. We use strategies of student leadership, mentoring, cooperative and project based learning, and hands on service to ensure we accomplish our mission.

Each year, we survey our incoming class of students (160 this year) on their service involvement. Depending on survey year, only 5-20% claim once-a-month service.

Every three years, we survey our alums. Depending on survey year, we have seen anywhere from 60-93% of our alumni report once-a-month service. We are in the middle of a survey right now. 75% of the almost 300 alums who have taken the survey so far report once-a-month service. Quite a jump in service involvement. Alums directly relate their service commitment to the Youthlinc Service Year.

In 13 years, and 1500 alums, Youthlinc students have contributed 115,000 hours of local service in Utah. As the program has grown to its current annual enrollment, 15,000 hours of service will be rendered by Youthlinc students annually.

This year we also asked our 2012 Service Year students and mentors to rate their progress on key program goals: increases in leadership ability, ability to work with a group to accomplish a goal, ability to successful undertake complex projects.

We also asked our mentors (8-10 adult professionals who work with each team all school year and travel with our groups) to rate Youthlinc in key areas.

The results of our most recent survey are below:

Mentor feedback:

Need a place to volunteer? Check out our 2012 Local Service Directory!

Have you seen the 2012 Local Service Directory?



Youthlinc exists to create life-time humanitarians and what better way to do that than spread the word about amazing service opportunities!?! Each year Youthlinc partners with the Utah State Office of Education to create the Local Service Directory.  We are also very grateful to the George & Dolores Eccles Foundation for their financial sponsorship of the magazine. The Local Service Directory is a listing of many service organizations in the state of Utah where Youthlinc participants have personally served and had such a great experience that they wanted to share it with other young humanitarians around the state.

You will find a lot in the 2012 Local Service Directory:

• Service sites where Youthlinc participants have had great experiences with hands-on service and mentoring in a positive, encouraging atmosphere.
• Quotes from our student participants reflecting on their service experience at each site.
  
• Easily accessible information about what the service site does and what a new volunteer can do at that site, as well as current contact information.
  
• Advise for teachers & club advisers on how to instill a lasting service ethic in young people.
• Information on last years winners of the Young Humanitarian Award - a $5,000.00 scholarship awarded to Utah's Young Humanitarian. (If you think this year it could be you,  check out the Young Humanitarian Award page of our website.)

This year there are more than 120 service sites including many more opportunities for students in the Wasatch Front, Park City and Tooele areas. We are always looking for new opportunities to add to this listing each year and build a larger service base for all of our young humanitarians in Utah.If you would like copies of the Local Service Directory or have any questions please contact our office at 801-467-4417 or office@youthlinc.org.