Dear friends,
Please see the attached PDF for the latest update from Youth Journalism International, which includes links to many stories as well as pictures and an insider's view of what YJI has been doing.
One piece of important news for those who live in the Connecticut or tri-state area is that YJI is teaming up with The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford to show the documentary "Linotype" on Thursday, July 26 at the museum's wonderful theater. It will be shown at 7:30 p.m., after a free ice cream social between 5 and 7 p.m. If everything goes according to plan, the grandfather of one of our former students, a former Linotype operator for The New York Times, will speak before the film. Admissions to the film are by donation to be split between YJI and the Twain House.
To keep up with what YJI is doing every day, you can check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/youthjournalism. Almost everything that our students do is also featured first on our busy blog at www.YJIBlog.org.
Generally, we are moving rapidly toward hiring our first paid staff member so we can begin to do much more for the hundreds of young people on our waiting list. Donations will have a direct impact on our ability to bring aboard more students, work with them and publish their work. They are, of course, greatly appreciated.
We are so grateful to all of you - and to GlobalGiving - for helping YJI grow and prosper. We are constantly frustrated that we can't do more, of course, but when we look back, we see so many helping hands who have made it possible for us to get this far. Thank you.
YJI Associate Editor Rachel Glogowski in China. Spring 2012.
For Earth Day today, Youth Journalism International showed both its global reach and its unique ability to mobilize a team of young reporters in many lands.
One week ago, we asked our students to go out and interview at least one person about their thoughts and plans for Earth Day and, if possible, to take a picture of whomever they spoke with. They had 48 hours to turn something in.
First to weigh was Tasman Anderson, a student in Australia who interviewed a 19-year-old woman who planned to hike the Mount Tamborine Mountains in Queensland so she could be among nature and perhaps take some photographs of glow worm caves.
Soon after, we heard from YJI reporters in Malaysia, India, the Netherlands, South Korea, Virginia, Pakistan, Uganda, Afghanistan, South Africa and more.
They painted a picture of a world where young people share a simple vision of a greener, cleaner planet – and one that would be better off if we could all just plant a tree.
It didn’t matter whether the young people were Muslims or Jews, Americans or Afghans, dark-skinned or light. What they had a common, a love for this Earth we share, was so much more important than what divides them.
We urge you to read the main story that wraps up the work they did last week – you can follow this link – as well as related stories about a Ugandan hip hop singer who wants to preserve the planet and the latest at the Bristol-based Environmental Learning Centers of Connecticut, one of the nonprofits that YJI partners with.
There is, as usual, much more that Youth Journalism International has been doing.
One of our young reporters in Brooklyn, Emma Bally, wrote a sterling piece on the reopening of a neighborhood flea market. Another, Sara Chatterjee, wrote about the unexpected death of her French college president, Richard Descoings. Robert Guthrie, in Scotland, wrote a column about Earth Hour, when lights across the world went out for a bit.
Before that, some of our Connecticut writers wrote about an exhibit on racism at Hartford’s Mark Twain House and others helped out at the Harriett Beecher Stowe House next door for a 24-hour reading of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which led to another story and a long video news report as well.
We are so proud of these eager, idealistic and wonderful young people. Their work is amazing. Their futures are so bright.
When we pause to consider it, we realize how much of what these students do today was made possible by those who have donated to Youth Journalism International over the past year. The financial help of so many friends has allowed us to pick up the pace, extend our reach and do more for our students on many, many levels. We are grateful beyond words for all that assistance.
The only down side to YJI is that our waiting list gets ever longer. We desperately need to bring on paid staff to cope with the growing backlog and expand the opportunities we provide to students in more than 40 countries on six continents. If you or anyone you know is in a position to help, we hope you will. We’d be happy to talk to anyone who wants more information.
To keep up with YJI’s work, you can read YJIBlog.org daily and check out our website at YouthJournalism.org. We’re also on Facebook at Facebook/youthjournalism and on Twitter at @yjinternational, @jackiemajerus and at @SteveCollinsYJI. You can also find us on Tumblr, Pinterest and other social media sites.
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There is always so much going on at Youth Journalism International that it's hard to stop, stand back and figure out what's worth passing along. The work that our students churn out is featured, day in and day out, on our blog at www.YJIblog.org. In the last couple of weeks, students have written about an Armenian journalist slain in Turkey, a congressional initiative in the United States to ensure the voices of young people are heard, Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Valentine's Day in Pakistan, the upcoming movie of Les Miserables, a cricket match in Dubai, the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, The Strokes' lates album and anti-bullying efforts in Connecticut. Whew... and that's not even everything!
If you have any questions about YJI, don't hesitate to ask. We are doing great stuff and we are so determined to make this organization grow so that it can do more. We remain heartsick that so many kids are knocking on our door whom we just can't handle without staff and resources that we don't yet possess.
But let me tell you about something that happened yesterday when we brought five YJI students to the office of U.S. Rep. John Larson of Connecticut who was leading a teleconference session between his youth cabinet and another youth panel recently created by a Missouri congressman. Our student team covered the session -- with live tweets, photos, video and, ultimately, two stories -- because it was something of real interest to young people. When it was all over, we asked Larson if he'd mind posing for a picture with our reporting squad. Like any good politician, he was more than willing, of course. Here they are:
From left, Youth Journalism International reporters Kiernan Majerus-Collins, Yelena Samofalova, Connecticut Congressman John Larson, Youth Journalism International reporters Ameni Mathlouthi, Erez Bittan and Mary Majerus-Collins on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Larson's Hartford office.
Links:
Youth Journalism International's student reporters and photographers are hard at work trying to show the world what's happening right now in Egypt, as people again take to the streets in a bid to finish the January 25 Revolution.
Yasser Alaa, a YJI photographer in Alexandria, Egypt, came back last night with three pictures and a terrifying account of braving rubber bullets and tear gas to get them. This isn't what we ask of our students -- keeping safe is most important, in fact -- but there was no stopping Yasser from being out there in the middle of the demonstration with his friends, neighbors and countrymen.
In Cairo, Lama Tawakkol weighed in with a lengthy, clear analysis of what's happened in Egypt since last winter's 18 day revolt bounced Hosni Mubarak from office. Her piece explains why the people are occupying Tahrir Square again and what it means. It's a wonderful story, from a girl who cares what happens.
We have other students in Egypt working on other stories, too, but they're not done yet.
While we aren't usually in the middle of a revolution, YJI students around the world are constantly surprising us with terrific tales, pictures, drawings and video. They are amazing.
In just the past week, we've had a story from Armenia about Apple co-founded Steve Wozniak's visit there, a story from Connecticut about National Novel Writing Month, a picture of a Detroit church, a stunning portrait of the Portland, Oregon Occup Portland camp just before its removal and much, much more.
You can keep up with all of it by checking YJI's blog regularly. It's at www.YJIblog.org.
Links:
First off, if you want to understand Youth Journalism International, please see this story in the August issue of Hartford magazine. It's a great overview of the organization and how it works.
But this report also aims at getting you to read some of the work that YJI's students are doing.
A decade ago, Youth Journalism International students expressed the same shock and horror that virtually everyone felt in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. They worried about what it would mean and called for a measured response to the assault.
Ten years later, a new generation of students is eyeing 9/11 with less innocent eyes, but with the same intelligence and compassion. Most barely remember the actual attack, but they certainly know what's happened in the aftermath.
We still have more pieces coming for our YJI 10th anniversary package on 9/11 -- when they're done, you'll find them on YJI's blog at www.YJIBlog.org -- but a lot of great stuff is already published.
Here are links to the stories included so far in this package:
As Muslim, 9/11 'Beginning Of All My Worries'
GRANVILLE, Ohio – Last week in my college political science class my professor passed out a sheet of paper with a question: “What comes to mind when you hear the word Arab?” By Jessica Elsayed, Senior Reporter
9/11 Survivor: 'I Thought I Was Going To Die'
DELRAY BEACH, Florida – Thomas Panevino was in his seventh grade Spanish class in Manhattan the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when he heard the booming sound of an approaching airplane. By Cresonia Hsieh, Reporter
Finally Finding Meaning In September 11
DELRAY BEACH, Florida – Last week, a lot of teachers tried to get me and my classmates to really think about and discuss the September 11 attacks, but they didn’t get very far. We were six years old then, and no one could remember much. By Cresonia Hsieh, Reporter
Mourning And Memory A Decade After 9/11
TORBAY, England – I was far too young to really remember it. The first memory I have of 9/11 is from Sept. 11, 2002, a year on, of the news reporting the one year anniversary and my parents explaining what happened on that horrible, painful day. By Adam Kelly, Junior Reporter
Muslims, Arabs Paid Unjust Price for 9/11
CAIRO, Egypt – Ten years ago, the whole world watched in horror – no, shock – as the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center collapsed to the ground, taking everyone inside with them. By Lama Tawakkol, Reporter
A New Tower Rises At Ground Zero
Photograph by Kiernan Majerus-Collins, Senior Reporter
September 11 Changed Everything
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – I still remember how I learned about 9/11. When my father came home, he immediately turned on the TV. On the screen, smoke was rising from two large buildings. My father phoned people, asking them if they’d heard. I knew it had to be serious. By Caroline Nelissen, Senior Reporter
YJI Students Followed 9/11 Developments
In the days and weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Youth Journalism International students kept churning out dispatches from around the world.
Living In Saudi Arabia And Honoring Sept. 11
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia – Though I was only in the second grade on Sept. 11, 2001, the catastrophes of that day remain the most significant events so far in my life. By Evan Pogue, Junior Reporter
Cartoon by Arooj Khalid, Junior Reporter
Not America’s Tragedy, But A World Tragedy
YEREVAN, Armenia – It was a sunny day and people were coming back from their workplaces. It was morning in New York, but already evening in Yerevan. By Narine Daneghyan, Reporter
Finding Solace In Springsteen After 9/11
Youth Journalism International writers trying to come to grips with the terror attacks a decade ago found some solace in an album released in 2002 by rocker Bruce Springsteen.
Still ‘Sad And Confused’ A Decade Later
FORT WORTH, Texas - Ten years ago, I was an 8-year-old fourth grader in a small elementary school in Warwick, Rhode Island. In small towns back east, everyone knows everyone and nothing exciting usually happens. By Mariah Pulver, Reporter
Coming Soon: YJI Looks Back On 9/11
Ten years ago, another generation of Youth Journalism International students got a note from an editor shortly after terrorists steered a second plane into the World Trade Center, begging them to write about their thoughts and reactions. A handful responded.
Links:
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