Global Kimeeza II participant Cecily David returned to her university in January and began working at once to raise awareness of the issues facing the youth of Uganda:

After returning from the Global Kimeeza II, I immediately began searching for ways to stay involved and connected with youth in Uganda. GYPA's SLAM AIDS campaign appealed to me because it seemed like a great fit for my campus community. UC Berkeley has three major poetry student groups and several AIDS interest organizations. SLAM AIDS seemed like a great opportunity to make use of talents and interests already on the campus and to create partnerships on the campus between groups with similar interests who otherwise do not collaborate. I began attending meetings with other organizations to meet people who would be interested in helping to organize the event. While a few individuals joined the effort through this, the most active people were students involved in Cal Slam, the slam poetry student group, and the African Music Ensemble, a very popular class in the music department. STAND: An Anti-Genocide Coalition, the president of which is a fellow GYPA alum, was also instrumental in providing people power to advertise, set up, and take down.

The night itself was powerful and unlike any other poetry event I've attended. I sought out diverse poetic styles when recruiting, but also decided to include musicians and multiple artistic forms of expression. The room was decorated with pictures from Uganda (provided by Jordan Steiner, president of STAND and Global Kimeeza I alum) and paintings from Ghana (my own). We had two DJs who provided an upbeat atmosphere before, during, and after the show, eight poets, and 3 musical acts. The African Music Ensemble opened the show with a short piece and closed the evening with the grand finale that included drums, rattles, a bell, singing, clapping, and dancing. The symbolism of the closing dance was about the empowerment of women and provided a very high energy close the evening.

Apart from the overall artistic quality and variety of the show, perhaps the biggest success was the attempt to make SLAM AIDS a sustainable effort on the UC Berkeley campus. While the focus of the evening remained on the poetry and music, STAND and individual participants announced their events, maintaining an orientation towards justice work. Through out the evening, I collected information for people interested in seeing SLAM AIDS again next semester. I received 16 names and am now helping to organize them so they can hit the ground running for next semester's SLAM AIDS.

Check out pictures from the event here.

Sunday Evening, August 6, 2006

On Thursday night, 13 Student Global Ambassadors (SGA) arrived to Uganda as part of the “Think Again! Uganda Immersion.” The SGAs come from all across the United States, are interested in print/television journalism, photography, marketing and public relations. They will spend the next two weeks learning from Ugandans and developing stories that show the positive and hopeful stories that Uganda has to share.

After exploring capital city of Uganda, Kampala, on Friday, we got down to business on Saturday, visiting Bead for Life (www.beadforlife.org), an extraordinary microfinance project that employs poor HIV positive mothers who often have few other life opportunities. We also learned about BFL's new project with Habitat for Humanity, which aims working with women to finance and pay for their own small houses outside of the slums in which they currently live.

Saturday afternoon the group went to Daughters of Charity, an orphanage and school in Kampala started by a compassionate Catholic Nun named Sister Ruth. We spoke with young adults who are successful professionals, and we also spoke with students who live at the home. The difficulties that these children face (HIV/AIDS, the Rwandan genocide, the conflict in Northern Uganda, etc.) truly embody the struggles of the region as a whole. However, it also shows the capacity for compassion and hope that the Ugandan people can show to one another.

Sunday brought us to the Jinja, and the source of the River Nile, for a day of Class 5 water rafting. After much flipping and swimming, we are back to Makerere University in Kampala to relax for the afternoon. However, we are very excited to get the week started.

More than 140 people attended SLAM AIDS in Lawrence, KS on April 28. The event raised $500 for ARV medication for the people of Namuwongo, Zone B. SLAM AIDS was put on by the University of Kansas student organization KU for Uganda
(www.ku.edu/~ku4u) and co-sponsored by the Jackpot, the Douglas County AIDS Project and the Global Youth Partnership for Africa. It featured local artists Michael Garfield, Farewell to Ashlyn, Emperor Stan, Death and Flowers and the Kinetiks.

At SLAM AIDS, KU for Uganda also released their Emirembe Now! benefit CD for the Hope Integrity Orphanage (www.hopeintegrity.org).

All profits from the CD, which features songs from the Killers, Faithless, Go! Team, Black Lab and seven other artists, will go to buy textbooks and school supplies for the children at the orphanage.

Special thanks to Jenn Farewell, Jessica Plummer, Terri Pohl, Nathan Mack, David Stevens and Caitlin Davies for helping to organize the event, to the Jackpot for hosting it, and to the artists who donated their time and talent to make SLAM AIDS a success.

Friends:

Hello from Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA)! We are back from the extraordinary successful Global Kimeeza: US/Uganda Youth Summit, where 24 Americans, 1 Canadian and 25 Ugandans came together to create the 2006 US/Uganda Youth Alliance Action Statement. In this extraordinary 10-day Summit, we created a tangible partnership for youth to participate in the vital activities necessary for peace, reconciliation and reintegration in the 20-year conflict in Northern Uganda.

As we prepare for the next newsletter, I wanted to keep you up to date on some very exciting opportunities coming up with GYPA. Below you will see some our innovative upcoming travel opportunities, but as always, we prefer traveling with students who have organized with us on their campus. We believe that creating informed policy discussions and awareness through art are the best ways to change our community's attitude towards Africa. We have mini-grants and event planning guides to help create these spaces on your campus. Do join us for one of our two semester initiatives...

ORGANIZE WITH GYPA

Africa: Whatever You Thought, Think Again

"Because the media focus so much on catastrophes within the African context, Africans may come across as being passive or helpless. In fact, when I visit African communities I meet people who are courageous, determined to improve their lives, and energetic in the face of all sorts of adversity."

- Peter Bell, President, CARE, at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School

Throughout the media, images abound of African failure. Genocide in Darfur, famine in Niger, tyranny in Zimbabwe, and oil and diamond exploitation are just a few. However, as GYPA participants know firsthand, the continent abounds with young leaders who are taking the lead with innovating community-based organization, market based solutions and more.

GYPA's new town hall series aims to bring students, professors and practitioners to tell these stories of success and optimism in Africa. Themes can be specific to community interest and have included 'Opportunities for Peace in Northern Uganda' (02/07, Puget Sound, WA), 'Eradicating Poverty Through Profits' (03/07, College Park, MD), 'Successes in Post Conflict Peace Building' (03/07 Washington DC).

Email Campus Affairs Director Michela

Students Saving Lives with AIDS Medication (SLAM AIDS)

GYPA's continuing event series is spreading awareness the local and international HIV/AIDS pandemic. All funds raised by this series go antiretroviral (ARV's) in Uganda, including the Kairos Medical Clinic in Namuwongo. This event, which in the last 12 months has visited Cambridge, New York, Philadelphia (x2), Washington (x2) has brought together some of the most talented up and coming slam poetry and hip hop talents, including Carlos Gomez, Brent Shuttleworth, Delica Andrews and others.

P.S. We are looking for a new National SLAM AIDS coordinator, so if organizing events and working with accomplished and dedicated hip-hop artists around the country is your thing, email a cover letter and resume to Josh.

TRAVEL WITH GYPA

Student Global Ambassadors (SGA) Uganda Immersion

JUNE 11 – 24, 2006

With the recent National Elections in February 2006, Uganda faces many challenges. What has Uganda done to fight and prevent HIV/AIDS and where is it going? What has been done to eliminate the 20 year conflict in Northern Uganda? And what role do Ugandans see for the international community in ending this conflict? Other questions abound about the role of Uganda in regional stability of the Great Lakes Region, as well as issues of refugees, internally displaced persons and orphans.

The Student Global Ambassadors program will seek out educational understanding, among other areas, while interacting with the people of Uganda. This includes interaction in the grassroots with cbos and ngos, people living in Namuowongo an urban slum community near Kampala, traveling to the Gulu District in Northern Uganda to meet with civil society leaders and explore the IDP camps and reintegration programs.

Application Deadline: March 15th, 2006. Email Josh for an application.

Student Global Ambassadors (SGA) THINK AGAIN! JOURNALISM AND MEDIA Uganda Immersion

AUGUST 3 – 20, 2006

The Journalism and Media program for undergraduate and graduate students will focus on describing the realities of Uganda, including showcasing the enormous courage and dedication of youth who, often without resources, have made life better in their communities. Participants will also meet with Ugandan media leaders, from press to public relations, to examine the role of Ugandan media. This GYPA program will allow young journalists to discover and document new trends emerging from youth leaders who are the future leadership of Uganda, and future world leaders.

Participants will be selected from a wide range of media capacities, editorial, news writing and reporting, photo-journalism, bloggers, video/documentarian, news anchors. All participants will have the opportunity to meet with Uganda based media outlets that include: television, print-journalism, internet/web-rings, public relations/media firms, radio and university press.

Application Deadline: March 15th. Email Josh for an applicatoin.

VOLUNTEER WITH GPYA

Community Fellows Program: Uganda

Summer 2006

GYPA is looking for dedicated volunteers to work in the Namuwongo community in Uganda this summer. Here are the positions we are looking to fill...

Helping Hands Medical Fellowship to provides medical education and treatment to those living with HIV/AIDS, and other diseases and illnesses. Provides counseling services to those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS, including education to pregnant women who are HIV-positive.

Access to Education (x2) to provide youth with yearly educational sponsorship, technology training, classroom beautification, reading programs, and sports and recreation (Namuwongo Youth Football and Basketball League).

Email Jeremy for more information.