Forum in Jinja

[mzaleski at idebate.org]

Hi All,
The Forum in Jinja is over and the DTD Project is approaching its end.
We have achieved a lot- 2 trainings conducted by IDEA in Rwanda and Uganda, 3 study visits (NL, Lithuania, Czech Republic), workshops in schools in Rwanda and Uganda and public debates across two countries... and finally the marquee event- the Forum in Jinja.
We have a lot of reasons to be proud of our achievement over the last week- but perhaps, the greatest cause for satisfaction is the excitement and dedication of young people we have experienced. Debate seems to have a magic spell- giving a chance to young people to express their views- of which they take full advantage- and within days turn in advocates. 
We heard a lot of moving and powerful speeches during the Forum: young people speaking openly about HIV/AIDS, expressing their concerns about lack of job opportunities and conflicts -past and present. But we also heard young people speak proudly about their traditions, love for their homelands and hope for the future.
The Forum has been a wonderful experience and it would have not been possible without a great Forum team. I would first of all like to thank CRY for being wonderful hosts and organizers. I would also like to thank trainers from CRY,  PAJER and AJPRODHO - a great team of dedicated young people who have worked tiressly to  make each session a success. 
I would like to thank Veronika for training and being the tournament director. I would like to thank Sanne for helping with logistics and administrative tasks.
Finally I would like to thank all of you who emailed me during our stay in Uganda with best wishes of good luck and support.
I will be putting pictures from the Forum on www.idebate.org/dtd and we will be soon sending you a detailed report on the Forum.
All the best
Marcin
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device