Forum in Jinja

[Arminda Lathrop]

Hello Marcin,
Thank you for your wonderful updates from the first African Youth Forum. 
This is quite an accomplishment for all of the organizations, student 
participants, and staff people involved.  Congratulations!

Given that International Human Rights Day is this coming Monday, December 
10th, this event aimed at giving students a voice and encouraging them to 
use it seems both timely and necessary.  Hopefully, the "magic spell" of 
debate, as you call it, will be lasting and impactful for everyone who was 
involved in this event.

It sounds like the regional African Youth Forum will be a good model for 
future IDEA regional forums in countries throughout the world.  I look 
forward to seeing photos and reports from this event, Marcin.

Thank you,
Arminda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <mzaleski at idebate.org>
To: <programdevelop-l at list.idebate.org>; <debate-l at list.idebate.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 9:14 AM
Subject: Forum in Jinja


> 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