It was a big weekend for GYPA in New York City and Washington D.C.

On Thursday, Jeremy Goldberg and Josh Goldstein, GYPA staff, presented the THINK AGAIN! project at the Global Kids Annual Conference entitled Media in a Globalized World. At the conference were over 500 energetic high school students from around the City who had applied to work with Global Kids on international issues. It was amazing to see a conscious effort by high schoolers to investigate the world they are going to inherit. Also, Josh spoke about GYPA's work with renowned Brooklyn hip hop artist Talib Kweli.

Click here to see Talib and his new GYPA t-shirt.

On Saturday, Global Kimeeza Alumni and organizing phenom Jaime Alvis organized an amazing event at Staccato Bar in Washington D.C. to benefit the 'Bending of the Spears' campaign in Northern Uganda.

Jaime's post is here. Here is a great picture of Kuku, a soulful Nigerian singer and up and coming force on the Washington D.C. music scene.

Media on Global Kimeeza: US/Uganda Youth Summit:
The Pomedero (CA)
Plymouth News (MI)
The San Diego Times (CA)
The North Texas Daily
The Prince George's Gazette (MD)
The American University Eagle (DC)
The Ann Arbor News (MI)
University of Wyoming Homepage (WY)
The Houston Chronicle (TX)
The Grinnell College Scarlet and Black (IA)
South Brunswick Post (NJ)
Ugandan National Television
ABC Radio- Uganda
The Akron Leader (OH)
The University of Akron Buchtelite (OH)
The Puget Sound Trail (OR)
The Rockville Gazette (MD)
Spelman Spotlight (GA)
The Spelman College Jaguar Print (GA)
Plymouth News (MI)

Other media on Global Youth Partnership for Africa:
The Worcestor Telegram (MA)

More than 100 people and more than $1000 raised for the children of Northern Uganda

On March 25, 2006 at the Staccatto Music Hall and Lounge, the campaign kickoff for the Bending the Spears Campaign was a huge success! With great bands performing their hearts out for a great cause -- people enjoyed drinks and the music, we raised $1030 for the Gomo Tong!

Special thanks to:
Jaime Alvis
Justin Trawick
Christina Halstead
Kaitlyn Crooks
Charmagne Campbell-Patton
Lisa Farhamy
Brandon Trapp
Aimee O.

And to the amazing artists who donated their time and inspiration:
Kuku
Justin Trawick Group
These United States
Roll Wit It All Stars
Rana Mansour
Laura Brino
Brian Lotter

The money raised will go too much needed supplies in Northern Uganda for the Gomo Tong program.  It is truly an amazing, and motivational to see the local support for the people of Northern Uganda.

Don't go to sleep on this, D.C.! Stay tuned to the GYPA website (www.gypafrica.org) for photos from the evening and for details on future events supporting the people of Northern Uganda!

Thank you, thank you, on behalf of our friends, the people and the children of Northern Uganda.

Anna Phillips believes in challenges.

Though barely 20, Phillips has already climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, sat in on a United Nations Tribunal on Rwandan genocide and was living on an Israeli kibbutz as an exchange student at the start of the Iraq War.....

Read more about Anna and her work with Girls Kick It! here

On Tuesday, March 21 at American University's Battelle Atrium, GYPA had the pleasure of having an engaging conversation with Randolph Catter, the Director of Children and Youth Programmes at Search for Common Ground about best practices in building youth organizations. This was the Youth on the Brink discussion in the Think Again! series. We had an intimate setting of a few participants, with a wide range of knowledge and background experience in the field. We had people from AU, KU, GMU, and AU's Peacebuilding and Development Institute. His wife joined us as well with some essential insights into effective group building. Randolph's main message was that organizations must not have a cookie cutter approach to these kinds of "interventions," but take ideas from the community itself and build on their cultural experience. He also, in workshop style, took us through a brainstorming session on what kind of organization we would form if we had $2 million in funding from the EU. We came up with some excellent ideas and continued bringing up relevant questions, like validity and funding. Randolph did not miss a beat in approaching this broad subject of youth involvement and leadership.

Stay tuned for more THINK AGAIN! events.

GYPA Founder Jeremy Goldberg (Archer Fellowship Program Alum '02) spoke at the University of Texas System Offices in Washington, DC on March 5, 2006. Jeremy met with current Archer Fellows attending Dr. John Daly's "Advocacy in Applied Settings" course.

Jeremy discussed the progression of his work in Africa which was conceived in 2002 and developed in Uganda by 2003 and the current opportunities for volunteer, internship and delegation travel to Africa through the Global Youth Partnership for Africa.

A number of the many impressive Archer Fellows expressed their interest to get involved in GYPA. "I truly appreciate and thank Dr. Daly for opening his classroom to a discussion about American Youth working with their counterparts in Africa," Jeremy said, "It is important that Archer Alumni and Archer Fellows continue to work together and continue to cultivate relationships between one another. The Archer program made a great impact on my life through the Washington, DC experience and I will continue to be a contact for current fellows."

The Bill Archer Fellowship Program (www.archercenter.org) was established by The University of Texas System in conjunction with Former U.S. Representative Bill Archer as a way to bring highly motivated and accomplished students to Washington, D.C. to participate in varied internships and take part in classes focusing on policy, economics, and persuasion.

The Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) will host a kickoff event for its Bending the Spears Campaign on March 25, 2006 at 9 PM at the Staccato Bar at 2006 18th Street, NW. This event is a fundraiser for GYPA’s Gomo Tong Project (literally defined in Acholi as Bending the Spears), which seeks to help support the reintegration of former child soldiers in Northern Uganda into their families and communities using sports, arts, music, and vocational training to recreate a sense of community and purpose in their lives. The cost is $10 at the door.

The event at Staccato Bar will feature live music from several local DC bands, Justin Trawick Group, KUKU, Roll Wit It All Stars, and more! It is a chance for community members to learn more about The Gomo Tong Project, join the campaign and to raise support and funds for the project, which will be inaugurated in Uganda in the summer of 2006.

Gomo tong is a traditional reconciliation process within Acholi culture; it involves bending the spear and turning it into a garden hoe to signify the end of violence and a return to working in the garden together, in the same community, side by side.

Jaime Alvis
804-317-4960 or Jaime.alvis@gmail.com

This event will no longer be held at GYPA's headquarters. The event will now take place at the Battelle Atrium at American University. See www.american.edu for a map of the campus. We do apologize for any inconvenience.

When an entire society is deeply affected by a conflict, children become the strongest measure of hope for a better world. Unfortunately, the fog of conflict and poverty often lead children towards atmospheres of hopelessness. What is to be done?

Attention: Students, practitioners and academics are invited to join us for an evening addressing the best practices and challenges of creating a sense of youth citizenship and community belonging in conflict situations.

"Youth on the Brink: The Crisis of Citizenship in Northern Uganda"

Successes and Challenges

Tuesday, March 21st, 2006, 5:30 to 7:00 PM

Battelle Atrium, American University
See www.american.edu for a map

Featuring L. Randolph Carter, Director of Children and Youth Programs at Search for Common Ground

THINK AGAIN! is a Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) town hall series aiming at bringing students, professors and practitioners together to challenge stereotypes on Africa and discuss successful stories that can be scaled to affect communities around the continent.

Space is limited. RSVP to jaime.alvis@gmail.com

GYPA volunteers coordinated a very successful fundraiser and beaded jewelry sale, appropriately held on Mardi Gras, February 28, 2006. GYPA has raised $1,165.00 in BeadforLife jewelry sales. The colorful beaded necklaces and bracelets are made by hand by Ugandan women entreprenuers. This party was possible through the partnership GYPA has with BeadforLife, which employs seven women in Zone B and sends a number of Zone B children to school. To host a bead party, visit Bead for Life.

For more information on volunteering for GYPA in Uganda or the US, visit the Global Youth Partnership for Africa.

Participant Anna Phillips in the San Diego Sun Times:
"Phillips hopes to work on creating sports programs for Ugandan girls as an educational effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Slowing the high rates of HIV infection in northern Uganda was one element of the action statement drafted by the summit participants."

Participant Ryan Schuette for the North Texas Daily:
"The 19th century author Joseph Conrad might have called this small corner of east Africa the 'heart of darkness.' I’m writing to dispel the darkness with the light of an experience, where the calamity of a 30-year rebel conflict collided with youth leadership, many of us from the United States and most from across Uganda."

Ouleye Ndoye, a junior international studies major at Spelman College, has been named the BMW Scholar for the Spelman Class of 2007.

Worcester, MA - Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Fourth-graders at the Flagg Street School closed their social studies books and set out to learn about a different culture through the lost art of letter writing. Last week, they mailed off letters to their new pen pals in Uganda.

Julie Belisle’s fourth-grade class sent letters and school supplies in a care package Thursday to fellow fourth-graders at the Kiwuliriza C.O.U. Day and Boarding Primary School in Kampala, Uganda.

read more »

We are excited to head back to Uganda this summer and present two exciting opportunities. Both applications are competitive, with acceptance on a rolling basis (you will receive a decision via email one week after submission), so we urge you to apply now. The final deadline for both programs is April 15th.

THINK AGAIN! Media and Journalism Immersion
August 3rd- August 20th
This program is a unique gathering of journalists, photographers, marketing and public relations students who will gather in Uganda to address the misconceptions about Africa in the media. The Immersion will facilitate discussion, promote the exchange of ideas and solutions, and give participants the opportunity to interact with key decision makers in Uganda about the challenges and creative solutions facing Uganda.

Student Global Ambassador (SGA): Uganda Immersion
June 11th- June 27th
This program will seek to understand the practical development challenges facing the people of Uganda, as well as take an in depth look at the creative and positive solutions being implemented. We will hear from CBOs and NGOs, people living in Namuwongo (an urban slum community near Kampala), and other officials and experts.

If you have any questions, please email Josh Goldstein at josh@gypafrica.org.