CIFAL Atlanta Contributing to Empower Youth from Southeast Asia

2 February -11 March 2017, Atlanta, USA - CIFAL Atlanta, in partnership with Kennesaw State University (KSU), hosted 22 young leaders from Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam who participated in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).

The YSEALI is a U.S. State Department programme that aims to build the leadership capabilities of youth in Southeast Asia and promote cross-border cooperation to solve regional and global challenges. In collaboration with the US State Department, CIFAL Atlanta and KSU are proud to contribute to strengthen leadership development and networking in Southeast Asia.

The 22 Students spent a four-week academic residency on the KSU campus, where they developed a deeper understanding of human and civil rights through the study of U.S. history - most notably the civil rights movement, as an example of how U.S. citizens have shaped U.S. history, government, and society both as individuals and groups.

Given that the overarching goal of the Initiative is to train the selected participants to become multifaceted community leaders capable of designing and implementing their own needs-based community service projects in their home communities, they also participated in community service projects, leadership and ethics training sessions and met and learned from numerous distinguished guest speakers.

During the fifth week, the participants had the opportunity to visit Miami, Florida to examine immigration issues and disability rights and Charleston, South Carolina to learn about the Gullah Geechee culture, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern U.S. from West Africa and continued in later generations by their descendants. They then traveled to Washington, DC to examine women’s rights and GLBTIQ issues.

Photo: Group photo of Participants of Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative