TYO Recommends: Week of August 26, 2012

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Flying Paper is the uplifting story of Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip on a quest to shatter the Guinness World Record for the most kites flown at once. The upcoming feature-length film is directed by Nitin Sawhney and Roger Hill and co-produced with a team of young filmmakers in Gaza.

One size does NOT fit all. Alana Muller, of FastTrac discusses the many types and unique needs of entrepreneurs in the United States. To best address these needs, they focus on female, women, and baby boomer entrepreneurs. TYO takes a similar approach, focusing on female, micro-entrepreneurs from underserved contexts.

After school, not an after thought! "It's exactly that sort of community engagement and that mix of fun and learning that makes these programs so successful. Great afterschool programs don't staple another couple of hours of class time onto the school day; they focus on the kinds of experiential learning activities that engage young people in their own education, connect lessons to the real world, and help students learn more during the regular school day. A number of studies show reading and mathematics gains among afterschool students, as well as behavior and attendance improvements."

Feminism vs. Feminism. The President of Egypt recently added 3 women to his advisory council. What are the prevailing myths on gender equality in the Middle East? This article attempts to de-mystify the similarities and differences between Western and Middle Eastern notions of gender equality. Are there more areas for collaboration then it seems?

Education a Barrier to Employment in Arab World? There is a mismatch between the supply and demand for skills and also between the aspirations for and accessibility of jobs. The first mismatch excludes young people, while the second makes those excluded young people frustrated and angry.