YALLA Winners

Last week, the Youth Action Local Leadership Alliance (YALLA), a youth-led civic engagement program for youth ages 12-21, was pleased to announce the three strongest initiatives addressing societal and community issues. The three initiatives are "Get to Know Palestine" by Rakan Dbabseh, "Kids' Park in Deir al-Hatab" by Wala'a Omar and "Campaign Against Junk Food" by Dima Nsasrh and Roula Khatatba.

On Wednesday, June 20 , the Youth Leadership Committee (YLC) met the three winners and congratulated them. Throughout the rest of the project the YLC members will serve as mentors for these young committed leaders. Each YLC member was assigned to an initiative in order to help monitor, follow and support the initiative on the ground.

Laila and Jamila, two YLC members, are assigned to work with Dima and Roula in the "Campaign Against Junk Food." Together, they discussed the prices of the advertising campaign and hosting meetings with parents at the local kindergarden in their village of Beit Furik. Shortly after, they will begin coordinating with a photographer to take photos for their posters so that they can begin working closely with the municipality.

Ahmad and Waleed, two other YLC members, are mentoring with Rakan Dbabseh and his initiative called, "Get to Know Palestine." The first step in Rakan's initiative is to buy a camera and start doing research on the information currently available about Palestinian cities. Additionally, he will begin coordinating with local universities and organizations in Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem.

Mohammed and Roula, also members of the YLC, are supporting Wala'a Omar and her "Kids' Park in Deir al-Hatab." In building her playground, Wala'a will begin buying cement, sand, and iron to build the perimeter of the park. Afterwards, she will start pricing the slides, swings, seesaws and plants she plans on including in her design.

At the end of the meeting, the YLC reminded the youth that at the end of the two month period, their initiative should be completed. In addition to moving forward with their project itself, the youth will start writing weekly reports, providing the YLC and TYO with thorough details and explanation regarding the progress of their initiatives.

-Mohammad and Roula

Mohammad and Roula are members of YALLA's YLC