Kafka International Youth Icons 2014

#	Name	Country	Success Story		Awards Received
1	Ursu Alina	Romania	Moldova being one of the countries of former Soviet Republic remains to be one of the poorest countries in Europe. Youth involvement in the economic sector is low, due to limited access to financial resources and an unstable business environment. Most young people believe they have no chance at a better paying job, or a secure future in the country. On December 14, 2012, the Vorniceni Village Council, Republic of Moldova, approved a decision concerning the destination of a land area for the purpose of building a square, constituting  one of the objectives of the Socio-Economic Development Strategy of Vorniceni village. Part of this land was planted with trees some 40 years ago but due to lack of appropriate care they are in a deplorable state but building this square would destroy them. My partners and I were committed to finding a solution for a community problem of global importance. The Decision of the Village Council to plant trees on the respective public plot was taken due to the mutual initiative of the local civil society and the "Terra-1530" NGO		NGO "Terra-1530" has won the 3rd place in the Bursary Awards section at the International Awards for Livable Communities (October 22-30, 2011, Seoul, Korea), presenting the projects implemented in Vorniceni village (headquarters). http://www.livcomawards.com/2011-awards/winners.htm
2	Hayk Sekoyan	Armenia	Theatre for Changes (T4C) the leading interactive theatre company in Armenia is a cultural NGO comprising of young enthusiastic artists committed to using interactive theatre as a tool for social change (www.facebook.com/t4carmenia). Founded in 2007 by Hayk Sekoyan, T4C has since made its name in Armenia for its acute sensitivity and perception, heightening social awareness and civic responsibility.  Over a 6-year period, T4C produced many different interactive theatre plays based on a variety of pressing social issues, performed on big stages and community centers all over the region.        In December 2012, T4C staged the interactive play "Lawsuit over Stolen Rainbow" with the support of UNFPA Armenia as part of the "16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence" 2012 Campaign in Armenia. The play is aimed at promoting national awareness on the issue and providing opportunities for the public and civil society to join efforts in combating gender-based violence. During 2013 the play toured the country reaching over 3,000 young people with a creative way of joining hands to end gender discrimination.    Interactive theatre methodology enables a sustained experience. We usually forget what was said in a speech, on the radio, or during a meeting. The play, however, is an event in the social life of the village, school, or the concerned community. What happens to the characters, and the emotions one feels while participating in an interactive show, strikes people in a unique way and is likely to make a long-lasting impact.		The project "Lawsuit over Stolen Rainbow" was one of three winners and six runners-up selected from among more than 250 submissions from 63 countries to "End Gender Discrimination Now!" contest organized by Gender at Work, the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID), BRIDGE, and the Facultad Latino Americana de Cienclas Sociales (FLASCO) Argentina. The partner groups said "coalition-building and creativity were the key to the winning strategies" and lauded the recipients of the six honorable mentions "for providing inspiring examples of the multiple pathways to challenge gender discrimination.
3	Farooq Ahmad	Pakistan	After much deliberation I got myself enrolled in the Department of Agriculture at Punjab University and have now selected plant pathology as a major because it was among those fields in agriculture which requires huge research work. Currently I am working on rice grain discoloration because this disease is spreading rapidly in the rice fields of Pakistan and is going be an epidemic soon. Very early in my career, I had the opportunity to have a research paper accepted for publication in an impact factor journal. Since then I have been writing articles about recent developments in agriculture and plant pathology in Pakistan. Also, I have been to several national events, conferences, project competitions and business competitions, and presented my innovative research ideas there. My main focus is on research and development in agriculture and how we can improve them. Recently I have been selected as an International Member of American Society for Microbiology. I want to motivate undergrad students of my country to research and play my part in making the level of research to more than average.		The youngest researcher at my institute. My research papers have been recently selected to publish in an impact factor journal. Member, representative and official ambassador of Several National and International Organizations and NGOs. Project officer of a well-known youth organization 'National Youth Empowerment, Uganda.  Have had several articles published in many scientific magazines.
4	Kushal	Nepal	It has been nine months since I have started working as a fellow for "Teach for Nepal". This fellowship requires working as a transformative teacher to ensure the academic as well as non-academic success of students. This is a very challenging fellowship as I have to groom students of a public school within two years. The situation is very pathetic since some students are still struggling to distinguish between A.B, C, and D even though they are in grade six or seven. Since I have stepped in, some significant changes have occurred in this school. One of them is students have started speaking in English in English class. Previously, students did not speak English during their English period. They were reluctant to try. But nine months down the line due to my encouraging efforts although they can't speak correct English, they have speak English confidently.  I have challenged the orthodox mindset of the previous English teachers; that it is impossible to teach English by using only English as a medium of instruction and that English is not our students' 'cup of tea'. I have become successful in instilling hope among my students that they can also be prolific English orators in future if they consistently keep on trying.   I feel very motivated these days and I have bigger hopes and dreams for my kids for the next year. This is a two year fellowship and I am on the completion of the first year.		Youth of the Year 2013. Best Speaker, Toast Master Club, Kathmandu. Gold Medalist, Undergraduate Program, Bachelor in Liberal arts. Purbanchal University, Kathmandu
5	Muhammad Kisirisa	Uganda	Also known as *Slum Ambassador*, I was raised from a poor Muslim polygamous family in Bwaise,  the most deprived slum area in the Kampala capital city. During child hood, I was discriminated, abused and neglected.  At the age of 10, I left home to live on my own, slept without a roof and blanket, I carried garbage and sold scrap to raise my school fees, school materials and other basic needs. When I graduated from high school in 2009, I formed "Action for Fundamental Change and Development" which is creating access to education opportunities to children and youth in the poorest areas of Kampala capital because 50% of the total population of 90,000 people of my slum community has never attained primary education. In June, 2011 we started a community based school initiated that provides formal education, recreational and fun activities to 200 orphans, vulnerable children and those living with HIV/AIDS between the ages of 3-14 years. My organization also runs Bwaise Youth Employment Centre which provides 800 local youth annually with hands-on vocational skills training in - Graphic Designing, Hair Dressing, Beauty and Cosmetology, Catering and Food Services, Electrical Installation, Tailoring and Fashion Design, Photo and Video Editing, Local Arts and Crafts etc. BYEC also provides soft skills on ("how to make it in a business world") including sessions on job readiness, career exploration, financial literacy and opportunities to growth in individual, social and community leadership. At the end of the training's, youth beneficiaries take a one month internship and after they receive startup capital inform of materials and cash. This project is supported with a grant of USD 87,000 from the US Embassy Kampala and was launched by the US Ambassador to Uganda, HE Scott H. DeLisi. I also had a chance to interact with US President Barrack Obama during the The Town Hall meeting with Young African Leaders on his visit to South Africa.	2013 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award- Conviction On 3rd October. 2012 Youth Action Net Global Fellowship Award. 2012 Common Wealth Youth Awards- Semi Finalist.
6	Dhananjay Karir Thakare	India	I started my own organization Sangharsha Yuva Abhiyan at the age of 14 with school friends. Firstly I focused on environment issues and started working on it. Initially I arranged awareness programs like rallies, street shows and workshops which found to be effective because of our small age. After this the decision was to work on field and hence we initiated a project "Vanrai" due to which thousands of trees are standing gracefully in our city and the ruined moorland is now a green zone of our town. With this project we started roof water harvestation straight from our houses and school. We also urged people from our town who respected our request. We didn't have any kind of financial support hence each and every programme had zero budget. Now I decided to work on the educational issue. Our area is considered backward in all aspects especially in education. We started collecting old books, notebooks, clothes, schoolbags etc. from public. After cleaning and fixing it, we distributed it amongst poor students. This programme is still running successfully. Our area was fastened tightly by malnutrition. We were seeing that children are dying because of lack of medicines and proper treatment. We organized health camps with support of local government. We got training from them for basic things which were used in camp to aware them about malnutrition and to prevent it. Presently our camps are every year open for students from whole state for 3 months. Our government noticed my work and recommended it for National Youth Award 2008-09 and I was selected by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. I was only one awardee from Maharashtra among 23 Indians and first Indian youth who got this award at the age of 18. After this I extended my projects on large scale with time. Continuing these projects I participated in various programmes on national and international level. I was Indian Youth Ambassador to China in 2010.  I was also nominated for Commonwealth Country Representative for Asia Region. For the welfare of youths I wrote a book a :National and International Schemes and Programs for Youth" which was published in 2nd Indian Student Parliament 2012 by Mr. Ajay Maken, the then Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. I was also selected for fellowship of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2012. In this month long programme, I studied on Buddhist Philosophy, Meditation and Mind Power, Tibetan Culture and also got chance to get teaching of HH the Dalai Lama on Nalanda Shiksha. For my organizational work I was nominated for International Work Life Balance Award, Italy 2012 and SAARC International Youth Award 2011. Recently my other book on youth welfare "YUVA YOJANA" has been published on the occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary of great noble son of India Swami Vivekananda. We have now started the initiative Vote for the Right Candidate considering upcoming elections. All my projects and initiatives are still running with very low budget and without any kind of financial support.		1. National Youth Award 2008-09, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India 2. Vidarbha Gourav Puraskar 2009, Maharashtra 3. Suryodaya Youth Award 2014, Suryodaya Foundation, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
7	Aslam Kanwan	Pakistan	Aslam Kanwan hails from district Jhang of Punjab. Seeing his district's condition he decided to work for all areas of Pakistan which are considered backward areas. He raised his voice on various Platforms. His Desire of working for betterment of Pakistan lead him to make an organization ARFA-Pakistan .Aslam Kanwan also worked in many organizations including Youth Parliament of Pakistan, Youth Senate of Pakistan, Bargad Organization for Youth Development. He is also working as Enterprise Development Master Trainer in FCG Human Capital and Smile Pakistan Consultants.		Attended many National and International Conferences and trainings and received many certificates.
8	Venkateswarlu Geriti	India	The journey from a city level student leader to leading an International organization: Venkatesh Geriti is an Indian Young liberal student activist. He played a key role in several organizations for Youth empowerment, Educational Reforms, political Reforms, Fighting for Former's etc. Now He works as a Charter Team member of Students For Liberty International. He comes from a family of farmers in South Indian village. At the Age of 16 he entered in student politics by joining RSS. He was soon promoted as Regional coordinator and State core team member of Loksatta party's student wing "Vidhyarthisatta". He succeeded in educating the students in reforms, Politics and liberty, educational standards. He also serves as Core team members of Loksatta party Youth wing "YUVASATTA". He participated in many national level seminars and workshops. He co-founded Youth for better India (YBI) a youth organization for reforming India towards developed country. As co-founder of YBI, he reached 1 lac students through organized Anti-corruption walks like Dandhi March 2nd, globally organized anti-corruption walk in more than 60 cities for strong anti-corruption institution in India. Recently India's parliament passed Jan Lokpall Bill (Anti-corruption institution). This is a very huge success along with India against corruption (IAC). Now he builds a strong student movement for Liberty, peace and prosperity in South India. He founded Students for liberty South India in last year and now started nearly 10-15 campus clubs with over 250 Students leaders.
9	Zakaria El Hamel	Morocco	Zakaria Hamel, from the kingdom of Morocco, has been awarded the 2013 Arab Youth Excellence Award in the field of human rights. Zakaria Hamel was selected besides other distinguished young men and women in the Arab World. 200 young participants competed from different Arab countries on this award. He is the president and founder of Youth for Peace Organization; he is an activist in more than 50 countries. Zakaria Hamel received many Arabic and international awards, namely the Human rights award at the UN palace in Geneva and the medal for Peace and human rights ambassador.		Human Rights Award, Geneva. 2013 Arab Youth Excellence Award in the field of human rights
10	Syaid Ahmad Fahri	Indonesia	My purpose and aspiration has always been for my talent to go international which is writing. I am working on many of titles. I am also a Chef, Designer, and Presenter. By entering the "2013 UNESCO International Goi Peace Foundation Essay Award" I received many job offers as a writer. Now I am a successful as writer (in my state) and Internationally as well. My work as a Designer, Presenter and Chef has also given me bountiful success.	Finalist at 2013 International Goi Peace Foundation
11	Nindya Miesye Agita Pasaribu	Indonesia	I am currently enrolled at the Faculty of Law University of Universitas Indonesia and Mass Communication Studies at Universitas Terbuka (Indonesia Open University) and also doing my internship as a Media Legal Assistant at Indonesia Press Council. For me, learning is a never ending process related to the importance of developing human resources in order to contribute to the development of nations; therefore I am really interested to join youth programs both in and outside my country.  I currently am one of the external communications and partnership division members of Indonesian Future Leaders. In addition, I was a part of the Young On Top Campus Ambassador; this is a mentorship program for Indonesian youth. I take the responsibility to circulate opportunities to those who need it, that's why I also writing about youth development issues and information in daily newspapers in Indonesia, Kompas Muda and Halaman Move Media Indonesia. Earlier in 2011, I created a media portal on twitter specifically intended to inform about the activities and events to support the academic experience of youth. Tweet kuliah is non-profit online platform that aims to connect Indonesian youth to opportunities worldwide. Today, @tweetkuliah (http://twitter.com/tweetkuliah) has already reached about 10,000+ followers on Twitter. This year, I plan on creating @tweetkuliah's application, which can be downloaded for free on tablet computers and smartphones. The result of my concern for the youth and the media took me the UNESCO Youth Desk Workshop 'Engage, Ensure, Encourage, Empower' in Jakarta as an invited guest. In 2012, I was selected as the first and only one delegate from Indonesia to attend The Young Women's International Leadership Summit in Munich, German and also a delegate from Indonesia to attend The International Youth Forum 2012 in New Delhi, India and Youth Representative from Indonesia for Global Youth Forum in Bali, Indonesia. During my second year of university, I realized a long-held aspiration to study abroad and after winning exchange placements with the ASEAN Students Visit India program and a bilateral agreement with my country, I visited Arya University in Jaipur and IIT Delhi in New Delhi. Although stepping out of one's comfort zone can be a challenging, I found the opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions with international students both invaluable and thought provoking. After that programme, In 2013, as the founder of @tweetkuliah, I have been selected as Official delegate of Indonesia Youth Forum and to participate as Indonesia delegation in Asia Pacific Week-Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Continuing the success story of @tweetkuliah, it has successfully elected to represents Indonesia's social movement project in Global Youth Meet 2014 in Manipur, India.		Representing @tweetkuliah at Global Youth Meet 2014 in Manipur, India. Official delegate of Indonesia Youth Forum and to participate as Indonesia delegation in Asia Pacific Week-Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Selected as the first and only one delegate from Indonesia to attend The Young Women's International Leadership Summit in Munich, German and also a delegate from Indonesia to attend The International Youth Forum 2012 in New Delhi, India and Youth Representative from Indonesia for Global Youth Forum in Bali, Indonesia.
12	Derry Fahrizal Ulum	Indonesia	While academics have been a high priority for me, I am a firm believer in a total education, both inside and outside the classroom. Through my experiences as a student leader at OSIS or intra-school student organization, I have had a very different kind of education. I have planned programs from start to finish, coordinated groups of diverse and opinionated people towards a common vision, and learned what it means to work towards a common end; from an idea to a practical end. My first real success was when I became a project officer of World Record-breaking with 460 wall-magazines a day. With strong pledge classes, a commitment to ideals, new programs and initiatives for the young community, and a real sense of ownership to something bigger then us, my experience in has been an irreplaceable one.		1. The Best Talents Scouting of Faculty of Social and Political Science University of Indonesia 2. The Best Dedicated Students of The Year 3. The Most Outstanding Staff of Al-Hikmah Research Center of Faculty of Social and Political Science University of Indonesia 4. The Highest GPA of Social Welfare Studies, Faculty of Social and Political Science University of Indonesia
13	Aditya Kant	India	I was born in Feb. 1998 in Bihar, and I have spectrum of experiences in my 16 year old life, ranging from being recognized as Star Artist at both national and international platforms to being one of the youngest novelists in the world having readers and followers across more than 150 nations. In the year 2011, I was honored International Rank 1 in Smart Kid General Knowledge Olympiad certified by SOF, eventually, I was one of those top 1% students from India selected for attending Inspire Internship Science Camp sponsored by Government of India, as well as an NTSAE Scholar, one of the most prestigious talent hunt examination in India; thus proving my academic abilities and excellence outside the classroom boundaries. Undoubtedly, my schooling gave me the opportunity to stand but it is the artist inside that gave me an opportunity to see who I really am. I was just an 8-year old boy when I started performing classical music on stages and was featured on a national television channel Doordarshan. In the year 2006, I completed Junior Diploma, and then in the year 2009 I completed Senior Diploma from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad. Apart from developing myself in the field of music I have a deep interest in writing poems, short stories and novels. The word which has been the foundation in my evolution is balance. In the year 2014 I became a part of prestigious Penguin Books under Partridge Publisher. I was now one of the youngest published authors in the world authoring Shriek: Riddles of the Infinite Hollow. Through the columns of Hindustan Media I announced to donate all the money I will be making for the education of poor children in Bihar. Soon, I was assigned as an assistant writer under Mrs. Poonam to write English language books for Indian students. My short stories Proletariat published by Kindle and Landscape picked by Sidhhi Publication have been the most successful one. In the year 2011-12, I was awarded 1st position in All India Make a Greeting Card for the Defense Forces Drawing Competition. Eventually, in the year 2013-14 I was categorized Star Artist- the highest award given internationally by Picasso Art Contest consecutively 3 times in a row.		Smart Kid G.K. Olympiad- International Rank 1, Among top 1% students from India selected for attending Inspire Internship Science Camp, NTSAE Scholar, One of the youngest published authors in the world authoring the novel ‘Shriek€¦Riddles of the Infinite Hollow',  Author of 'proletariat' and 'landscape', Best Literary Work of the Year, D.A.V. Public School, B.S.E.B. Colony 1st position in All India Make a Greeting Card for the Defense Force Drawing Competition, Categorized Star Artist by Picasso Art Contest consecutively 3 times in a row, Volunteer(educator) at Buddha Mission of India for teaching deprived children, Team member under UNEP Youth Regional Ambassador in India by Tuza Eco Generation.
14	Ikpegbu Tochukwu	Nigeria	He is the founder of League of Young Entrepreneurs of Abia state. A non-governmental organization founded in 2009. Set up out of our desire to be part of the solution to the youth unemployment prevalent in our society today, with the vision to create an average of 200 jobs with an expected 10% increase per annum .Having been trained on Entrepreneurship management and business development. He had successful mentored over 50 young farmers within the ages of 18-35 years in pork production and several others in various business endeavors. This he achieved through business plan development financial intelligence and operations management business strategy and market intelligence for SMEs in south eastern Nigeria.		1. Honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Future Awards Africa and inducted by his Excellency, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Good luck Ebele Jonathan.(GCFR,BNER,GCON) 2. August 2012 Entrepreneur of the year-Agriculture Future Awards. 3. September 2010 Harambe Nigeria Agribiz Entrepreneur of the year 2010 4. 2010-2011 Harambe Nigeria Ambassadors.
15	Mani	India	He is a Science trainer, Author, Toy Designer, Journalist and Social worker. In his young age he made a big revolution in demonstrating science experiments with the help of household objects. He discovered many new science experiments, designed many simple toys, designed Posters (Astronomy Poster which had received the certificate from UNWAE, Netherlands in the year of 2009. Some of his science ideas reached thousands of rural children. He also gave science training to 100s of different NGOs. As a social worker he has won two awards; one for his science innovations in the year 2008, and another award is for the best science content developer award received from Dr. Vasanthi Devi (Ex-Vice chancellor of Manonmaniyam University) in the year 2009 from AID INDIA (NGO), which is a quality education initiative organization. He also participated in National level workshop for the international astronomy year and conducted an Astronomy campaign "Big Bang theory" in over 100 rural villages in the year of 2009. He has appeared in science talk shows and interviews for 2 leading Tamil channels (Sun TV & Kalaignar TV). Recently one of his simple science toy demonstrations had been published in a Kids Magazine named Chutti Vikatan and one of his science toy demonstrations about solar eclipse had been published in the famous Asian science website.		1.Best Fundraiser in Social work in Primary School  2.Best Science Resource Person By Tamilnadu SSA and UNICEF- 2006 3.Best Innovation Award in AID-INDIA-2008 4.Best Content in Science for  by AID-INDIA -2009 5.Best Contribution Children Astronomy Project by UNAWE -2009 6.Best Short film award best Urban poor Coverage award- Video Volunteers.org 7.Best Citizen Journalist Award in CNN IBN News Channel -2011