Wednesday, September 12, 2007

GYC students back from Cambodia, ready to share their experiences

This past summer, Hawaii's Global Youth Center sent 3 local students to Cambodia for 4 weeks as part of the Center's Partnership for Youth Program.

Hannah Ross and Davin Aoyagi of Mid-Pacific Institute, Maria Walczuk of Hilo’s Connections Public Charter School, and 18 students from the mainland focused on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal as a case study, analyzing the role of journalism in covering an event of international importance and the role of media in the democratic process.

They also met with other students and worked on global peace, friendship, sister-state relationships, and sustainability for the future. They're now working on a video and power-point presentation of their experience...we'll provide a link as soon as those are online.

The Global Youth Center, a non-profit program at the UH-Manoa East-West Center, is a place for youth to meet and collaboratively work together to attain world peace, sustainability, and productivity for future generations. The Center functions at the East-West Center under the leadership of coordinator Dr. Teresita G. Bernales. The Cambodia trip was made possible with support from Stephanie Reford and Roland Lagareta, Ron and Manjit Reddick, Dr. Stephen Leahy and other anonymous donors.

Rep. John Mizuno presented certificates of appreciation to Mid-Pac students Ross and Aoyagi (Walczuk, the third student, wasn't able to attend) and leaders of the Global Youth Center this morning.

View the East-West Center's media release on the trip here.

Photos (from top): Rep. Mizuno joins leaders and students of the GYC ; Ross, Aoyagi and GYC coordinator Dr. Teresita G. Bernales stand with Rep. Mizuno after receiving their certificates; a snapshot of Angkor Wat, the famous temple in Angkor, Cambodia, which was built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city (photo coutesy of http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing some good news coming out of the legislature. Frankly, I'm getting so tired of hearing about negative things, especially the superferry. It's nice to know that there are people in Hawaii who are focusing on positive change, and that there are young kids who care about the future of the world.

Anonymous said...

This news is a refreshing report on what youth can do to learn about other peoples and culture and at the same time share their own culture and values. It is definitely a life-changing experience. We hope to hear more about how these youths will use what they had learned from this experience for a better world.