VIA Programs Updates
Issue #4 - September 2016
VIA Summer 2016 by the Numbers
Indonesia Youth Leadership Program on CNN.com
Philadelphia (CNN) Inside the group's sacred circle, a young Muslim visitor adjusts her salmon pink hijab, clears her throat and asks the question that could shatter trust:
"Do you think all Muslims are terrorists?"
It is a prevailing belief in her native Indonesia, she says, that Americans despise Islam. The question is directed at 19-year-old Robbie Hayes, whose father was killed in the September 11 attacks on America.
"Not at all," Hayes answers. "I have many friends who are Muslims. The people who were involved in killing my father were extreme radicals. Any group can have radicals who believe they are the only ones who are right. That's when it becomes dangerous."
Participant Voices
Check out how VIA participants are engaging with communities.
- This year's cohort of fellows started sharing their experiences on a dedicated Medium.com publication.
- Incoming fellow Tiffany Teng writes in Frontier Myanmar about VIA's long-term partner school for Burmese migrants in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
American Language & Culture Program Celebrates 40th Year!
"The fact that I met so many people from different countries and thus different backgrounds (both Asian participants and American people) really helped me to learn more about American culture and to be more open-minded. In addition, the fact that the program courses let us do a research about a topic we are interested about contributed a lot to my interests for my future research." - Makoto Ito, ALC 2016 Participant
Preparing Tomorrow's Medical Practitioners for Cross-Cultural Care
"Design-thinking is one of the classes I have really looked forward to before I joined the MED program. The workshop had a good form for learning and I loved it. We learned from experiences rather than just being a listener. It was a wonderful experience for me." - Joy Ye, MED 2016 Participant
Global Leadership & Engagement Program Pilots Asia-to-Asia Exchange in Thailand
Social Innovation Programs Strengthen VIA Network
Here's a short video the students made to capture the hearts and hopes of the beautiful people of Rikuzen Takata:
Summer Seasonal Staff
This summer, several of VIA’s summer programs in Asia were led by PhD students. Check out some interviews and profiles of our staff scholars.
Izzy Rhoads
Samantha White
Stanford-Duke Student Athlete Environmental Leadership Program Co-Director and PhD candidate at Rutgers.
Seigi Karasaki
American Youth Leadership China Program Assistant Director, VIA China 2012 Fellow, and PhD candidate at UC Berkeley.
SIT Student Directs GLE in Silicon Valley
Taking into account the education systems and cultural differences our students were coming from, creative expression became a key component in inspiring exploration of inner voice and emotional processing/reflection; something our participants from East Asia rarely get an opportunity to engage with. Making our participants aware of their conscious choice to come to GLE empowered them with the ownership over their own growth and how they wanted to change themselves for the future. We were all in this together, and were responsible for our outcome, and how we wanted to nurture this experience together. This made us grow closer as a family. Engaging with oneself and others was the first step towards developing leadership.
Video by American Youth Leadership Program Alum
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