By Merritt Frey, Executive Director
Our first Youth Ambassador projects are up and running, and we couldn’t be more proud of what these great high school students are achieving!
Case in point: Vishal’s outreach project. (Each Mali Rising Youth Ambassador agrees to tackle three projects each year: one focused on outreach, one on fundraising, and one on service.) Vishal envisioned and designed his own project at at a local library and reached 103 people!
Vishal and his awesome library display!
To accomplish this feat, Vishal set up a great display in the teen section of his local neighborhood. For several Saturdays, he gave short, interactive presentations to groups at the library — sharing information about Mali and about Mali Rising.
Vishal did a great job of engaging his audience, with a spinning wheel that generated questions for the crowd. For example, he asked participants questions that would help them understand life in Mali. Vishal kids were surprised to learn that children in Mali played many of the same games they did! Small moments like this help us all understand how alike people are all around the world…a powerful realization for us all.
As a result of this project, the branch teen librarian has set up a meeting with Vishal and the head of teen services of the entire Salt Lake City Public Library system. Vishal is investigating expanding his project even farther!
