On December 8th-12th, 2022, AFS Egypt hosted 35 participants from 14 African countries and the USA for a changemaker workshop, all participants were KL-YES Alumni. The five days’ workshop was held in Egypt on an intensive changemaking curriculum aiming to provide KL-YES alumni youth with the knowledge and tools needed to build a better future. The curriculum included projects management skills, presentation skills, theories about changemaking, steps of identifies needs and assets, how to generate effect and fundraising. The workshop was organized, implemented and facilitated by AFS Egypt’s Alumni. The workshop aimed to build connections between alumni of different communities, discuss changemaking in African context, network, and brainstorm with each other to develop projects that improve their communities. The workshop focused on the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), participants discussed how to work towards achieving those goals through different projects that they were able to work on throughout the workshop.
The participants shared different problems and issues facing their communities and helped on another think of different ways to conquer those issues. Exchanging ideas, inspirations and perspectives on different topics gave the participants a broader vision on how to build a better future. Participants choose an issue from their community and the correspondent SDG to work on, prepared presentations explaining their projects and their plan to make this project sustainable. The projects were presented to AFS Egypt’s volunteers and staff, which gave the participants the opportunity to discuss and improve their projects. During the workshop, participants, also, enjoyed the amazing sights of Cairo. The organizing team and volunteers planned cultural visits to the Pyramids of Giza, the NMEC (National Museum of Egyptian Civilizations). Participants also visited different placed in old and new Cairo. At the end of their stay, all participants had their projects ready to go back to their communities and start implementing them and help build a better future. One of the participants declared that” Listening to YES alumni from across Africa and the USA, all determined to build a better future, inspired me and reminded me that in unity, we find solution”.
