The Vivekananda Child Development Club was launched by a group of young people in September 1999 to help further the development of the Nasivanthuvu community in Eastern Sri Lanka. Recently affected by armed conflict, the region suffered from poor educational opportunities, health hazards and many other problems. There are 26 members of the club and another 85 children in small groups.

Working with the help of the Eastern Self-Reliant Community Awakening Organization, the Vivekananda Child Development Club organized a number of community workshops, which led to the expansion and upgrading of the local primary school. Funds were secured from Save the Children Norway and labor was donated by parents of the students who, within a period of ten months, expanded the school from 6^th to 9^th grade. In October 2000, the building was officially presented to the Eastern Province Education Department and the Director of Education immediately allocated three more teachers, which has allowed the school to teach up until the 10^th grade now.

Over 420 additional students have now been served by the school.

The community then built a Clubhouse. They approached the Divisional Secretary of Land through their Gramasevaka Officer and were donated a piece of land with a rubble foundation worth to Rs.35, 000. The construction of this clubhouse is nearing completion and the opening ceremony will be held next month.

I Love You The Way You Are
Project Leader: Anna Kirey, Age 20
KYRGYZSTAN

"I never expected to receive this award! It seemed so natural to want to make my friends happy. Now I feel that I have to go on. Rewards are there to encourage growth and action. I believe that if you can make at least one person change their discriminative opinion, it is a world-changing event. If you strongly believe that something should change, start acting NOW. Unfortunately, the general attitude in society is that homosexuality is either a crime or a disease or some kind of perversion. Now we can prove to people that it is normal and we can change the way people think. Every human being has the right to be happy despite their religion, sexual orientation, gender or race."

Just like its name, this project came from the heart. My best friend is gay and I was fed up of people telling me not to hug him because of his sexual orientation. Being gay in Kyrgyzstan means subjecting yourself to social rejection. My other friend's parents said they would no longer sit with him at the same dinner table because they found some gay photographs of his. I feel obliged to change this attitude; many young lives are ruined by stereotypes.

Kyrgyzstan is a very traditional country. Islamic culture prohibits many things that seem natural to Europeans. It is not acceptable, for example, for Asian girls to wear short skirts, have sex before marriage or even express affection in public. We had to be very careful with touching the delicate issue of sex. The main goal of the project called was to inform the public about issues related to nontraditional sexual orientation and promote tolerance.

First, we thought that we would limit our activities to watching movies related to the problems of homosexuals and hold discussions afterwards. It turned out that the majority of the students didn't know a thing about existing gay and lesbian problems simply because the issues seem as distant from Kyrgyzstan as AIDS (there are only 7 people with HIV here). The first survey indicated that 21 out of 35 people had a bias against homosexuals, although they could not identify the reason. After 3 months of the project, 30 first year students attended the opening of a gay club; before that would never have happened. It was the first time gays from the university could express themselves freely in front of their peers. Talking about problems truly does bring about understanding.

(A library collection on gay/lesbian/bisexual issues was recently presented to Anna's project by the Open Society Institute on gay/lesbian/bisexual issues for distribution in Kyrgyzstan libraries. Currently, a series of lectures is being planned to continue raising awareness.)

The Light Project Project Leader: Komi Ekpé (Pierre) Ahose, age 26 TOGO "What a pleasure to receive this award! It is the best thing to happen to me with the Light Project. I think we do not need to be very rich before we can give something back to society. I therefore appeal on young people all over the world to volunteer more and make our world a beautiful

The Light Project's goal is to fight ignorance. It was started in October 2000 to educate the local population on public and community health issues, including STDs and malaria, and to erase false traditional beliefs. A team of volunteers working with the Togolese Young Scientist's Association has led this effort.

Activities of this group have included campaigns in 17 neighboring villages, reaching over 7000 people with community workshops, medical visits and the distribution of medical supplies. Secondary school courses on HIV/AIDS, and project development are also offered, and student meetings are held on topics ranging from AIDS, Sexual and Reproductive Health to Environmental Issues and Consumer Rights. Currently, 24 classes in five different schools implement the courses. There are 26 volunteers teaching these programs and the Association has now established partnerships with the local branches of AIESEC, UNESCO and Medical & Charity Aide.

Other activities engage young people in urban settings with their peers in rural settings in joint economic-development projects, including community gardening projects in 4 nearby villages and a refuse collection business in Lomé. The goal in the near future is have sexual health included in the official program of all secondary schools in Togo; for this purpose data is being collected from countries where such programs are being successfully implemented.

Youth Workshop for Researching and Developing Youth Art Expression
Project Leader: Marijan Kocković, age 24
CROATIA

This reward is something incredible and I am so glad that all members of Orlando organization dedicated their work for something bigger and someone recognizes this so far away. Youth work is breaking all known borders and this reward will be a really positive impact for all of those who felt that their work is not recognized and appreciated. I was screaming for 5 minutes (...) This reward goes to all members of Orlando. Only action can change things!

Orlando Youth Association - Dubrovnik was established in May 1999 to help awaken the spirit of young people in a country recovering from conflict. The organization took over space in a nearby old hospital and, when threatened with being shut down by local politicians, quickly helped to break down negative youth stereotyping by involving 80 people in cleaning and restoring two old hospital buildings. In one of the buildings, over 35 tons of old medical equipment, supplies and drugs were removed over the course of 4 days. Water lines and electricity were brought in and 2 months later, 10 rehearsal rooms were created, which are used by 17 musical youth groups and ensembles as well as artists. A dark room, a café and an Audio Visual Department have also been created in some of the rooms.

There are now 150 members in several sections of the Association, but services are concentrated on providing rehearsal space and organizing young musicians, artists and youth in civil society. The other sections of the organization include activities in the areas of Ecological issues, Graffiti and Hip-Hop, Technical innovations and Internet services, Art ateliers, Photo laboratory for black & white pictures, Club for multifunctional activities (concerts, video promotions, theatre plays) and a Video-art studio. Other activities organized by the Association include the Summer Rain Festival (ecological art and music performances), the International Art & Music Summer School (organized in cooperation with AKKS Norway and Fajabefa-Wired Denmark to inspire and motivate young people towards taking action towards creating positive change.

Things are improving from day to day, and situation is very good in this moment. But the past was really hard for everyone. We found those two buildings in a terrible situation. No electricity or water, hallways full of old medical supplies and equipment, leaking roofs at 14 places. Imagine the smell of old drugs mixed with water accumulation over a period of 10 years. We cleaned it, and then the process started.

One More Step Towards Democracy
Project Leader: Milos Jovana Savin, age 22
YUGOSLAVIA

"My personal reaction to winning the award: Whoohooo! I can live for a year with this money, and concentrate more on improving the community, rather than my own survival. Together, Creative Youth says that [these awards are] a great way to motivate young people to go after their ideals, however unrewarding they seem to be, and keep them up over the years."

I am one of the founders and the current president of the Creative Youth of Novi Sad, a non-governmental organization founded and run by youth. It began about 5 years ago, as an informal group of friends, meeting in a cellar, with the common goal to devote some energy and spare time to helping the community in our troubled country. Now, it has grown into a real, healthy organization with its own infrastructure and over 70 active members. It hosts many youth workshops in drama, debate, photography, psychology, architecture and more. It initiated a number of projects aimed at preserving the environment, battling AIDS, drugs and, most importantly, promoting human rights and democracy during the rule of the totalitarian regime led by Slobodan Milosevic.

Due to the terrible conditions we faced (our organization was labeled "foreign mercenary" and "fascist" by the regime media), our efforts in bringing democracy to our country were limited to participation in public demonstrations and other activities commonly employed by people; our hands were tied to do more. Then, after October 5th, when the regime was partially brought down, we were able to make headway. Before the December 23rd elections, there was a fear of people not voting in sufficient numbers to secure a win for the opposition and finally bring democracy to our country. That's when, with the help of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, we realized our project manufacturing and then distributing 2000 T-shirts, 4,000 pens, 4,000 lighters and 30,000 leaflets with a colorful design and a clear message that says voting is the only way to build democracy.

The Eradication of Illiteracy (Tara Educare Academy) Project Leader: Ram Gopalakrishnan, age 16 INDIA "I strongly feel that educating the children of today is an investment in a happy and safe future of the world. My team members and I would like to profusely thank GYAN for recognizing this small step towards the eradication of a big problem plaguing our planet. It's easy to pen down plans on paper, but difficult to put them into action. For all the difficulties faced by us

The Eradication of Illiteracy Project aims to banish illiteracy from my neighbourhood. Education, especially in India, is of great importance due to the following reasons: 1) one out of every two Indians is illiterate; 2) the over-population problem needs to be addressed immediately and this can be best done only through proper education; 3) basic education is essential in order to prevent the weaker sections of society from being exploited; and 4)The vicious cycle of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and over-population needs to be broken.

Looking into the above problems, a few teammates and I started a free school in February 2000. This school is meant to serve underprivileged children living in my neighbourhood. Beginning with just 3 students, we now have completed one year and have more than 30 students on the rolls. The school runs in a car garage and we have two experienced teachers who take turns teaching. The students are taught to read and write the national language of India (Hindi), as well as arithmetic, moral values, environmental studies, art, crafts and music. A lot of importance is also put on cleanliness, health and personal hygiene, as these children often live in very unhealthy conditions.

Two teachers from the best schools in our neighbourhood have volunteered to teach and a convenient time has been chosen so that more students can attend classes. No fee is charged so that the parents can afford to educate their children and students are given free biscuits at the end of every class as an incentive and are provided with free books, notebooks, pencils and erasers. Stories with morals are told to the students to instill moral values. Students have an 'Annual Day' celebration to commemorate the starting of the school, which includes a talent show they organize themselves.

Most importantly, this project stresses on educating the girl child. In fact most of the students in the school are girls. Education of the girl child is very important in population control and it also increases the low female literacy rate that is prevailing in our country.

The project also plans to include the following for effective realization of our goals: 1) introducing an annual examination system, to help make the students more serious about their studies. This will also improve daily attendance. 2) Giving annual reports to and also counseling the parents; 3) introducing school uniforms; and 4) offering morning and evening classes in order to reach more students.

Pomosh Project Leader: Rizun Nodari, age 21 RUSSIA Our eager minds, our opened hearts make the future happen at the present. Our intellects can rush us forward or we can stand idle and do nothing. It depends on which route we choose. Democracy, freedom and prosperity determine weather we live free. Youth of today are the only power capable to change and improve the world of tomorrow.

In 1999, the new stage of war started in Chechnya and a large civilian population fled the horrors of war. I initiated a NGO called Pomosh, which helped Chechnyan refugees looking for asylum in my home territory of Kabardino, Balkarian Republic. Our goal was to improve the refugees' lives, by methods and funds available to our organization. Our NGO assisted IDPs in courts, when State authorities illegally violated their rights. We distributed food and clothing and gave medical advice and social counseling. Our project was unique, because in our area there were no NGOs that would assist IDPs from Chechnya. We aided the IDPs from Chechnya despite the negative public opinion of such activities.

During two years of work the NGO Pomosh fund raised $72,405 USD from various donors. Five professionals worked full time helping IDPs and refugees. The major result of the project is the assistance we have granted to 5898 humans, who fled from the horrors of war and were having the hardest times of their lives. Legal counsel was provided to those in need, as well as medical and social consultations. Our organization will continue to defend human rights, and assist persons who are in need.

Teens As Teachers*
Project Leader: Chalermpon Srisa-ard, age 17
THAILAND

Many students are experimenting with smoking, which has very dangerous effects on the respiratory system, causing lung damage as well as many other diseases. It's very bad that young people are becoming addicted. As a result, Bangmod Witthaya School protests it by campaigning to stop smoking in our school. We want the students to know about the dangers of smoking and to help them aviod having that habit.

I helped to launch and coordinate the first campaign, "Teens as Teachers" with some of the thirty students of grades M4-M6. The members of this group help talk to our peers about the poisonous substances and utilizes methods of teaching the young participants in a fun way.

The students break into three groups on Friday mornings or during P E period. We do activities together that help teach about the danger of tobacco, including role-playing and other games. Then we evaluate our teaching by discussing the impact of the program on the students. Our teacher also consults with us when we have some problems. At last, we can create a clean atmosphere in Bangmod Witthaya School. The number of smokers in our school has decreased since we started teaching this course.

Now, the neighboring primary school has contacted our counseling teachers to ask our group to teach the younger students at their school. We're very proud of our activities to help society. We can expand the project "Teens As Teachers" to another school and the members join our project by understanding the danger and avoiding it.

Sometime we have some problems but we can solve them. Our group received the "Non- Smoking New Generation" Award from Action Non-Smoking and Health Foundation Thailand and printed our photograph in the newspaper. It's the highest honor for our school and it makes our group increase a lot of energy. It urges our group to work for developing our society and our nation. We're so proud.

First Aid Emergency Attention in Nejapa*
Project Leader: Saul Alexander Torres, age 23
EL SALVADOR

After the Peace Accords that ended the war here in 1992, Nejapa (which is a little town north of San Salvador) didn't have any resources to deal with medical emergencies. When I was sixteen I learned first aid. Many people came to me when they needed help, so I began training others in first aid. Then we decided to form a group of young people enthusiastic about resolving one of Nejapa's biggest problems: we didn't have an ambulance service.

We raised seed money from the town hall and from international development organizations like Diakonia Suecia and Paz y Tercer Mundo and purchased a used minivan that we converted into an ambulance. Every night for the past five years, three of us have been on call. I drive the ambulance every night, and other members administer emergency first aid. Some nights we have to drive to the hospital (35 miles away) four times. Some of the members are as young as twelve. We have delivered babies, treated gunshot wounds, saved car accident victims. We have helped save the lives of more than 5530 people who have sought our help. We have also taught First Aid to more than 230 young people.

The work is voluntary and 90% of us come from poor, rural areas outside of town. We sleep in the community center and help with any

thing that people request. After Hurricane Mitch and all the recent earthquakes in our country we are acting as the principal coordinators of relief efforts in Nejapa. We are distributing food and clothing. Because we use it so much, our ambulance has broken down many times. We are selling food every weekend and going door-to-door asking for contributions to buy a new one. Our slogan is 'help us to help others.' We feel satisfied with our work and even though it is unpaid we carry it out with humility and commitment. Through it we attain the greatest prize: that of service.