Algeria

Naila Kerkebane ’06 is interviewed by a local television reporter during International AIDS Day.

YES alumnae Naila Kerkebane`06 and Yasmine Drais`06, along with YES coordinator Taous Chabane, attended a forum organized by the Algerian Muslim Scouts on International AIDS Day, December 1st 2006. The forum's focus was to increase AIDS Awareness amongst Algerian youth. The event inspired both Naila and Yasmine to organize AIDS Awareness activities in their own schools. The YES scholars were given a video tape containing a cartoon that explains how AIDS is contracted, how to prevent the spread of the disease and how to properly interact with someone who has HIV or AIDS. Students were also given fliers with talking points about AIDS. These AIDS Awareness fliers and the video were duplicated by Yasmine, Naila and other students and were widely distributed in their local communities and schools. Naila commented that the training will be useful in educating their fellow youth about the dangers of contracting the AIDS virus. "It's incredible how little teenagers in Algeria know about AIDS! Teenagers have a lot of misinformation about the disease. For instance, they believe that you can contract the disease if you kiss someone on their cheek. I am very proud to be a part of an AIDS Awareness campaign. I truly believe that I am doing something highly worthwhile and important for my society. I also plan to organize an event where people living with AIDS can meet with teens and hold an educational discussion about AIDS prevention." The Algerian YES alumni hope to partner with the Algerian Muslim Scouts on other activities in the future including working with orphans and youth.

On April 24th, the alumni organized clothes, school furniture and school bags for the children of Tamanrasset, a city in the Algerian Sahara located 2,000 kilometers away from Algiers. The alumni hope to make the donations drive a regular activity for the children of Tamanrasset. The drive was the brainchild of Adem Chabane, '06. Adem spent one week of his winter break in Tamanrasset, which is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. The city resembles an open air museum, and Adem was fascinated by both the scenery and the hospitality and generosity of the population. He had the opportunity to meet many people, including two teachers who spoke about the economic challenges faced by many of the students whose parents could not afford to buy their required textbooks due to the high unemployment rate in the region. The teachers noted that many of these students become school drop-outs. Adem was moved by what he saw in these rural villages, and decided to organize his fellow YES alumni to help. He spoke with fellow alums, Naila Kerkebane '06, Yasmine Drais '06 and Mhamed Kouidmi '06 and together they decided to organize a school furniture and clothing drive for the villages. They spread the word amongst their school classmates, their neighbors and family members and gathered items to send to Tamanrasset.

Naila Kerkebane ’06, Yasmine Drais ’06 and Mhamed Kouidmi ‘06 organized a school furniture and clothing drive for the villages of Tamanrasset.

Several alumni and their parents participated in a re-entry meeting for the parents of the 2006-2007 YES students on Thursday, June 14. The Algerian YES alums spoke about their myriad of experiences in the United States and the process of returning home and re-adjusting to life back in Algeria upon the conclusion of the YES program. This activity was very useful for the 2006-2007 YES parents as they were unfamiliar with the challenges of re-entry culture shock.

The YES Algerian alumni spoke with pride about their newly found independence and other benefits that they gained while studying abroad in the United States. The parents of the alumni reaffirmed their children's high sense of personal responsibility, their maturity and their autonomy since completing the YES program. The alumni also spoke about the challenges of reverse culture-shock upon returning to Algeria. They advised the parents that their kids would be physically and emotionally different upon returning home. Changes might include different hair and clothing styles and most importantly a different perspective about life! The 2006-2007 YES parents were very happy to have the answers to their questions and concerns and thanked the alumni for their useful and timely advice. The parents of the 2006-2007 students left the meeting feeling better prepared to support the return of their children.