For the past six years, TakingITGlobal has partnered with the Adobe Foundation to make a positive impact on the lives of youth around the world through the Adobe Youth Voices Program. To celebrate the success of the program and to offer our gratitude to partners, educators and students, TIG coordinators have spent the past few months travelling around the world to host Partner Appreciation Events and thank those that have made the AYV program such a success. 

In December 2015, our coordinator, Tala Nabulsi, travelled to Cairo, Egypt to host an Appreciation event for some of TakingITGlobal's most successful partners in the Middle East Region. Since 2008, TIG has partnered with 5 Cairo organizations to reach hundreds of youth throughout the city. 

The trip to Cairo included a visit organized by our partner “TMA Development, Training and Consulting”, to an Academic institute, where we organized a workshop for 100 students. The session started with showing a few videos produced from the AYV program and then explaining more about the history of the program. During the second part of the workshop, we selected 2 games from TakingITGlobal's “ A Window to the World” Card Deck, where the students introduced themselves (name, college year and type of Art they like) and described the image in the card they had. A few students were asked to sing or act based on the talent they wanted to share with the group. In the next game the participants were divided into groups to discuss the issues that the cards addressed and ways they suggest for facing them. Each group was asked to present the results of their discussions. At the end of the workshop we took several group photos and a plaque was presented to our TIG coordinator.

The next day we organized the Partner Appreciation event at a youth NGO “Knowledge for All Foundation” recommended by our partner “ Dreamers of Tomorrow” Association. The venue is an ancient house that has been restored and offered as a meeting place for NGOs. The outdoor space gave a unique atmosphere for the event, especially with the nice cool weather. We had a few printed artworks showcased around the meeting area so guests could view and appreciate them. The event started with a welcome note to the guests, then we showed a video about the AYV program and another produced by one of the program participants. 

Our guest speaker was Heba Elshatoury, a distinguished student who is a recipient of the Adobe Creativity Scholarship. Heba shared her success story and mentioned how the AYV program played a big role in building her personal skills and gave examples of projects she has implemented.

Following Heba’s presentation, each partner organization and educator shared their own accomplishments and personal experiences with the AYV program. The event was also a good opportunity for our guests to learn more about the program and ways of continuing to run self sustaining youth media programs in the future. During the coffee break one of the educators shared his musical talent by playing on the flute and another performed a rap song during his presentation

We ended the event by giving out Partner Appreciation Plaques to all partners and certificates to educators and youth participants. Each partner organization also received their own ‘A Window on the World’ Card Deck.

Thank you!

A big thank you to all partners, educators and students who participated in TakingITGlobal's AYV Programs in Egypt. Your dedication and commitment played a big role in the success of the program by fostering creativity and dialogue among thousands of youth in Egypt!