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From Fixing Mistakes to Building Strengths

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The smile, stickers and Halloween candy I’d brought as a USRVI volunteer weren’t enough. Sasha needed much more than I could give in just one hour, and I had no idea where to start. At 15, he had run away from the orphanage to go home—many children in Russian state institutions have at least one living parent—and found things there in a state of chaos. Orphanage staff heard he was begging on the local electrichka train, found him and brought him back.

The smile, stickers and Halloween candy I’d brought as a USRVI volunteer weren’t enough. Sasha needed much more than I could give in just one hour, and I had no idea where to start.

At 15, he had run away from the orphanage to go home—many children in Russian state institutions have at least one living parent—and found things there in a state of chaos. Orphanage staff heard he was begging on the local electrichka train, found him and brought him back.

Making a Difference: Letting Youth Tell the Story

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Capturing the real impact of youth development projects that aim to change attitudes and behaviors is a challenge—it’s not found in numbers of people trained or workshops held. At a recent panel called Beyond the Numbers: Storytelling as a Youth Development Evaluation Tool, hosted by the Society for International Development – Washington’s Youth in Development Workgroup at IREX’s headquarters, I learned about two creative, quantifiable M&E techniques that can strengthen a mixed-method evaluation plan.

Capturing the real impact of youth development projects that aim to change attitudes and behaviors is a challenge—it’s not found in numbers of people trained or workshops held. Traditional monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools have their limitations; for example, young people often want to give the “right” answers on surveys or in focus groups– a bias that can be even stronger in cultures that prioritize respect for elders.

Setting the Stage to Tackle HIV/AIDS

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A group of young actors deal with difficult issues, such as HIV/AIDS, and educate their audiences both on and off the stage.

Youth development programs are probably not the first things that come to mind when thinking about World AIDS Day, but young people around the globe are doing their part to raise awareness. Their efforts are particularly important in Russia, where the HIV prevalence rate is the second highest in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Students don’t learn about AIDS in school and in general it is an extremely taboo topic.

Moscow Journal: Youth Initiatives in Action

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One of the things I love about my job is getting to meet young people from around the world who are working to make their communities better places to live. This week in Moscow,

One of the things I love about my job is getting to meet young people from around the world who are working to make their communities better places to live.

Creating and Sustaining Positive Spaces for Youth

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From time to time since I started focusing on youth development projects at IREX, I’ve thought back to my first day of ninth grade. I went to a big public high school with around 2,000 students, and I was a little lost, not really sure what to get involved in, or who my friends were going to be anymore.

From time to time since I started focusing on youth development projects at IREX, I’ve thought back to my first day of ninth grade. I went to a big public high school with around 2,000 students, and I was a little lost, not really sure what to get involved in, or who my friends were going to be anymore.

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