Her hands are shaking, heart is beating fast, eye pupils are expanding, and she can’t stop looking down. Well, it’s an another situation living awkwardly in fear. Every young person has been there, unable to communicate like they want to, unable to say what they feel, or need. Is it a lack of confidence? A lack of techniques? Or maybe both? Being shy is normal, but living in this awkward fear has to stop. For most people, by the time they find the courage to speak up, they already have lost man...

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we´ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek”— Barack Obama. Have you ever thought of being a superhero, capable of transforming the world to make it a better place to live? A place where we can all live together without complaining and judging each other? A place where we can be comfortable with being ourselves? Personally, I have. We are not perfect, but I believe that if we all...

There are some experiences that no matter how much time passes, we simply cannot get out of our minds. It can be especially difficult to forget when that experience involves losing someone we care about. Someone like a friend that we love, trust, and share interests and laughs with. A friend with whom we could go months without speaking to, but so easily pick up where we left off. I’ve heard that when we lose someone, writing down our feelings about what happened allows us to process our grief a...

Though my main mission was to attend the Youth Connekt Africa Summit in Kigali, I had a desire to see and experience life in Rwanda, witness the progress the country has made after the horrific genocide, learn practical lessons from the process of peace-building and reconciliation and seek answers to a pool of questions that kept me curious for quite a number of years. Landing in Kigali at night gave me a glimpse of what the city was holding for me. A green, lush, clean and beautifully planned...

"Don’t settle for AVERAGE. You were made for greatness ” – Victoria Osteen“All I knew is that I never wanted to be average” – Michael JordanDon’t these quotes look absolutely wonderful on paper? Being ‘average’ is abhorred and detested. But is ‘mediocre’ or being ‘average’ really the worst thing in life?I am an average girl, nothing special, A NOBODY and am perfectly fine with it. Shocked? Since our childhood, we are psychologically conditioned to prove that we are the best. Be it getting good g...

My name is Najma Darwish, I’m 14 years old and I have many titles, writer, daughter, friend, Somali, American and most importantly, Muslim.I was born and raised in America and have seen Islamophobia first hand. Being a teenage girl in this era of America has not been easy. I’ve been called many names and wouldn’t find the time to write each and every single one of them.I go to school were I am the only girl who wears the hijab, I sometimes see this as a burden and not as being unique. I see my f...

Interesting enough, Canada has shocked the international community once more, viewing its development interests and its very notion and understanding of “development” from an entirely new angle.“Focusing Canada’s international assistance on the full empowerment of women and girls is the most effective way for our international assistance to make a difference in the world. Sustainable development, peace and growth that works for everyone are not possible unless women and girls are valued and empo...

I am a storyteller From where the palm trees dance rumba with the wind And the deep Caribbean waters touch my skin and make me tremble I am a storyteller Born from a star in the night sky And a ray of sunshine The one that broke darkness at dawn I am the fruit of the forbidden tree And I’m temptation hidden in the mango leaves I am a storyteller One of many who passed on their songs And poems And once upon a times And stories too I am the rich soil that housed the sweetest sweets And the b...