INTERCULTURAL

LEADERS

Augustine K. Kou

Summer Schools

I am the founder and Executive Director of Impart Liberia, a local community group working against social injustices affecting youth. Through my I Learn to Earn initiative, I address marginalization and unemployment facing mys community by offering free tailoring training to 25 vulnerable girls. I run the iRespect project to promote mutual respect among people of different backgrounds. The project demonstrates the value of tolerance and helps settle disputes among students. iRespect is a creative peace platform established out of the rumble of conflict to promote tribal, cross-cultural and mutual understandings and cooperation among youth and most especially children in Liberia.The quest for revenge secretly resides in the hearts of certain tribes and groups most especially our children. So to kill such drive iRespect initiates the iRespect Clubs in 15 select high schools with an aim to address conflict and mediate peace beginning with children. These schools are labeled chapter in honor of people who push the cause of peace, namely Nelson Mandela Chapter, The Barack Obama Chapter, The Kofi Annan Chapter, The Ivorgba Chapter & etc. In each school every class is represented by two Student Peace Ambassadors who are then trained to search and address conflicts within the classroom and on campus. Before taking roles as Student Peace Ambassadors, selected student representatives are trained in Peace Issues. Besides, each club in different schools is guided by sets of program plans like peace festivals, drama, conference, workshops and etc. These programs are means to promote peace. At the moment, iRespect is working on another component of its program, a Peace Comic Magazines for Kids. This magazine is structured such that kids will receive messages of peace and peaceful co-existence in pictures. Here too they will be able to tell their story of peace in the simplest mean understandable to the peers.