Washington Post - Model UN and HERO Program

Model U.N. Experience Becomes Reality in Africa
Teen Puts Winning Essay to Work

By Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 7, 2008; Page SM03

Christina Dawson was flipping through a CosmoGirl magazine when a contest caught her eye: Write an essay about what you would do to help African children, and win a trip to the continent with other youth ambassadors.

Dawson, a senior at Chopticon High School when she learned of the contest in the spring, wrote that she would use her artistic skills to "add color to the classroom." She drew on her experiences, such as living in Malaysia and visiting Peru, to explain the challenges faced by children in developing countries.

Click here to read the full article.

HERO Brings American Teens to Africa

The HERO Campaign is an awareness-building and fundraising initiative dedicated to providing comprehensive, school-based support to orphans and vulnerable children living in HIV/AIDS-affected communities in Africa.

In the summer of 2006, HERO launched a new student initiative, the HERO Youth Ambassador Program. For the past 3 years, they've taken a select group of US high school students to South Africa and Namibia to aid in these efforts. Along with the students and staff, a film crew has also joined the group, producing 2 series of webisodes following the program from start to finish. Below is the first webisode from the 2007 HERO trip.



Click here to watch the 24 other HERO 2007 webisodes
as well as 2006's.

Visit Heroaction.org

HERO Student Profiled

Overland Park student to serve as 'hero' in Africa
By: Kelli Bamforth, Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 4:31 AM CDT
KCCommunitynews.com

While other high school graduates are soaking up the sun poolside, Olath Northwest graduate Layne Anderson, 18, Overland Park, will experience a different kind of heat in sub-Saharan Africa.

As a Hero youth ambassador, Anderson will visit Namibia and South Africa to offer support to children in AIDS-afflicted areas, including feeding programs, clean water, clothing, counseling and recreational activities.

Anderson raised $5,000 for the trip by soliciting family and friends, forgoing traditional graduation gifts.

“I love traveling and experiencing other cultures,” she said. “I’ve been blessed with so many things in life, living in America with a great family, and I knew I wanted to give back. This is a huge opportunity to go to Africa and work with children not as fortunate as me.

“Because it’s graduation time, a lot of family and friends were asking me what I wanted for gifts. I told them that making a donation would be great. I have only $300 to go.”

Anderson will attend Baker University in Baldwin in the fall and hopes to use her experiences in Africa to complement her intended career plans.

“I want to take international studies in college … I want to do something along the lines of traveling to other countries and bringing needed information back to the United States,” she said. “This trip is a great stepping stone toward achieving that goal.” read more...