See what A-SMYLE and YES current participants and alumni have been doing this year!

February 2011, v. IV, issue I
February 2011, v. IV, issue II
February 2011, v. IV, issue III

Jelena Karlica, Serbian high school student who is currently in the US on A-SMYLE program, gave interview for Anderson Valley Post.

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5 students from Gymnasia in Novi Pazar have realized  project 'Make it clean, makes you smile' which is financed by American State Department. Students who took part in this project are Anel Bajrovic, Mihailo Jevtovic, Danilo Radetic, Ana Colovic and Emir Gracanin.

Read more about this story and see the pictures

Shelby County Reporter published an article A-SMYLE student, Nikola Saric, and a local non-profit that has been a great help to him by loaning him specialized equipment. Their goal is to send him home with a compact CCTV to use when he goes home in Serbia.

The article focuses on the Sight Savers Group. Please leave a comment on the article if you’d like to highlight the connection between Nikola and American Councils & A-SMYLE.

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Nikola Mladenovic, A-SMYLE alumni coordinator in Serbia, shares the following news:

If you speak up on a serious issue, on one that is truly important to you, your words can reach unlimited distances. A-SMYLE alumna Jelena Jezdimirovic '09 can personally attest to this: her voice was heard by the UN Security Council recently through an interactive event, 'Voices of a New Generation.' This event was designed to incorporate the voices of young people around the world to present to the chamber of one the world's most vital deliberative bodies.

From December 2-14, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations accepted videos and written submissions from people aged 21 or younger who responded to the following question: 'What is the most vital challenge to international peace and security facing your generation? Tell the UN Security Council what issue you believe deserves more attention, and explain why it is important'.

For more information about the event click here.

Tea Vastag, a 2007 A-SMYLE alumna, used her love of photography and her experiences
in the U.S. to create a platform for talented Serbian youth to express themselves and
showcase their photographs.

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When she returned from the US, A-SMYLE alumna Daniela Kurfis (2009) saw a lot of
intolerance around her. Inspired by her experiences while on the program and a desire to
promote tolerance in her hometown, Daniela organized a street performance: Are You
Ready for Tolerance? (Because I Am!).

Read more about ARE YOU READY FOR TOLERANCE

Serbia has a serious problem with plastic bag waste, so A-SMYLE alumnae Marija Micic
(2008) and Tijana Isoski (2008) decided to take a fun approach to encouraging people to
use reusable bags instead of the plastic ones that are ubiquitous here. They organized a
fashion show in Vladmimirci at the Sugar Head EcoFest to demonstrate that reusable bags are fashionable and fun, and that ìPlastic bags are so 2000 and late.

Read more about REUSABLE BAGS

The third stop in Serbian NGO Think Big Team's year-long recycling project Recycleton
2010 was Loznica, Serbia, on May 30th, 2010.

Read more about RECYCLETON in Loznica

On July 17, 2010, A-SMYLE and SYLP alumni competed in a charity kickball tournament in
Belgrade. Four teams competed: two made up of A-SMYLE alumni, one of SYLP alumni, and
one of American Councils program staff and friends, together with American SYLP
participants. Each team raised money that the winning team would donate to the charity of
their choice, and together the teams collected 21,810
dinars (more than $270).

Read more about KICKBALL TOURNAMENT

Recycleton 2010 continued on May 22 in Nis. Volunteers collected more than 2 tons of electronic waste with an eco-patrol van and collecting electronic waste as tickets to a concert promoting recycling. Congratulations to organizers Katarina Kohen (ASMYLE-SR 2007), Stefan Nikolic (ASMYLE-SR 2009), and Milan Andrejevic (ASMYLE-SR 2009), and thank you to all volunteers!

Read more about RECYCLETON in Nis

Congratulations to Daniela Kurfis (ASMYLE-SR 2009), who was awarded an alumni smal grant for her project "Are you ready for TOLERANCE?" The project will bring the message of what it means to be tolerant in a diverse society to her hometown, Backa Topola. Daniela will hold performances about tolerance in July.

Welcome to our newest A-SYMLE and YES Alumni! This is the fifth generation of alumni for Serbia and the first for Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Macedonia. We hope to see all your names many times on this page!

Read about the latest activities of A-SMYLE and YES current participants and alumni in the newest newsletter!

June 2010, v.3 i.4

Jelena Jezdimirovic (ASMYLE-SR 2009) recently completed Green Youth, a week-long celebration of recylcing in Uzice. The action educated the children of her town about recycling and even let them experience it first hand. They also collected about 1.5 tons of cardboard to recyle!

Read more about Green Youth

A-SMYLE-SR Alumni Stefan Nikolc (2009), Milan Andrejevic (2009), and Ljupka Sibinovic (2008) recently held the finalie of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Speech Contest in Nis. The contest included workshops for the Finalists, and the speeches were truly inspiring.

Read more about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Speech Contest

Congratulations to Igor Zlatojev (A-SMYLE-SR 2007) on his recent photo exhibition. Igor is exhibiting five photographs at his university, American College of Thessaloniki, and the photo below, Northern House III, was awarded the Grant Jury Award for the exhibition. The photo was taken in the village of Vracev Gaj in Vojvodina.

A-SMYLE and SYLP Alumni gathered together April 22-25 in Budva, Montengro for a conference in celebration of Global Youth Service Day and to lear about conflict resolution and tolerance.

Read more about the GYSD 2010 conference

A-SMYLE Montenegro Alumnus Vladimir Rakocevic (2008), also a member of the Children's Environmental and Health Action Plan for Europe, represented Montenegro at the conference of Ministers of Health of the European Union held in Milan and Parma, Italy this month.

CEHAPE is created three years ago in order to promote the environment for children throughout Europe. Montenegrin Government fully supports the activism of this group and it will contribute with some funds to enhance further actions of this group.

A-SMYLE Serbia alumni Katarina Kohen (2007), Ana Brzakovic (2007), Ana Jovanovic (2007), and Nikola Mladenovic (2008) successfuly registered NGO Think Big Team. The NGO is entirely led and run by alumni, and it will organize alumni activities all over Serbia.

Read more about Think Big Team

Congratulations to the following A-SMYLE alumni who recently received university scholarships:

Boban Markovic, to American University in Bulgaria
Ivan Markovic, to American Universityin Bulgaria
Fedja Pavlovic, to Duke University
Aleskandra Radojevic, to Occidental College
Milena Bukvic, University of Grenada
Stefan Nikolic, HULT Business School

Congratulations to Vlado Rakocevic (ASMYLE Montenegro 2008), who was recently awarded a Forecast scholarship! Vlado will spend next year in Washington, DC as part of this program.

Recycleton 2010 got off to a great start on April 18 in Leskovac, where volunteers collected more than 3 TONS of electronic waste! Congratulations to Ana Jovanovic (ASMYLE Serbia 2007) and Nikola Jovanovic (2008), the main organizers of the events, and the entire Think Big Team!

Read more about RECYCLETON in Leskovac

Boban and Ivan Markovic (ASMYLE Serbia 2009) realized the Pokreni--Promeni action on April 8 in Proboj, spreading the spirit of volunteerism while cleaning up the Gimnazija. Congratulations on a sucessful action!

Read more about Pokreni--Promeni in Priboj

Congratulations to Ksenija Popovic (ASMYLE Montenegro 2007), who was awarded a grant to hold a fundraiser to raise money to help a child in Podgorica pay for a needed surgery.

Congratulations to Ivana Kotlaja (ASMYLE Montenegro 2008), who was awarded a grant to conduct an eco-action cleaning up Skadar Lake and raising awareness about trash in this area.

Congratulations to Tara Djelic and Tijana Evstratiev (A-SMYLE Serbia 2008), who were awarded a small grant to collect needed items for children in a homeless children's and hold a party for them. The project will include young people from all over Belgrade collecting items for the children.

Read about the latest activities of A-SMYLE and YES current participants and alumni in the newest newsletter!

February 2010, v.3 i.3