Duwamish Alive! YLP with Azerbaijan participants in Seattle Celebrate GYSD 2012

On  April 21, eight student and two adult participants of the Youth Leadership Program with Azerbaijan participated in a Global Youth Service Day event in Seattle called “Duwamish Alive!”, which took place at the West Duwamish Greenbelt, Seattle’s largest remaining contiguous forest.  


This blog post is brought to you by Sahil Piyarali, YLP with Azerbaijan Finalist from Seattle, Washington. 

Removing invasive plants in the West
Duwamish Greenbelt contiguous forest for GYSD 

Our group was placed at a work station that also included those student and adult participants taking part in the Youth Leadership Program with Bosnia and Herzegovina, who are currently in Seattle, Washington.  Our whole team was taken to a back area of the forest, and after a long lecture by the volunteer person from EarthCorps who was helping our work station out, we got to work. The task that was given to us was to remove blackberry plants and ivy that was growing in this area of the forest. It was hard work, having to pull, cut, and dig the roots of these plants out of the ground, and not confuse them with other plants growing close by. We had two work periods lasting about an hour-90 minutes each, with a break in between. At the end of the day, we were told that to keep the forest going, removing the blackberry plants and the ivy were vital, as they were invasive plants that blocked the way for more native and economical plants to grow. It was amazing to see how much we had impacted the forest for the better and the end of the day by removing these invasive plants.

Takeaways: This event was a VERY successful event on many levels! It was the first time that we, YLP with Azerbaijan exchange participants, have met in a group, and for some it was the first time meeting others in the group (some of them knew each other from school etc beforehand), and also meeting two of the trip leaders who will be taking us to Azerbaijan.  We got to start building a lot of group camaraderie, as there was plenty of time for talking throughout the day! Meeting the participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina was a rewarding experience as well, as we got to talk to them for plenty of time.  Finally, just being able to make an impact on the environment was a really nice way to pull us all together. 

YLP with Azerbaijan student participants from Seattle, Washington
celebrating GYSD