Arab Americans

Arab Americans on the Move

Arab American Youth on the Move June 2008

Posted on Thursday June 19, 2008


In this special youth edition of Arab Americans on the Move, we are highlighting the leadership of young members who have won scholarships or trips abroad and who have joined the AAI team!
Each year the Arab American Institute Foundation works to strengthen youth leadership in the community by awarding scholarships and cash prizes to deserving young Arab Americans in recognition of their achievements and for the pursuit of their studies.
James Anaissie Sonja Darwish

Mena Hanna
From left to right: James Anaissie, Sonja Darwish & Mena Hanna
AAIF was so impressed by the dedication of the young Arab Americans that applied for this year’s Helen Abbott Award for Community Service that our selection committee chose three high school award winners. James Anaissie will start Duke University next year as a student in the biomedical engineering program. He spends his summers as a counselor at a camp for children with disabilities, including chronic and terminal illness.

Sonja Darwish turned her Sacramento high school community service requirement into an opportunity to reach out to a rural village in Egypt with insufficient medical care. She had medication donated for her “Healthy Eyes Project”, which has brought over 1,000 ointment tubes and trachoma prevention education to the villagers.

Mena Hanna volunteers with a program at his church which invites homeless individuals to have meals together and share stories and talents. He will be attending Albany College of Pharmacy next year and hopes to help underprivileged families who cannot find doctors, afford medicine, or get the right type of treatment.
Deanna MadanatThe selection committee was also extremely impressed by Deanna Madanat, a college student who received the Helen Abbott Award for Community Service. Deanna is a senior at San Francisco State University studying Special Education and Psychology. She is dedicated to working with children and families with disabilities both in the US and in the Middle East.
This year’s Raymond Jallow Award for Public Service was given to Darlene Corey, a young attorney who works for the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County. Her commitment to public service reflects the life of the award’s namesake, Dr. Jallow. She has also worked as a Domestic Violence Court Case Manager and has sat on public service committees of the Dade County Bar Association. She was also a Female e-mentor of the Year Awardee for her service as a mentor to a local high school student.
The 2008 Al-Muammar Scholarship for Journalism winners are Rima Abdelkader and Will Youmans. Rima will begin pursuing a masters in journalism this fall at the City University of New York. She is a United Nations correspondent for the Saudi Press Agency and pWill Youmansreviously worked as a New York Correspondent for Bridges TV. Rima is an active member of the student affairs committee of the New York Women in Communications, a student liaison officer of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association, and is a recipient of the Women’s Press Club Award for journalism. Will is pursuing his Ph.D in Communication Studies at the University of Michigan. He writes for the Detroit-based Arab-American News, is a host and co-producer of the show “What’s Happening,” which airs on ART America, and is a founding member of a multi-author Arab-American blog, KABOBfest.com. We congratulate both of our winners and look forward to hearing more from them in the future!
This year’s American delegation for the Arab League trip to the Middle East will include Joan Hanna, AAIF’s nominee for the trip. Joan will travel with other young people of Arab ancestry from France, Brazil, Canada and the US to Jordan for two weeks. She is student of Middle Eastern Studies at Chatham University and is looking forward to visiting the region for the first time this summer.
As part of AAI’s Yalla Vote Campaign, field organizing interns have been placed in five key battleground states to help get out the Arab American vote. Matthew Ellias of New York City is a student at Fordham University and a local DJ. Nadia Zaiem of Cleveland, Ohio is a student at Case Western Reserve University and captain of the mock trial team there. Orlando’s Melissa Kamal is pursuing her graduate degree at the University of Central Florida. She speaks English, French, Spanish, Latin and Arabic. Samar Alhinnawi of Orange County, California is a recent graduate of Cal State Northridge and has been a volunteer with the ACLU. Dearborn’s Hassan Abraham is a summer 2008 Juris Doctor candidate from Wayne State University and has been a dedicated student activist since his freshman year in college. Keep up with each of our interns by visiting yallavote.org regularly!
You can find out more about these opportunities for Arab American youth, including information on how to apply for next year’s awards and scholarships, by visiting AAIF’s Student Resource Center.