By Samie Al-Dulaimi
WASHINGTON, July 25 (KUNA) -- The Kuwait-America Foundation (KAF) has marked its 25th anniversary and held a prize-giving ceremony for 50 winners of the "Do the Write Thing" Challenge Program (DtWT).
The ceremony, held Monday evening, was attended by Kuwait's Ambassador to the United States Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, KAF Chairman and former education minister Hassan Al-Ibrahim, KAF Deputy Chairman Fawzi Al-Sultan.
The number of students partaking in the contest has been growing, this year nearly 70,000 students from across the United States have contributed to the event, Al-Ibrahim told KUNA.
He added that the jury has chosen 50 students as winners of this year's edition. In addition to the KAF's honoring, winners will get a flight ticket to Washington where KAF will organize meeting for the students with congress and senate members as well as judges in the Supreme Court.
The "Do the Write Thing" Challenge Program (DtWT) is a unique education program designed to give middle school students an outlet to communicate in classroom discussions and written form how violence impacts their daily lives.
In addition to exposing the causes and impact of violence, students are asked to identify what they will do to address these problems. By emphasizing personal responsibility, the Challenge ultimately seeks to empower young people to reduce violence in their communities.
Recognized by educators, juvenile courts and police forces as a valuable program, the "Challenge" works with students in more than 30 communities.
Since its inception, it is estimated that nearly 1.6 million students have participated in the "Do the Write Thing" Challenge.
More than 675,000 of these students have accepted the "Challenge" by making a written personal commitment not to engage in violence and by preparing writings on the causes of and solutions to youth violence. Their words have motivated thousands of adults across the country to volunteer their services to the program.
Meanwhile, Al-Ibrahim asked Kuwaiti people to show more support to KAF and its activities to cement relations between Kuwaiti and American people.
The Kuwait-America Foundation (KAF) was established in May 1991 in Washington, D.C. as a charitable organization. Its mission, inspired by Kuwait's liberation by Allied Coalition forces in the Gulf War, is to express gratitude for American sacrifice during the Gulf War and strengthen ties among the peoples of the two countries.
Since its beginning, KAF has acted as the catalyst for a wide range of events and programs. However, it has particularly focused its resources on education, cultural exchange and programs for youth and disadvantaged persons. All KAF events and programs communicate the sincere desire of the people of Kuwait to have a lasting and strong relationship at a grass-roots level with the United States. (end) sd.ibi