Peace Through Sport - Round 4 Success

The fourth round of MLI's Peace Through Sport (PTS) program was a great success connecting 123 youth in Yemen and the United States to learn about different cultures, build global leadership skills through virtual exchange, hear from interesting guest speakers from the world of sports, and to implement meaningful projects to benefit their local communities.

Student participants came from Poolesville High School in Maryland and St Edmund's Academy in Pennsylvania as well as five schools in the Hadhramout Region of Yemen. Participants participated in in-person activities at their schools and then convened for four virtual exchanges during the 8-week program. The in-person activities focused on building leadership and communication skills that could be applied during the project management phase of the program.

Participants heard from two guest speakers, one from the U.S. and one from Yemen. Julianne Norman has lived a life surrounded by sport. She played basketball, competed at the state level in high jump, ran cross-country which led to running marathons and trail runs around the world. Most recently, she took up the sport of wind-surfing. This was interesting for all students to learn about as well as how she overcame challenges learning the sport. Her message of perseverance, hard work, and growth mindset had a great impact on the participants. Fatin Bakhraibah was an exceptional football (soccer) player in Yemen. Following his retirement, he transitioned into a coaching role overcoming challenges such as limited resources and challenging conditions. In his current role, he actively supports community-based and youth sports initiatives. Participants learned about social and ethical values of sport beyond financial gain.

The amazing Round 4 participants connected through WhatsApp and Padlet to learn about each other and their cultures throughout the program round. The culmination of the round highlighted amazing projects supporting civic engagement in their local communities.

United States

Poolesville HS students created a project to involve students in collaboration to create a cozy environment in their school while helping others. Students gathered to repurpose leftover fabric and material to make pillows. The pillows were placed in the school library and donated to local senior centers.

St Edmunds Academy students created three projects to implement including Peoples Project (Eliminate plastic water bottles from their school and to reuse plastic to make small art projects), Operation Recycalation (Collecting school supplies and brining to Staples to be recycled), and Trash Talk (Trashburgh Campaign to inspire people in their local community to keep the city clean and litter-free)

Yemen

Yemeni men raise awareness to their support app.

Ana Ma'ak - Participants organized a humanitarian support app that connects people in need with volunteers to help. Close to 600 people benefitted from this app through awareness events.

Yemeni women present project during final virtual exchange call

Nephreen - This project improves the quality of life for kidney patients by enabling early detection of salt imbalance using an affordable and user-friendly testing method. Through a variety of field visits, 300 community members benefitted from this project.

Peace Through Sport is implemented by The Marshall Legacy Institute and is supported by the Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative (JCSVEI). JCSVEI is a U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program administered by the Aspen Institute. Peace Through Sport is a partnership program between the Marshall Legacy Institute and the Hadhramout Foundation.

If you are interested in joining the next round of Peace Through Sport (March- May 2026), please click the here to apply.