The Kurdish Youth Club in Atlanta, Georgia did it again: another great

celebration of Newroz and the new year! Like the past years, Newroz for 

KYC had a theme and this time it was education. A theme is chosen for 

Newroz tofurther shed light on a topic that is needed to be addressed by our

communities in diaspora.

Pursuing  higher education is a detrimental necessity of our youth.

Currently there is a lag in number of those youth that go into college 

than those that get recruited into the labor force. To build a strong 

Kurdish Community in diaspora, we must have an educated and fairly wealthy

community. One of the easiest ways to achieve such status in the United

States is by pursuing higher education.

Kurdish Youth Club's theme for this year was chosen based on such

needs.  The importance of education was exemplified to the audience who

gathered to celebrate the Kurdish New Year. The evening program started 

off with Kurdish and English hosts, Halo Mohammed and Helene Sairany,

introducing themselves and the evening program. The project commenced 

by first calling for a moment of silence and playing our anthem “Ay 

Reqib”during which time the KYC Color Guard introduced the flags of Kurdistan 

and KYC presented in an outstanding ceremonial march.  Through a power- 

point presentation, Ara Alan informed the guests of the identity of KYC and

what the organization’s goals are. These included promotion of 

Kurdish culture and creation of a bridge between Kurds and non-Kurds where 

these diverse cultures can meet and exchange knowledge, heritage, and build 

well informed citizens. Other KYC goals include formation of network and 

self help groups that can aid and guide the youth to better their own lives. 

KYC also aims at incorporating the new methods, knowledge and technologies 

that are acquired by the youth to better serve Kurdistan. Kurdish youth have 

tobe the tip of the spear that is being launched for the freedom of our

nation.

Ara Alan proceeded by congratulating KYC's Soccer Team on their recent

victory in achieving first place in Atlanta's International League

Competition. Team members were invited to the stage with

their recent trophy and a video slide of their game was shown on an LCD

projector.

Kurdish Youth Club recognized Mr. Najat Abdullah, Director For Art and

Culture for KRG in USA, for his support in bringing about this event;

Istanbul Cafe, a restaurant owned by Kurds in Atlanta was also 

recognized as best sponsor for the past year. Mr. Alan also recognized Makwan Jabar 

to be KYC's member of the year for his dedication and hard service not only 

to KYC but for the general Kurdish community in Atlanta and other out-of-state

Kurdish communities as well.

Drive for education was pushed on further through Sonia Abdulla’s

project of identifying and awarding all the youth that have succeeded 

in their pursuit of higher education through their acceptance to an 

institute of higher learning in the past year and those that are receiving their

acceptance for the upcoming year. Dr. Cording, an advisor to KYC (also 

known as Mommy to many of the KYC members) presented a speech encouraging

education and glorifying its importance. Later Dr. Cording and Sonia 

Abdulla called the accepted students to the front and presented them with KYC's

congratulatory certificate: “Recognition of Acceptance to Higher 

Education”for their accomplishments.  Heval Kelli enforced the theme of

education even further through his introduction of a booklet made by

KYC for the youth. This booklet aims at guiding the youth on their

application process from high school to colleges and universities. A 

copy of the booklet has been made obtainable free of charge from KYC's website.

The events proceeded with “A Piece of Kurdistan” presented by 

Makwan Jabar through his musical talent with Kurdish folklore instrument called a 

ney.

While Makwan performed his musical piece, different pictures of 

Kurdistan and Kurdish people were simultaneously displayed in the

background as a reminder of what we have all went through as Kurds;

from hard and bitter days to joyful celebrations and even day-to-day

life of ordinary people. Mr.Jabar’s talent evoked many emotions in 

his spectators and the hall subsided into silence; as he proceeded, much of 

the audience was lost reminiscing about their past while these ten minutes

passed on. Various emotions were observed at that moment, ranging from

desolate faces, arms scattered with goose-bumps, and pure smiles that 

are otherwise only characteristic of children’s faces were that day 

noticable on the faces of our moms and dads.