service learning

What is the Desmond Tutu Youth Fellows Program? At the heart of the Desmond Tutu Center is a simple, bold idea: to identify, train, sustain, and connect the next generation of emerging young leaders struggling for social justice and reconciliation around the world and right here in Indiana. In 2013, the Desmond Tutu Center received a gift from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, allowing the Center to launch its Youth Fellows Initiative, an empowerment program for young emerging leaders from Central Indiana and South Africa. The Youth Fellows initiative is designed to support youth who want to change and challenge existing norms that prevent their community from achieving equality. In collaboration with Indianapolis-based Peace Learning Center, Central Indiana youth, ages 16-21, will be selected based on their passion for social justice and desire to implement a project that will uplift their community. Youth Fellows from Central Indiana will travel to South Africa on an educational tour led by DTC Executive Director, Allan Boesak, close colleague and friend of Desmond Tutu. The two-week trip will take place during the last two weeks of July with expenses including passport fees, airfare, accommodations, and meals covered by the Desmond Tutu Center. On this study trip, the Youth Fellows will be paired with an organization related to their social justice focus area. They will live with a South African family, see the country and struggles of the Apartheid, and seek out key South African