GYST FAQs

What is the Global Youth Service Team? When was it founded and how did the
idea for your mission begin?

The GYST provides high school and college students with the opportunity to perform international service work by bringing sustainable energy systems, access to safe water, training and education to people in developing countries who are most in need due to resource and energy poverty. It was founded in 2006. It began as a result of my work in refugee camps which had a deep and profound affect on me. I made a decision to start an organization that would give students a chance to have the same experience helping those who are desperate and doing so in a manner that also addresses the concerns of caring for the planet that we all inhabit.

When you are recruiting students to be a part of your team, what skills, knowledge, and/or experience do you find most helpful?

The students that I select to go to remote regions in developing countries must be highly motivated and have a willingness to serve and to go beyond their normal zone of familiarity. They must be open-minded and adaptable to living in another culture. Students should also be physically fit and outgoing. They should have an interest in science, an awareness of how the earth is currently changing and what can be done about it.

What has been one of your most difficult challenges?

Making sure when we travel to a location to build and teach that we are prepared for any occurrence. When we build a solar-powered electrical or water purification system, there are no hardware stores to go to and get a replacement part and there is no electricity to run the power tools we normally are accustomed to using.

How would you like to see the Global Youth Service Team grow and evolve over the next several years? What are some of your goals?

We are hoping to be able to build larger solar-powered electrical systems that can provide more energy to health care clinics. If they have access to computers and the web, then medics can explore databases of treatment for injuries and diseases. If we could install enough power to run vaccine refrigerators, then the cold chain to keep medicines viable can be extended out to the areas where people lack adequate care.
We also hope to grow and extend into other countries where there is need. This will require more adult leadership with engineering and technical experience who are willing to travel and work with young people.

What type of support would be most beneficial to enhancing your mission?

We currently need people interested in performing grant searches and that have experience in grant writing or at least the willingness to learn. Persons interested in creative fund-raising are also in need. The GYST could also use someone with video editing expertise to help generate public awareness of the conditions in the parts of the world where we work and how our young people are making a difference.

In what ways are the students most profoundly effected by having this experience? What perspective or paradigm shift do they make, if any?

GYST volunteers are excited about being able to apply the science that they have learned and making a difference in another person’s life.
No GYST volunteer has returned from a project quite the same. All volunteers have made adjustments in their plans for further education as a result of the service experience. Many have completely changed their majors and paths of study to engineering or environmental science so that they can continue to pursue this type of work professionally.

Do you have any upcoming projects that you would like to share?

We are always conducting projects on the Thailand/Burma border where there is a refugee and environmental crisis. We build solar electrical and UV water purification systems for schools and clinics. We also teach the use and maintenance of the systems to the teachers and community leaders and plan future projects.
We have recently initiated a water purification project in Haiti and ultimately it will become student driven.

How would you describe the current conditions in some of these places that you are assisting that would give us a better understanding regarding their situation?

The people who we serve live in the areas where there is no water or sanitation infrastructure and no electricity. They are refugees of war and the brutality of a military dictatorship. They are not citizens of the country where they reside and therefore have no legal access to education or medical care. They get by as best they can with makeshift schools and clinics but receive no support from governments or corporations other than those like ours, the GYST and our partners.
In the case of Haiti, of course the recent natural disaster has created 1.5 million homeless people. They, like the other people we help, suffer from diseases caused by water-borne pathogens and the lack of electricity.

What criteria are you looking for to determine who needs your help?

We look for communities where we can catalyze improvements in education and health care. We work in areas where we can promote sustainable energy initiatives and help communities develop the capacity to use their own resources by which to create opportunity. Simply stated, we work where people have virtually nothing and nowhere to turn. We work where there is a high child mortality rate (under 5 years > 20%) and a low literacy rate.