Posts Tagged ‘ABLE’
Don Lu, ABLE 2009
Posted by Ryan Schaffer in My photos Sunday, 3 January 2009 10:58 No Comments
ABLE 2009 was high in the Caucasus mountains and it was wet for most of the days. The day that acting U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Donald Lu came it had already rained for more than two days straight. Regardless, the youth and volunteers alike were excited to have such a high profile visitor. I have had the opportunity to hear him speak before and he is an engaging speaker. The former Peace Corps volunteer spoke for more than a half an hour about the obstacles that the Azerbaijani youth face and challenged them to answer the call of leadership for their country. After his speech I had the chance to speak with him directly for some personal advice. The advice was regarding law school and work in international law. His advice was a real help for me. There was a great inside joke that went along with this story.
ABLE group
Posted by Ryan Schaffer in My photos Saturday, 2 January 2009 16:46 No Comments
ABLE is stands for Azerbaijani Boys Leadership Experience. The week long leadership camp brings Azerbaijani youths from all over the county together and is counseled by both volunteers and regional Azerbaijan counterparts. I was lucky enough to participate in both 2008 and 2009, both years being equally memorable. Quite possibly some of the best work that we did was through ABLE and the young women’s camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). I was the official photographer for 2008 and I will never forgive myself for setting this up with such bad lighting.