David will provide an update on what has worked successfully in Anchorage and other national hot spots to reduce youth violence.

David has been working on youth violence reduction with the tri-borough committee (Mat-Su and Kenai).

Playground clean-up and repair begins at 9 A.M. on Saturday June 28.  Bring a rake and a hammer as we will be smoothing wood chips and straightening boards.  This is an event where everyone can lend a hand.  Your participation in the playground annual maintenance & improvements is needed and welcome – 9 am June 28th & 29th

Claude Mabudu is Married to Kayissan Avajon.  They have 5 children, 2 boys, 3 girls. They join us from their native Togo where they had to leave their jobs when threatened with death by government supporters.  Claude worked for 20 years as a high school librarian and 10 years as a French teacher in Togo.  He organized and led a small political opposition party until he and his family fled the country around 2001 to Mali. In Mali he published a school newspaper (covering world news drawn from TV, radio, internet) and broadcast a radio program on literature. He started  an NGO in Mali for education. After a period of time they were granted political refugee status, enabling them to come to the United States where they were asked to locate in Anchorage.   He's completed high school and 2 additional years in library science. They are currently furthering their education at Nine Star and live in Mountain View.

On July 24th, Barbara Jacobs and Robin Bronen will talk about the Language Interpretation Service recently begun in the Anchorage area and the need for it in today’s society. They run the Alaska Immigration Justice Project.  Barb is the program manager for the Alaska Language Interpreter Center, a public/private partnership dedicated to institutionalizing an interpreter training program in Alaska for foreign and Alaska Native Languages and a referral service for agencies and businesses needing interpreters.  Robin is the executive director.