December 1st, 2020 – In the year of 2020, the World Youth Alliance Latin America continued doing a great job with the youth of the region through the Certified Training Program (CTP). But, more than simply training dignity defenders, WYA’s desire is to make them reflect the value of dignity in their lives and continue WYA’s mission. WYALA proudly congratulates and introduces our five new CTP trainers.
Meet David!
David Ramírez was born in Colombia and is currently studying Law at Universidad de La Sabana. He has been interested in human dignity, theory of law and philosophy since high school at Gimnasio Campestre Cristiano. His school ignited the passion for truth and theology related topics for him.
Professionally, he has contributed with investigations and amicus curiae in cases of strategic litigation concerning voluntary interruption of pregnancy, Colombian peace process, human rights and international humanitarian law before the Colombian Constitutional Court, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, and the Interamerican Court of Human Rights.
Aside his academic and professional interests, David Felipe loves to read literature, he enjoys the fantastic stories (especially those written by C.S. Lewis) and, as a kid, played tennis. He also likes to walk for hours searching for a good place for taking a picture with a great view.
“My dream is being able to serve others by showing them their intrinsic value and their greatness, inspiring them to search for The Truth. WYA gave me the opportunity to start planting seeds in that way”, he says.
Meet Rocio!
Rocio Valdez comes from Juan E. O’leary, Paraguay, and participated in Emiliano Aiub Academic Orchestra of Ciudad del Este, playing the violin from 2015 until 2017. Currently she is culminating her Law degree at National East University. During her course, she founded the Extensionists’ Club of the Laws and Social Sciences School, the first extensionists’ club in Paraguay.
She also founded the Reader’s Circle at her hometown in 2019 as an extension project in collaboration with the National East University Laws and Social Sciences School, having around 30 participants during that year. Rocio published an academic paper at the Judiciary and Educational Magazine of the Laws and Social Sciences School with the subject on The Banking Secrecy in the Paraguayan Legislation and the Compared Laws.
She participated in WYA’s CTP course from December 2019 until July 2020 and was certified as a WYA member in August 2020. After culminating the CTP, she was accepted as a WYA trainer and is currently organizing the WYA Chapter for Paraguay.
Meet Marco!
Marco Antonio Gutierrez comes from Mexico. He studied Electronics and Communications Engineering and, currently works in a Mexican technology and consulting services company. Amongst other things, he has studied International Relations with an orientation in crisis management, which has helped him to understand people and nations’ behaviors and how ideas can permeate in society.
Marco has been involved in different youth groups with the purpose of promoting the huge capacity humanity to transform the current reality. He have contributed in rural regions and outskirts aid missions, looking after street people and youth students leadership trainings.
“I feel really excited of being part of WYA because I can develop two of my favorite personnel interests: working and developing of young people and international relations. Many times we feel that our troubles are unique and do not notice that others share the same situations and in these circumstances we need to join efforts and work together, defend our principles, rights and values that nowadays, more than ever, they are put in danger because truth is questioned and ideas that infringe human dignity are adopted”, he says.
As a participant of the CTP, he realized that it is necessary to research more and transmit this knowledge, encouraging and involving more young people with no fear to express our ideas and defend universal human values.
Meet Ximena!
Ximena Romo was born in Mexico. Currently, she is a senior in Wexford High School, in Querétaro.
She joined the Certified Training Program to become a WYA member when she was a sophomore. Recently, she became a trainer for her high school and also one of the leaders of Wexford High School WYA Club.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be part of such an amazing organization and to help others get the tools they need to advocate for the dignity of the human person”, Ximena says.
Meet Yuri!
Coming from Brazil, Yuri Rodrigues studies International Security and Strategic Studies at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. During the high school, he increased his interest in global affairs and how singular acts impact the world.
He met WYA in 2020 and applied to the Certified Training Program. He soon became a certified member. Yuri hopes to achieve integral development in order to soon contribute to society positive visions and values which centers on human dignity. He was one of the World Youth Alliance Latin America interns and developed many events for that region. Now, he advances one more step as a dignity defender by becoming a CTP Trainer.
“The Certified Training Program opened my world views and allowed me to see the world with lovely and hopeful eyes. I learned a lot with WYA and, now, I can affirm that I would be selfish if I kept only inside my head all the things and values learned through my stay with WYA. So, it is time to share and spread dignity for other people and I hope this is just one step for a great journey”, he affirms.
World Youth Alliance Latin America wishes the best for their new trainers, hoping they have a wonderful experience sharing WYA values and contributing to a better society.