On Nov. 17 at lunch in room C103, former director of the Friends of Hue’s Vietnam shelter Ai Vuang, spoke with International Youth Advancement Association members on the what made this club different from the others.

“[The officers] have been working really hard to try to formulate this club in to something super awesome and super special that will simultaneously make you guys feel like you’re…helping people all over the world and in your community,” Vuang said. “[It’s] essentially like starting a movement”.

Friends of Hue, now known as International Youth Advancement Association, invited Vuang to speak with their members. After playing an icebreaker game, Vuang gave a 25-minute-long casual speech about her personal experiences, the merits of volunteering for IYAA and what made IYAA so unique

“You never really ask yourself, ‘Why?’ [or] ‘What is the point of all this volunteering?’ because if you think about it what is you coming and…doing charity work is totally different from what this club is trying to do which is youth empowerment”, Vuang said, “[Youth empowerment] is so much more powerful because you’re taking an active role by not just giving someone soup for a day but instilling values and principles and ideas in youth the same age as you across the world or even across the street.”

After emphasizing this notion of youth empowerment, the officers also spoke on their views on what IYAA meant to them. Throughout the entire lunch period, the members listened attentively to all the speakers.

“This is your club; the club is nothing without its members and so don’t think of it as a passive club that you guys just go and lounge in,” Vuang said. “Be active in it.”