Fifth International Youth Camp on Human Rights and World Citizenship
Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2025 camp this summer! You joined us from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Mozambique, Pakistan, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain, Uganda, Ile de La Reunion, the Philippines, and the USA.
What if we told you that over thousands of years, humans have developed a deep need to connect? That we can only grow when we are connected instead of when we are apart? That the drive for closeness and friendship is as powerful as our drive for water and food? We experience physical pain when we are left out, and we are capable of understanding each other’s feelings even before someone explains them to us.
In this camp, we will explore how we have survived as a species due to our friendliness and how we have honored our interconnectedness through the development of the concept of human rights and the struggle to protect them. We will also examine some obstacles that hinder the recognition of our interconnectedness, such as prejudice, individualism, and consumerism.
Come explore these questions and more with youth from around the world!
2025 sessions are available here
Registration for our 2026 camps opens in April.
For additional information, please email: director@sjcinitiative.org
Lead Facilitators:
Adib Rabbani is the co-founder of the Social Justice Club Initiative and Just Art, and editor of Focus on Justice: Photography from Youth Around the World and See Me for Yourself: Short Stories on Justice and Human Rights. He is a junior in college, majoring in Evolutionary Biology at Columbia University in the City of New York. Adib has been facilitating social justice conversations for middle school students around the world since 2019.
Ava Aslinia is a first-year medical student at the University of Missouri Medical School. She is the founder of Blue Valley High’s Social Justice Club, program coordinator for the Social Justice Club on Zoom, and co-editor of Challenge Injustice, Let Your Words Shine! Poetry of Resistance from Youth Around the World. Ava is committed to addressing social inequalities on an international level.
Clara Rabbani has a BA in Anthropology and an MA in Environmental Anthropology from the University of Chicago. She is the co-founder of the Social Justice Club, editor of The World is Waking Up: Poetry of Resistance from Youth Around the World, and has been developing lesson plans and facilitating conversations on social justice since 2013. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry and traveling.
Lyla Moreira is a rising senior in Kansas, where she is passionate about the fine arts and her Diversity and Hispanic leadership clubs. She loves meeting new people with different backgrounds and cultures and discussing topics that most people are afraid to talk about in our society, which is why she is one of the lead facilitators for the Social Justice Club’s bi-weekly conversations with youth around the world. In Lyla’s words: “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to help lead and meet everyone participating in our camp, and I know you will have a great experience!”
Martha Rabbani is a doctor in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. She has taught in universities in the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Spain. Her teaching and research focus on Education for World Citizenship and Social Justice. She is the director of the Social Justice Club Initiative and lives in Miami, Florida.
Narra Teresa Cruz is a 16-year-old high school student in the Manila metro area, in the Philippines. She is a student leader, a varsity football player, and also an artist who draws both digitally and by hand. Narra is described by family and friends as an old soul capable of caring deeply for social issues and justice. She is active in academics and activities with friends, but she also loves quiet moments spent crocheting, reading, crafting, drawing, or communing with nature - she is very good at climbing trees!
Violeta Martínez de la Rosa lives in Mexico. She is 15 and attending her first year of high school. She participates in various contests and olympiads, working with people of different ages and backgrounds to teach and promote the values of equality, equity, and justice, both within and outside her community. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano.