Newsroom

January 2007

New Orleans , LA

Youth Leaders Breathe New Life into New Orleans

"You just gotta laugh." In difficult times, laughter is the perfect medicine for life. It heals, lightens, opens doors, and brings joy. Since Hurricane Katrina, the International Association for Human Values (IAHV), an international non-profit NGO, has been inspiring and inciting laughter by offering a free trauma and stress relief workshop called Breath Water Sound.

The course is a five-day escape from everyday stress. Participants learn powerful breathing techniques to calm the mind and deal with negative emotions. For every emotion there is a corresponding rhythm of the breath. Anger is associated with fast, shallow breaths, while happiness is linked with longer deeper breaths. One can use the breath to clear away negative emotions. With negative emotions gone, laughter returns, making way for a happier New Orleans.

Through their Youth Leadership Training Program (YLTP), IAHV has empowered youth to become community activists by training them to teach the Breath Water Sound course. YLTP Director, Bill Herman, said that the program is best described by the following statement: “If given the tools to see clearly, young people have the vision to do something positive in their communities. They also have the energy to translate their vision into action. What they don’t have is the support that an organization provides. YLTP creates a platform for youth to make a difference in their own world.”  A graduate of the New Orleans summer 2006 program stated that YLTP instilled a “renewed trust in humanity and a great desire to be of service to and for others.”

These youth leaders have teamed up with organizations and taught courses all over the city. For example, IAHV has worked with everyone from Common Ground and the Woodlands Housing Project to the Ashe Cultural Center and Whitney Bank. Some other examples of IAHV’s activities since Katrina include creating fun, safe, healing programs for kids in museums, community centers, and housing projects; helping to implement human values based education in schools; and providing a burnout prevention program for other volunteer organizations. One participant of the trauma relief programs said, “The course gave me much more than I expected. I was able to feel free and relaxed. I was able to find some peace where I had none. I had a feeling of peace, greater awareness, and relaxation: something I didn’t think I would feel again.”

In the month of February, IAHV is hosting a symposium for leaders of New Orleans to work together towards creating a violence-free stress-free society. In the next few months, the International Association for Human Values will partner with local youth empowerment organizations to create the largest ever Youth Leadership Training Program in the world. In addition to bringing out light and laughter by teaching Breath Water Sound, these youth leaders will hold a benefit concert to inspire and empower youths to lead stress-free, violence-free lives. Held in the Superdome, this event will feature national hip-hop artists and demonstrate practical tools for dealing with everyday stress, while communicating the overall message that a healthy, non-violent community starts with individual change. 

For more information about our programs or to have a course at your organization or workplace please contact the IAHV New Orleans center at 504.994.4990 or visit www.iahvneworleans.org.

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