Hello everyone!
2024 has been an incredible year for the HAEi Youngsters’ Community! We have met more often, whether in-person or through online connections, leading to a stronger community than ever before.
Such a lot has happened; it is hard to pick out some highlights, but here goes…
We started the year with a successful Youngsters’ track at the 2024 HAEi Regional Conference Americas in Panama!
9 young people from across the globe have taken the reins of @haeiyoungsters on Instagram as part of the HAEi Youngsters’ Community Social Media Internship Program. Their ideas and fresh perspectives made our content more interesting and relatable than ever. Thank you to all of our wonderful interns. You have done a fantastic job!
We had the privilege of celebrating hae day :-) as a community, with everyone sharing how they marked the day. An HAEi Youngsters’ Community selfie challenge was a lot of fun, and we saw familiar and new faces from every corner of our community.
In June, we welcomed 2 new members to the HAEi Youngsters’ Advisory Group (YAG): Ania from Poland and Winona from South Africa, who have already made a huge impact.
A big project for 2024 was our new podcast, HAE – Let’s Talk. Here, we dive deep into life, adventures, advocacy, and HAE in a way that has resonated with many of you. If you want to be involved, share your story, or read/listen more – head to the Youngsters’ website https://youngsters.haei.org/ to explore the podcast. New episodes are coming soon!
Looking forward, we’re gearing up for an exciting LEAP Program 2025 after disastrous weather in Dubai ruined plans for LEAP in April this year. We offered all LEAP 2024 students the opportunity to hold their place for 2025, and in September, we opened the process for new applications for 2025. The response has blown us away! We are beyond excited to share more with you and kick off LEAP 2025 very soon.
The YAG was part of the 2024 HAEi Global Leadership Workshop (GLW). And, alongside Debs (who supports us on LEAP), I took the stage to discuss all the exciting projects for youngsters. There were meetings with Member Organization leaders from around the globe, which will lead to great collaborations in the year ahead.
The future looks bright, and we’re so excited for all that 2025 will bring, not least the return of Nevena in the new year. There’s so much to get stuck into; we’re always keen to hear from everyone in our community.
For those celebrating the forthcoming holidays, please have a wonderful, restful time. We’ll see you all in the new year!
Best wishes
Victoria
A special message from our YAG:
Dear Youngster!
May 2025 be a year filled with hope, strength, and beautiful shared moments. May health, joy, and love always accompany you. May you find reasons to smile every day, pursue dreams that inspire you, and feel the support of a community that stands by your side. Together, we can achieve anything!
We look forward to sharing more exciting experiences and seeing you all again soon.
Let’s make 2025 truly incredible!
With all our best wishes,
The HAEi Youngsters’ Advisory Group
Still haven’t joined the HAEi Youngsters’ Community?
The HAEi Youngsters’ Community is free to join and is open to young people with HAE, family members, caregivers, and friends who are part of their country’s HAE MO and are between 12 and 25 years old.
>> Head over to our website, youngsters.haei.org, and join us ☺