Sunday 28 August 2011 was the opening day of the 4th YIP Year. 36 YIP-ies were welcomed by Organizers, the Järna community, and 22 YIP Alumni. Five additional YIP-ies had not yet arrived, making the total number of participants 41.

You'll find recordings of the speeches further down.

"We want you to jump!"

After a short introduction by Rose Nekvapil (Organizer, Australia), Pieter Ploeg (Netherlands) went on stage. He spoke on be half of the organizing team. He is also a YIP Alumnus, having attended YIP 2009–2010.

Pieter talked about how it is to be a YIP Participant, and the Organizers role. He quoted YIP Alumna Joana Bettocci of YIP 2008–2009, saying: "YIP is like a trampoline – you can jump and reach for the stars, and when falling down, it will catch you." "On behalf of the Organizing team", he added, "We will catch you if you fall, but we want you to jump."

Rembert Biemond (originally from The Netherlands) spoke on behalf of the Board of Kulturcentrum Järna, the YIP Campus. He talked about how good forces always seem to gather to help you when you have a good initiative.

YIP Alumni are not alone

YIP has very active and supporting Alumni. Zuhayra Nordien (South Africa) went to YIP 2009–2010, and held a speech on behalf of the YIP Alumni. She said the Participants mean a lot to the Alumni, and told about how she found YIP.

"I felt an urgency to change the way the world is going," she said, and noted that many people have this call to change. "I thought I was alone, but after being at YIP, I know I'm not."

After reading a poem, Zuhayra called the other 21 YIP Alumni present, to come on stage. Together, they sang a song.

New YIP-ies on stage

After a great applause, Rose Nekvapil asked this year's participants to come on stage, and together with Pieter Ploeg, Sussie Hansen (Organizer, Sweden), read out their names.

On the way out the door, to Fika and Barbecue, the participants lined up and were greeted by the others present.