Janista Lewchalermwong - MP, Don Muang, Chat Thai Party

Janista Lewchalermvongse is a Member of Parliament for Don Muang constituency in Thailand. Prior to beginning her years in politics in 2001, Janista’s looks led her to modeling stints on the cover of several women’s magazines and hosting spots on popular television talk shows. As a respectable MP today, she is passionate about her current responsibilities to the community.

Prabda Yoon - Writer/Artist

Prabda Yoon was born in Bangkok in 1973. At the age of 14, he went to the U.S.A. for his studies and remained there for 11 years.

Prabda received his BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science, New York City, in 1997, and returned to Thailand the following year. He now works in Bangkok's creative circle as writer, critic, editor, graphic designer, illustrator, painter, photographer, scriptwriter, and lyricist. His novel, written for the film 'Last Life in the Universe' (starring Tadanobu Asano, filmed by Christopher Doyle) was recently published in Japan by Sony Magazines.

Rahul Bose - Actor/Producer/Humanitarian

Rahul Bose started his acting career early, when as a boy of six he played the lead in his school play, ‘Tom, the Piper’s Son’. Ever since then his love for theatre has only grown with a prolific body of work on the Bombay stage, culminating in his last performance at the Leicester Haymarket in England where he played the lead in Tim Murari’s ‘The Square Circle’. His film career took off with the unprecedented success of his first film, ‘English, August’, today a cultish favourite amongst cinephiles. Acclaim followed for his work in movies like ‘Split Wide Open’ (Best Actor, Singapore Film Festival, 2000), Mr. And Mrs. Iyer, and ‘Jhankaar Beats’ – all international award-winning films. Although ‘Thakshak’ and ‘Chameli’ may be considered to be more mainstream his image as India’s premier actor of the alternative cinema finds concurrence across the world. ‘Time’ magazine called him ‘the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema’ while ‘Maxim’ (Italy), ‘the Sean Penn of Oriental cinema’.

In a piquant twist to the tale, Rahul is also on the national Rugby team, having represented India for the past six years. If he owes that part of his life to the encouragement given to him at the Cathedral School in Bombay, his social concerns have more to do with his exposure to his extensive travels by road, rail, water and air, across India. Today his primary areas of focus are communal harmony and gender equality. He has lectured at Oxford on the former, written extensively about the issue and now regularly works with over 120 boys and girls of all religions as part of an initiative created by ‘Akshara’ a Bombay-based NGO. He is on the advisory board of ‘Breakthrough’, a New York-based NGO committed to gender equality and human rights. He has lectured on the same at the World Youth Peace Summit last year.

An advertising professional (at 26, he was creative director of Rediffusion D,Y &R) who chucked it all up to become a full time actor, Rahul wrote and directed his first feature film, ‘Everybody Says I’m Fine!’ for which he won an Honourable Mention, The John Schlesinger Award for Best Debut Feature Film, at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2003. The film also garnered a Gold Award at the WorldFest in Houston. The first English language film out of India to attract (non-Asian) American theatrical distribution, ‘…I’m Fine!’ is set to release in New York on September 1, 2004.

Vivek Oberoi - Actor/Humanitarian

Vivek Oberoi was born in Mumbai, India on September 3, 1976 and then attended the Mayo college in Ajmer. At an actors' workshop in London he was spotted by the director of NYU who whisked Vivek off to New York City to complete his Masters Degree in film acting. Returning to India, Vivek worked as scriptwriter and bought his first car with the money he made from that. Oberoi's big break came when noted filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma offered him a role in his gangster flick, Company (2002). From there his career blossomed as a Bollywood star.

Vivek is also an active humanitarian and is involved in a variety of charitable causes. He is the WHO’s anti-tobacco spokesman and he is actively involved in a home in Chennai for retarded and abandoned girls as well as a center in Bombay for juvenile delinquents. Since the devastating tsunami, he has been involved, through Project Hope (see www.projecthope-tsunami.com) in short term and long term relief for thousands of villagers in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Project Hope’s work began in Devanampattinam, district Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu and has expanded to village Pattinchari, Pondicherry. His visit to the tsunami affected areas had a tremendous impact on him and he worked tirelessly. One of his volunteers quoted "I know what actors are like. [Oberoi] is the purest, most pious, most selfless person I've ever worked with."

Vivek Oberoi was recently honoured with the 'Good Samaritan Award' by Rotary International district 3230 along with another special award in the category of Social Acts of Courage for his work during the tsunami tragedy.

Vivek is also a deeply spiritual person and travels frequently to his Guru’s ashram in Rishikesh to pray at the Ganga Aarti, sit on the banks of the Ganges and spend time with the young, poor, disadvantaged boys whom the ashram has adopted into the Gurukul.

Akiyoshi Tanaka - Writer/Poet

Akiyoshi Tanaka was born in 1970 in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

While studying in the Policy and Management Department at Keio Gijuku College as a freshman, he won the 36th Kadokawa "Tanka" Poetry Award. Tanaka started to write as an undergraduate student, and has published books from Kadokawa Shoten, Kodansha, PHP Kenkyujo, Bunshu Nesuko, Tokyo Shinbun Publishers, etc. In 2001, he was elected as a WＡFＵNIF Goodwill Ambassador. He has participated in UN programs in New York, Thailand, South Africa, Canada, Belgium, and other countries.

Along with being the WYPS Youth Ambassador for Japan, he presently chairs the promoting committee for "Earth's Forest Project," run by FGPE (Foundation for Global Peace and Environment) and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme).

Muhamed Mešiæ - Council member, Tuzla City Council

Born August 8^th, 1984, in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Completed primary and secondary education in Tuzla, at present studying at the School of Law of the University of Vienna, specializing in International Law and International Relations, with an elective minor in East Asian Studies/Japanese

Fluent in (apart from the Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian mother tongue) English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Romanian, Slovak and Dutch; communication skills in Japanese, Hungarian, Albanian, Basque, Polish, Catalan, Finnish, Galician, Czech, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Slovene; limited communication skills in Arabic, Scottish-Gaelic, kiSwahili, Estonian, Breton, Hebrew, Bahasa Indonesia, Icelandic, Latvian, Greek and Turkish, and several other languages, emphasizing minority and unofficial or endangered languages

Nominated Youth Ambassador for Europe of the World Youth Peace Summit at the European Youth Peace Summit, Sarajevo, May 2004

Since February 2001, Advisor to the Mayor of Tuzla – at the time youngest single member of a local government body in Europe; running for city councillor as second-in-list at the October 2004 elections

Member of the editing board of the Atlas of the Twentieth Century, the largest post-war educational publishing project in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Project advisor and/or coordinator on several projects, including the Eurocities South-East Europe City Network (headquartered in Nis, Serbia-Montenegro); European Young Leaders Conference Stronger Together (organized by the North Lanarkshire Council, Scotland, UK); Workgroup on the European Charter on Human Rights in Cities (chaired by Venice Municipality, Italy); Direct Election of Mayors project of the Centre for Civil Initiatives (coordinated from Mostar, Bosnia); Coexistence and co-understanding (EU-Youth funded exchange network); various other projects of local and regional importance, experience

First Chairman and Co-founder of the Students’ council at our school (Gradjevinska Skola Tuzla), one of the first two in the region, awarded a special project prize by the Danish Democracy Fund (Demokratifonden)

Participant and award-winner of several national and international competitions in computer science, astronomy, math, physics, literature, theatre and music; awarded an Achievements Award (Leistungsstipendium) for results at the University of Vienna and several other awards of local and regional importance (such as Teenager of the year, 2001)

At present, working with the grassroots Tuzla Youth (Mladi Tuzle) Association

Catherine Constantinides - Editor, SA Fusion Magazine/Environmentalist/Runs many youth, community, and social upliftment projects in South Africa/Miss Earth South Africa 2003

Catherine has always been a special girl, and has made a difference in every sphere of her young life. Since she was 13-years old, she has been actively involved in community, social and youth upliftment projects all over the country. Those who know her, describe Catherine as a young woman with brains, beauty and a heart of gold.

Catherine has represented South Africa at several international competitions during 2001, in both the US and Europe. She has contributed to charitable functions and drives for almost her whole life, and decided to establish her very-own African Renaissance Project in 2000, which is a foundation, which aids the quadriplegic association as well as helping to alleviate child poverty in many areas. She had the privilege and honour of meeting Mr Nelson Mandela, a moment in her life that she will never forget. She said, “You sit with a man of his stature and his credibility and you know how much he has done not only for our country but for mankind. You have to sit back and realise that he was a man with a vision and a dream and he never gave up on all the things he believed in. We are creating our own culture and brand as a multi-cultural country. We have so much to offer the world, and this is just the beginning. It is up to us to reach the outer boundaries of ourselves and to make a difference. In the wilderness, young are nurtured, so they can go forth and continue the cycle of nature. The most significant creation in nature is the human child. And that is what has suffered the greatest casualties in Africa – the human child.”

And this is where Catherine Constantinides’ passion lies, in the development and growth of children throughout Africa and the world. Especially young women, equipping them with skills and information to make a difference within their own communities. She quotes:

“Don’t ask what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, then go and do that. Because what the world needs is for people to come alive”  J. Eldridge

Over the past four years, Catherine has hosted events, been actively involved in charity drives, national fundraisers, and was nominated as an Honorary Member of the Quadriplegic Association and is Patron of the Shangri-La Quadriplegic Self Help Centre for her active involvement with the association.

Last year, Catherine launched her very own magazine, SA Fusion, which focuses on the entertainment, performing arts, music and modelling industries. Her aim is to bring to the fore South African artistic talent, as well as bring exposure to some of the country’s most pressing issues.

Catherine won the title of Miss Earth South Africa 2003, where she has been actively involved in several environmental and social upliftment activities. She has become an ambassador for environmental awareness and projects such as The Endangered Wildlife Trust, Eco-Access, Jane Goodall Institute and wildlife endangered rehab centres.

Her mission statement is to “Teach our people, and more importantly, our children, to care and protect our world’s natural environment. We must teach and illustrate this value, so that they can understand their role and responsibility in preserving what has become our endangered heritage. I hope to be instrumental in standing up as a proud South African and taking on my responsibility towards the environment.”

“My roots are planted deep in the Heart of Africa and the African drums beat deep within My Soul!” Catherine Constantinides