SELECTED FOR: Zabava, Informace, Poradenstvi a pomac (ZIP)
COUNTRY: Czech Republic
At 17, David Riman was hailed as the karate champion of the Czech Republic. Yet as he came to realize, being famous is no guarantee of happiness. At a classmate’s encouragement, David came to embrace the Christian faith and started to experience the inner rewards of reaching out to others. “I experienced peace,” he recalls and “realized I could use my abilities to help people.” After carrying out various community projects through a Christian youth group, David founded Zabava, Informace, Poradenstvi a pomac (Entertainment, Information, Counseling, and help, or ZIP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to meeting young people’s needs for recreational activities, skill-building, counseling, and support. Says David, “I wanted to show these young people that they are important and to give them love they don’t always get from their families. I wanted them to see that they could be a source of positive change.”