Most people watch a movie, critique it, and then move on. For Jenna Knapp, 19, it wasn't that easy. Jenna first saw the documentary "Invisible Children" during her senior year of high school, when a college friend brought back a copy from California.

Benin is one of the poorest countries in the world, but it also has been hailed as the poster child for democracy. Between Nigeria and Togo, this western African country is about the size of Pennsylvania but has about the same number of people as Indiana -- 7.46 million. Benin has 60 ethnic groups and is the birthplace of voodoo.

The six Y-Press members who make up the Benin team are excited to tell a story about an African democracy whose future will depend upon people like them. Almost half of Benin's population is younger than 15, and none of the U.S. media heavyweights, including The New York Times and Newsweek, has written anything about it.

Though unfamiliar to Americans and home to a painful past, the West African nation of Benin quickly is becoming the center of hope in the region.

As the first African country to transition from a dictatorship to a democracy, Benin has been hailed as a "beacon of democracy" by the British Broadcasting Corp. and has attracted admirers worldwide. The Beninese have former President Mathieu Kerekou to thank for that.