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.

"Most intriguing about the country, to me, was the fact that it was so successful democratically," said Keisha Mitchell, who came up with the idea to report from Benin. "Successful governments and African nations usually are not synonymous with one another, especially when reading mainstream American media."

Y-Press members decided to propose this trip to Benin more than a year ago.

The Indianapolis youth news bureau traditionally produces an in-depth reporting project each year. Teams have reported from such places as Russia and Hong Kong, as well as from the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

A tough decision

The Benin trip was one of two proposals submitted for 2006. The other was a trip to Western Europe to interview Roma youth.

The two proposal teams submitted the ideas at the December 2005 storyboard meeting, a monthly gathering at which Y-Press members consider possible stories and vote on which they want to do.

Each team presented a lengthy proposal packet, which included preliminary questions, background on the geographic area, and logistics such as destination cities they would visit, possible fundraising sources, sources for interviews, and travel expenses.

After reading through these packages, the 120 members of Y-Press voted, but the results were too close to proclaim a winner.

Whenever this happens at Y-Press, each team puts together an even more extensive proposal package, at least half of which consists of research about the region.

Zoe Hayes and Jonathan Gainer worked on the Roma youth proposal. Though it wasn't chosen, they said they learned a lot.

"The most rewarding part of putting together a travel proposal, for me, was an increased interest and identification with a culture and society that I really didn't know very much about," Zoe said.

Two Y-Press board members and two staff members listened to both presentations, studied the proposals, and ultimately chose the Benin team.

"When I found out that our proposal had been chosen, I was very, very happy and excited," said Keisha Mitchell. "I felt satisfied knowing that what I wanted to write about was important to others, too."

Extensive preparations

The next phase involved picking the team's six reporters and editors. Any Y-Press member could apply, but each was required to have a volunteer record of at least eight hours a month with Y-Press, an application and parental permission.

The chosen Benin team began to meet regularly, sent letters to potential donors and learned more about this small democracy in West Africa.

The team planned to be frugal with lodging and food, but still figured they needed $25,000, the majority of that amount for plane tickets. A round trip to Benin costs about $2,300 per person, which is twice the average annual income of a Benin citizen.

A dream delayed

"In fundraising, I learned that it's very important to think big and think positive," Zoe said.

The original goal was to travel to Benin last July, but when the team couldn't raise enough money in time, members decided to shoot for October, during fall break. In the meantime, the team secured passports, visas and prescription for malaria pills, and also endured several shots against diseases like yellow fever.

One team member, Jessika Officer, noted how much she's learned just in the planning part of the trip. Patience and sticking to deadlines was critical. "It taught me that follow-through was the key," she said.

She's also worked to be a good team player with the other five teens, all from different backgrounds and schools. "We all have different styles of learning and communicating, and understanding that took a lot of patience too."

On Oct. 4, donations came in that put them over the top.

The team members were ecstatic. Jonathan hollered out "Yes!" with a raised fist; Jessika started thinking over some of the questions she would finally get to ask, and Chris Reissaus, usually pretty mellow and easygoing, jumped up and down.

After hours, days and months of presentations, research and dozens of interviews, Elisabeth Randall was thrilled to get the good news.

"I was ready to board a plane to Benin then and there," she said.

But she and the rest of the team also knew they had to get even more serious over the next 16 days as they finished setting up interviews, travel, lodging and all the other steps that come with a 10-day trip to a developing country.

Curiosity, flags and chalk

Team members are traveling with open minds and hearts, Indianapolis flags and lots of chalk.

That's because Benin's children use slates and chalk for school lessons. The Y-Press team member watched a video about a young Beninese school girl who almost quit school because she didn't have any chalk.

Team members decided that providing kids a basic tool for school seemed like the right kind of goodwill gesture, given that the children were sharing their stories and dreams with the Y-Press team to bring back to America.

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Alesha Peterson, 16.

REPORTER: Keenen Brannon, 12.