The 2010 Anyuak’s Youth Achievement Awards were presented recently at post graduation celebration party in Calgary, Canada to honor the accomplishments of the Anyuak's most inspiring and dedicated youth members.
GCAC applauded the award recipients, but also took the opportunity to issue a challenge to Anyuak youth around the globe. The time has come to integrate Anyuak’s youth society in to world community.
For all youth out there, start pulling up your pants, be brave, focus, get education wherever you are and invest your knowledge and time to your community. The Anyuak’s youth Association of Canada is one of the most powerful and well orgianized among Anyuak’s youth community around the world and will continue to lead throughout Anyuak’s land for our future leadership.
Imagine a future where every young person has the tools, the ability, and the desire to change the world. As thousands of youth continue to doubt how they can positively affect change, it is up to community to infuse a sense of social responsibility in the impressionable minds that will become the caretakers of tomorrow.
Community, teachers, parents, and family value are effective tools and resources to make the most of every opportunity to reach out to youth and expand their capacity for service and leadership.
Every young person is filled with potential for leadership to promote positive change, but young people need adults to help them fully realize their power.
Youth power. Why would this matter to a community that is trying to be sustainable? What benefits are there in having youth power or activism? When discussing a sustainable community a few key ingredients are necessary. Involvement of youth and including them in the many decision-making processes of community is important for any community that wishes to be sustainable. The principles of equality and ensuring that everyone, including the youth, has a voice in the community should be a priority. The youth of the community are the next generation of leaders, if they are not included in the community when they are young, they may not stay in the community to be the leaders of the future.
The value of youth power or participation in a community can be seen in the perspectives that they bring to the table. Much of the time, youth see issues from another angle and are less afraid to tackle an issue that is important to them. Young people also have a better grasp of the reality of the community as it is represented in school since schools are representative of the community they serve. With this view, the youth can answer questions relating to education better than most other people in the community.
Another point to note about youth power within a community is that the youth are the future leaders of the community. When you engage them from young age and encourage that they actively participate, the community will benefit in the long run from the attachment that the youth have developed to the community.
One of the concerns may be how to create an atmosphere where the youth want to get involved. Or, conversely, a community may already have a group of youth that want to be involved but the community does not want to include them. These are concerns that hopefully will be addressed by the resources in this section. It is important to remember, however, that all communities are unique. What works in one community may not work in another. The best way to get the youth involved in the community is to ask them what they think about the community and listen when they respond. In this section, you will find case studies on organizations that are trying actively to involve the youth, indicators of youth power and activism and a list of resources both governmental and non-governmental.
