WORLD YOUTH ALLIANCE - AFRICA
UPDATES FOR YEAR 2006
Dear Friends,
The World youth Alliance - Africa office would like to wish all our members and supporters a Happy New Year. This year we will look into development, solidifying our partnership with Government officials from African Countries, solidarity and collaboration between members from different countries, certification of members and building a Culture of Life in Africa.
Please find summarized a list of activities we wish to undertake this year.
For a culture of life!
First International Youth Conference
Many of you have seen the advert on our website concerning this conference whose theme is “Joining Young people for poverty reduction and peace in Africa” at CORAT Africa, Karen, Nairobi. We would like to thank all those who took their time to apply and participate in our Essay Competition.
We received at least 150 applications from different countries. We are expecting 25 Nigerians, 12 Zambians, 15 Rwandese, 4 Tanzanians, 5 Ugandans, 1 Gambian, 1 Liberian, 1 Congolese and the rest are Kenyans. For those who won’t make it we will be updating our website regularly and you can follow the proceeding of the conference online. We will also send out a full report to all our members on what will be discussed at the conference.
President’s tour in Africa
World Youth Alliance International’s President, Anna Halpine will grace us with her presence from February 7th to February 26th 2006. She will meet all the international delegates during our conference and later tour two other African countries. Those countries include Rwanda and Nigeria. Members from these two countries will be organizing activities for her. Anna together with the Africa Regional Director Winnie Beauttah will be in Rwanda from 17th to 20th February and she will later travel to Nigeria from 22nd to 25th February 2006. If you are interested to take part in those activities you can contact esther@worldyouthalliance.org for more details.
International Solidarity Forum March 27th to March 30th 2006
Each year World Youth Alliance International organizes the International Solidarity Forum (ISF) which is part of our effort to equip young people to participate in international discussions on behalf of the dignity of the human person. This year each region has been allocated six slots. The Africa region will select only one person form every active country. So far we two people from Kenya, 3 from Nigeria, one from Rwanda and some of our affiliate organizations in Ghana and Zambia. Proceedings of the forum will be updated on our website.
World Youth Alliance - Africa Training and expansion
Solidarity is the key to development. We intend to spread and visit at least two African countries for the first time. Those countries include Gabon and Uganda. We will also visit one country which has exhibited a lot of potential for the third time, that country is Tanzania. The months we intend to visit these countries are 15th to 19th June in Uganda, 17th to 21st August in Gabon and 13th to 16th October in Tanzania. These training sessions are mainly for our members in those countries.
In-house Training and internship Program
We will continue with our in- house training starting April 24th 2006. If you need to apply for this in advance kindly contact us for an application form.
Internships are offered in our office in Nairobi and in New York. For those who wish to do their internship in New York they must first of all consult their regional office for approval. All applicants in Africa should apply to africa@worldyouthalliance.org. Individuals will be responsible for their airfare to New York. Applications are on going.
Teen program, Mother’s group and Ubuchindami reading groups
The World Youth Alliance believes that the first step in building a culture of life is to help our generation understand and articulate what that culture is. For this reason, training young people is our top priority. The teen program will involve competitive activities that will inspire thought on the dignity of the human person and communicated in creative ways. All countries are welcome to introduce this activity in their region.
It has been said, “Children are the future of society and their mothers are guardians of the future” (World Health Organization Report, 2005). Mothers are key to realizing change and influencing culture. Since mothers are so intimately concerned with raising future generations the ideas and values of mothers are primary in shaping culture. This role, though subtle, is very powerful. The World Youth Alliance recognizes this incredible contribution and has instituted a Mothers’ Group Reading list in honor of these women. The aim of this project is to bring women and mothers together, to create an opportunity for them to continue their intellectual and social education, which bears such a rich harvest for the world through their own contributions and that of their children.
“Ubuchindami” is the name given to our book program by Ellen Chanda from Zambia. “Ubuchindami” which means ‘dignity’ in Bemba, is a reading program initiated by the World Youth Alliance to help our members develop their understanding of the human person as they work to build a culture of life around the world. The list consists of diverse works from philosophy to fiction, from biography to poetry. The reading list will be sent out a month in advance to all members before a set discussion date.
Conclusion
The year is going to be full of activities and commitments. We hope to have a successful year and to share good times with all of you. Your cooperation and dedication will move us to the next level. All the best and may good things come your way this year.
World Youth Alliance - Africa
