Fun with a Lasting Impact

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Quite often when people go out for fun activities they eat, drink, network and make friends. I won’t dwell much on that. The essence behind this piece is to share my experience during my first event outside Nairobi County as a Ugandan intern in WYA Africa. I am not an outdoor person; but on Saturday 12 July 2014, in Machakos People’s Park, I realized what I have been missing.

The excursion to the park was full of joy and cheer not only because of the immense beauty of the place but also because of the people we were with and the activities we did. It was great having 89 young people together – great friendships were made and networks were developed.

This reminds me of Clay Shirky’s book: How Change Happens When People Come Together. “Shirky’s thesis is that when people are given new and easy ways to come together, through email, social networking sites, wikis, and the like, then remarkable and unexpected things happen.” I believe this event gave attendees opportunities to discuss and learn from each other. We talked about trends in our communities and in the world in relation to human dignity, culture and social life.

When youth discuss topics like this, it can develop them intellectually, spiritually and financially. It can go a long way to recoup some of the versioned cultural norms and values which are essential constituents for proper functioning of our societies.

There was a great deal to be learnt. The discussion about the Kenya Reproductive Health Care Bill and WYA’s stand gave me a myriad of knowledge. I realised that young people lack the knowledge necessary for them to make informed and right decisions. I also learned that with the message of dignity, that can change. The concepts of human dignity is based on truth and values that protect and promote life.

We need such brave and bold youth who can stand to defend their culture, their societies, their life, their families, and certainly their future. There happens to be an answer to this: when youth come together and learn from each other, we can share good ideas and create networks and projects that can impact the world. With great meekness, my dear fellow youth around the world, let us make use of our immense potential and change the world.

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Sadat Kalindi is from Uganda and is currently an intern at the WYA Africa office.
If you would like to learn more about internships with the WYA Africa office, click here. Internships are also available in all other regional offices of WYA, click here for more info of all internship programs.

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