Read the stories of the Youth NGO members we met, in order to take a different look at their country of origin and at young people.
Within the scope of its strategic plan for Mali, USAID has defined access to ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) as a primary objective: the spreading of telecommunications and especially the Internet is a way to markedly increase the country's rate of development. From an economic standpoint, the Internet could help achieve more transparency in trade, and decrease communications costs for every party involved. Information Technologies could also make up for the lack of libraries, make bureaucracy easier, and open the country to the rest of the world.
Kader Keita is one of these people who have turned their life into a challenge. Suffering from a disability because of which he cannot walk, he became passionate about drawing very young, before dropping out of high school to enroll in Bamako's National Arts' Institute. As dedicated as he was to painting, Kader discovered a second vocation during his studies : he had to travel a long way to go to school, and every day, he was filled with emotion as he saw how the many street children lived their lives.
What could be more important for a country’s development than its children’s education? Could the media provide more effective learning tools than schools? Those are the questions that led Marie Ka, a young Senegalese filmmaker, to work on alternative educational methods, accessible to all. To fulfill her mission, she created her own organization in 2005; however, she decided to become a social entrepreneur, rather than to create an association, which she thought would have limited her actions. So it is with her production company Picture Box that she is preparing the release of an educational DVD for children from six to twelve years old. A fascinating project, especially since it grew from a rather unique path.
They were about forty young people, standing, gathered in a circle in the middle of the room; they were singing, sometimes dancing, and thus ended their morning meeting in happiness, filles with energy and motivation. Who were they? They were the young sales representatives of NDAAM Distribution, a distribution and marketing agency with a social spirit, created three years ago by Chérif Basse, then 24 years old. He opened the doors to this innovating organization and explained how it works for the promotion of youth.
The UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) is an international organization that takes into account the demographics of every country in order to promote youth's and women's rights, particularly in the field of reproductive health. In 2003, the UNFPA entered a partnership with several Moroccan ministries in the “Youth for Youth” program, in order to create a participatory environment to help Moroccan youth develop. In this context, we wished to meet Imane, Hind and Tima: all three worked for the Advisory Youth Council, a youth organization that depends on the Moroccan branch of the UNFPA. Their commitment, however, reaches far beyond the UNFPA: our interviews revealed the connected paths of three volunteers aged between 23 and 25, who have been confronted to many development issues in Morocco.
Casablanca, Moroccos famous economic capital, is unfortunately also known for its many slums, where more than 80 000 families now live. Among these, Zaraba is in a very difficult position. The neighborhood is indeed enclaved in the center of triangle made of railroad tracks that the inhabitants have to cross to get out of the slum: no bridge has ever been built over the tracks, and the only tunnel has become the home base of a few delinquents who scare women, children and elderly people. The hard living conditions are made even harder by the isolation, and by the frequent accidents on the tracks, that kill three people each year.
The story of Youth Action Nepal begins in 2003, when five students in Kathmandu, aware of the vulnerable political, economic and social situation in Nepal, decided to create their own youth organization. Their goal was not only to share their knowledge, but also to make up for a flaw in the communities’ development strategies: among the many NGO and local associations in Nepal, none seemed to specifically address the topic of youth as a means of development. The country certainly enjoyed a long tradition of youth committing to local life, during road constructions or school maintaining projects for example; however, in 2003, no NGO was present on the field to coordinate or federate these initiatives, and ensure their success.
Experts concur that Nepal is at the moment in a political and economic dead-end. The armed struggle with the Maoists, going on for more than 10 years, and the current regime’s instability, give very few development opportunities to this mainly rural country, where many villages stay isolated because of the lack of communications and transport. A large part of the population seems to think the same, especially the youth: Kathmandu, the country’s nerve center and only metropolis, attracts young people from all regions... when they don’t prefer to try their luck abroad.
The Youth Parliament was a dream at first, Ishita Chaudhary’s dream. In 2002, at 18, she witnessed, horror-stricken, the violent riots in Godhra, opposing hindous and muslims, as well as the opposition to change and the intolerance that ”adults” cultivate: still a teenager, she became aware of the lack of debate and reflexion that eats away at the Indian society. A few months later, she was invited to speak up for her generation at the annual social summit of the Indian Industrial Confederation. Aware of the scope of her responsibility, she made rather damning accusations, denouncing the lack of liberty and opportunities that youth have to face, the lack of interest that is given to their reflexion even within the school system, and the lack of information that prevents youth from making their own life decisions...
Clinging to our clothes, hanging on our backs or stuck in front of our camera lens… There were only about twenty of them, but our presence was enough to give an impressive boost of energy to these children we had come to see during one afternoon, south of New-Delhi. They were street children who usually spent their days among the cars, selling various items to the drivers or simply begging. We had not expected that our interview with the members of the NGO Steps For Change would bring us right to a lilltle parc next to the crossroads where these children ”worked”.
For twenty-odd years, China has both fascinated and worried the outside world with its sustained economic growth. Still, the country has its share of development issues. The most well known is of course the growing disparities between the very poor provinces of the West, and the East Coast. Another one, less pointed out in the media, concerns students in the Eastern provinces who have a hard time finding a job in the region upon graduation.
AIESEC, created 56 years ago, is the world’s largest student organisation, present in 800 universities and 90 countries. It aims to be an international platform for young people who want to develop their potential and have a positive impact in society. That is why AIESEC organises, thanks to its alumni network and contacts in every country, exchange programmes and internships abroad, international seminars, and meetings with professionals, in order to let members as well as other students cultivate new competencies. These guidelines are followed by every member organisation in the world. However, local offices are free to give their work a particular orientation… as has the Saint-Petersburg office, of which we met the 22 year-old outgoing president Alexey Solotov.
In Germany, Poland and Latvia, the National Youth Councils had been very helpful to us in our search for contacts and our interviews. However, we had never had the opportunity to really grasp their organisation, often quite complex: a National Youth Council is not an NGO per se but more of a link between the country’s youth NGOs and the national authorities. That is why we were very happy when the opportunity came up to converse with Toomas, 25, who has, for the last three years, been working with ENL, the Estonian National Youth Council.
As the general elections were coming up in March 2007, the Estonian parliamentary democracy was about to celebrate its 16th birthday. The current president, Mr Toomas Ilves, is a former member of the European parliament and a former Foreign Secretary: educated after the independence, he embodies the aspirations of a new generation that has not known the communist regime and that is resolutely turned towards a European future.
In Estonia, the development of psychology was hindered for a long time due to the constraints of the Soviet regime. A large number of practitioners even fled to the United States in order to be able to practice freely. The right to form an association was also limited and, consequently, the EPSA (Estonian Psychology Students’ Association) was created only in 1992.
In Latvia, legend has it that a plant called “Papardes” is a source of sexual energy to anyone able to pick its flower, which blooms in the summer. If the doctors and teachers who founded Papardes Zieds in 1994 chose that name (literally, Papardes’ flower), it was thus to demystify the field of sexuality in a country that had suffered from many taboos under the Stalinist regime.
Rolands, Ruuta and Parsla: the three members of MYSTYLe art that we met, all aged between 21 and 24, perfectly represent their country. Riga, the Latvian capital city where we conducted our interviews, struck us on the very first day as a place of extravagant architecture and customs, in rapid transition since the fall of the Soviet Union. And the three young Latvians that we interviewed in a bar named “I love you” were just as surprising and energetic.
Whatever Pawel Makowiecki does, he always seems to glow with incredible passion and enthusiasm. As soon as we met, on our first day in Poland, this twenty-five-year-old took us on a very original and yet inspiring guided tour of Warsaw, every one of his words revealing his deep attachment to his country and its history. Later on, our admiration couldn’t but strengthen as we learned about his social commitment.
Alexandra, Anka, Monika and Alina are the four sweet and smiling young women we met in Warsaw, all members of the PONTON Group of Peer Educators. Appearances are deceptive, though: there is more than meets the eye with these women, and exceptional strength and willfulness show through their activities. The NGO PONTON, run by about twenty students, 20 to 30 years old, aims to compensate for the lack of sexual education available for Polish youth, in a country where taboos on this subject are still strong.
Orange, green, yellow… the stripes decorating Charlot Ebert’s purse and stockings when we met were as colorful and happy as she is herself. Later, having lunch at her place, we discovered that even the walls in her room are painted in stripes! This nineteen-year-old Berliner’s good mood only compares with her dynamism. Indeed, if we met it is because she works at the headquarters of one of the biggest German youth NGOs, Servicestelle Jugendbeteiligung or SJB. At 16, Charlot decided to go to South Africa and spent a whole school year there, staying with an African family. This trip opened her eyes to the current social reality and she decided to join an NGO as soon as she came back to Germany, in order to commit herself to the world she lived in. Now enrolled at the university, she juggles her Area Studies for Asia and Africa with her work within SJB, which makes up for all her spare time. What, then, is this work all about?
It’s hard to talk about Marc Ludwig without being effusive in one’s compliments. Marc is only 21, and yet he seems to be involved in more projects and organizations than a 50-year-old activist! He’s the founder of the Human Rights Youth NGO Schrei fuer dein Recht, as well as the leader of Netzcheckers (see previous articles), a member of Germany’s Youth Council, a former activist for Amnesty International…
In German, Juckreiz means itch... but it's also the name of a newspaper entirely managed by Berlin young people, which tackles environmental and political issues. We had the opportunity to interview its editor in chief, Lex, who immediately threw light on the choice of this name: the aim of the newspaper is to provoke young people to lead them to action (to scratch themselves basically).
Only a few hours after arriving in Berlin, we had the opportunity to attend a meeting of the organization Netzcheckers. There we met Marc, Fabian, Sascha and Paul, aged from 14 to 22, and all incredibly motivated.
Netzcheckers has a quite complicated status : it was founded 10 years ago by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior citizenship, Women and Youth, and since then it has always been under the responsibility of IJAB (International Youth Exchange and Visitors' Service of the Federal Republic of Germany). Its aim is to strengthen young people's media literacy and help them manage local projects. At the beginning, the group was lead by IJAB employees, but these soon understood that the organization would be far more efficient and would better answer young people's needs if it was managed by youth. For the last 2 years, Netzcheckers has thus been led by a group of 25 young people coming from every part of Germany.
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