First Youth Forum Chang Ji Ji
On Thursday afternoon, 8th of July, 2010, we organized the first youth forum in Chang Ji Ji Youth Centre. 17 Boys from 14 to 23 years old participated. I held a brief introduction, in which I also explained the group why we hang around a lot in Chang Ji Ji these days and what I my self and Meinou do during our stay in the area. To get some input from the group for the sports program we wanted to have a discussion about their wishes for facilities they would like to have access too and activities they would like to participate in.
We made four groups and Kezang, Tandin, Tashi and I each joined one of the groups for a brainstorm session about ideas, suggestions and wishes. Meanwhile Meinou observed the groups at work. We realised that most of the boys were not really used to having a voice. It took some time, but after a while they came up with some interesting ideas. After half an hour we gathered all the ideas mentioned and wrote them all down .
We finished the afternoon by asking who was willing to make a contribution to realize some of the suggestions and ideas brought forward. Most of the youth were actually keen to help, with for example painting the rooms or joining as a referee at the sports games.
Tashi, manager of the youth centre, was very happy with the results of this afternoon. It was a first small step to gather a group of young people form Chang Ji Ji, to listen to them and now we already have a group of volunteers. Next week we will continue and try to make the roles more specific and see who fits in where best. We have really started: youth in Chang Ji Ji are participating in the program!
Mark Blankwater
