Problems and Solutions
- The teenage years are an exciting time, full of learning, new opportunities and new experiences. Young people are enthusiastic, creative and open to new ideas. Some enjoy their teenage years to the full while others can’t.
- Changes in the economy, society and technology, mean that young people have more opportunities than previous generations. Yet, most don’t have access to these opportunities and therefore cannot take full advantage of them. Working hard and succeeding at school or going on to study at a tertiary institute, is not a high priority for most because there is no guarantee of jobs. The divide between the fortunate few that have access to the internet and mobile phones (which has revolutionised the way young people interact, communicate and get information) is ever increasing. The vast majority still barely have access to good books.
- The vast majority of young people often show no interest in finding a resolve to the issues of the day such as climate change, poverty, sexual abuse, etc, as this does not feature on their list of “importance”. A small group do get involved as volunteers and help in the community, but are inadequately equipped to do so.
- EYM firmly believes that we can bring about a positive mind-set change, through our early interaction, providing/creating more opportunities and building the support structures and mechanisms required to assist with the successful role out of our programs. We believe that the right balance needs to be struck between a young person’s rights and responsibilities, and in us as a society, appreciating the enormous contribution that young people can make whilst expecting them, in return, to appreciate and respect the opportunities available to them.
- Our approach recognises that parents and religious organisations are the strongest influences in young people’s lives. However, research shows that not all parents and religious organisations understand and take serious the role they have to play.
The big question is: How do we meet these challenges?
Our focus is on teenagers. We want to train youth workers who can be relevant, innovative and creative. Epic Youth Matters seeks to formulate a new strategy for providing opportunities, challenges and support to leaders of young people. Our vision is to identify and understand young people’s needs and help youth workers become effective in their outreach
E ngage more young people in positive activities and empower them to shape the services they receive
P rovide more avenues for young people to volunteer and become involved in their communities
I nform, advise and guide young people to help them make informed choices about their lives; and
C are for youth workers so they in turn can help the other youth
Our approach is based on these underpinning principles:
Making youth workers more responsive to what young people and their parents want.
Balancing greater opportunities and support whilst promoting a youngsters role & responsibilities.
Offering services to youth workers that is more innovative, creative, efficient and effective improving outcomes for all young people, while narrowing the gap between those who do well and those who do not find resources and make them available to youth workers in order to increase effectiveness and achieve the best outcome.
Project Description and Objectives:
EYM is passionate on developing training and resources as tools to achieve our aims. As an organisation geared to work with and among young people across a diverse social and cultural spectrum, our methods are innovative, interactive and development-centred. In addition, we have follow-up strategies and methods for reinforcing and ensuring practice and use of information and materials presented.
The YLEAD Programme has as its key objective the training and development of youth workers, through a series of programmes and resources
Our aim:
1.To present training programmes to youth and youth workers working with youth between the ages of 10 to 18 in the area of creativity innovation and relevance.
2. To assist youth and youth workers to develop a values based approach and to assist youth to choose that set of values which will most likely assist them in daily life.
3. To assist youth and youth workers to equip youth in negotiation and communication skills, through the promotion of a positive attitude to life as a realistic and responsible option.
4. To assist youth and youth workers to discover options in programmes and methods and refer them to other sources of help.
5. To show youth and youth workers the effective ways to reach out in compassion and community service motivating young people to check their attitudes and become part of the force that will care and bring about transformation.
6. To assist youth and youth workers to equip young people to influence their peers by their behavior.
7. To train youth and youth workers to involve many young adults from the community as facilitators, this in turn will have an influence in the broader community
Programmes On Offer:
- AN EPIC JOURNEY- Life Orientation programmes addressing relevant issues young people face for schools.
- Y-MOH – Healing, restoration and empowerment for boys to prevent them from choosing to respond violently to life’s triggers or situations.
- Y-WOMB – Healing, restoration and empowerment for young women who are survivors of abuse or young women in general.
- Y-LEAD-Young Leaders Empowerment And Development (RCL & PREFECTS).
- Heal The Hate- Prevention programme, Addressing hate issues in Society.
- EPICareer -Helping grade 9 learners make informed choices on career subjects.
- Creative Hangouts- How to set up and run after school creative clubs.
- EPICrew Leadership Training– A Volunteer Training Programme.
These are part of our GBVF Prevention programmes
Funding:
We aim to generate funds through various donors:
1. Companies to place an EYM staff member on its pay roll as part of its social responsibility programmes.
2.Funding proposals to government departments
3. Electronic funds transfer
4. Stop orders, and
5. Funding proposals to corporate and other sectors