Youth Exchange Ideas Concept of Leadership

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Youth Exchange Ideas Concept of Leadership

Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:01

(Feature) - ‘’It is better to prepare a youth who has long future ahead than to repair an adult who has fallen sideways along the way’’, a group discussion on Leadership and Innovation heard at a recent Benin Youth conference.
The adage was contained in a presentation delivered by Modecai Shuman the South African head of the Organization of African Youths, AU- youths. Mordecai ,35, leader of the Innovation and leadership working group ,one of the youth many units of young delegates meeting in Cotonou, in defining leadership , noted that in the world all over ,Leadership is often misconstrued to be about politicians and politics, but each person has innovative and leadership qualities that must be harnessed to effect change in the youths life. GEDC0653

Addressing a working group at the Palaise de Congress, in Cotonou in Day two of the recent IFAD organized youth conference and entrepreneurship fair, he told his colleagues who spent the day defining the concept of leadership and Innovation that leadership can be taught to others, and that means building a cycle that would lead to a brighter future’’,.
While a delegate from Madagascar enlightened the group on the teething problems affecting her organization, namely official lack of trust in youth leadership of programmes ,including even those affecting themselves, her colleague, Abigail Simmons, an American student form the Phelps Stokes programme in the United Sates , spoke of how her organization is helping African women immigrants and refugees to quickly settled back to normalcy , deflecting culture shock and loss of identity in the United states, through the African Newcomers Orientation programme. “Basically we help locate the needs of those newly arriving in America, linked them college and high school students interested in knowing other cultures and through interaction, both sides benefit from experiences of life in the country of each other. This helps the newcomers to quickly integrate and begin their new life with relative ease. The impact on the Youths in Washington DC area youths is so profound that we are now planning to notch up partnerships with other bodies with similar goals,’’ she said.
Other examples of youth innovation given included stories on how good ideas and novelty innovations by youths in the DRC have resulted in a business boom for youths even during that country’s many conflicts.’ ‘’There is always an opportunity there to be taken in entrepreneurship. It is a guest ion of knowing when and how to tap it and that is what this forum is looking forward to instill in ourselves,’ added a delegate from DRC.
The working session received a surprise visitor, Benin Sport minister who in turn was surprised to get a marathon lecture by a Beninoise delegate on how his government’s policies should d be tailored to suit the needs of the you. He left, but no without dropping his own antidotes for remedying contemporary youth issues; He urged the youths to follow the pyramid that that their hearts desire you achieve in the prime time of their lives.
Written by Lamin Cham recently in Benin