Youth Empowerment in Uganda (Charlie)

KAMPALA, JANUARY 2008

This is my third opportunity to work in Uganda and it is very heartening to see that a community very similar to the POH network in the the Pacific Northwest in terms of energy, heart, and generosity of spirit, is forming here in Kampala Uganda, under very different circumstances, to empower young people.  A team of 10 people representing various youth organizations have come together to deepen their facilitation skills and develop the capacity to lead camps and other arts-based youth empowerment programs. Last week we teamed up with Beadforlife staff to sponsor a 5 day camp for impoverished teens and young adults who are a part of Beadforlife's Vocational Education Training program. The young people loved the event; rarely have I worked with such an enthusiastic high energy bunch of young people - it was sheer joy to be with them. We conducted group learning sessions on themes such as self-confidence, communication and presentation skills, as well as gender dialogues. The after camp party with the staff felt just like similar occasions after camps back home - a wonderful sense of togetherness and joy in the work.  Tomorrow I return to the village Kayunga with the facilitation team to lead a training and youth empowerment camp for an organization promoting AIDS awareness and prevention. I will end the time here working with In Movement, an arts-based empowerment program for orphans. We will be hosting a camp bringing the orphans together with the more well-to-do students who attend Rainbow International School to explore "Learning from Difference", a core POH theme. The increasing violence next door in Kenya is causing great concern for everyone here; I ask that you hold the Kenyans in your heart and do what you can to promote a world that works for all.

Warmest regards,

Charlie

PS. I will be heading to the UK after Uganda to lead a second training for adults in London. I've been invited to tea in the House of Commons by an MP who is interested in the Lifebeat program [EDITORS NOTE: this is Charlie’s new project offering camps for teens in the POH model]. POH graduate Eliza Hudson will be in London helping organize things in the months leading up to the camps, and POH grads Aleah Chapin and Zac Russell are volunteering for the staff of the camps this August in the UK.