Our Sustainability Skills for Youth programme is starting to take shape. I have been on a number of site visits to local projects and places of further study to get an idea of the opportunities currently available for our youth. We have commenced our weekly career visits, including a trip to the local police station, having a clothing designer come in and a visit from CityVarsity for Media & Creative Arts (the kids were positively buzzing about pursuing their passions in film and media after this visit!).
Some of the youth are really starting to take interest in their futures and every week sees new faces arrive who have heard of the programme from friends. We have some trips planned during the upcoming vacations and will also be running our first Young Women’s Retreat hopefully this June. This project aims to give girls an opportunity for retreat and reflection whilst staying overnight at the Guest House, run by women from the SI and the village volunteering to help out with everything from the cooking of nutritious organic food to teaching healing and massage. We have also had five computers donated to our growing ‘careers centre’.
We are exploring the possibility of starting a new branch of the Umzi Wethu programme (see here for short video) at Lynedoch. Gyro and I will be going up to PE to learn more about the programme soon, and their team will be coming down to Lynedoch early June to chat about next steps. This could potentially become an amazing way of bringing youth, skills and sustainability together with a new energy for our catering and accommodation onsite, with potential to grow into other skills such as carpentry, plumbing, craft, farming etc. See Umzi Wethu photos below: