The event gathered more than 100 youths, the administrative and traditional authorities including the Lamidat, the president of the section and the special advisor to the Lamidat.
First stop.Above all, we must greet the patriarch of the village with his wife. Complete briefing of the objectives of the stay in the village, of the interview that will be held with the Association of young people and then the Association of Women of the village.
The Q and A session with the association of the youth of Lam. I am so grateful to be accompanied with the patriarch of the village , who is also the president of the ruling party in the community, the representative of the Lamido, the traditional authority of the village and the first advisor to the Lamidat.
The meeting place was full with young people from all walks of life including the red Cross.
I was very happy with the exchanges and the resolutions we took for the advancement of young people and our community at Large.The questions were mainly around the lack of job opportunities for young people in the community.
No space for youth entertainment which leads to most of them spending their time drinking alcohol.
Moreover they highlighted the lack of electricity as a major road block to any endeavor. Their problems are real and palpable. Now we have to get answers to these problems.
Focus group interviews have helped to discover which issues were most important to them. What struck me was that the intellectuals kept hammering that “it is impossible to make it in the village”. Later on, I met with another young woman, who said her only goal was to move out of the village, because she believed it is the only way to make it in life.
We have to be careful with the policies we put in place, because if nobody want to stay in the village, we will find ourselves with overcrowded towns and unexploited villages. At the same time, it is unethical to persuade young people to stay in villages without their basic human needs met. To this effect a number of complaints were raised, including the lack of electricity as the greatest impediment to move forward. Young people suggested the following steps "
• Create cooperatives to manage micro projects in the domains of livestock and Agriculture;
• Build a safe space to facilitate encounters and exchange between youths; a space where they would discuss their problems and find solutions to address them;
• Community summer-program for teenagers;
• Train young people on how to generate energy from the sun (which is in high abundance in the North) and have them take interest in promoting renewable energy;
• Mentor and coach, including books and guides for preparing entry-level competitions to high institutions like FMSB, ENAM, ENSTP,etc.
and
• Computer lessons and English courses
Now we need to identify ways to materialize these needs.
• Create cooperatives to manage micro projects in the domains of livestock and Agriculture;
• Build a safe space to facilitate encounters and exchange between youths; a space where they would discuss their problems and find solutions to address them;
• Community summer-program for teenagers;
• Train young people on how to generate energy from the sun (which is in high abundance in the North) and have them take interest in promoting renewable energy;
• Mentor and coach, including books and guides for preparing entry-level competitions to high institutions like FMSB, ENAM, ENSTP,etc.
and
• Computer lessons and English courses
Now we need to identify ways to materialize these needs.
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