Continuing the great work was one of the major challenges of the ILP participants. Each of us is very active in his/her line of work and we realized very soon that the danger was not to keep the momentum especially after the Pan African event. So despite teething problems in terms of structure and organization, I am proud to say that we have committed people who really want to move things forward. We have also had the unfailing support of the British Council in our endeavors.

One of the projects that they have been particularly successful is the Youth Leader programme. The latter was an initiative from Pravin, cohort 2 participant and a senior officer at the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The aim of the project was to engage in interactions with emerging youth leaders of the 9 districts of Mauritius.

The meeting was organized by the Ministry at an idyllic venue set in the Youth Center at Anse La Raie, a resort on the Northern coast of the island. We were greeted by nearly a hundred young people who were keen on sharing their experience with us and judging from the feedback after the interaction, I believe it was a wonderful sharing for all of us.

The youngest participant was 14 and the oldest 25. They came from all walks of life and from different regions but all shared a common passion; reaching out to their community. As such, we met Kevin, 16, a student who after school works with the Ombudsperson for Children. He identifies abused children and refers them to the authorities for eventual assistance. Another 17-year-old lady works with drug addicts; her role is to interact with them, convincing them to seek help.

I was personally awed by such selflessness and such proactive behavior at such tender age. It also made me realize that Mauritius is lucky to have such devoted people who have at heart their community.

The meeting was positive on all fronts and the Ministry is now keen on ILP participants partnering with them for such activities.

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Greetings Aisha!

Well done on the above projects. I’m very passionate about the youth. I would like to know more about how the project is going. And, through this great work, what impact are you making on the way the youth express themselves and enable eachother to do great work?

Take care,

Nadia

Dear Nadia

Apologies for this very late reply. The project that we launched in Mauritius has gathered even more momentum as other networks got interested. For instance, the Ministry of Youth, after evaluation of the feedback from the young, has initiated other forums of that kind. As such, my ILP colleagues had a similar intervention with the scouts club of Mauritius.
Similarly past ILP participants are very action in women empowerment programs. Norah has trained 10 participants in a ‘Train the Trainer’ program.
All in all, we believe that the success is due to the commitment of the participants to make it work.
The youth have been absolutely magnificent in their response. They have taken up the lead in their communities and seeing that only makes it more fulfilling