Youth Program brings out the best

TURNING an old courtyard into garden space, an unused room into a meditation space and creating music instruments from recycled products are just some of the projects 60 young people took part in during the Refugee Social Services (RSS) youth program. An exhibition of art, dance and music was held at the Diakonia Centre on Saturday to showcase the work by the youth who participated in this pilot project.

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The Diakonia Centre, also provides a range of psycho-social services and integration support for refugees and asylum seekers. The programme, which was launched three months ago, saw the 60 participants enjoy the various activities which included among others story telling, poetry and a week experiencing the wilderness trail in the iMfolozi Wilderness Area. Speaking to the Berea Mail, Project coordinator Coral Bijoux said she had spent an amazing three months with the participants, even though many of the youth had to juggle exams and the program. Bijoux said despite the youngsters all coming from different backgrounds, with some even speaking different languages, neither proved to be a barrier as they all managed to perform excellently in their respective teams. “On the first day the participants started the process of visualizing and planning details of the courtyard. The project was aimed at the exchanging of cultures and learning about each other while doing leadership team work,” said RSS director Yasmin Raja. Participant Blandine Furaha, who wrote a short story during the program, shared briefly with the crowd in attendance what her story is about. “My story is about a family living in the rural areas and eventually moving into the city and how life in the rural areas differs with the one in the city. The story also touches on forced marriages, which is something someone close to me has experienced. My short stories are all my personal experiences, I have written three so far and plan to write more inspirational books,” said the 17 year old who is originally from DR Congo. “I also want to encourage children to study and get an education and for parents to care for their kids. Parents must not allow current situations to make them do rush decisions,” she added. Meanwhile, fellow participant and aspirant author Gakiza Doriane originally Burundi, wrote a short story in her native language Kiswahili about her personal experience in South Africa. “The story is meant for us refugees to know that people here have accepted us and they love us. We should love each other as humans and focus on the positive.” Refugee Social Services (RSS) serves as the social implementation partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In accordance with its vision, RSS strives to be a global leader in providing holistic quality and innovative service to assist asylum seekers and refugees who are in possession of legitimate documentation from the South African Home Affairs. It prioritises focusing on the most vulnerable in the community.

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