Spaces for youth-Turning Point, a bi-annual event, that continuously focuses on raising awareness, energy and expectations levels of the youth in the Eldorado Park community hosted its first event of 2019 at Eldorado Park Secondary School on Saturday, March 9.
Registration started as early as 9 am, with the last speaker finishing at 2 pm. 2019 is the second year of activating change by role models that are “gebore and gemeng in Eldos”.
The event was themed Leadership and Three expert speakers, in the areas of Youth Business Leadership, Youth Development Solutions and Environmental Management shared successes, failures and a message that they hope will inspire others to reach out beyond their current circumstances.
Dr. Keishia Mohamed Padayachee, Shakes Dlutu and Dr.Lee-Ann Sade Moodley were the speakers who addressed the attendees and motivated them with making reference to their respective fields.
The guest speakers and those who attended.
The first speaker, Dr.Lee-Ann Sade Moodley, who is an Aquatic health and ecology professional spoke about her journey and the battles she faced while trying to obtain her PHD.
“The most important thing to remember is that it starts with you. The journey doesn’t matter, what matters most is that you eventually get to where you want to be. There will be detours but always stay true to who you are.
Your mindset sets you apart not your race.” said Moodley.
She also spoke about the importance of keeping the youth informed about their options and career choices.
The second speaker, Dr. Keishia Mohamed Padayachee, a stretegic human performance specialist, who is originally from Extension Two encouraged the attendees to get up, take action and take themselves seriously.
“You need to listen to the whispers, trust your gut feeling. Work on achieving that dream no matter what other say. The mind is greater than the body- what you think, you achieve,” said Padayachee.
“The journey to success is often a lonely one and that’s okay. Focus on yourself and allow yourself to rise to the top. We need to learn to rise above our fears, Dream it. Believe it. Live it. You are never too young or too old to achieve your dreams,” she added.
The last speaker, Shakes Dlutu ended the session with a motivational talk about the power of a positive is. He encouraged the attendees to decide whether they were victims or victors of the situations.
“Victim’s accuse, blame and compare while victors have a positive attitude, they believe in themselves and make choices that will benefit them in the future. Everyone has the unlimited power to choose positivity. You need to have a vision for your life. It is time to think differently. Never use your age, race or background as an excuse for not succeeding,” said Dlutu.
“You are capable of greatness,” he concluded.
Spaces for youth is currently working on other projects in the community. The first project, ‘Decoding Culture’ aims to document, celebrate and share minority cultural groups from all over the world.
The project will be launched online at the end of this month. Another project, Golden Passages, focuses on cleaning and restoring passages in the community.
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