Youth Work Blog

An Interview With Johnah Josiah – A Youth Worker In Kenya

February 6, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

Continuing our series on different types of youth work around the world, this week we have an interview with Johnah Josiah, a youth worker in Kenya.

1. What type of youth work do you do?

I work in youth and policy work development as well as life skills training.

2. What do you do in an average week?

I work in small group and large group settings, in both training and policy development, both in governments and non-governmental institutions.

I am also a program director of an international youth organization called International Youth Development Network which focuses on youth development projects.

3. How long have you been doing this?

Officially, I have been in youth work for 16 years dealing with youth development issues. I have been actively involved with policy issues for the last 6 years.

4. What age range do you work with?

I work with young people who are between the ages of 15 to 35 years of age.

5. What’s unique about your particular type of youth work?

My focus is fully on empowerment – both economic and participation through policy development, review and implementation.

6. What are some of the good things about your type of youth work?

The inner fulfillment when I achieve a certain goal/objective regarding empowerment and participation of young people.

7. What are some of the challenges of youth work in Kenya?

Dealing with government institutions has not been a piece of cake considering the fact that youth issues are not a priority to some. Legislatures have also always felt that it is threatening their career when young people have been empowered, hence it becomes hard to work with them

The young people themselves, it has been hard for them to understand the essence of empowerment because the majority of them are either not well informed or educated.

8. Why are you passionate about this type of youth work?

Honestly speaking, I feel relieved when I work on a policy document that targets empowerment of young people and giving them the power to make assertive decisions on their own.

9. What would you recommend for someone wanting to get into this type of youth work?

You need to have the patience and the skill to deal with both the legislature and the young people.

10. Is there any special training or qualifications required?

You need to have at least an ordinary degree in social development or developmental studies and must have practiced youth work for not less than five years or so.

11. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

When focusing on youth development – especially on policy work – it’s important not to focus on short term goals because the implementation part is the most integral part of the policy. If wrongly interpreted, the results might not be interesting and not beneficial to anyone, bearing in mind that youth is a transitional period and if well nurtured then the results are worth celebrating.

Johnah Josiah is a specialist in policy development and entrepreneurial training, community development and gender issues.

He has over 10 years experience in project management and implementation, monitoring and evaluation. He has worked with the government of Kenya in the development of the Kenya National Youth policy, Ministry of Gender in development of the community development policy, setting up of the ministry of youth affairs and sports in the development of its strategic plan.

He has also worked with the Germany Development Cooperation GTZ, with the development of the youth diploma training manual. He has also worked with various organizations in the training of partner organization on entrepreneurship skills development and program evaluation.

Johnah has worked internationally for the Commonwealth secretariat as the Kenyan youth representative where he was tasked with policy development and mainstreaming youth issues within the government institutions. He has also worked at the Commonwealth Youth exchange council as an intern on program evaluation. Johnah has presented papers in different international and national forums ranging from the Commonwealth Heads of state meetings to UN nations.

Please feel free to use the comments below if you have any questions about youth work in Kenya. If you’re also a youth worker in Kenya, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments too.

If you’re a youth worker and would like to take part in this series, please contact us.

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3 Reasons To Take Part In Youth Retreat Activities

February 5, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

Q: I’m planning some youth retreat activities for later this year and have organized several activities for the young people that I don’t want to take part in myself. Do you think this matters?

A: I’m afraid it does matter! There are many reasons why it’s good to take part in youth retreat activities, so here are three of them:

1. It Builds Trust And Relationships

Youth retreats are a great opportunity for team building and bonding – not just for youth to bond with other youth, but also for them to bond with you and other volunteers.

If you don’t participate in activities, you’re therefore missing out on a chance to form stronger relationships that will last beyond just the weekend that you’re at the retreat center.

Your youth will also respect you more for getting involved with the activities and not making them do stuff that you’re not willing to do yourself.

2. It Develops You

Many youth retreat activities involve encouraging young people to push the boundaries of what they’re comfortable doing, perhaps by having them face their fears or getting them to try something new.

The reason you plan these activities for them is to help them grow as a person. If it’s beneficial for their development, it’ll be equally as beneficial for you.

In one of her previous roles, Shae used to plan retreat activities that involved heights to push the boundaries of what the youth would normally do. This would involve high ropes courses, rock climbing, etc and she’d take part too.

The thing is, Shae hates heights. She struggled to do all of these activities but always pushed through it as she knew that if she expected young people to do something, she needed to do it too.

3. It’s Fun

The other reason why you’ve probably planned these activities at the retreat is because they’re fun, so why not have some fun yourself!

Even if it’s likely to be more terrifying than fun, simply having you take part will increase the fun for your youth. At the very least, it’ll give them a good laugh at your expense!

So whatever the reason is that you don’t want to take part, I’d highly recommend rethinking it and booking yourself in for each of the activities.

Question: Have you ever been in a situation like this? What did you do? Let us know in the comments below.

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Water Balloon Toss – Youth Group Games

February 4, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

The Water Balloon Toss is another of those great youth group games that gets young people completely soaking wet.

It can be played anywhere outdoors that’s large enough, but it’s a particularly good game for youth retreats where you’re likely to be in a wide open space and the youth will have a change of clothes on hand.

Here’s how to play Water Balloon Toss:

Resources

Water balloons
Bucket
Rope, duct tape or cones
Towels

Preparation

Fill up the water balloons and put them in a bucket of water to ensure that they don’t burst early. For this game, you’ll need one balloon for every two players, plus a few extras in case any do burst in the bucket.

At one end of the playing area, mark a line using the rope, duct tape, cones or whatever you have available to you. This isn’t essential, but can help ensure the young people don’t try to cheat.

Teams

Split the young people into pairs. Make sure you get all your volunteers involved as well – your youth will love to see them getting soaking wet too!

How To Play

The Water Balloon Toss works in exactly the same way as The Egg Toss:

Have one person from each pair stand behind the line that’s laid out on the ground
Their partner should stand about two yards away, with them both facing each other (see image below). They should also be about two yards away from the people to their left and right, providing there’s enough space
One person from each pair is given a water balloon
When the game starts, they have to toss the balloon to their partner who has to catch it without it bursting
If a balloon bursts, that pair is out of the game and should stand to the side
For the remaining players, the row of players that isn’t behind the line should take a step back
The side that has the balloon should then throw the balloon back
Continue the game with the one side taking a step back every time their pairing makes a successful catch

Winner

The winning pair is the one that manages to get the furthest from each other without their balloon bursting.

Additional Tips

Have someone count to three before the water balloons are tossed, so that all the players throw at the same time
Also have someone keeping an eye on the row of players that moves back to ensure that they’re all an equal distance away from their partners
This game can be over quickly, so prepare double the amount of water balloons if you want them to have another chance of playing
When there’s just one pair left, let them continue the Water Balloon Toss to see how far they manage to get from each other
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take photos or video footage of this game. Make sure that you have photo release forms completed if you want to publish the photos anywhere (including Facebook)

If you liked this water balloon game, check out all of our other water games. We also have loads of other great games, so there’s no need to ever be short of fun youth group activities!

Question: Do you use any different rules for the Water Balloon Toss or add anything in to make it even more fun? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

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3 Important Reasons To Help Youth Think Globally

February 1, 2013 By Shae Pepper Leave a Comment

Global Youth Work Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at Open Boston.

There are going to be a range of topics explored by talented youth workers from across the North East. My session is going to identify ways to help students (as young people in middle and high school are commonly referred to in the US – which means college / university-aged students in the UK) think globally.

My session is going to be very practical, so there won’t be a lot of background as to why it’s important for young people to think globally. So, if you plan to attend my session tomorrow – you get a little teaser today! If you’re not able to attend, you might still find it helpful to understand why helping the youth you work with think globally is an important part of your practice.

Firstly, you may want to acclimate yourself to what Global Youth Work is – go ahead, I’ll wait.

OK, ready?! So now that you know a little more about where I’m coming from when I talk about Global Youth Work, let’s talk further about why it’s important:

1. It helps fight xenophobic and nationalistic ideas

While having a positive and patriotic view of your country is good, thinking that all your cultural ideas and norms are the best and being afraid of anything different isn’t so good.

Exploring global issues with your youth will help combat these fears and help them to appreciate the differences in each of us.

2. It helps youth learn more about themselves

Sometimes things are a little too close to home. We need perspective to help us learn more about our ideas and values. Global Youth Work helps create the necessary ‘distance’ between issues that are sensitive to us, while still allowing for a productive discussion about them.

For example, a student who is being sexually abused at home may not want to address the issue as it’s too personal. Looking at sexual abuse from a global perspective and how it affects others may therefore help them work through their own situation internally, bringing them to a place whereby they’re able to disclose their abuse.

3. It helps students develop and explore faith issues

(For a good explanation of this, see pages 20 & 24 of Richard Stearns’ book The Hole In Our Gospel) For my faith-based colleagues, the Barna Research Group says that only about 6% of people who are not Christians by the age of eighteen will become Christians later in life.

Faith that is lived out through actions by understanding global issues and working to make a difference to change them can be a great testimony for others who do not have a faith in Christ.

Also, according to the Poverty And Justice Bible there are over 2,000 verses about poverty and justice in the Bible, so while it may not be God’s only message to us in the scriptures, it is certainly a big one.

These are just three of the reasons why students need help thinking globally. Tomorrow, if you’re attending Open Boston, we’ll explore some techniques on how to do it. Otherwise, check back as we will have posts in the future on this topic.

Question: What are some reasons you think it’s important for students to think globally? Share your thoughts in the comments below- or tweet your thoughts with the hashtag #OpenBoston.

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Valentine’s Day Activities For Teenagers

January 31, 2013 By Stephen Pepper Leave a Comment

A few days ago, we suggested three games that were perfect for a Valentine’s Day theme. In case you were wanting to do an entire youth group session based on this theme, here are three Valentine’s Day activities for teenagers:

Love Languages

You may well have heard of the bestselling book by Gary Chapman called The 5 Love Languages. He’s also written a follow up called The 5 Love Languages Of Teenagers.

The love languages are the same as the original book, although they can manifest themselves differently with teenagers compared to how you’d relate them to your partner.

In case you’re not familiar with the book, the Five Love Languages are:

Words Of Affirmation
Physical Touch
Quality Time
Acts Of Service
Gifts

We’d therefore recommend familiarizing yourself with the book and then organizing some or all of these youth group activities:

Valentine’s Day Activity 1 – What’s Your Love Language?

Explain the concept of the love languages to your young people and have them work out what their primary love language is. So long as they’re not too embarrassed with sharing, go around the room and have them say what they think their one is.

For anyone struggling to work out theirs, have them consider the reverse – what kind of behavior annoys them or emotionally hurts them? If it really bothers them when someone’s mean to them, their primary language might be Words Of Affirmation. If a parent never spends time with them and that hurts the teen, theirs may well be Quality Time.

Valentine’s Day Activity 2 – Does It Change?

Next, explore whether their primary love language might change from person to person. For example, do they think they have the same love language when it comes to:

Parents
Best Friend
Boyfriend / girlfriend

They may appreciate words of affirmation from their parents the most, but perhaps quality time is more important when it comes to their best friend.

As for boyfriends / girlfriends – remember that they’re teenagers, so be prepared for a whole load of “Physical Touch” answers and make sure they stay appropriate!

Valentine’s Day Activity 3 – How Can I Love?

One of the most important concepts in the book is that the love language you “speak” isn’t always going to be the same as the one others have.

For example, someone whose primary language is Words Of Affirmation will often be an encourager of those they love – the love they need is the love they give out. However, using only this love language with everyone won’t be as effective, as not everyone appreciates affirming words in the same way.

For this final activity then, have the youth consider a few different groups of people and have them:

Identify what they think that person’s primary love language is
Think of two or three ways that they can speak that person’s love language to make sure they know how much they care, rather than simply speaking their own all the time

People they could do this for include:

Mother
Father
Brother(s)
Sister(s)
Best friend
Boyfriend / girlfriend
Any other significant people in their lives

For example, they might realize that their Mom’s language is physical touch which is why she always wants to hug them. Instead of trying to shrug her off, the teen could return the hug to let their Mom know that they do actually love her.

As another example, they may think their little brother is annoying because he always wants to be around when the teenager’s hanging out with friends. This could simply mean that his language is quality time; if so, it doesn’t mean they have to let him hang out at the same time, but they could make an effort to spend more time with him at other times.

Emphasize the importance of making wise choices though – just because a boyfriend or girlfriend’s love language is physical touch, it doesn’t mean that they should have sex with them! We have a few resources and ideas to help you explore decision making with your young people:

We also have many different self esteem activities for teenagers – although not directly related to decision making, a young person with low self esteem is more likely to make poor choices in the search for love and acceptance.

Question: Have you ever looked at love languages with your young people? If so, how did it go? Also, what other Valentine’s Day activities for teenagers would you recommend? Let us know in the comments below.

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