Youths learn to rethink and renew passion in their lives |05 May 2017

Social and spiritual needs of youths were addressed during a two-day forum organised by the Youth for Christ International (YCIS) in collaboration with the Everlasting Love Ministry (ELM) and other Christian denominations.

The passion themed conference held at the International Conference Centre (ICCS) last month brought together around 250 S1 to S5 students from all schools across the country.

Every subject touched during the two days challenged the youth to rethink and renew passion in their lives and for the future.

The four main topics discussed in the plenary sessions were passion for excellence, passion for leadership, passion for change and passion for God.

In the workshops they tackled areas such as sexuality, addictions to drug, alcohol, pornography, gambling and others, the pros and cons of technology such as social media - how it can be useful in our lives and also destructive if not used correctly.

Other topics included music and arts where they learned how they can be passionate and constructive using music and art, as well as leadership workshops which encouraged the youths to be leaders and how to develop leadership qualities.

YCIS director Mervin Pool said the knowledge shared during the workshop did not come to an end after the closing of the workshop.

“The YCIS and ELM have running programmes such as Campus Life which tackle issues the youths face from a biblical perspective and it also includes various sports and games where the youths not only receive the spiritual effect but also the physical and fun side as well.  Then under the ELM there is the Mon lavi i presye programme where the youths are educated on the dangers of bullying and youths are also recruited to take part in a Young ambassadors course which enriches their knowledge of leadership, biblical worldview as well as other modules,” he said.

He noted that as Seychelles claims to be a Christian nation, therefore Christian organisations are playing their role to empower youth.

Mr Pool said although the turnout was good their biggest challenge was to mobilise the students to take part in the workshop.

“We had expected to receive 500 students, to have at least 60 students per secondary school as we were relying on the schools to mobilise the students but we did not get their support even though we were endorsed by the Ministry of Education and received the blessing of the principal secretary for education,” he said.

He said certain schools such as Anse Royale did a good job with their group of students but felt that other schools could have done better.

“We are satisfied with the turn-out and want this to become an annual event so we will see how it goes next year,” he said.

He said quite a number of students came forward to ask for mentorship as they felt the need for further assistance.

Mr Pool is also appealing to parents, businesses and agencies who want to invest in the lives of the youths to reach out as they are our future.

S3 student Norisha Richmond from English River school said she really enjoyed the conference and hopes that there is another one next year.

“I received plenty of examples of how to change my life and it showed me that I can do better with my life and make better choices, so now I’m determined to improve the life path I’ve chosen,” she said.

R.H.