Family Futures

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dvancing

ocial

ntegration

and

ntergenerational

olidarity

zations, like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through its strategy for/

with young people, based on principles of social justice, seek

to enable not just a greater appreciation and positive recog-

nition of young people, but also to counterbalance unfair

negative representations.

Apart from any benefits to their families, community and

society, participation through civic action by young people

has been associated with a range of specific personal bene-

fits, many developed as part of their internal processing.

Young people who contribute through civic action develop

mastery (skills), generosity (including a sense of empathy),

independence (through new relationships) and belonging

(a sense of connectedness to others). It could be argued that

whereas the seeds of these four personal qualities are sown

for a young person within their early-life familial and school

contexts, it is during adolescence in particular that they

are developed and enhanced. Take, for example, a young

person who not only feels empathy but acts on it, by working

with others to stop the bullying of one of his or her peers

at school. One could argue that such positive action by the

young person comes partly from a range of values and skills

attained as part of his or her upbringing experiences and an

accompanying innate sense of social justice.

Young people benefit from the opportunity to exchange

learning with others from different cultures and countries,

most typically accessed through individualized leadership

and group citizenship projects. Through experiential learn-

ing young people not only gain insight from interaction with

peers living in other countries, but also have an opportunity

to revisit their own value system.

For young people, the experience of participating in an

international citizenship programme by simply spend-

ing time with other young people and sharing views of

family and school life, hobbies and interests, ambitions and

concerns can create mutual understanding and enhance

self-esteem. The experience can act as a reminder of the

importance of giving and receiving support within family

relationships, and can have a positive ‘quasi renaissance’

effect on a young person. More simply, when young people

travel abroad and participate in a social leadership commu-

nity exchange project, they can road-test what is important

for them in their lives through interaction with their peers.

Importantly, the evidence is that many young people who

volunteer inevitably find that in doing so they get back much

more than they give.

The 20th anniversary year of the International Year of the

Family is a good time to remind ourselves of the positive

aspects of family life for young people, but not to deny or

minimize its risks and challenges. In the main, many young

people benefit immensely from the support of their familial

ties, but additionally contribute hugely to their family and

community. We raise our children not just for their benefit

or that of our families, but for the betterment of civic society

in general. Despite hardships or adversity, young people

have value in their own right during their childhood and

adolescence, and are more than a future asset in adult life.

The Ireland Zambia Youth Leadership Exchange Programme

In 2011/12 young people from the west of Ireland and western

Zambia participated in a youth civic engagement exchange

programme. Fundraising for the project took place in Ireland and

the programme occurred in Kaoma, Zambia.

The project was under

the guidance of the Alan Kerins Projects, which works with local

orphanages run by the Zambia-based Presentation Sisters Order. They

partnered with Foróige, Ireland’s leading youth work organization,

which developed an international youth leadership programme in

collaboration with (and accredited by) the UNESCO Child and Family

Research Centre at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

The project evaluation found that, over a short but intense period

of activity, young people engaged in dialogue with one another,

exchanged aspects of each other’s culture, played, formed bonds of

friendship and provided a caring and supportive role. All this left a

marked insight into their own lives as well as into the resilience of

people in situations of adversity.

Strikingly, the project evaluation found a very real and deep sense

of empathy and care instilled in the young people towards the children

and young people in Kaoma. Deeply felt bonds of attachment and

friendship were forged in the period spent there, which created a

strongly expressed emotional impact on all youth and adults involved.

Another notable value attributable to the initiative is the new

awareness and appreciation generated among the youth. Only this

type of experiential hands-on learning and exchange can create

profound new insights, and in this regard the initiative was successful

in challenging and changing young people’s perspectives about their

own lives in relation to others who are less privileged. There was a

clear sense of a stronger awareness about the importance of aspects

of young people’s lives that they previously had taken for granted.

Youth developed a clearer capacity to view their lives in the broader

context of a reawakened knowledge of family support, the functionality

of school life and their engagement in local community.

Participating in an international citizenship programme can create mutual

understanding and enhance self-esteem for young people

Image: Foróige, Ireland/Alan Kerins Projects