Youth Civic Engagement; Our Path to Metamorphosis
This essay was a winner of the Global Changemakers Essay Competition 2020
Graduate from high school if they could find the drive to, attend a university, get a job to make ends meet. This was the furthest the youths of my community- not forgetting me- could think most often. Muyuka, my hometown, was a small and tranquil suburban community in Cameroon with about ninety per cent of the families totally dependent on peasant farming. As far as education was concerned, most of my friends saw it as just a formality. It was typical of my classmates to skip classes or not show up at school. Such habits were considered mature and admired by the prettiest girls on campus. After school, most youths would head to the farms and work with their parents — who had been there all day- till dusk. The older boys, who for some reason had dropped out of school, would be seen in their cliques either roaming around all day, or running behind lorries which carried sand from the riverside. Should I not excel in school, I would join a gang of boys to roam around, or perhaps, focus entirely on peasant farming with my parents. This was how limited our thoughts were, and a mediocre life was all we aimed for.
Occasionally, families with relatives in urban areas would decide to stay with- and sometimes sponsor- a child or two from Muyuka. This was the case when I moved to Yaoundé, the capital city, where I lived with my eldest brother and his two kids. Education in Yaoundé was utterly different. It took me time to adapt to the model I had met primarily because of how much my new classmates had covered in the syllabus. After living in Yaoundé for three years while spending most of my breaks in Muyuka, it became evident to me that I had substantially progressed. My mindset was very different from those of my friends who I left behind. Reflecting on this difference, I came to realize that it stems from the difference in information which youths from both towns were exposed to. Friends from Muyuka were literally shot out from the world, while we enjoyed or sometimes brushed aside the information and opportunities which were presented to us. At seventeen, with a very tender look, trying to bridge the opportunity gap between urban and rural students in Cameroon became my mission statement.
Living up to my newly found purpose became quite enjoyable to me as it marked the start of my civic engagement. I would attend educational fairs, conferences and various seminars which I could afford, and share this knowledge with others. As charity begins at home, I, with the support of two other friends, engaged in organizing an orientation which spanned across four secondary schools in the community. This came at a much-needed time, given that Muyuka was now plagued with civil unrest and education in the town was very much threatened. I had put together a list of opportunities which I deemed beneficial, and I shared these with our audience, while my friends provided counsel on choosing subjects in line with career aspirations. What we did seemed basic, but the wave of change it brought into the student community in the years ahead was very fascinating. A few months later, the upheaval escalated, and Muyuka was no longer a place for young boys of my kind. As a result, I permanently relocated to Yaoundé- where I delved further into creating an impact in my community. My unwavering passion for engaging with high school students encouraged me to take an active part in- or sometimes come up with- organizations such as Open Dreams- an organization supporting High Achieving Low-Income students, Enhancing Youth Empowerment for Creative Innovations (EYECI), Youth Centre for Progress (YOCEP) and NexGen Technology Centre.
As time went on, my hyperactive civic engagement built a trustworthy profile for me amongst other youths in this network, including the management of Open Dreams. With the support of the management team, I went further to engage closely with thirty youths within Open Dreams about actively participating in community service projects or activities which I worked on. Some of these projects involved teaching students in the crisis-ridden regions, organizing community clean-ups, and visiting orphanages while bearing gifts. As a result of their relentless efforts in participating, the impact we had on lives moved from a few hundred to over one thousand youths. This impact went beyond the lives of those we interacted with as it extended to even our own lives. Over sixty per cent of youths who actively participated in these activities, including me, were awarded fully funded scholarships for fall 2019 based on their academic achievements and community engagement. This is the power of youth civic engagement and youth participation. Youth civic engagement has the might to sky-rocket people to a life above mediocre; one of impact. Despite having the potential of engineering change in every life, just a handful of youth dissent from the default mindset of nonchalance towards volunteerism. Many youths at all levels of education shy away from unpaid jobs and community service activities but expect to get hired while lacking necessary interpersonal or professional skills. Civic engagement presents an opportunity for youths to acquire the essential aptitude and skills required to not just invade a rigid system, but to propel change within it. My civic engagement catapulted me from a lay boy in Muyuka with a mediocre life, to a man of impact and value amongst my peers. With the impact it has had on me and the people I have observed, I will forever urge youths to engage with their communities and work out the change they want to see.
Global Changemakers has an unshakeable mission of supporting youth to create positive change in their communities. A global pioneer in supporting youth-led development, they have trained youth from over 180 countries and provided grants to over 360 youth-led projects, which have had a combined impact on over 6,2 million people. www.global-changemakers.net
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article belong to the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or Global Changemakers.
