Youth Celebration
On the 30th of June 2018, we hosted a Youth Celebration. It was a day filled with joy and youthfulness, celebrating 4 years of impacting youth and changing the lives of many! The Youth (4th Generation) celebration was aimed at giving thanks to our partner in Making HOPE Contagious, DSD, but also opening doors for growth within our communities.
The Department of Social Development in partnership with RLabs came together in 2013 to host an unconference. The aim was to ask youth what they wanted, and how they envisioned the new way forward for youth development within South Africa. And thus the Youth Café was born. Now, four years later, we can look back and see the fruits of the unconference that happened on June 16th 2013.
The Youth Celebration consisted of youth coming together to celebrate this awesome event through art, singing, dancing and sharing their powerful stories which afforded them with an opportunity to explain their journey and how the Youth Cafés benefited them.
Even though the weather was not on our side, as we woke to a cold and rainy morning, we saw the smiles and happiness of the youth which warmed our hearts. At the end of the day, the celebration was a success and it was a huge honour to be part of this day.
If there’s one thing that my time in the Youth Café has taught me, it’s that with patience, proper mentorship and the right guidance youth have a great capacity to challenge the norm and through that change the world.
