April 29, 2009 Unlocking the future of the youth in South Africa – one young leader at a time

Active youth citizens in South Africa could make a major impact in the development of our country. Key to the concept of citizenship is that the youth have the voice, space and place to influence the ...

April 29, 2009 Making civic competence in Africa a reality

Civic competence of youth in Africa is our guiding path to ensure a future generation of leaders who are competent, responsible and driven by social conscience rooted in the needs of the people in our...

April 29, 2009 Ghana YMCA set to transform youth agenda and asset base

The newly appointed National General Secretary of Ghana YMCA has called for a cadre of generational thinkers to create an enabling environment for the movement to meet the needs and expectations of co...

April 23, 2009 South African youth make their mark for democracy

“I felt great when I went to cast my vote yesterday!” said South African Dumisa Zondi, Regional Youth Development Coordinator, for South Africa YMCA’s KwaZulu-Natal province.

Dumisa and the YMCA te...

April 23, 2009 Citizenship in Africa: from subject to citizen

When the bullets started flying, and young people killed each other in the post-election violence in Kibera slum in Kenya in February 2008, boys proudly aimed their guns at old men, pregnant women and...

April 16, 2009 Searching for social justice – perspectives on Conference on Leadership in the YMCA

We are witnessing a growing change from social welfare to social justice in the way that YMCAs respond to challenges in our globalised context. This was one of the key learnings for me at the recent N...

April 01, 2009 The bucket carriers - Siyahamba editorial, issue 11

Greetings YMCA family and friends In a recent media opinion piece entitled ‘Are we having a crisis of followership?’, our good friend Mutahi Ngunyi – a consultant for Africa Alliance who assisted...

April 01, 2009 Leadership development – a practical perspective for youth in Africa

Research has shown that any effective leadership development programme or process should begin with an understanding of the social and attitude constructs. If a house is in need of major repair, the s...

April 01, 2009 Changing lives through South Africa YMCA personal development and leadership programme

“I felt something was missing in my life… something was wrong, but when I tried to talk to my friends about it, they just laughed at me,” says 18-year-old Tamsyn Wynaand of Ravensmead, an impoverished...

April 01, 2009 Learning by doing

Through the YMCA, I have experienced a life changing experience that has developed me both personally and professionally as a leader. What differentiates the YMCA from other organisations is the less ...

April 01, 2009 YMCA youth lead ARH in Zambia

The Youth to Youth sexual health programme is a Zambia YMCA peer education adolescent reproductive health (ARH) project targeting both in-school and out-of school youth aged between 15-25 years. The p...

April 01, 2009 Leaders for the movement, business and government developed by Liberia YMCA youth focus

At a gathering in central Liberia, during the launch of the YMCA 44th Membership Campaign in November 2008, a young Liberian and former President of the Gbarnga YMCA, Fayiah Tamba, thanked the Liberia...