Generation of Opportunities and Risks-FLON

Generation of Opportunities and Risks
On Monday, March 18th, Participants from the Kayec Youth Development Programme (KYD) were formally invited to the Be Free Campaign event at Immanuel Shiviti Secondary school for an interactive dialogue about opportunities, risks, and positive thinking. The first lady of Namibia (FLON), Madam Monica Geingos, along with Katherine Zappone, the secretary for the Ministry for Children and Youth affairs of Ireland, hosted the event.
Each day is numbered. How many days will we let go by without positive change? For how long can we stay like this?
At KAYEC we are passionate in necessitating change. However, for progress and success to be found in our society there must be risks that are collectively made by our new generation of youthful leaders. Here at KAYEC we challenge and encourage our trainees and partcipants to take advantage of every opportunity that approaches them, even if these opportunities seem to be too difficult or too risky. This is because the reality is that we have a new generation of youth with the beautiful privilege and capacity to make some change happen- but they have to know how and where the effort must be made.
The first step in making change in our society and communities is to make change in yourself. Making change in yourself might be very difficult to approach because one might not even know where to begin. The first step is to realise that with whatever conflict in our lives we have reacted in such a way as to shelter ourselves from accepting the truth. Several years might go by of this intercultural and interpersonal sheltering that is becomes inhabited into our minds (subconscious). But do not get mad at yourself! Even though it is naturally easy for us to develop a constituted attitude that might sound like, “I am not good enough,” or, “I will never overcome this feeling inside,” or, “It feels like all hope is lost,” it does not mean those voices in your head are true! You have the power to forgive your past, forgive yourself, and to look forward with hope and in truth!
It is possible for a generation to get out of this negative attitude, but first we must acknowledge it before we can begin to make a change. This was the soul message of the event. According to FLON, We need to come together in gathering more to encourage this message of truth; the truth that is we all have a purpose worth living for and it is not good for us to get lost in our internal sheltering and attitude towards life just because of the past. The only purpose the past holds is to help us understand how to better shape our futures! And with God on our side, all things ARE possible! The more we acknowledge that we live in the new era, a new generation that can make positive change, the more these things will become a living reality, she said.
Adding to this was Pastor Sidney Boois stating,after acknowledging and becoming aware of yourself, then you can begin to make action. In the wonderful words of “Let this be the last generation of anger, resentment, fatherlessness, tribalism, and low self-esteem!”he said.
It is a difficult life we all live, there is no doubt about that. But it is powerful to engage in discussion about the difficult things in life. The more we can get outside of our comfort and discuss with one another about such things as; abortion, absent fathers, contraceptives, mental health, substance abuse, and tribalism, the more we will realise we are all in this current tribulation together. The more we work together the less we will feel that it is impossible to overcome these difficulties in life. At KAYEC we teach this idea every day. Not only are we having our trainees and participants learn to be free from their past and all their difficulties but to actually BE free! Once you believe the truth that you are free from the shackles of pain and suffering (and we all are by God’s great grace!), you emerge as a leader of this truth to share with the rest of your community. This is why we must invest into our new generation of youthful leaders.
We received many powerful testimonies during the event from anyone, from all different schools and backgrounds, who was bold enough to share their stories. This created a community of realization that, again, we are all not that different and together we can best the conflicts in life.The following contains some of the most important quotes/takeaways from the personal testimonials.
Lyliana, at the age of 16 is a Namcol Student as well as a mother. She shared that when she became pregnant her parents, especially her father, were very disappointed in her. They were resistant on keeping her in their home and so she moved from her parent’s house to her sister’s place. With this came several hardships she suffered, such as, lack of food, struggling in school, no money, and her boyfriend abandoned her after he also learned she was pregnant. She feels fully neglected and alone. However, she is still raising her child well, who is 4 years old now, and does not want to neglect her child like her parents and boyfriend did to her.
Daniel Vleermuis, at the age of 37 has two kids and was an alcohol and other drugs abuser. He had found himself situated in a bad group of friends who did nothing but encourage him to make worse life decisions. He shared that he began drinking alcohol while in early school years and because of this he never continued into grade 8. His parents have also had rejected him and his decisions. He shared that back in 2009, in a fit of rage, while also heavily intoxicated, he snapped a stranger’s neck which killed the man immediately. He is now serving in prison for 16 years. His life is a living testimony for why alcohol and drug abuse is a serious and scary thing. He was very emotionally driven to go up and speak in order to frighten the audience the serious effects of alcohol and drug abuse. He encourages the youth not to get into the wrong group of friends and to stay far away from alcohol and drugs. As living proof he shared that it does make you do things are do not want to do. Alcoholism and drug abuse is a worthless thing and only destroys lives. It is not worth it, for you never know if you could be the one to go down the same path Daniel Vleermuis did. He finished his testimony by saying, “Know the decisions you take. The choices you make are your own responsibility. Before you do anything, you should stop and think…”
Together we can set aside our differences on focus on the central key problems we face as a humanity. We can make change happen! We must become aware of the state of each of our generation’s sheltering and accept the truth that we are beautiful and wonderful and made for a great purpose in life! — On Monday, March 18th, Participants from the Kayec Youth Development Programme (KYD) were formally invited to the *Be Free Campaign* event at Immanuel Shiviti Secondary school for an interactive dialogue about opportunities, risks, and positive thinking. The first lady of Namibia (FLON), Madam Monica Geingos, along with Katherine Zappone, the secretary for Ministry for Children and Youth affairs of Ireland, hosted the event.

Each day is numbered. How many days will we let go by without positive change? For how long can we stay like this?

At KAYEC we are passionate in necessitating change. However, for progress and success to be found in our society there must be risks that are collectively made by our new generation of youthful leaders. Here at KAYEC we challenge and encourage our trainees and partcipants to take advantage of every opportunity that approaches them, even if these opportunities seem to be too difficult or too risky. This is because the reality is that we have a new generation of youth with the beautiful privilege and capacity to make some change happen- but they have to know how and where the effort must be made.

The first step in making change in our society and communities is to make change in yourself. Making change in yourself might be very difficult to approach because one might not even know where to begin. The first step is to realise that with whatever conflict in our lives we have reacted in such a way as to shelter ourselves from accepting the truth. Several years might go by of this intercultural and interpersonal sheltering that is becomes inhabited into our minds (subconscious). But do not get mad at yourself! Even though it is naturally easy for us to develop a constituted attitude that might sound like, “I am not good enough,” or, “I will never overcome this feeling inside,” or, “It feels like all hope is lost,” it does not mean those voices in your head are true! You have the power to forgive your past, forgive yourself, and to look forward with hope and in truth!

It is possible for a generation to get out of this negative attitude, but first we must acknowledge it before we can begin to make a change. This was the soul message of the event. According to FLON, We need to come together in gathering more to encourage this message of truth; the truth that is we all have a purpose worth living for and it is not good for us to get lost in our internal sheltering and attitude towards life just because of the past. The only purpose the past holds is to help us understand how to better shape our futures! And with God on our side, all things ARE possible! The more we acknowledge that we live in the new era, a new generation that can make positive change, the more these things will become a living reality, she said.

Together we can set aside our differences on focus on the central key problems we face as a humanity. We can make change happen! We must become aware of the state of each of our generation’s sheltering and accept the truth that we are beautiful and wonderful and made for a great purpose in life!,Geingos added.