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OCEANIA CSC ALUMNI NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2008

EPLD Involvement Inspires Indigenous Youth Challenge Project in Vanuatu

Simon Kennedy knows the power of people and the value of dialogue. Currently a Senior Consultant with the career management firm, Audrey Page and Associates, Simon's experience as a participant in EPLD 2006, alongside Mark Power and Nelly Willy, has helped him with his other day job, as Chair of the Board with Youth Challenge Australia (YCA), in particular their community development programs in the Pacific.

In December 2007 YCA, in partnership with South Sydney Youth Services (SYSS), implemented the first Indigenous Youth Challenge program. Young Indigenous Australians selected for the IYC have the opportunity to undertake a ten week community development project in Vanuatu. The Indigenous Youth Leadership Program provided them with the opportunity to build leadership skills, communication skills, cross cultural understanding, program management skills, and develop strong links between Ni-Vanuatu youth and non-Indigenous youth from Australia and Canada.

While in Vanuatu, the Indigenous young people worked as part of a team of up to eleven people in a cross cultural environment and were supported by two experienced group leaders and the team at Youth Challenge Vanuatu, a leading youth organisation in Vanuatu, led by the indefatigable Terry Robb. YCV's key programs, supported by Oxfam Australia, include a Youth Skills Summit for rural Ni-Vanuatu youth, based on topics such as HIV/AIDS education, gender awareness and life skills and managing a construction project such as building an additional classroom for a school on a remote island. YCV also runs a successful training and internship program for unemployed Ni-Vanuatu youth. As a result of YCV's recent internship program, seven of the fifteen interns from Vanuatu received ongoing employment.  Six of these are at their host organisation and the seventh came as a result of the experience and reference provided by the internship program.  This is a great result for the extremely competitive employment market in Port Vila.

In addition to the unique experience in Vanuatu, the IYC program gives young Indigenous Australians the opportunity to bring new skills, experience and knowledge back to their home communities to create positive change as well as provide a strong basis for employment and future leadership within their communities. Simon's experiences leading, coaching and guiding Youth Challenge's programs show his fellow EPLD participants the power of people and value of dialogue.

For more information on YCA and YCV and how you can get involved, visit www.youthchallenge.org.au or contact the Executive Director, Nicholas Goodwin, through nicholas.goodwin@uts.edu.au.