The youth of Tambourine Mountain kick started their Easter break with an exciting and unique event.
A Junior Youth Day Camp was held on Good Friday and students from Tamborine Mountain schools in grades six to eight were invited to participate in a day of team building games, sports and workshops; all tailored to the theme of ‘building the power of expression’.
Ten students attended, practicing self-expression by writing a short personal story and presenting it to the group and their parents, who joined later for a barbecue.
The event was organised by a team of volunteers from Tamborine Mountain and the Gold Coast who have been delivering the Junior Youth Empowerment program at Tamborine Mountain State High School since February.
“The aim of the programme is to help youth develop the capacity to express themselves, to build strong values and to see themselves as protagonists of positive change in their community,” Coordinator Farid Shahidinejad said.
There are weekly sessions available to students in Tamborine Mountain that are open to anyone, including neighbouring towns and schools. This year the team plans to create a program to connect the youth, as well as the wider community, with the local nursing home to enrich the resident’s lives, as well as other service projects.
“Our goal is to build vibrant and unified communities where young people feel empowered and supported,” Coordinator Carmel Knightly explained.
Farid, who is a parent as well as Coordinator said they needed more volunteers to help run the program and anyone from the mountain could volunteer.
“The program has the capacity to transform not just youth but whole communities,” he said.
The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment program is offered to students between 11 and 15 and is run globally in 136 countries.
“Although the holiday events like camps and festival days are fun, we see the most transformation in kids when they participate in the weekly sessions,” Carmel shared.
“We use arts, reading, sports and community service projects to develop their capacity.”
“Community service is particularly valuable, because when youth feel empowered to positively influence their environments, they are protected from the negative social forces which all young people experience”.
The program’s principles of building the capacity of youth to think critically and to be promoters of unity is inspired by the Baha’i Faith and can be seen as a continuation of the program offered in local state primary schools.
The beautiful Knoll Studio was graciously and kindly donated in-kind by Ryan Gittoes.
There is no cost for students to participate and any parent wishing to involve their child in this program should contact Carmel at Carmel.Knightly@gmail.com or Farid Shahidinejad on 0410 946 000.
