Conference dialogues focus on solutions
THE East London Youth Voices Conference (ELYVC) was hosted by the East London Youth Association (ELYA) at Clarendon High School for Girls recently.
The conference was attended by 21 delegates from East London, Queenstown and King William’s Town, who joined in an attempt to encourage constructive dialogues and widen the youth’s networking circles. The ELYA took a more local approach for the event and invited speakers who have had a positive impact on the lives of others from in and around East London.
Speakers included Lulutho Ngcongolo, Daluxolo Jalmeni (from Link FM), Natasha Balmer, Buhle Geleba and others. The topics discussed were diverse and enriching.
These varied from hunting laws in Botswana, to creating opportunities through media.
“Speakers shared their experiences, imparted knowledge and left us with valuable life skills and lessons to equip us with the tools that we require to successfully navigate through life as proactive young people,” the head of ELYA executive committee, Rivoningo Mageza said.
The conference aimed to encourage a culture of discussing problems with the intention to create solutions rather than the status quo which encourages people to rant and think no further.
The event was generously sponsored by Johnson&Johnson, Cheryl Pope, Clarendon High School for Girls, the Corby Family, the Rushton family, Ms T Lahoud, Ms C Coetzee, Amatola Water, Ms A Gijana and many others.
“Youth organisations and youth events would be almost impossible to run and host without the help of generous individuals and businesses who allow them to materialise their visions,” Mageza said.
ELYA plan to host more events like this one in an effort to create a group of proactive young people who can positively influence their peers and bring change to their communities.
“We hope to impact more people and expose more high school students to speakers who will broaden their thinking,” Mageza said.
