Lights Camera Action in Jos!

25 youth delegates who attended YARAC's "The Church, Young people, Social Justice and Peace" are on fire to work for change after the three day workshop. The D and P youth team here co-facilitated and participated with 25 youth from the Archdiocese of Jos.

The three day workshop was built around three themes: The Church and Social Doctrine, Youth as God's instruments and The Church, Transformation and Social Justice. On the Tuesday, we (Nigerian and Canadian youth) exchanged our experiences working for justice through our parishes and respective organizations.

The most exciting part of the workshop though was the Action Plan session. The first set of small groups was based on gender. The young women swiftly seized the opportunity to meet as women and after much passionate and thoughtful conversation came up with a six month action plan to educate women at the University of Jos on the dangers of prostitution culminating in a rally with drama and jingles. The men's action plan seeks to change a significant problem too... to advocate for, develop and implement a salary grid for church workers in the diocese.
The Catholic Social Teachings on Economic justice did not get lost on them.

Afterwards, participants gathered in parish groups to develop action plans, all with goals that were SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound). Many individuals who previously did not perceive their reality as changeable were moved to take action in their own community.

Over the three days, many new friendships were made and much time was spent exchanging emails before everyone departed. YARAC, our hosts, intend to accompany these youth as they begin to implement their action plan and see this as a beginning of more work to support youth in working for justice through their parishes.

The news of the workshop is getting out there. Just yesterday, we were interviewed with YARAC, a CYO- Nigeria member and a university professor on a live radio show called Pandora's box.

Let's see what happens!

D and P Youth Team Welcomed Warmly in Jos, Nigeria

The youth team of Tana Kayler (St. John's, NL), Innah Gaspar (Halifax), Tara Hurford (Digby), Mandi Peterson (Otttawa), Lori Ryan (Toronto) and Natasha Halpin (Vancouver) have arrived in Jos, Nigeria and will be hosted by YARAC (http://www.yaracnigeria.org/) for the next two weeks.

On Friday, the team travelled with YARAC staff to Bauchi state to a community that had just gained access to water and sanitation through the support of DEC and WaterAID. A community theatre piece was presented to a large community gathering to raise concerns re water access and to spark discussion about how the community can maintain this wonderful new set up. What an incredible way to engage the whole community in this very important issue.

Tomorrow, the youth team co-hosts and facilitates a workshop for Catholic youth eager to become stronger leaders in their parish, entitled - Just Youth - The Church, Young people, Social Justice and Peace in Nigeria. A key resource person works for the Justice, Development and Peace Commission here (another D and P partner).

It's so inspiring to witness the persistent work of so many for democracy and the endless energy of our partners here.

- Lori