Despite challenges youth have great power

The one thing, it seems, that South African youth have going for them is their youthfulness.

With a shortage of job opportunities, the prevalence of disease and the poor state of the country’s education system, the odds are against the youth. However, there are those in the Church who believe the youth occupies a position which will benefit us all.

“The youth holds an important power in our Church because they are the present and the future of the Church,” says Mthunzi Manda, Education for Life coordinator of Witbank diocese.

Mr Manda says it is imperative the Church work with the youth due to the potential not only for individual formation — which might have been hampered by the country’s challenging circumstances — but also formation for active involvement for the life of the Church.

“I believe that youth work is important in making a young person feel welcome and special, especially when the child or young person has not been made to feel that way before,” Mr Manda says.

He says it’s not uncommon for young people to feel jaded, lost and uncomfortable both in society and in the Church. He says it is for these reasons that the youth often stray further from Catholic social teaching.

But through the help of youth workers, a young man or woman can change their perspective on life. “A young person will aspire to develop into an effective and caring citizen who is economically secure,” Mr Manda says.

Effective youth workers, he says, are there to ensure such a transformation is needed.

But are youth workers needed? Crime, drugs, Aids, poverty and even cultural traditions are just some of the many obstacles South African youth face in achieving their God-given potential. It is one of the functions of youth workers to engage in the young persons’ lives to help them reach goals they might otherwise not achieve, says Mr Manda.

Nhlanhla Mdlalose of Johannesburg’s Bosco Youth Centre believes the youth “have power — but most of us fail to understand it”. The youth worker adds: “We [Catholics] are ignorant of it and so we end up not knowing how to use it.”

He recalled the 1976 uprising of young people sparked by the June 16 protests in Soweto. The oppressed youth throughout South Africa marched against the injustices of the apartheid education system. The strength of the youth then helped shape the South Africa of today, Mr Mdlalose says.

But, Mr Mdlalose adds, today’s youth are faced with different problems — Aids, unemployment, high teenage pregnancy, drugs, and so on. “It seems as though the youth now is not driven and passionate enough to die for something, as the 1976 youth was. Instead the youth of today is a generation that is dying at an increasing rate for nothing. If they do not realise their power and utilise it effectively, South Africa might not have a tomorrow.”

Mr Mdlalose doesn’t believe the youth are fully aware of the power they hold, and this is where Church involvement is needed.

“Adults have been youth before, and are aware of some of the dynamics and challenges that youth face. Therefore they would be in a better position to advise, to groom us, to guide us, to show us a way when we are getting out of line. We need them as much as a sheep needs a shepherd. As young people we sometimes make wrong decisions because of our [limited] experience, and so more mature advice is needed.”

It’s not easy to work with the youth. In the vast diocese of Witbank, Mr Manda is challenged when working with youth from different backgrounds and cultures.

“But what keeps me working more with the youth is the full support that I get from our bishop — Bishop Joe Sandri — and from the three youth chaplains and the young committee. They are always there to help and guide me. The structure that we have in the diocese makes my job easy because I can communicate with relevant people if there is something needed or to be done.”

Winnie Rocchiccioli, the Religious Education Coordinator for Catholic schools in Rustenburg believes while there are programmes for teenagers and young adults, these programmes focus too much on curing the problem, instead of preventing it. “There is too much emphasis on secondary schooling and very little on primary schooling. That’s where the child is formed—that’s where we should be ensuring their formation is correct.”

Ms Rocchiccioli believes the earlier children are informed, the better they will be able to make good choices in life.

“If we focus our attention on the young children, we will prevent the problems our youth are facing today.” One can’t go straight to Grade 10 and expect great results, she says — “you have to start early”.

Mrs Rocchiccioli also believes schools are too focused on academic performance. “The younger we start teaching values, the more the child will grow.” She believes Catholic education should not just be about teaching to pass a subject, but instead to develop the whole child — and that needs to start as early as possible.

Sr Sizakele Mbeje CPS is the coordinator of Education for Life in the diocese of Umzimkulu. She says it is very difficult to correct a person’s path. To address this, Sr Mbeje is currently developing the bishops’ youth programme to suit the diocese’s needs. “I am visiting all the parishes to see the needs and to develop a new structure.”

Like Mrs Rocchiccioli, the nun is not only helping the youth, but also children. “They are still willing to listen and can understand our teaching early on.”

Sr Mbeje says the Church intervention has resulted in positive changes. “We see positive growth from our children, but young people fluctuate. They are with you today, but tomorrow they are doing something different to what they have been taught.”

Sr Mbeje says with the help of Bishop Stanislaw Dziuba of Umzimkulu, the diocese is dedicated to saving their youth from their circumstances. “The bishop wants the youth to be passionate in their lives. He wants to revive the youth.”

Mr Mdlalose suggests that those who work with the youth should also enrich adults. “It is important though that youth and adult programmes are mutually beneficial and that they are not one sided.”

Similarly, Mr Manda has learnt valuable lessons through his work with the youth. “The youth helps me to think deeply and critically. When I am with them I feel alive and young again. They are also challenging.”

Despite the challenges in youth work, the rewards are rich.

National youth chaplain, Fr Sammy Mabusela CSS says his work with the youth is a source of great happiness. Despite the challenges faced and the heartbreaking stories, he finds joy.

“The joy I find in working with the youth is the fulfillment I get in seeing someone grow spiritually, intellectually and physically, becoming the best that they can be and knowing that you had a role to play in it,” he says.

“The youth are beautiful and they are extremely gifted and I love them to bits,” says Fr Mabusela. “I feel honoured to be part of greatness waiting to happen.”

Mr Mdlalose says there is nothing better than seeing the youth succeed. “My hopes are to see them grow in faith and in spirit, to see them standing on their own and even set an example to other young people — to see them succeed, for their dreams to become a reality, and their visions being accomplished.”

For Mr Manda, “the youth give me strength and hope in the work that I am doing. They are supportive emotionally and physically”.

He adds: “Clearly, they are powerful. Being an Education for Life coordinator has changed my life a lot because of what the youth witness in me.”