THE FIRST ADOLESCENT SYMPOSIUM

THE FIRST ADOLESCENT HEALTH SYMPOSIUM. 

On the 27^th and 28^th of November 2015, the first adolescent health symposium was launched at Hilton Hotel, Nairobi.

 The symposium would address the evolving challenges in adolescent health: reflecting on the post 2015 sustainable development agenda and show case the efforts and contributions of relevant stakeholders to the health and wellbeing of adolescents, and provide a platform for sharing innovations and strategies towards improving adolescent health. The symposium brought together Government of Kenya officials, development partners, learning institutions, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights/HIV experts, public and private practitioners, implementing partners and other relevant organizations.

Adolescents, young people between the ages 10 and 19 years, are often thought of as a healthy group. Nevertheless, many adolescents do die prematurely due to accidents, suicide, violence, pregnancy-related complications and other illnesses that are either preventable or treatable. Many more suffer chronic ill-health and disability. In addition, many serious diseases in adulthood have their roots in adolescence. For example, tobacco use, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, poor eating and exercise habits, lead to illness or premature death later in life.

‘’We invest so much in keeping children alive in their early years of life, let us not lose them in the second phase . We run into this risk by not paying sufficient attention to adolescents. ‘’

Let us prioritize the second decade of life by addressing the challenges that adolescents face because, #EveryAdolescentCounts , this was the hash tag used and the twitter handle @AHS2015Ke for a follow up of this amazing event which we, as youthcaffe were honored to participate in.

Non Communicable Diseases

             DID YOU KNOW...?
 Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 38 million people each year?

      These diseases are driven by forces that include ageing, rapid unplanned urbanization, and the globalization of  unhealthy lifestyles. For example, globalization of unhealthy lifestyles like unhealthy diets may show up in individuals  as raised blood pressure, increased blood glucose, elevated blood lipids, and obesity. These are called 'intermediate risk  factors' which can lead to cardiovascular disease, a NCD.

NCDs threaten progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals and post-2015 development agenda. Poverty is closely linked with NCDs. The rapid rise in NCDs is predicted to impede poverty reduction initiatives in low-income countries, particularly by increasing household costs associated with health care. Vulnerable and socially disadvantaged people get sicker and die sooner than people of higher social positions, especially because they are at greater risk of being exposed to harmful products, such as tobacco or unhealthy food, and have limited access to health services.

In low-resource settings, health-care costs for cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes or chronic lung diseases can quickly drain household resources, driving families into poverty. The exorbitant costs of NCDs, including often lengthy and expensive treatment and loss of breadwinners, are forcing millions of people into poverty annually, stifling development.

In many countries, harmful drinking and unhealthy diet and lifestyles occur both in higher and lower income groups. However, high-income groups can access services and products that protect them from the greatest risks while lower-income groups can often not afford such products and services.

An important way to reduce NCDs is to focus on lessening the risk factors associated with these diseases. Low-cost solutions exist to reduce the common modifiable risk factors (mainly tobacco use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, and the harmful use of alcohol) and map the epidemic of NCDs and their risk factors.

Leading a healthy lifestyle will help reduce the risk of getting this diseases.

YOUTH AND ICT

Youth is the period between childhood and adult age.

A youth is a person between the age of 18 and 35 years according to the constitution of Kenya.

ICT, (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications.

Education is a key pillar to fostering youth employment. Considering the large youth population, youth empowerment remains a critical element of sustainable development and should be a top priority on every government agenda. ICT represents an opportunity for governments to enable socioeconomic development. ICT   can help improve education, prepare the youth with the skill sets to find employment in a knowledge based economy and provide career opportunities in the ICT sector itself.

ICT should be considered an important tool in creating employment opportunities for youth .But ICT expertise itself is typically not sufficient to ensure long-term satisfactory performance in the work place. ICT education for youth should be accompanied by life skills education including competences such as making informed decisions, solving problems, thinking creatively and critically, communicating effectively, and building interpersonal relationships. Compared with older people youth face particular entrepreneurship and employment challenges, as they are more likely to have more limited business networks and contacts.

Equipping youth with ICT skills provides them with higher chances of acquiring employment. This will lead to the development of the nation’s economy, a healthier youth and a healthier nation.

CONNECTING CAPACITIES WITH AFRICA YOUTH TRUST

Just from out of the blue we meet an old acquaintance, David Momanyi. He says he works with Africa Youth Trust (AYT). And suddenly we got to know that AYT harness the productivity of youth towards peace, equality and prosperity within and across communities in Africa. The organization majors in provision of GBV, economic empowerment and resolution 1325 UN women program. Other programs include the Mashariki Campaign that provides opportunities from EAC and EAC union as a whole to Kenyan youth. They work to secure employment opportunities for the youth and they have perfected this by working in cluster committee for employment.

YouthCaffe remains looking forward to meeting Africa Youth Trust team and to host Steve in our State-of-the-art training center.

SELF ESTEEM

Self-esteem is confidence in one’s own worth or abilities, self-respect. Words that can be used to describe self-esteem are; self-respect, pride, dignity, self-regard and faith in one self.

People often find themselves with self-esteem issues, they find themselves not being confident in themselves, having no self-respect, no dignity, no self-regard and they have no faith in themselves.

Some of the causes of low self-esteem are;

1. Systematic punishment, neglect or abuse.

2. Failing to meet parental standards.

3. Failing to meet peer-group standards.

4. Being on the receiving end of other people’s stress or distress.

5. Belonging to a family or social group that other people are prejudiced towards.

6. An absence of praise, warmth, affection or interest.

7. Being the odd one out at home or at school.

People with low self-esteem are more likely to have negative feeling. They find it hard to put in lots of effort in what they do. They end up having relationship troubles with family, friends and even spouses since them and stop looking after themselves. They hence end up finding comfort zones or solace in drugs since they can’t live with facts and cannot cope with change.

People can improve their self-esteem by celebrating the small stuff, being their own best mates and thinking of things they are good at.

The following are steps to improving our self-esteem.

1. Having positive self-talk

2. Not comparing ourselves to others

3. Doing exercise

4. Not striving to perfection

5. Focusing on the things we can change

6. Doing things that we enjoy

7. Surrounding ourselves with supportive people.

People with high self-esteem become accomplished in life because they have confidence in themselves and actually know their purpose. They know what they want in life and they know how to get to it.They are respected and embraced by the community that is the people around them. It is really important for us to be self-aware.

CONNECTING CAPACITIES WITH YOUTH BANNER ORGANIZATION

Meeting business advisor, Jane Mwaura, from Youth Banner this morning was refreshing. Youth Banner run Beeps (Banner Economic Empowerment Program) for the youth within 8 project areas in the country. In these sessions, Youth Banner deploys a curriculum they had co-developed with Kenyatta University. The 6 months program targets 18 to 35 year old youth of both gender with Entrepreneurship knowledge. Part of the program; include activities such as peer to peer business visits, mentorship and community service.

The organization connects capacities with Kiva.org, Women Share Wisdom organization, Rafiki MFI and Housing finance Company. These connections enrich Beeps by providing needed resources and opportunities for promising graduates. The resources are varied but sometimes are capital, loan facilities or annual training opportunities. Each year the organization graduates averagely 1500 pool of students at their pass out parade. During the graduations, successful candidates are awarded certificates and other awards. Beep activities are happening all over from Nairobi, Ngoliba in Thika, Kisumu, Mbita, Homabay, and Kangengi.

YouthCaffe is interested in having Youth Banner captain its entrepreneurship program. This was the first of the many conversations to come. If a deal is sealed then YouthCaffe beneficiaries will be able to tap into the resources provided by Youth Banner before the end of the year. Apart from Beeps, Youth Banner also offer ATG (Amka Tujiinue Group) program. This is an all women exclusive program for women to engage in crocheting and beadwork. The organization runs a department called “PrimeRose” that focuses on creating markets for the end products from ATG.

SELF AWARENESS

Self awareness is the capacity and ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. It is not to be confused with consciousness.

Consciousness is a term given to being aware of one’s environment and body and lifestyle. Self awareness is the recognition of that awareness.

People who lack self awareness find themselves in the habits of using vulgar language. They have difficulty praising the great work others do, their ego drives their actions, they get upset when someone questions what they do. They almost exclusively make decisions based on their own perspective and needs. Such people usually do not have a sense of how their actions affect others.

It is important for people to be self aware because it helps us have empathy; this is the ability to see when we are wrong or when we have made mistakes. It allows us to see other people’s perspectives and be empathetic to their situations or their feelings .Self awareness gives us humility, admission and likability.Most importantly, self awareness helps us see the man in the mirror-this is when we are able to acknowledge our flaws, make positive change to improve up on them. Knowing is half the battle…and if you can admit to the qualities that are less than stellar about yourself… You can change them or improve upon them.

We can help ourselves become self aware by first learning to look at ourselves objectively. This helps us study and criticize our decisions.Second, Writing a manifesto, it is important to have own goals, alternatively a manifesto is a great way to push yourself into figuring out what you want.Thirdly, Keeping a journal, makes you more aware of what you are doing. Lastly, perform a self review which will help see ourselves in someone else’s perspective and gain a little insight into ourselves.

Self awareness is important to all young people and individuals.

THE GLOBAL GOALS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Work begins now! No I don’t think so. Work must continue. This is a timely opportunity for YouthCaffe, coming at a time when there is increased clamor for more girls to be educated in technology courses like coding. As more and more girls get competent skills, more and more of them start competing favorable for limited job opportunities. 

Lifted from Wikipedia pages, “ On 25 September 2015, the 193 countries of the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Development Agenda titled Transforming our world'.'
This included the following goals:

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life long learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development  ” 

We as YouthCaffe remain ready to contribute to goals 4, 5, 8 and 16. Vocational education offered by youthcaffe is quite hands- on allowing youth to successfully transit from class to job environment effortlessly.As it is,we are positioned to have more girls behind machines coding: Incubation of girls’ only web and app developers.In the long run this will build girl child capacity for sustainable livelihood. 

Finally, Peace and community cohesion is key if we want to halt violent extremism and radicalization of youth. This begins at that moment when we analyze the root causes,supporting factors and problem manifestation. 

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.