YOUTHS: Kambi Bolong Youths Ready For The Task

Whlie many Gambian youths were preoccupied with travel plans to reach the shores of Europe, three young men in the coastal village of Gunjur were thinking otherwise. Yusupha Saidy, Babucarr E Camara and Abdoulie Nyandu founded Kambie Bolong Youth Development Association in June 2011. It has since grown to 30 members and registered with the Attorney General's Chambers. The group embarks on a range of programmes including advocacy and enterprise development. "We are the ones who will be responsible to carry on the legacy of change and keep shaping the world in a positive way that will support our community and give other youths the opportunity they deserve. These and many more reasons have motivated us to put ourselves in an organised group which gave birth to Kambie Bolong Youth Development Association", Babucarr E Camara of the group wrote. He said they want to achieve their aims by empowering, informing and enlightening young people by coming together and making their voices heard. The group's vision: To see that youths are fully informed of the issues affecting their development and involve them in finding means to remedy such situations. The group's mission: To inform and actively involve youths in social development agendas and engage them in community activities. In the past, the group has organised symposia, speeches, training programmes and cleaning exercises. The enterprise group has recently made bars of soaps using 'moringa' and were sold to the community at a relatively cheaper price. To tackle youth unemployment, the group said it is preparing its members for sustainable entrepreneurship training. The group is looking for donors nationally and internationally to fund this training programmes. The group also has what it calls Kambie Bolong Girls in Business which aims to pave the way for girls to become " job creators rather than job seekers" Mr Camara said. This he said will reduce the economic dependency on some families. The group conducts weekly advocacy programmes on the local FM radio in Gunjur.