Youth Challenge International offers young people in Canada the opportunity to make a difference abroad in developing nations across Africa, South America, and Central America. YCI’s mission is to build sustainable communities in these developing nations by initiating development projects led by members of these communities and the YCI youth volunteers. This non-profit organization engages youth in developing solutions to the various issues that affect these communities, improve the livelihood of their communities, and instill valuable leadership skills and international development experience into the volunteers. So far, the non-profit organization has worked in the following eleven countries: Costa Rica, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Vanuatu, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, The Gambia and Uganda.
YCI projects have a strong focus on youth development and involvement in facing the challenges that exist in developing countries. That being said, they are always on the lookout for talented, committed, and creative youths to volunteer and make a difference on an international level. The length of the project varies from 2 weeks to 12 weeks. Depending on the country’s specific needs, the objectives and challenge can range from teaching and bringing awareness about health issues such as HIV/AIDS to employment training for the youth, developing a small business, and building entrepreneurial skills.
May El-Ali is an International Development student at the University of Guelph and a former youth ambassador with the Youth Challenge International. In the summer of 2013, she traveled to Takoradi, Ghana to make a difference. As a youth ambassador, one of May El-Ali’s responsibilities was to facilitate an environmental awareness workshop at three different schools. The environmental workshops brought about awareness to the issue of plastic water bottles and water sachets waste in Ghana. The lecture was followed by a game on plastic waste management where each group of students were given a scenario where they had to figure out the best options to choose within a short amount of time. She described her experience with YCI as such: “My experience with YCI really helped me see how small actions and initiatives can have an impact on communities and that development work can happen in many different forms and ways. Sustainability and self-sufficiency is a big part of the continued success of YCI’s efforts in the communities.”
YCI also launch projects and challenges in other parts of the world to raise funds for their programs. One upcoming project challenge, which will take place on June 6-8, 2014, is the YCI Three Peaks Challenge. This opportunity will bring together a group of adventurers taking on the challenge of climbing some of the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales in 24 hours. The funds raised in this climb will go towards Youth Challenge International’s youth programs.
While working together on delivering education, support, and opportunity to the communities in these developing nations, everyone is learning and training at the same time. Some of the common challenges that the youth volunteers had to overcome were language barriers, lack of electricity, and access to an internet connection. Not to mention the videographers were faced with a time limit in capturing the essence of the project. The youth volunteers can see that their actions are making a positive impact in an underprivileged community in a different part of the world, as well as exposing them to a different culture, and gaining employable skills. The end goal of this project is to create a long-lasting positive change in the community and encourage personal growth for those involved with the Youth Challenge International.
For more information on volunteer and job opportunities, please visit the Youth Challenge International homepage. For updates on upcoming projects, please visit their Facebook page.