Motivate

Malaika Youth Project engages young people with opportunities for personal and social growth. The varied and stimulating program includes mental and physical skill acquisition through sports, mentoring, tutoring and after-school programmes.

Sports training for the young is a great social investment, yet also a practical financial investment. Small amounts of money spent on supporting sports have been shown to reduce crime significantly; apart from the incalculable cost of social disorder, crime places a heavy burden on taxpayers.

Opportunities for socialisation with peers and adults in a supportive, motivating and non-judgmental environment are keys to the success of the Malaika Youth Project. The lasting motivation of some of our talented youth has resulted in them competing in major championships, and we hope to increase awareness of the pivotal role sports—properly taught, in a caring environment—can play in the lives of young people.

Apart from myriad health benefits, interviews with Malaika Youth Project alumni reflect common themes in the life-long advantages acquired through their participation:

• Boost in self-esteem
• Improved self-discipline
• Working through disappointment; heightened determination to achieve goals
• Respect for their instructor/coach and elders—establishing a sense of hierarchy consistent with adult interaction
• Learning to follow certain rules
• Understanding the power of practice
• Camaraderie

The successful role models offered by Malaika Youth Project alumni can inspire a new generation to triumph over their own difficulties, and go on to encourage others to do the same.

Studies suggest that the social architecture of youth and sports clubs can encourage important phases of social development in children and adolescents. Something adults may overlook is that such clubs can be critical during vulnerable developmental periods unique to the child and adolescent.

An educator and youth-worker, Sue Robertson writes: Being accepted as part of a network is a factor in the development of personal growth, of self-esteem¹ and of community responsibility² and adolescence is a period when growth in the social network is needed to develop competencies for participation in adult society. Therefore, young people need opportunities for widening social networks. ³

Sue Robertson also reports that in her interviews with young people, boredom was identified as the main reason for getting involved in crime. In her research, young people talked about needing somewhere to go to ‘keep out of mischief’, they recognized the problems that they can get into when bored and looking for excitement on the streets. ⁴
Furlong⁵ et al reported that the young people in their study spent a significant proportion of their time ‘hanging around’. Williamson⁶ suggests that young people in transition need space for reflection and self-determination plus clear guidance, support and information.

Williamson’s research, ⁷ which was targeted at over-15 year olds, identified four needs: for association, (somewhere to go), for activities, (something to do), for autonomy (space of our own); and for advice, (someone to talk to). While Malaika Youth Project aims to engage a broader age range than youths aged 15-19, this research provides valuable insights.

Sue Robertson⁸ continues:
Youth Clubs have a unique role and one that should be valued and supported as they can make a big difference in the lives of many young people and their communities. Club-based work can provide the warm, safe, friendly space for young people that they say they want, it can give them real power and ownership. It can be a place where they develop new skills, try out new things, where they are seen and judged differently from the school or home, where their talents and idiosyncrasies are appreciated and where they can have fun.

Malaika Youth Project invites your comments, suggestions
and participation to enhance the lives of our youth and community.

1.P. Cilliers (1998) Complexity and Postmodernism, London: Routledge.
2 A. Gilchrist (2000) ‘Community Networks’ in Community Development Journal, Vol. 35(3), pp.264-275.
3 Sue Robertson (winter, 2000/01) in Youth & Policy 70, reproduced on the infed website archives.
4 ibid.
5 A. Furlong, F. Cartmel, J. Powney, and S. Hall, (1998) Evaluating Youth Work with Vulnerable Young People, SCRE Home Page webscre@scre.ac.uk
6 H. Williamson (1997) ‘So what for young people’ in I. Ledgerwood and N. Kendra, (eds.) The Challenge of the Future, Lyme Regis: Russell House.
7 H. Williamson, S. Afzal, C. Eason, and N. Williams, (1995) The needs of young people aged 15-19 and the Youth Work Response, Caerphilly: Welsh Youth Agency.
8 Sue Robertson (winter, 2000/01) in Youth & Policy 70, reproduced on the infed website archives.
Please see extensive research and anecdotal evidence in the archives at the infed website, to which we are indebted. infed is an open, independent and not-for-profit site put together by a small group of educators