Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 17
Technology has changed the world so much that we are unable to say what the future holds for us. In such a situation, how do we help young people? Dr. Fr. Jerry Thomas, Director of Bosco Institute, posed this here at Hotel Acacia today at the concluding session of the ‘Xchange Northeast Youth NGO Summit.’
“All that we can do is to help them walk into the uncertain future with as much certainty of themselves as possible so that they can take on the uncertainty of the future,” he stated, elucidating the concept of a 5th space.
The Summit, organised by CAN Youth has leaders of 16 NGOs from Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya converged to examine range of issues that would help young people in their work with the community and listen to inspiring experiences from those in the field.
Stating the concept of 5th space as a unique approach to youth development, Dr. Thomas said we restrict ourselves with four standard spaces - family, friends, career or education and lifestyle. In trying to conform to these norms, young people often lose themselves and forgot the self, he noted.
Taking forward the concept, he asked, “Have you at any time rebelled against what you see around; parents, law and order, authority, educational system?”
“It is important for young people to find a safe space to rebel otherwise the rebellion is directed to one’s self, addiction, violence or against the society in ways that are destructive.”
In this context, Dr. Thomas argued that “Every young person needs to break free of the oppressive thing they feel within themselves. It’s like a seed coming out. A seed does violence to itself by breaking free. It breaks its shell. Every young person needs the space to do that—breaking free without destroying oneself, without doing harm to oneself.”
If there is no safe space, the whole community becomes unsafe. Safe space to rebel is essential and that is the 5th space, he further opined. In such a situation young people discover themselves.
Dr. Thomas, however, cautioned against naming it within a framework. The moment we name it, we restrict it within boundaries. This is not needed for young people, he pointed out.
The essential essence to enable such space is – the youth him/herself and a trustworthy adult to mentor and guide them. “Instead of being a judge, we need to empathize.
Can we mentor our people; Can we be a trustworthy adult?” he asked.
The concluding session also included recognition of young people who were part of an initiative called ‘Changelooms With.in’ an inside out leadership journey a programme that is jointly implemented by Community - The Youth Collective (CYC) and Pravah that encourages, recognizes, and supports young leaders (changeloomers) to achieve their potential to lead social change initiatives.
Four young “changeloomers” Levi V Sumi of E Mind Computer Academy (Nagaland), Bhoitina Musharry of AIET (Assam), Indrijet Sinha, Way Foundation (Assam) and Merah Ahmed, NE Centre for Equity Action (Assam) were honored for their initiative.
Felicitating the achiever, Deepjyoti Sonu Brahma, co-founder of Farm2Food Foundation and an Asoka Foundation Fellow said that to start something one need not only a great idea but must be ready to face challenges along the way.
For instance, he highlighted that the first challenge starts internally about writing proposals, budgets and also the perception of the society – from family to jobs consideration and so on.
When conceptualizing something, we need to be pushed out of our comfort zone. We have to push ourselves beyond the zone. That’s the challenges ahead, he maintained.
“To start a movement, everyone needs to have a dream, aspiration and hope, but we need to know who we are and grow within ourselves to change the society,” he stressed adding that all the challenges could be overcome with love – love for your work, family and beneficiaries.
Speaking from experience, Jenpu Rongmei, a Change loomer himself, talked about how circumstances in life – like a domestic violence, dropping out of schools and losing brother to drug abuse—led him to consider undertaking criminal activities.
Then he realized, “Life is not only for the sake of being rich or having money but how much you contribute for a meaningful life.” It’s not about building a future for the community but giving hands and support to them when they are building their futures.
In his concluding remarks, Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur, Kesonyü Yhome noted that the idea of the Summit was to establish a platform for youth of Northeast in particular in NGOs to come forward and discussed long standing and emerging issues.
Another primary objective was to bridge gap with agencies outside the government and the government itself, he noted. "To de-mystify the notion that NGOs and government cannot come together."
I personally felt that this has been one of the main reason various schemes and policies has failed over the years, he added.
Further exhorting the gathering, he noted that the journey ahead would be hard and filled with frustration and failures. “Sitting in a seminar hall and going to field work is different ball game.”
“Keep inspiring yourself every morning. If you cannot inspire yourself, you inspire others,” he concluded.
