The Institute for Domestic and International Affairs, a civic educational organization in collaboration with Better Africa Youth Initiative (BAYI) Gambia, recently concluded their annual student development programme in Farafenni.

This year’s training session was held in two different schools, Rose Kali Senior Secondary School in Banjulunding and the Anglican Technical Mission, located in Farafenni. The trainers for the two-week long workshop were Ken Gibson and Dan Sadowsky with some other 4 students from Rutgers University USA. The aims of IDIA and BAYI are to run a development programme that will help to empower youths especially students in the areas of leadership thought, public speaking skills, and self skills development.

The workshop was an opportunity for the participating students to learn and make friends among their co-students and the university students that were invited by IDIA to train them.

The student trainers from Rutgers University were happy and impressed about the training. According to Lilly Gannone, who is studying French, communication and political science, the students may lack proper learning equipment and fancy learning facilities but they are full of tenacity and a passion for learning which constitute the essential and most important characteristics of any student.

"The students not only seem to enjoy the workshops themselves but also have the ability to speak their own mind and solve problems without the aid of a teacher,” Lilly added. She also pointed out that the most rewarding portion of this experience was to see some of the timid students overcome their fears of the public and express their opinion. She noted that their ability to speak their mind and share their personality with the rest of the group have been tremendously developed.

Martha Guarnieri, studying political science, women’s studies and labour studies, lauded the students for being receptive to the message they delivered. "The kids seem excited to make relationships within the  group and to speak publicly about different things. I was impressed with their awareness of world issues, and excited to see their progress throughout the training."

An overwhelmed Martha said that the most important part of the workshop was when students began to think about what they want to do in the future and why. She further encouraged the two hundred students that participated in this year’s workshop to keep thinking about their role as individuals in the world. “They should keep working together, keep delivering opinions and keep asking questions,” she said.

Finally, she encouraged all students to identify one thing in their life and in their neighbourhood, school, family, or anything and explore it thoroughly. “This means to identify problems and find solutions to them in order to develop as active citizens,” she indicated.

The only male among the trainers was Joe Hon, who is a student in history, political science and art history. He seized the opportunity to advise the students to be persistent, and always strive to do their best. He urged them to constantly practice how to speak in public or with others. "Do not be afraid to voice your opinions. Things like debates are always a good way to improve on such skills," he added.

For her part, Natalie Rana, a political science and Spanish language student, who hopes to become a teacher one day said the students were able to feel more confident about themselves and their aspirations, and they were also able to make new friends. She insisted on the fact that students should embrace what they have learned about themselves, their community and the world. "Although the period might be short students should continue to build upon what they have learned and apply the knowledge and the skills they developed during the workshop," she emphasised.

Michael Hinchliffe, executive director of the Institute for Domestic and International Affairs, said "having done workshops now for 3 years, and with nearly a decade of experience in programs in the US, Croatia, Mongolia and so on, my strongest observation is that kids are kids. Their surroundings may be different, they may have different material in possession, different experiences, but they all share certain eagerness to learn and grow and to control their destinies."

He therefore advised the students to seek out opportunities to improve their lives and to control their own destinies. Most importantly, they should look for ways to develop their own voices. They should decide if they want to go to university, be a doctor, or a lawyer. He believes that their lives are their own and be their own strongest advocates. If they do not develop their own voices, he noted, someone else will use it for them.

In fine, Akeem Aremu, director of programs for BAYI, said that the training has boosted the moral of the students that have the opportunity to be part of this training session. “Since the beginning of the program to the end, different topics were treated,” he said. Reactions from the students were positive, as they acknowledged the importance of the training session.

Oumie Bah, Fatoumatta Mballow, and Hajie Bojang, all members  of BAYI and students of GTTI encouraged the students to involve themselves in school activities especially quizzes and debates and used these platforms as tools to boost their intelligence and their ability to speak in public.

Bakary Jammeh a student from Nusrat Senior Secondary School said “among the workshops I have attended, this is the best because I have learnt things like public speaking, presentation and positive thinking among others.”