Young Africa: A Bounty of Colour and Life

By Sinead Creamer

My first two weeks in Mozambique have been really amazing and somewhat indescribable. It has been two weeks of amazing fun, hard work and great people. This experience has allowed me to meet some incredible fellow volunteers who’s paths I wouldn’t have crossed otherwise. It has also allowed me to meet some dedicated students from Mozambique whom I have had the pleasure of spending my days with learning about their culture and way of life while they also teach us their trade. The Young Africa campus is a bounty of colour and life which welcomes everyone. Each morning on campus begins with assembly which involves a inspiring story or a song motivating the students to work hard each day. The facilities that I have seen in both the Beira and Dondo campus’s are genuinely mind blowing, it is so refreshing to see the students fully utilising the facilities at their hands, taking absolutely nothing for granted. Students get the chance to learn trades and life skills almost completely practically therefore allowing them to fully immerse themselves into their course. This week we had the pleasure of meeting and spending a couple of days with one of the founders of Young Africa who is the most incredible, selfless man with an endless amount of extraordinary and inspiring stories. Graduating from Young Africa allows for doors to open for the students like going to university, getting an apprenticeship or opening and managing a business. Young Africa’s programmers provide empowerment to people between 15 and 25 so I thoroughly enjoy working alongside students of similar age to mine. It’s quite amazing how hard each of them work and how invested each of them are to learn English from us each day after work or at break time. I was also stunned by the amount of girls that are studying at Young Africa, their was much more than I had anticipated which in turn broke down some preconceived ideas of a patriarchal Africa that I had. The people that enter the Young Africa campus have really helped make each and every volunteer feel comfortable and at home, whether that be employees, teachers, students or just children off the street. Everyone is always frenzied with happiness never lacking a friendly smile or a wave no matter their circumstances. The time here is really flying by and I can’t wait to see what the next two weeks have in store for us.