Taking responsibility and ownership of our lives as it pertains to Youth

In my series of blog entries that have so far covered the gamut of education and vocational training all this as part of providing the foundation of knowledge from where our young people can take charge of the challenges ahead. Without the foundation it is difficult to get ahead. So what is lacking from this point?

I was speaking with a leadership trainer yesterday, who trains young people in giving them a sense of identity, told me yesterday how Nawaloka Mudalali, who only studied up to the 6th grade was able to build a business that employed thousands of people including countless doctors in his famous hospital. What that means is that it is not merely education that provides a means of employment it is also the attitude to work that is important. The first point to understand is one’s own strengths and weaknesses. Once that is ascertained then one can aspire to for a job in keeping with one’s abilities. Too many young people believe they are suitable for a job that their current knowledge does not permit them to do.

Under this theme the huge mass of unemployed youth covering the ages 16 to 30 must be provided with a realistic estimate of what they can do, what is available, and how they go about changing their knowledge to suit what is available, and then doing the necessary to get the jobs that are available. All too often it is the simple transaction of the parent bringing a completely irrelevant and badly prepared CV to me and asking me to find their spoilt know nothing son or daughter a job in a bank or some institution that is possibly the hardest to enter!! For fear of hurting their feelings, I just have to say I will do my best.

The worst part in all this is how ungrateful people are. If we fit them into a position in keeping with their abilities, they still think beyond that and are unhappy, and worse criticize us for finding them employment that pays too little and is beneath their expectations. It is part of daily experiences but it is hard to get them to understand their error in judgment.

In summary I believe all young people looking for employment today should partake in a seminar that is subdivided into different age and ability to groups so that their individual perceptions can become realistic ones. That done it becomes easier for them to face an interview, rejection and mental stress, and grow from their to achieve their individual goals. The lack of goals partly out of the frustration of not having a job is a universal problem that breeds resentment violence and social destability. We must do whatever we can to address these issues that are simmering in society without making callous remarks on the state of the nation by our leaders in overseas countries by giving them advice on how to live their lives, when so many young people in this country live in frustration and lack of direction.