YCT 444: MA Dissertation
Heidi Bentley: s912440
problem-solving skills were utilised for quick fixes, long-term strategy was confusing, decisions were always deferred either to an expatriate or to highest paid person in the room even if they were not the expert, and opportunistic actions led to some colleagues being questioned about their integrity within their role. Within the UK, I had worked with a number of young people growing up in insecurity, conflict and/or poverty. Whilst the situation and environment was clearly different to DRC, I recognised similarities in the issues faced. A visit to a youth project in DRC with a Tearfund colleague prompted a conversation about youth development and hope for positive change in the Congo. Consulting with our Congolese friends grew an idea of a youth development programme incorporating techniques, tools and resources from Western youth work experience. After researching the situation in DRC and looking at youth work techniques that had been implemented or recommended by others for the Sub-Saharan African context, I concluded that I had access to some resources and experience that could support the development of transferable skills in young people in DRC; experience of leadership development courses gave me insight into equipping leaders within our context; and, as a Christian, I also felt a strong call to support Congolese young people in developing what the Bible suggested were good personal and leadership qualities. The subject of this research project is the training programme that was designed out of this research. The Congo Tree charity was formed to enable the running of this Leadership Development Programme within DRC and to support ongoing work with Congolese young people (see Appendix I). This research project has value because there are substantial gaps in the information available on young people in DRC: Large organisations provide statistical information and recommendations on young people in education or health reports but always from a high-level view. Youth training programmes are evidenced and evaluated in other Sub-Saharan African countries, but conflict and sheer lack of youth development organisations operating in the Congo has hindered similar research in this context. Further research is potentially available from smaller organisations or in French publications but this is hard to locate. Overall, it seems that there is almost no research available on young people in DRC or the practical development of transferable skills in this context.
-
-7-