Issue 13, Vol 10: 14 June 2013 In this issue:
Youth of the Nation Youth of the Nation By OJ Fourie Today's youth are the largest generation of young people the world has ever known and they are demanding their rights more than ever before. We are the youth of the nation and we are proudly so because we are the future of the nation and we are also shaping the future of the country. John Dube was in his youth when he built a school that is still standing today and he started a newspaper which is still there today. Jesus between age 30 and 33 carried out his earthly ministry that impacted the faith of thousands. At age 12 He already conversed with highly educated individuals in the temple. Karl Marx was 26 when he wrote the Communist Manifesto; Vladimir Lenin was 33 when he led the Russian Revolution. Pixley ka Isaka Seme was 24 when he wrote The Regeneration of Africa, on which most of the thinking around the African Renaissance is based. Nelson Mandela was 32 and OR Tambo was 31 when they spearheaded the anti-apartheid programme of action in 1949. These are just a few examples of how the youth can influence society. Key to these inspirational leaders in their youth was that they valued education and discipline as the foundation for future action and success. As the youth of today we must emulate these former youth pioneers and respect our fellow community members, elderly and leaders. Many of the youth of today are distracted by materialism and greed, instead of being focussed and geared towards Ubuntu and to improve the lives of the poor and the less fortunate. The youth of today should continue to build on the foundations that were laid by the youth of the past - foundations of non-racism, non-sexism, democracy and unity. The youth of today should not focus on building their own wealth structures but be instruments in building a better life for all. Our generation must not allow the gains of the past to be lost; we cannot degenerate back to a society of racism, exploitation and oppression. Our actions of today must not breakdown what was built by the youth of the past. If we do so the next generation will need to start rebuilding all over again. The youth of the past was prepared to sacrifice for a better South Africa. What are we prepared to sacrifice to continuing building a better South Africa? We need to live exemplary lives so that future generations will emulate a lifestyle of Ubuntu and not selfishness. It goes without saying that the youth of today are dealing with numerous challenges, but so did the youth of the past. Unemployment is one of the challenges facing the youth. According to Stats SA 3.3 million youth today are neither in the education system nor in the employment sector. In other words they are disengaged from education and work. The youth make up at least 70% of the unemployed in the country. The "Youth Employment Accord" was signed on the 18th of April this year at the Hector Pieterson Memorial. This accord will go a long way in addressing the challenges of youth unemployment. We must take our challenges head-on and overcome them so that it does not limit us from achieving our potential and limiting our nation from achieving its potential to become a complete non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, united and prosperous South Africa. If we deal with the challenges of today it will also mean that future generations do not need to deal with the same challenges in their lifetime. Nothing is more lasting than contributing to the lives of other people because they can still live long after you have passed on. You will also stay in the memory of other people whom you have helped long after you are not amongst them anymore. But those who have lived for themselves will quickly be forgotten. As we celebrate Youth Day on the 16th of June let's not just reflect on the achievements of the youth of the past; but let's also reflect on our achievements, on our current situation, and let us be inspired by the youth of the past, the class of 1949 and the class of 1976, to overcome our challenges. Let the class of 2013 also be remembered for having contributed to the development of the Youth of the Nation! "[The youth] should have a great sense of duty, a sense of duty towards the society we are building, toward our fellow men as human beings and toward all men around the world… And along with that: deep sensitivity to all problems, sensitivity to injustice; a spirit that rebels against every wrong, whoever commits it; questioning anything not understood, discussing and asking for clarification on whatever is not clear… always being open to new experience" Che Guevara. Roar young lions, roar! OJ Fourie is a YCLSA National Committee Member Sent from my iPhone -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
