The New
CVSC Youth Organization
Involvement is empowering for anyone, and that includes our youth!
We believe that the values of Cape Verdeans of Southern California (CVSC) will impact the whole organization. Thus, we all should play a role in creating values for CVSC’s youth.
And while the success of any organization primarily depends upon how good the management of the organization is, We strongly believe that the success and future of CVSC, depends largely on the dedication of our YOUTH. It is our youth’s Civic responsibility to be actively involved in CVSC.
We want our children to be passionately involved in CVSC. Our goal is to actively engage them and to enhance their leadership skills. We want to work with them on fun projects, games and ideas. We want them to be excited to come to all of CVSC events and the events that they hosts.
We also want to work with them on the importance of knowing their culture/history and obliviously, their organizational and leadership skills. While this will be an educational project, it will also be fun.
We want our children to have opportunities to become involved in the decision-making process. Thus, we will not make all of the decisions for our youth. We will seek their input.
Likewise, we want CVSC to recognize the contributions that our youth can make to CVSC and to society. If as CVSC parents, you are willing to regularly bring your youth to our events/meetings, we are willing to engage them in cultural and community leadership, we will contribute to their development as productive members of society.
We know that when children know and understand their culture, they feel better about themselves and they want to be connected to their cultural organization.
Let’s look at some of the advantages for our children to become actively involved in the Cape Verdean’s of Southern California organization:
* It is a stellar opportunity for our youth to learn about their culture and heritage.
* Being part of CVSC can help our young people develop important personal and interpersonal skills. These include the ability to think critically and solve problems, and the assumption of personal and group responsibility.
* It can also help our young people gain self-confidence and self-esteem. Contributing to a group can help them see themselves as being able to really help other people, and having something important to offer.
* It can help reduce the risk of becoming involved in unsafe activities, such as using drugs and alcohol. Being involved in community and cultural activities has been shown to be a protective factor--that is, it helps young people to make healthy choices. That's because by being involved in an organization, they can develop a "safe" identity, and are less likely to participate in unsafe activities.
* Young people involved in CVSC can develop job skills, including organization, the ability to run meetings, and experience working with a wide variety of people. These skills that young people learn from being part of a group can help them be better prepared for any job they might choose.
Often, organizations give youth a "safe space" that they wouldn't have otherwise--a place where they can express themselves through arts and activities, or just by being able to talk openly with peers and caring adults. That’s what CVSC provides.
- CVSC Youth organization offer opportunities for leadership that young people might not get otherwise.
- CVSC youth can receive information on staying safe and healthy from their peers or adults they know and respect. They then pass on this information to other young people.
- CVSC young people can develop a strong support network of other young Cape Verdean’s who have made healthy choices, and who can help convince them to stay stealth, too.
- CVSC offers a credible way for our young people to learn about staying healthy, because they can learn it from other CVSC friends and youth that they admire, rather than adults or other outsiders whose opinions they might not value.
Despite all of the advantages for our youth to join and become actively involved and stay involved in CVSC, we realize that staying committed to CVSC Youth organization will not be easy. This is where you come in as a parent, grandparent, aunt and uncle.
As a parent and a teacher, I know that when parents are involved in their children’s lives in and outside the classroom, both parents and children benefit.
When you bring your children to CVSC Youth events and encourage them to get involved and stay involved, we know that our children will begin to demonstrate leadership skills, skills that can and will be considered assets to CVSC. That is exactly how we see CVSC’s youth…an asset to this organization,