Our rural youth on Middelpos and the surrounding farms asked for a youth leadership program, and we listened. In July 2019 we began our youth leadership program with our rural youth with the intention of creating safe spaces to challenge youth on farms to unlock their true self and potential in life.
Our primary goal with our youth leadership project is to ensure that rural youth have alternatives to the boredom, suffering, hunger and sexual abuse that so often leads to substance abuse. Two hours on a Friday evening to escape, have fun, eat and enjoy life may be just what is needed to get them through the weekends on their farms.
This project is starting without any funding so we are hoping to generate some money through sales of our veggie bags, which will allow us to provide the youth with food and experiences such as going to the cinema or eating in a restaurant. We believe that these experiences are critical to give our rural youth exposure to life outside their farms, giving them hope for a better future.
We hope that with this project, and your support, we can encourage our rural youth to become leaders and inspire other young people to go on this journey with them and bring an end to generational poverty.