Y Care Pt.1 - bonding up on Kgale Hill

When I first found out about Y Care, I only knew about its neat name and the 150km desert walks. After this weekend, I realized apart from raising money to help organizations in this country, Y Care is also playing such an important role in empowering and supporting young leaders.

On Saturday, we have been invited to join a team building event with the youth from the Old Naledi Secondary School to climb the Kgale Hill, one of the highest in Botswana. It was not the easiest climb – some had trouble getting to the top. But with everyone’s encouragement and support, we all made it. When we got to the top, we just hung out and enjoyed the breathtaking view overlooking Gaborone. After everyone is well rested, it was time to get to the real purpose of the climb - team building. The youth were asked to share how they felt after climbing the hill and what they’ve learned from this experience. One after one they told the group how they never thought they would have been able to climb that hill but they were proud of themselves that they did. We then played games, we sang, we danced, and we laughed.

All of this was organized and ran by the Y Care YLP (Youth Leadership Program) team. Two years ago, after the success of the walks, Y Care has decided to start an YLP program to get more youth involved. They recruited students from the University of Botswana (UB) and put them through 4 modules: a Journey of Life workshop, psychosocial support counciling, leadership training, and an Outward Bound excursion.

The YLP team we met today included Sharon, Mel, Rubin, Thabo, Cynthia, and Warona. Each of them is instilled with energy and passion, cares deeply about people and the world around them, and aspires to succeed as both an individual and as a team. They not only inspired the kids – I was close to tears at one point in time when Mel told the kids, “I hope you take the lessons you learned today and applied it to school work. You are going to feel like you want to give up, but at the same time there are other people you can depend on for support. When you go back to school on Monday, I want you to remember these lessons. Don’t be lazy anymore and give excuses like I have no pencil and no paper. If you don’t have them, I will get them for you. I will push you. I won’t be around forever, but then you guys have each other.”

I told them, that I believe every single one of them is special, that I know they all have a dream, that they can all be somebody. I also tried to pass along the wise words Joanne used to tell us all the time, “I know there are times when you feel what you do don’t matter. But it does. Your life matters if you make it matter.”

Ever since I got back from the climb, I have not been able to stop thinking about how I can continue to stay involved with them after I leave Botswana. How can my icare team be involved in this? Do you think we can bring ycare to Canada? Across the world? Wouldn’t it be cool if we have ycare chapters across nations, and bring everyone together to an annual conference every year? This Christmas, how can I do something with ycare? I have so many ideas yet no idea.

I learned as much as the kids did. Not only did I get to know true leaders who aspire to become more, I also witnessed them inspiring others to become who they want to be. I feel so privileged to be a part of this with them, and I feel so fortunate yet again to have build friendships with so many incredible people.

Botswana is relatively safe and well-off in comparison to other countries in Africa. Water is safe to drink from the tap. Education and health care are accessible and free. In many ways, it cannot be considered a “third world country” anymore. But that doesn’t mean we can stop there. I wholeheartedly believe Botswana has the potential to become so much more. The infrastructure is in placed. People need to step up, believe in themselves, and know that they can build the future of this country with their own hands. I’m so proud of YLP, now we just need more of them. I cannot wait until the 150km walk to meet more Y Care people.

climbing to the top

team building and bonding

global citizens