Empowering young people to create social change

Other thoughts I had during my Taiwan/Japan trip this spring.  There are a lot of young people and there are a lot of elderly people.  In just spending time with my grandparents, I see how bored they are daily.  They hardly ever leave their apartment.  What if we could create a program that brings young people in from high schools or universities to run programs for these older people, such as teaching them English or computers, or something.

Are young people helping already? Yes, here and there.  What if we could provide them opportunities?  What if we could help them see the opportunities and needs, and provide easy ways for them to engage?

Youth empowerment is something I’ve been passionate about since college.  With this recent presidential commission on youth work that I’ve been working on, it has been on my mind a lot lately.  A couple opportunities I see right here during my week in Taiwan…

Programs for the elderly – they hang out in packs in public parks, apartment/housing courtyards…

Advocacy campaigns to encourage environmental stewardship... saw way too much trash in the public beaches/parks in taiwan... although they do have really intense recycling programs in the cities...  more strict then US standards.

In Japan - I also went to Tokyo for a couple days... a grassroots movement starting with young people and multinational companies to stand up for worker's rights!  My friend was sharing that there is a major "over-working" culture and really, what I felt as he shared, a major public health problem.  Not based on actual research that I've done, but based on what my friend was sharing... people, both young and old, are dying of work-related stress and pressures, suicides...  my friend's cousin for example.... who btw is younger than me!  In a city that has 24 hour comic book cafes where folks can sleep in lounge chairs - yes, some go to use the internet and read books; but others simply missed trains going home due to work and stay there for a few hours and then pop back into the office. The concept of "family" seems to be lacking.  This generation needs to stand up for themselves and fight for their rights.

AHHH... ALGAE!

I'm training for a triathlon in August. It's fair to say it's my first triathlon. I did a DUathlon, that I had also done 2 years ago, this past weekend - run, bike, run. For the tri, the addition of the swimming is an added dynamic that makes for an extremely challenging event. Don't get me wrong - the duathlon is challenging. They say that the DU is actually more physically demanding because it's basically all leg strength and endurance; but running and biking... I can push on through that. Swimming... swimming just freaks me out.

It's not that I don't know how to swim - I just stink at it. I'm the girl who in college where all students must pass a very short swim test in order to graduate, waited until senior week to complete it. Yes, I was stressed but luckily I survived and passed.

But, I have been training, albeit in the comforts of a chlorinated but clean swimming pool at my gym, with a large black stripe that guides me across the pool. But today, I went with some of my girlfriends who are also doing the tri with me to a local lake in New Jersey where the USAT hosts weekly open water swims there, and can I just tell you how absolutely disgusted I was? What was I thinking!? Swimming in a lake... I don't even like swimming in the ocean - at least the ones along the east coast of the US. So my friend Jenny, as we step into this lovely murky water, comments, questioning why this other lady next to us has so many freckles all over her body.... then the next thing Jenny says... oh my gosh, why are they wiping off? it was algae!!! It was all over her... and well, it would soon be all over us. I WAS HORRIFIED.

Anyways, we sucked it up, did 3 laps... felt like I was going to die from my inability to swim and the fear and disgust over the algae, but it was great. Really glad to get in that practice swim, and really need more of it! Sort of wish I had a picture of us after the fact, but I think it might make me vomit. :)