TYO Hosts Final Workshops in Training Series

During the week of Sunday, April 17, 2011, Tomorrow’s Youth Organization hosted the last two civic engagement workshops for the volunteer participants in our collaboration with the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). On Sunday, Volunteer Coordinator Ahmad Hanani led a workshop, which highlighted the importance of volunteerism. Ahmad explained the roles and responsibilities of a volunteer as well as the benefits of service to the volunteer and the community. The discussion that followed focused on how the volunteers at TYO and in the literacy project identify with the term “volunteer” and their evaluation of the status of volunteerism in Nablus. Many of the volunteers at the workshop said that the training gave them a deeper understanding of the importance of their work at TYO and a renewed sense of urgency.

On Monday, Psychosocial Specialist Suhad Jabi led a workshop on the seven principles of leadership. The training focused on the personal characteristics leaders hold including personal integrity, strong values and beliefs and an astute awareness of others. The participants were eager to learn about the personality traits and skills of a strong leader. Many of the participants were surprised to learn that good leadership is as much about vision and making decisions as it is about including others in the process. The participants were challenged to consider their role as leaders and role models for the children that participate in TYO’s programs and activities.

These workshops marked the end of the spring workshops series that promoted the values of volunteerism and civic engagement. Thirty university students, ten mothers and several TYO staff members participated in the full training as part of the TYO-MEPI literacy collaboration.

The collaboration will expand this summer to include an additional fifteen volunteers in a new training series and more than two hundred children in reading activities.