“Where are you in your community? Are you connected?” – `OAKA Leadership Team
Have you ever attended a Youth Summit? I attended one last weekend, August 27th, at the Pahoa Recreation Facility in the district of Puna. The event was hosted by ʻŌpio Alliance For Kuleana Advancement (ʻOAKA) in partnership with Vibrant Hawaiʻi and Team Paʻa.
To be honest, I overlooked the part on the flyer that stated “for youth ages 15-22”, and happened to be the only participant over 30 years old. Oops! Nevertheless, the ʻOAKA leadership team seamlessly welcomed me and the other diverse youth participants to join and participate without bias. This confirmed their values of promoting equity, participation and belonging with the aim of reaching our full collective potential within community.
This 1st annual ʻOAKA Youth Summit event excelled in providing capacity-building exercises, group discussions, self-reflective practices, and team-building games to build on our strengths and uplift the voice of youth in our community. All who attended helped to build a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment where everyone could collaborate. These young people shared their values and exemplified them actively throughout the day.
I enjoyed meeting new people, sharing openly, and spending time together. Resiliency depends on our ability to develop supportive networks within our community, and our youth are seeking opportunities for social connections IRL, “in real life”.
Donʻt miss the next ʻOAKA Youth Summit in Kona, Saturday, September 10th, 9:00 am to 2:30 pm in Kona. For youth, ages 15-22. (https://www.vibranthawaii.org/event-details/oaka-youth-summit-kona)
I look forward to exploring more intergenerational collaboration efforts, and developing our collective capacities and capabilities in service to the well-being and regeneration of our larger ecological systems in future blogs.
