Project Background
The Right to Life, Freedom, and the Pursuit of innate Dreams, Meaning, and Purpose.
The Gracious-Divine power of God gifts everyone with the right to life, freedom, and the pursuit of innate dreams, meaning, and purpose. However, some people have fallen on the margins of life and find it difficult to tap into their indwelling potential in the face of adversity. Most often, youths and young adults are emotionally, psychologically, socially, and spiritually disturbed as they experience traumatizing life challenges. Obviously, the evidence of these in our society include and not limited to the vices in our society: crimes, violence, drugs, addictions, etc.
The Struggles of Most African-Immigrant Teens
Most African immigrant teens in America are equally faced with the major concerns and challenges that come with being a teen in addition to other layers of challenges as immigrants. According to Pew Research Center, most teens in America are faced with issues like anxiety and depression, bullying including cyberbullying, alcohol and drug use (and abuse), and gangs (DeSilver, 2019). However, other layers of issues and complexities affect minorities or Black teens more than others (racism and prejudice are their reality, and they are inescapable). Moreover, there are other several layers of subtle challenges and complexities hidden in the dual cultures (American and country of origin) or triad cultures (American, country of origin, and religious cultures) that affect immigrant teens and young adults more than other teens. These are barely recognized or talked about. The challenges of being a teen, Black, immigrant, and how to navigate their way through the subtle complexities in their dual or triad cultures affect their emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual development. Therefore, their sense of being, belonging, and identity are affected in a very subtle way. A more serious and pressing issue is their mental health and their openness to knowing these and having the ability to seek help. African immigrant youths and young adults in Lexington are massively growing, and it has become very imperative to create this awareness for conversations to begin and to provide support and empowerment for the better of the entire community.
Summary
It is in view of these that the Ubuntu Youth and Young Adult Group seeks to provide a safe space for the youths and young adults of, not limited to the African immigrants population, in Lexington to explore life, share stories, support each other, and gain Ubuntu community ideas, skills and attitudes to develop resilience in the face of adversity for a holistic wellbeing in the pursuit of their inherent dreams and purposes. To millennials, life is about belonging, identity, collaboration, and connectivity. Therefore, through this project, we hope that these youths and young adults will have the supporting system to help their emotional, physical, psychological, social, and adulthood development amidst the challenges they face.
Goals
Short-term
-Engage well in the program, being present to share.
-Develop new values and appreciation of their heritage.
-Develop ubuntu community values and identity to claim and own their heritage.
-Realize the impact of the choices we make
-Engage in Mentoring Mutuality.
-Realize their developmental needs.
Mid-term
-Engaged with better peer groups.
-Disciplined with their time and use time judiciously for their well-being and development.
-Contribute to community improvement and development.
Long-term
-Greater sense of belonging and identity for children of African immigrants in Lexington, KY.
-Good citizenship and community development for African immigrants.
-Lower rates of crimes.