A little update on how the youth center is doing, as a team we just finished painting the location with the help of friends and it looks amazing! Our youth center’s deadline of when it is going to open November 10th 2018 because the weekends before this date are a little hectic because of halloween, and this will be a little less than a month away from CAS night which is going to be a little clumped up with these two big events in one month but I know it will be successful. Now we have to work on getting the necessities such as furniture, decorations, food, etc.. Once these factors are taken care of then we can go ahead and start planning for the opening!
The purpose of this Youth Center and the main reason we are creating this is to have a safe environment in which teenagers between the ages of 13-18 can have a time in their schedule to come to an entertaining place and enjoy themselves through activities, social interactions with new people and friends of their own. The main goal is to bring all the communities together, instead of having all the communities separated and not have any sort of interaction, this youth center is to bring all these communities together and have teenagers meet other teenagers of their age. It’s always healthy and beneficial for teenagers at this age to take a break and focus on their social life, it’s important for a teenager to have a balanced schedule in order for them to be happy and healthy. Myself, I do need a balance in my schedule specially now that I am in IB, I can’t just be in a room and study everyday and focus on school all the time even though that’s the priority but I need a balanced schedule when it comes to my academic and social life. It’s unhealthy to focus on one specific thing all the time meaning being academically focused all the time isn’t healthy and can cause depression if social interactions aren’t involved in your life. In our community, we want to prevent this and we want to have everyone’s presence at our youth center on weekdays or weekends to enjoy and entertain themselves through social activities, board games, video games, relaxing times where you can communicate and socialize with friends of your own.
Some teenagers in these communities might not have anything to do in their spare time, or don’t really have many friends. Our youth center’s main purpose is to welcome anyone from any community into this environment in which teenagers can meet new people which is always a good thing and can be beneficial for the future. I want teenagers to have a time in their schedule in which they can have social interactions with other teenagers from other communities, I want these teenagers to develop social skills and cultivate their knowledge of various cultural experiences. By having kids go to the center instead of staying home playing video games. I want to expose the diverse youth of Costa Rica by offering a global cultural experience through activities , meaningful engagements and games that will enrich and diversify their mindsets through a variety of cultural experiences by involving activities such as connecting the youth group through social interactions. This is the change I want to see within our communities, I want teenagers to get out of their comfort zone and meet other people from other cultures, have different cultures interact and learn from each other.
Before we have all these amazing social interactions happen at our youth center, our youth center needs to be ready, and everyone needs to be aware that there is something new coming soon in the community of Tamarindo. How do we do this? MARKETING! We need to advertise this upcoming center for everyone to be constantly aware of, we want people from other communities telling other communities that this is happening, and this is an exciting factor being added to a community with good benefits for all these communities. To show this process, we want to interview different people from different communities and receive their opinions about this youth center and what are some things they are interested in having at our youth center. Why ask people what they want even though this is our project? The main point of this youth center is to entertain teenagers through social interactions, different teenagers have different ways of entertaining themselves with their peers whether it’s through video games, board games, having long conversations, listening to music, etc… I am interested in knowing what the communities want out of this youth center, and what needs to be there in order for them to participate and be part of a place in which they can have a time in their schedule where they can enjoy and entertain themselves. Some of the main obstacles going into this is who are we going to interview and how we can’t have everyones needs be at our youth center, meaning we will take everyone’s opinions and needs into consideration but we won’t be able to have all these peoples opinions or demands put into our project even though we want to have everyone’s opinions apart of this project. I will overcome this obstacle by listening to everyone’s ideas and be open to them but will let them know that I can’t guarantee that this will be apart or not apart of the project. Another obstacle is reaching the deadline of the opening of this youth center, we can’t advertise and keep everyone updated that the opening date will be on November 10th and then once we reach that deadline and have the youth center not ready. Which will then cause us to push the deadline back and this won’t be a good aspect part of our project because we can’t be advertising about our youth center and when it will be opened and have all communities get excited and once we reach the deadline not be able to open our youth center because it isn’t ready this could cause a bad reputation for our business. I can overcome this obstacle by having a meeting will all the board of directors and mention the deadline and how de we know that November 10th will be an appropriate date and discuss the circumstances of opening our youth center on this date. Through these obstacles I am receiving learning outcomes and how to manage myself when obstacles like these come into place.
“Adolescence is a time that offers many opportunities for good health. It is also when the foundations for future patterns of adult health are established. Leisure time is a significant part of young people’s lives, and is often spent together with peers, it could therefore be a crucial arena for helping adolescents develop their full potential and attain the best possible health in the transition to adulthood. Since many young people spend their leisure time at youth centers they can play an active role in health promotion and be a health-promoting setting. This study aims to explore different strategies at two NGO-driven youth centers in multicultural, and to determine what factors are important for making the youth centers health-promoting settings.”http://www.hsj.gr/medicine/important-strategies-for-youth-centers-to-be-healthpromoting-settings.php?aid=8425
Our youth center wont’ just provide entertainment and diversity but health. How? It’s important at this age (13-18 years) to identify what you need in order to be happy and healthy, at this age it’s important to meet new people and involve yourself in social activities, developing social skills isn’t just healthy for young teenagers but can also benefit these people for their future; it’s extremely crucial for teenagers to expand their social interactions and learn how to meet new people, involve themselves in meeting new people is always a healthy factor when it comes to being a teenagers where a lot is going on and you are in the process of learning and experimenting new thing as you grow. This project is opening my eyes, and I’m learning many new factors while creating something so beneficial to the community. This youth center isn’t just providing entertainment but is promoting health. I never knew that socializing with new people could be healthy but again I’ve learned something new, staying within your comfort zone and not having any sort of social interaction in your life as a teenager isn’t healthy whatsoever, it’s very important to meet new people and develop social skills as a teenager.
Main beneficial factors we want to give out as a youth center:
Involve cultural experiences through teenagers meeting new people, having teenagers learn from each other’s cultures.
Community involvement, we want to involve every single community within our province, and get those communities together and meet each other through social interactions and entertainment.
Social interactions: Have teenagers socialize with each other and meet new people through activities of their own liking.
Variety of Cultures: Having a variety of cultures within our youth center will benefit teenagers into extending their knowledge base by learning about different cultures through social interactions.
Safe and friendly environment: Our youth center will be providing a safe place and friendly, in which teenagers can feel comfortable to do entertain themselves through diverse activities with new people from other communities.
New faces: Once again it’s always healthy to have the opportunity to meet new people and have a time in which teenagers can meet new people which will benefit them in their future due to having the opportunity to meet new people and learn about their different cultures.
Share this link with your friends.
More About the Cooperative
