Life Line Johannesburg gives youth space to explore important issues
AFTER receiving counselling from Life Line’s youth programme in Alexandra and Dobsonville in Soweto, Nhlanhla Khonzeka is now equipped to help other youths in his community.
Khonzeka, who says his life has always been unpleasant and frustrating, is involved in Life Line’s Wise Choices, a group support and education programme for young people aimed at helping them to make the right decisions, to forget the past and move on with their lives.
The programme, which incorporates a peer counselling project, was formed by Life Line, Johannesburg, to give young people time and space to explore important life issues. Its major objective is to provide youth with opportunities to develop skills to make wise choices.
According to Khonzeka, who grew up in an abusive family, the Wise Choice programme has played a tremendous role in changing his behaviour. It helped him to identify with his family and his community. ”I used to be angry at everyone and even abused myself by taking drugs and alcohol in order to deal with my frustrations. Wise Choices helped me to deal with circumstances. I’ve learned to accept myself as I am and not to underestimate other people’s problems,” he says.
”Young people lack self esteem and the ability to set appropriate limits. They are unaware of their personal rights and are afraid to voice their feelings, for fear of being ridiculed or hurt,” says Wise Choices co-ordinator Marylyn Hanyane.
The Wise Choices programme aims to ensure that local youth are equipped with skills to manage their lives and influence their families and community. The programme targets young people between the ages of 14 and 21. There are about 50 young people in both Soweto and Alexandra who are familiar with Life Line concepts and who act as co-facilitators. Participants in the programme were chosen while a survey was carried out by Life Line peer counsellors working in schools in the area. According to Hanyane, many of their clients are young people who have experienced problems.
Mpho Mhia (19) says they have been trained in basic communication and listening skills and have undergone personal awareness workshops.
The programme lasts three months and there is a long waiting list to join. Those in the programme meet every Saturday morning for three hours for discussions, presentations and guest lecturers. Youth in the programme decide on the topic. Among the subjects they have gone for are relationships, effective communication skills, managing conflicts, authority, power and control, suicide, leadership issues, HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted diseases, rape, abuse and pregnancy. Sessions are held in Life Line centres in a safe, relaxed and informal atmosphere.
One of the remarkable achievements of Wise Choices is the group bonding that occurs among the youths involved in it. The peer-counselling group has provided a strong sense of belonging.
The facilitators believe that the most effective means of attitude change in young people is through peer groups. Any preventative education programme that uses fear tactics seems to distance the very youth it is meant to address.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, September 15, 2000.
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