ROTA Hosts Youth Leadership Training Program
• First ROTA Leadership Training program offered in Arabic
• Intensive four-day program provided a platform for 50 youth to establish new ROTA Youth Service Clubs
Encouraged by the success of its groundbreaking Youth Service Clubs, Qatar’s leading education and humanitarian not-for-profit organization Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) gave an extra 50 youth in Qatar the opportunity to become community leaders of the future when it held its latest Youth Service Club Leadership Training Program from the 15th to the 18th of February.
The first ROTA Leadership Training program to be held in Arabic, the four-day event at Education City provided a platform for new ROTA Youth Service Club (RYSC) members to gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to run their own ROTA Youth Service Club activities effectively.
Enhancing Qatar’s reputation as a world leader in youth community action, ROTA Youth Service Club Leadership Training is an experiential, reflective, and interactive learning program for high school and university students aged 14 to 24. The intensive program includes workshops, seminars, and practical skills-based sessions to ensure each ROTA Youth Service Club member acquires leadership skills, teamwork, project management, and advocacy skills.
On the first day, participants learned to understand the purpose, values, and expectations of the ROTA Youth Service Club Network before being introduced to the ROTA Youth Development Program and its three themes of Leadership, Service Learning and Global Citizenship. The second day involved a field trip whereby participants used elements of sport and the environment as tools to experience team-building, leadership, competition, problem solving, risk management, empathy, and cooperation.
The third day was dedicated to service learning prior to the final day, when participants gained insights into how to set up a ROTA Youth Service Club. To ensure that participants gained the maximum benefits from Leadership Training, every session was delivered in a safe and closed learning environment, away from everyday distractions.
“Our Leadership Training created an opportunity for new ROTA Youth Service Club members to become agents of change by working as teams, learning from each other, sharing experiences, and having fun as they contribute to the community by setting up their own Clubs,” explained ROTA Director Mr. Essa Al Mannai.
Following completion of Leadership Training, participants will engage in a number of ROTA activities between February and July in the hope that they will work on setting up their own ROTA Youth Service Club.
Demonstrating the success of the ROTA Youth Service Club Leadership Training program, five previous trainings have trained 275 youth and led to the establishment of 13 ROTA Youth Service Clubs, sponsored by Vodafone Qatar, which are undertaking a variety of community initiatives.
The Political Society are influencing Qatari children’s behavior to reflect the traditional values of respect for adults and cultural values, while The Changers are taking on the challenge of developing the human potential of 24 ambitious students as they discover their talents, their future path and themselves.
H.O.P.E. are making Education City students aware of environmental issues, Fast and Last are increasing awareness about driving and road safety in Qatar, Al Khor-based Club Tout Le Monde are promoting environment-friendly living, Film for Change Youth Club’s initiative is to teach RYSC members to create high quality, cutting-edge social awareness videos, and Youth Without Borders are raising awareness about the poor recreational and sports facilities in Gaza and the West Bank.
“ROTA Youth Service Club Leadership Training supports young people to become agents for change - opening up ways to change their communities for the better through education, opportunities, and community service. We hope by the end of the training, all participants will be equipped with skills, knowledge, and abilities to work effectively across the three learning themes: Leadership, Service Learning and Global Citizenship,” added Essa Al Mannai.
