Society should foster collection to empower youths to live positive and productive lives. Training the youth to recognise their own potential and self-worth is one of the steps in their transformation process. Having them do this while living within a mental space of becoming more than their surroundings, recharges their life energy.
Reaching back and serving youth in their time of need is one of the most important things we can do. They have been crying out for help for a long time, so the time to help them is now. Kamara Youths actions do not just benefit the youth, but benefits the entire community at large.
Through the Kamara Youth Mentoring Programme, the youths that are in jail, start counselling them so when they get out they have somewhere of comfort to go to. And we try to prevent them from going back.Youths that are on the streets,we do our best to get them out of that environment. Bring them to better the possibility of a better future. We have coaches, mentors, speakers, and other proffesionals working the ones that are ready to talk. This is a 27-week programme where we really get to know these youths and they get to know us, and the trust is built. Sometimes all we want is a door opener, someone to talk to us, listen or tell us it will be alright. This is why Kamara Youth Mentoring Programme is launched – to help in taking these youth to a whole different spectrum.
When it comes to youth violence, I personally know the many facets of it. I have suffered the tragic and unwarranted murder of my son AlphaDumbuya due to youth violence. My family is now a casualty, suffering the loss of an innocent young life with so much potential. With that being said, I never imagined that I would ever feel that pain myself. This loss, however, was almost too much for me to bear.
As a motivational speaker, I am always speaking of coming together and working positively towards the end goal. I am always ready to share my story with any youth, in the hopes it will spark change. Change starts with action. I take action steps every day.
One day, in the midst of my grief, a friend called and planted a seed. With my heart bleeding, we had many more conversations and the groundwork was laid for Kamara Youths’ birth. Launched in February 2020, in London, Kamara Youths empowers youth with life and leadership skills, as part of the organisation’s programmes. This will give the youth upward mobility towards success.
As I ventured forward, I envisioned a community of experts, Visionaries, who he termed ’Forward Thinkers’. These ‘Forward Thinkers’ are experts in their areas who are willing to enrich the world’s youth with their knowledge. This makes them ‘Fit4Purpose’. To introduce you to the ‘forward thinkers’, Kamara Youths hosts a virtual event monthly, giving you front row access. Being the businessman that I am, I personally selected my ‘core team’ of experts to work alongside me. My ‘core team’ consists of Cheryl Minnette, Barke Faraj Kamuss, Richard Cunningham, and Shawn Fair.
Now one may wonder, what would be the purpose of all this? I wanted to create a ‘resource pool’ for youth programme facilitators to ‘tap in’ to. I realise that businesses, organisations, charities, and individuals who run youth programmes, are in need of experts to speak. More often than not, they are not able to locate or access them. To alleviate this problem, I am building a bridge, connecting one to the other. This birthed the ‘Fit4 Purpose’ movement. Kamara Youths’ resource pool, which offers global access, is rapidly filling with a great mix of ‘Forward Thinkers’.
Just like the Energizer bunny, I was not about to stop there. As a man who always wants to give back to all communities, I decided to launch an award-giving body. This award would recognise businesses, organizations, charities, and individuals globally whose youth programmes are positively impacting a youth’s life. Hence, the Fit4 Purpose Recognition Award was born. Kamara Youths hosted its first annual award programme on the 24th of April, 2021.
Steadily moving forward, the next programme coming up for Kamara Youths’ ‘Fit4 Purpose’ movement will be a Masterclass Series. It will be hosted by some of the ‘Forward Thinkers’. This Masterclass Series will begin during the Summer of 2021. Updates can be requested from Kamara Youths.
Unisa Kamara is a speaker and a TV presenter. You can connect with him on Twitter @unisak.
