by Aleyda Valdes

13 April 2010

Estelí, Nicaragua: It is a hot day in Estelí, a city located near the Pan-American Highway, 152 km north of Managua, capital of Nicaragua.  A group of youth is working hard to finish a video about ecotourism, another group works on editing a video about how music is a form of expression for youth, and the third group is working on a video about the open and closed spaces of a disabled person in Estelí.

They are young people from urban and rural areas, who are also part of the Municipal Houses for Adolescents and Youth that were created in 43 municipalities in Nicaragua with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through the ‘Voz Joven’ (young voices) programme.

The Houses for Adolescents and Youth emerged in 1998, and have been increasing in the country.  The idea is to create public spaces of participation where young people have the opportunity to share their concerns, have access to information and training in gender, human rights and sexual and reproductive health issues.

In these houses, spaces for counselling and youth networking have been created, and artistic activities organized, as well as educational, leisure and communication events, such as workshops about basic video and TV training.

As a UNV volunteer linked to UNFPA, last year I was given the task of designing a methodology for these video and TV training workshops. I involved two more facilitators to form the team, and the three of us delivered and facilitated the training during a five-month period. I trained youth on the technical requirements necessary to produce videos to be used as tools for communication and advocacy within the municipalities.

We had the chance to train a total of 123 adolescents and youth, who now have modest equipment for video editing in each municipality, and will be able to start producing videos.

During the ten workshops, the youth formed groups of three and produced one video per municipality, resulting in the production of 42 three-minute videos, covering issues such as reproductive health, gender, environment, youth, tourism and education, among others.

The videos reflect the immediate reality the youth live in, looking at their surroundings and the problems they are currently facing. It is also a language by which they are able to express and communicate something they could previously not have imagined, which increases their self-esteem.

In this country it is very important to involve youth because they are the developing motor of Nicaragua. According to the 2005 National Census, youth represent 43 percent of the entire population, aged between 10 and 29. Demography professionals have noted that young people are agents of change in strategic development, not only by number but also by their potential. In this respect, the opportunity to get involved in this programme as a UNV volunteer has enriched my two-year experience in Nicaragua.

I have travelled to the north, south, west and to the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, which above all has allowed me direct contact with those who represent the future of this country. To learn more about the programme, please go to: www.vozjoven.net