Abel Ahing: Engaging Young People In Community Building

Communities abound with opportunities for young people to contribute, but their participation is too often marginalized and tokenized. In our effort to raise young people, they are often the objects, seldom the subjects of adults’ actions. Our country’s youth programmes tend to start with their needs and problems (drug abuse, smoking, bohsia, etc) instead of with their gifts, talents, knowledge and skills.

The actions of adults often deprive our youth of the experience necessary for fulfilling their roles as citizens and contributors to the community. Our communities suffer when we fail to empower all members of our society, but especially when we fail those who represent our nation’s future.

To be successful in our work with young people, it is necessary for us to re-examine how we view young people and their role in our society. Initial feedback from the Cool-to-Care programme of the Rotary Club of Cyberjaya Centennial, suggests that young folks from as young as six years old, express strong yearning for purpose, for meaning, for ways to be useful to the wider community, especially in non-patronizing, intergenerational efforts.

Adults need to reconsider the traditional approach of talking down to young people and patronizing them. Whether grade A students or drop-outs, young people can help build our communities when they are engaged as individuals with skills and capacities, with ideas and enthusiasm.

In consideration of the above factors, the Cool-to-Care Programme was initiated and being continually developed to help children build their potential as productive, responsible, caring and contributing member of society through positive experiences. Through positive experiences in service, youngsters build assets and competencies that allow them to function and contribute in their daily lives. The mission of the programme is to:

1. Teach children that it is indeed cool to care, rewarding them for responsible behavior, fair play, safety, and community service.


2. Foster in young people, habits of service, the ethics of care and service, and a commitment to the common good.


3. Engage youngsters in meeting their basic personal and social needs to be safe, feel cared for, be valued, and be useful.

Rewarding participants for both effort and accomplishment is an important aspect of the programme. Awards are given to deserving young people for various accomplishments, including reporting vandalism, preventing or stopping bullying, taking pride in school grounds, and showing safety or fair play. Other awards include fire awareness and safety around the home, voluntary work within the community, taking first aid training and assisting the fire, police, or ambulance services. Eventually, the programme will incorporate the Anugerah Remaja Perdana award, which is the equivalent of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, operated by the Rakan Muda Programme.

The Cool-to-Care Camp held during school holidays is another core component of the programme. The camp provides experiential learning opportunities in a safe environment. Camp programme is being continually developed to raise children’s self-esteem, to promote the development of the attitudes, skills and information to make good life choices, to recognize and resist the direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. These outcomes are promoted through five core values continuously reinforced throughout the programme: Responsibility, Effort, Attitude, Community, Honour – R.E.A.C.H . Visit

cooltocare.rotarycyberjaya.org for more information.

Our hope is that by developing better life skills and by serving something greater than themselves, young people will help meet vital community needs, and become responsible and engaged citizens.