CITW Malawi has four Youth Environmental Stewardship (YES) Clubs and over 160 active members. In the month of March, the youth organised a number of activities, which included:
• Selecting their leaders for the 2019/2020 year
• Educational trips
• Community sanitation awareness campaigns
Bandawe YES Club went on an environmental educational trip to Vizara Rubber Plantation to learn about:
• forest management
• rubber tapping and processing
• timber industry use of plantation forest
• livelihood opportunities and the economic value of forests
• investigating Vizara’s industrial waste management
At the end of the trip, the youth had learned a number of new things beyond their list. Some of their highlights were about how the industry believes in employing locals, and how it manages waste from the processing of rubber and timber. The youth and their mentors concluded that the industry was environmentally-friendly, and that it was very informative. Some of the youth registered their interest in working for the Vizara Rubber Plantation after completing their education.
Selecting new YES leaders for 2019/2012
Each of the four YES clubs selects new leaders during the first quarter of every year. Leaders have a one-year term in office and are evaluated by their leadership style and what they have achieved as leaders that will have effected a general positive change in their fellow youth and the local environment within their communities.
The outcomes of their meeting included:
• New YES leaders elected and ordained to lead
• 2019/2020 action plan adopted