Thoughts from the Team

Here we get to hear it from the reference group/ collaborators on why it is SO important to collab with young people !! …

“Until our young people are free, we are not free. Our freedom is bound with theirs. They remind us every time they use their brains to creatively carry our well orchestrated criminal activity!”

Ms Gracia Makiwane Nokwe, Social Worker and Director, Sinomlando Centre (Oral History Project)

“Young people are awesome! They’ve got energy, passion, drive and want so badly to connect with others… If we give them opportunities to make music together, and in the process they recognise their own power in shaping their destinies, then we have, together, shaped a brighter future for all.”

Ms Hilary Kromberg, Founder and Director, Hip Hip U and Jive Media Africa, MMus (Adolescent Health and Music)

“Engaging with youth/adolescents in their own health and well-being is akin to engaging with the future of South Africa’s health and well-being. A healthy and happy/fulfilled youth equals a healthier and better country.”

Mr Bonwabise Mava Mbontsi, Founder and Creative director, Bonwa Dance Company

“I have always been passionate in development programmes regarding youth-adolescents as they need genuine role models for direction and guidance.”

Mr Malcolm Nhleko, Music Producer, Sound Engineer, Song Writer, Composer, Educator, Director of Maltre Productions

“All improvements in child wellbeing are to a large extent dependent on the participation of informed, educated parents and adolescence is the ideal period in which to provide the information required to promote their wellbeing but also to ensure that they are able to choose when and how to become parents.”

Dr Neil H McKerrow, Head of Paediatrics and Child Health, Department of Health, KwaZulu-Natal

“I have been working for the last 20 years with teenagers with severe mental health problems. The young people who are most severely affected by mental health problems are among the most vulnerable and neglected members of our society.”

Dr David Hartman, Psychiatrist (Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry)

“Science can drive the development and health status of our country and we need to nourish youth interest in science”

Prof Douglas Wassenaar, Professor of Psychology and Clinical Psychologist, UKZN School of Applied Human Sciences

“Engaging adolescents in their own health and well-being, and in development of programs for them, is critical for many reasons. At the individual level, youth who are actively engaged in understanding their health and related behaviors are more likely to engage in positive health behaviors and to make decisions that promote their own health and mental health. Engaging young people in intervention and program development is critical towards ensuring that policy decisions, programs and services are appropriate and responsive to the needs of adolescents.”

Dr Lisa M. Butler, Associate Research Professor, University of Connecticut (Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention and Policy)