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Antoinette S. Reyes
Age: 22
Country: United States
Your current project(s):
UCLA Samahang Pilipino Advancing Community Empowerment, (SPACE) was created in 1999 to address the difficulties that many Pilipino communities have in accessing higher education.
How do you participate?
As a peer advisor. I carry a caseload of 13 students. Many of these high school youth are from underserved communities. The overall goal is to ensure the student is on the path to higher education while acknowledging their role in their community.
When did you start?
September 2003
Why is youth participation important?
Youth participation is the key to defeating the endless cycle of powerlessness and apathy that so often plague these communities. By including them in discussions on issues that affect their community and the world, they receive validation in their feelings and experiences and build confidence in their abilities. They can then learn the tools to harness all this energy and knowledge into something constructive. Often times many of our students have problems negotiating between their own culture and the ainstream. Through participation in discussions of race, culture and gender can they come to understand themselves. More importantly, they can see that they are valuable agents of change.
What can be done to promote more youth participation?
-Provide workshops on how to gain control of their education.
Encourage them to participate in discussions with the administration and help facilitate this process between the students and the administration.
-Have cultural corners which illustrate the connection of different ethnicities through historical alliances or events.
-Hold educational discussions on current propositions that affect the financing of their schools or on health care.
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