Introduction
Youth is the key transition period in all our lives. The transition from child to adult crossroads brings a number of life changing decisions to be made such as long term relationships, future education and career paths that reflect our potential employment and finance status. With the development of technology and demand on younger people means these decisions are becoming increasingly difficult and for Indigenous youths they face even more challenges. Additional obstacles include the effect of intergenerational trauma, racism and prejudice, and socioeconomic disadvantage are all relevant for young Indigenous people today.
Background / Facts
In 2016 the Australian authorities released a stat that in Australia they have a total of just under 241, 900 Indigenous young people (aged 10-24) this makes up around 5% of the youth population. Most of whom live inland in very rural communities. Our project is working with local community members to provide scholarships for aspiring young people to train and break the cycle others have faced in the community. It is proven that currently the youth criminal justice system has seen a high number of Indigenous youths in the system that they have declared it a challenge that needs to be tackled.
Launching a new project
GVI Trust completed their last successful project helping indigenous youths in 2019 and with great success has launched another new project with a local indigenous community in Australia. This project is 100% owned and directed by the local community but our team of experts are working alongside to help direct and give a global approach to tackling issues.
After meeting with the community we have agreed first together we will look to help install a community garden, supplying and installing water-wise garden beds, seating, safe pathways, shading and land surveying to engage the youth community. We have also identified with the community a critical need for water fountains within the local community streets for access to safe drinking water and ability to wash hands as many homes do not have access to clean running water. In partnership with our team we also identified some strategic locations that we feel lighting, seating and shading should be installed to support meeting points for youths and keeping them safe.
Once we have established a safe and welcoming environment within the community for youths we will then work with our partners to engage youths in multiple projects to help break the poverty and inequality cycle. We will look to work with local partners across Australia to provide community workshops in partnership with community leaders, provide more student internships in partnership with local and national universities and deploy a research assistant to work directly with the community leaders to provide training and resources on tracking the local community needs.
This is a new project and our scope is huge and the local community have already started working on their long term sustainability plan. Our mission and priority over the next few months is fundraising for this project and if you would like to support us with fundraising, donations or any other way get in touch! Please check out our project here
Written by Tyrone Bennett, CEO
