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Thursday 3 OcTOber 2019

Happy Community Initiative is looking for your support:

“For the safety of our teens we need after

school programs”

is the number one activity, the
girls prefer music/dance/theatre
as a second choice, and surpris-
ingly the boys put cooking as their
number two preference. The lo-
cation they prefer this to happen
is the community center in their
neighborhood.

Together we are strong
To gather as many stakeholders as
possible in the area of youth a full
day convention was organized for the program which is to be
by AsociacionTrabao di Huben- GEN297.” According to Kock it is
tudna Aruba (ATHA) meaning essential to work on a solution and
the Association of Youth Workers not be stuck in the problem. “You
together with CEDE _the founder cannot always point fingers to
of HCI. It turned out to be a very parents, the reality is that we live
ORANJESTAD — Carol Kock is a freelance consultant on policies and re- successful day. Kock explains that on a tourist destination making
search who worked for more than twenty years for the government as a the goal of this day was to build life more expensive in general. For
policy advisor in the field of Public Health and Social Affairs. Recently the frame for a high quality after locals it is therefore in most cases
the professional did research about the interest of Aruban youth for after school program. “Think of sports necessary that both parents work.
school programs. The result is that over 60 % of the participants say yes to clubs, NGO’s, GO’s, youngsters For single parents a fulltime job is
after school programs. “Our youth is home alone due to the necessity of …. 45 organizations were invited a must to make sure the bills are
parents that need to work to pay the bills. They are in a vulnerable situa- and 39 attended. The group was being paid. Consequences are
tion and we can do something about it.” divided into smaller groups and that the teens are home alone,
were set up to brainstorm about lack attention and parental guid-
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recently initiated a research a concept, values and a clear ance. It makes them vulnerable
about the status of the rights of children worldwide. Aruba, being part frame to work within. There was and they are easier manipulated
of the Dutch Kingdom, was asked to send a report and for the input a also a group of teens charged which brings them into unsafe
survey was conducted among the secondary schools on Aruba. The Hap- with the task to decide a name situations.”q
py Community Initiative (HCI) at the same time is working on the funding
for after school programs, and in that light they participated in the ques-
tionnaire for their specific interest. Three questions were incorporated: 1. Our Newest Column is All about
would you be interested in the participation of an after school program?
2. What kind of activities would you like to do? 3. Which location would YOUth and Happiness
you choose?
ORANJESTAD — Our newest column Happy Community Initiative is
A clear YES published bi-weekly on Thursdays in Aruba Today. We inform you
Out of the 469 surveyed girls and boys 60.1% said yes to participation in an about this dynamic, new projects from a different angle to give you
after school program, 20.7 % were not sure, and 19.2 % said no we do not a complete feel, so follow us and stay engaged!
want that. There is an equal amount of interest between girls and boys,
in age the younger teens are more interested than the older teens. The The Happy Community Initiative is a visitor charity program that
type of school they attend is of influence too: the vocational school teens you can help strengthen Aruba’s community by donating to good
were less interested in after school programs than the students of higher causes. CEDE Aruba, a dynamic community foundation, the
general secondary education. For the survey almost all secondary schools Aruba Timeshare Association (ATSA), the Aruba Tourism Authority
are represented. Kock: “We selected a class at almost each school and and several companies collaborate in this platform for visitors who
introduced our survey. We have about 8000 youngsters on the island, the would like to make a donation, but also volunteer in the future. The
questionnaire represents this group very well and it is clear that teens are priority is set to support projects for Aruban youths. CEDE Aruba will
very much interested in a program after school.” make sure that the donations reach meaningful projects of local
non-profits, based upon quality and transparency of finances of
Sports are #1 the offered programs. In this manner, you can be assured that your
The options for activities were home- donation will reach its goal! With your donation, you support Aru-
work support, cooking, sports, music/ ban children with after school programs, mentorship activities and
dance/theatre, crafts & arts, vol- social support. You can donate at the kiosks in the lobby of several
unteer work and leisure time with hotels (Costa Linda, Playa Linda, Paradise Beach Villas and La Ca-
friends. The first three chosen were bana) or you can donate on the website: https://happycommuni-
sports, music/dance/theater and lei- tyaruba.org/donate.q
sure with friends. For both sexes sports
Copyright CEDE Aruba