What Youth Can Do

AS a Namibian youth, I acknowledge that most of our peers suffer from a lack of ambition.They seem to have no worry in the world about what they are going to do after school or they do not care if they finish school or not.

It is difficult watching youngsters throw away their dreams, knowing that it is a “dog-eat-dog world” out there. This is a major setback in our economy.Especially in the smaller towns, where everything is limited such as resources, the Internet, public libraries with updated information, even opportunities to work your way up are limited.What has happened to the times when children used to say, “When I grow up I want to become a doctor or a pilot”.Why are these words disappearing? The reasonable thing to say is that we have lost the inner child in us, because we are growing up too quickly.The world has become too fast for us and we have to try to keep up, otherwise we get left behind.Participation in community activities may be a way to keep us occupied and this could enlighten us and bring back the dreams we long to attain.Due to a lack of entertainment we tend to go off the road in search of fun and excitement without even realising it.All the things we seem to lack, should be our willpower to strive for better than best.If we can only find it in ourselves to get over the bridge of self-confidence, peer pressure, fear, self-doubt and all those things we face daily.We should use our weaknesses and turn them around to become independent, liberal entrepreneurs for our country.Take a look around and try to picture yourself in a town where every second person is unemployed, a beggar, a street kid, a thief or a homeless child.How about taking a look in the mirror and putting yourself in that context.No one will be judged for your actions; only yourself.The dreams we have should be taken seriously by ourselves, because those are the ambitions that take us to where we want to be, who we want to become and how we want to get there.This letter is to encourage the youth to say that without dreams and ambitions we are like a carpenter without wood, he needs his wood to accomplish his masterpiece, we need our dreams…Louisa Klukowski WindhoekThis is a major setback in our economy.Especially in the smaller towns, where everything is limited such as resources, the Internet, public libraries with updated information, even opportunities to work your way up are limited.What has happened to the times when children used to say, “When I grow up I want to become a doctor or a pilot”.Why are these words disappearing? The reasonable thing to say is that we have lost the inner child in us, because we are growing up too quickly.The world has become too fast for us and we have to try to keep up, otherwise we get left behind.Participation in community activities may be a way to keep us occupied and this could enlighten us and bring back the dreams we long to attain.Due to a lack of entertainment we tend to go off the road in search of fun and excitement without even realising it.All the things we seem to lack, should be our willpower to strive for better than best.If we can only find it in ourselves to get over the bridge of self-confidence, peer pressure, fear, self-doubt and all those things we face daily.We should use our weaknesses and turn them around to become independent, liberal entrepreneurs for our country.Take a look around and try to picture yourself in a town where every second person is unemployed, a beggar, a street kid, a thief or a homeless child.How about taking a look in the mirror and putting yourself in that context.No one will be judged for your actions; only yourself.The dreams we have should be taken seriously by ourselves, because those are the ambitions that take us to where we want to be, who we want to become and how we want to get there.This letter is to encourage the youth to say that without dreams and ambitions we are like a carpenter without wood, he needs his wood to accomplish his masterpiece, we need our dreams…Louisa Klukowski Windhoek