Kansas City, MO (May 20, 2014) Three Children International youth have been selected as finalists for the Children & Youth Finance International (CYFI) Youth Award in the category of Entrepreneurship. Two of these youth will travel to New York City on May 21-23 to participate in the CYFI Youth Meeting at the United Nations and UNICEF headquarters.
This year’s CYFI meeting, titled “A Chance for Change: Child and Youth Finance and the Post-2015 Agenda,” will discuss the themes of financial inclusion and economic citizenship for children and youth. Approximately 50 children and youth from around the world will participate in activities and workshops on economic citizenship education, financial inclusion, employability and entrepreneurship. The participants will also have the opportunity to speak directly with top-level executives and government officials on the topics that are most important to them.
Diana from Ecuador, Dilnasheen from India and Jessalyn from the Philippines were selected as finalists for the CYFI Youth Award; Diana and Dilnasheen will be attending the meetings at the United Nations and UNICEF headquarters. All three of the youth were selected because of the small businesses they have started through the Aflateen program. Aflateen teaches social and financial education while also empowering youth to think deeper about themselves and the world around them. The concepts learned are incorporated into practical activities, such as creating savings clubs, developing new enterprises and initiating community activities.
Diana (at left) developed her leadership skills through Aflateen and a microenterprise project in the form of a jewelry club.
Dilnasheen (second from the left) uses her Aflatoun training to create and sell crafts.
Diana developed her leadership skills through Aflateen and a microenterprise project in the form of a jewelry club. The youth participants create jewelry, learn new jewelry-making techniques, elect club leadership, sell jewelry and distribute the profits. Diana has used her leadership skills to help make this a successful endeavor. Joffre Pincay Toala, an Aflateen facilitator, says, “For a community that suffers from drug abuse, bad behavior and teen pregnancy, being able to depend on a microenterprise like this one equals a chance for its youth to improve their quality of life and self-esteem and participate in the making of more responsible and sensible decisions.”
Dilnasheen uses recycled materials to create craft products. She learned how to make the craft products from her Aflateen training, and she chose to use recycled materials so that she could operate her business in an eco-friendly way. Dilnasheen tries to involve her peers in her business, too, which creates meaningful work for other teens. Dilnasheen comments, “We belong to a very orthodox society, where there exists the culture of early marriage, which often jeopardizes the professional life of the youth … I am making a small effort to reform the society and provide the youth with a more meaningful purpose in their lives.”
Jessalyn works with other youth to manage a food vending project called Sticks and Straws. Through the Aflateen microenterprise project, she learned about food preparation, budgeting and customer service. The youth work together to decide what food they will prepare, how it fits into the budget and who will do what tasks. With the skills she learned from Aflateen, Jessalyn has also started her own microenterprise of selling food on the weekends. In addition to her food-vending projects, Jessalyn has been an active volunteer. She has conducted lessons on social and financial education and helped lead community activities, such as coastal cleanup drives.
Learn more about Children International’s Aflateen program.
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Jessalyn (far right) joined the Sticks and Straws Aflateen microenterprise project, which lets youth practice their food-preparation and money-management skills.
About Children International
Children International prepares children and youth to escape the traps of poverty by supporting their critical needs, building resilience, and engaging them in transformative activities. Children International accomplishes this by providing crucial benefits and compassionate care through easily accessible, modern community centers. Children International’s presence, programs and supporters have a positive impact on children, youth, families and communities; provide protection; encourage self-sufficiency; and serve as catalysts for change.
