|
|
YUCOTRUST PROFILE
INTRODUCTION
YUCOTRUST is a short form for YOUTH CONCERN TRUST, a non-governmental and non-profit trust registered in Tanzania with the Administrator General. Its current office is situated in Dar es Salaam, along Msimbazi Street, DDC Building, 3rd Floor.
VISION:
Young people need support to develop into dependable and progressive adults.
MISSION STATEMENT:
YUCOTRUST, aims at creating a supportive environment through policy and advocacy interventions and promoting youth-friendly services in multiple settings
THE GENESIS OF YUCOTRUST
The idea of forming YUCOTRUST with the above objectives resulted from the concern of the founder trustees working together in assignments dealing with children and youth.
They realised that in the current difficult economic situation particularly after liberalisation of all economic activities the children and youth suffer the most because most of them lack access to available development opportunities.
Anticipating assistance from other generous volunteers they teamed up to improve the wellbeing of youth by addressing serious matters of concern for the youth which most of them would hardly access individually or by ordinary parents.
Five parents working under various disciplines including media, health and commercial business joined hands as founding trustees and contributed support to register and finance initial projects and office requirements.
They include a journalist, a publisher, a PR consultant, an accountant, a pharmaceuticals businessman and a valuer cum business woman.
STAFF:
Qualified individuals are working on a voluntary basis for YUCOTRUST in the following capacities.
1. The Coordinator,
2. The Consulting Editor,
3. Editorial Staff
4. Graphics Designer
5. Office Superviser.
6. Assistant Accountant
OBJECTIVES
Based on the aforesaid vision, the main aims and objectives of YUCOTRUST revolve on the axis of promoting and betterment of the quality of life and social services that the youth can access particularly education and health facilities, without sidelining other conditions of achieving sustainable development like taking care for the environment, developing people who would appreciate, adopt and practice democratic principles, promoting talents and positive lifestyles.
Education:
To be involved in all aspects of promotion and betterment of youth education in Tanzania in primary, secondary and college institutions.
While quality education remains a pre-condition for social and economic development, for more than two decades.
Tanzania has seen an increase in the number of schools but quality aspects seem to be sidelined.
YUCOTRUST wishes to be involved in the development and promotion of quality education in Tanzania by devising various means and methods to achieve this noble objective.
These may include setting up students' academic clubs, schools exhibitions, organising debates, education symposia, academic shows, public discussions on education, extra tuition classes etc involving students of various schools.
To advise and assist national authorities in the development of appropriate curriculum and extra- mural activities in schools which focus on quality education, health and environmental development.
To engage in the establishment of vocational colleges and polytechnics for the youth where they can acquire various skills for self - employment.
To source and establish funds for assisting under privileged children and youth to attend good schools and colleges.
This includes paying school fees, providing school necessities for orphans and poor children etc.
To be involved in the campaigns against child deprivation of education. This would involve promoting education awareness among parents especially in rural areas.
To set up an education information centre for quality schools and colleges and assist applicants to obtain admissions, scholarships, etc.
To facilitate the availability of books, stationery and other educational material especially for use in rural education centres.
Health:
To engage in promotion and betterment of youth health.
This includes sensitising the youth about their hygiene, promoting physical fitness activities, encouraging proper dieting, educating the youth about prevention and curative methods of common diseases etc.
To engage in the fight against HIV/AIDS and all other diseases mainly affecting the youth.
This includes organising aids awareness campaigns, TV and radio programs, discouraging careless lifestyles, encouraging healthy love relationships, promoting openness and dialogue among members of the society regarding sexuality etc.
To promote sports, games, athletics, and fitness activities through publications, tours, theatre groups etc. This involves organising training sessions, competitions, sourcing winners awards etc.
Educating and helping adolescents to understand health problems, social implications of their lifestyles and advocating behavioral change for the good of their health.
Lifestyles:
To be engaged in the fight against child labour. This includes establishing orphanage centres, visiting and discussing with child employers, helping working children to resettle and / or engage in educational activities, counseling them etc.
To be engaged in the campaign against alcoholism, and drug abuse. This involves counseling the youth and showing the negative effects of these vices.
To study and evaluate the evolution of lifestyles as influenced by technology, globalisation vis a vis cultural norms with the aim of developing and harmonising positive youth lifestyles.
Environment:
To work with various wildlife and nature conservation bodies to instill love for nature in the youth through planned visits to game parks and historical sites.
This may also include availing to the youth literature and visual materials about nature, wildlife, flora and fauna, historical sites etc.
To initiate the formation of environment clubs in primary, secondary schools and colleges, with spillover benefits to surrounding communities. This involves organising eco-school projects, voluntary environment cleaning exercises etc
To involve out of school youth in environment activities including cleaning exercises, garbage recycling activities etc.
To enhance environmental education through the print, electronic and theatrical media.
This includes sensitisation of lawmakers, law enforcing organs and general public against pollution and environment degradation.
To actively participate in upgrading the environment in various places and ways. This includes voluntary activities like opening up trenches, cutting overgrown grass and bushes, forming garbage assembling centres, organising garbage collection systems, etc.
Careers and Talents:
To assist the youth in developing their skills, talents and hobbies by organising exhibitions to display their unique capabilities, marketing them, training for improvement and helping to protect their copy rights.
To initiate and carryout consultancy on economic and social projects of concern for the youth.
This may include doing project appraisals,
feasibility studies, legal consultancy and aid, project management etc.
To develop career guidance and counseling initiatives in schools and for the benefit of graduates. This includes advice on choice of profession and career.
To offer advice and assistance in job selection, application and identifying employment opportunities.
To develop an information centre for job seekers and employers to assist youth in identifying potential employment.
To identify latent talents among children and activate them for the benefit of the individuals and the society.
Publishing & Communication:
Sourcing, printing and publishing reading materials like books, novels, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, brochures etc and making them easily available to the youth, like bookshops, school libraries and mobile libraries.
Developing and encouraging a reading culture and communication skills among the youth. This involves creating debate clubs, reading competitions, writing articles, features, poems etc. in prominent publications, making public presentations etc.
To develop worthwhile publications and activities for shaping youth lifestyles.
This may involve publishing news papers and youth magazines, organising talent shows, essay competitions, youth TV talk shows, Radio and TV quiz programs, etc.
To avail the youth with communication skills and services like Internet, Information Technology to facilitate their communication endeavours.
PROJECTS:
Youth Concern Trust staff are working on the establishment and implementation of various youth supportive projects as follows:
Eco Schools Project :-
This involves schools adopting an environmental policy to guide its activities
Vijana Smart Project:
The project will include a publication, TV and Radio programmes and seminars propagating effective behavioral change and transparent life skills among the youth.
Academia Fairs:
This involves annual schools' exhibition in promotion of quality education.
Students Clubs:
These include Travel, Tourism & Wildlife Club, Science & Computer Club, Writers' & Debate Club, Sanaa & Michezo Club, Environment & Community Service Club and Academic Stars Club.
Academia Magazine:
YUCOTRUST took over the publication of this youth lifestyle magazine. (Jarida la Vijana).
Academia Star Kids magazine
- a juniors (watoto) magazine for nursery & primary school pupils.
Youth talents promotion project -
for identifying talented youth and facilitating their development.
Mobile Library Project -
Project for mobilization, publishing and collection of text books and school reading materials and distributing them by lending to schools and communities with poor access to library facilities.
YUCOTRUST is currently conducting research for these projects and attempting pilot project trials for some which are allocated to managers. Other new projects can be accommodated depending on need and urgency.
CALL FOR SUPPORT
The resources and efforts of the founder trustees and volunteering staff cannot adequately solve any of the problems on the YUCOTRUST agenda.
What YUCOTRUST does is to bring to light the importance and problems of youth in society and suggest ways and means to tackle them.
YUCOTRUST seeks support from other volunteers and donors to facilitate the projects they formulate to achieve its mission.
The resources that will be contributed by various generous parties are used for the specific intended purposes by the Trust for the benefit of youth development and eventually the society at large.
YUCOTRUST wishes to call upon all parties appreciating the need to assist and groom the youth for future development to support the proposed projects. The Brightness of Our Future will result from the investment in our youth today.
ADDRESS:
All correspondence to be addressed to:
The Coordinator,
YOUTH CONCERN TRUST (YUCOTRUST)
P. O. Box 14190,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Email: yucotrust@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: +255 - 0744 - 261341, 0748- 261341
Office: DDC Building, Msimbazi Street, 3rd Floor
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
.
© Yucotrust 2004, All rights Reserved.
| |
