Hassan Wardere

Welcome to the Youth Worker's Spotlight for March 2010!

King County is home to so many amazing organizations and youth workers!  The Youth Worker Spotlight will highlight one of these people each month.  If you would like to nominate someone to be spotlighted please send an email to kcydn@childrenandyouth.org.

View past spotlights here

Hassan Wardere

Program Coordinator and Youth Media Instructor at Horn of Africa Services

"I look at youth and try to learn from them.  We are both learning from each other.  So they see me as a big brother whom they can learn from, but most importantly, I learn from them as well."

About Horn of Africa Services (HOAS) and Hassan's program:

The goal of our program is to have youth give back to the community here and to Africa through increased understanding of the issues there.  It puts things in perspective by tying their current situation back to where they (and their parent's in some cases) came from.  The youth get to own their own project which they love.  We give them the tools to create and let them produce something that is unique to them.

We are trying to bridge that intergenerational gap for immigrant families.  Getting parents involved is huge - having them help make decisions is empowering for them, many of whom are illiterate or semi-literate.  It shows them that they can be role models and help their kids achieve better lives.

I like working at HOAS because it has diversity.  I'm Somali, but I get to work with kids from all over East Africa and learn more about how we're inextricably connected.

We developed a program for youth with the use of media as an effective tool. Youth media program where youth develop oral histories - "a day in the life".  We’ve partnered with O2 program at City of Seattle to start an outdoor experience (hiking trip) for the youth. 

Questions

1)      Why is your program amazing?

Our program started from scratch.  We sat down with the youth and didn't have a lot of resources.  We had the direction, but didn't have the capacity, but we made it happen.  We built the programs around the youth, and focused on their issues and needs. The program looks at where we are right now (incorporates media - cameras and software and giving youth stipends).  Also seeing the parents get involved and how much they appreciate the programs and want to help the youth.  The journey makes it unique.

2)      What is your favorite program resource?

The Puget Sound Off is a website that is a media centered social network for youth.  It is sort of like Facebook but on a different level, where kids can talk about civic issues.  At the end of the day the site is a conduit to what we are doing.  Youth can post issues and start discussions and engage with other youth who are passionate about the same issues.    "Site gives the kids opportunities"

3)      Why is connecting with other youth workers important to the work you do?

Connecting with other youth workers will make things easier.  At the same time, it will help youth programs become strong by eliminating duplication of efforts.   "At the same time, it will make us the community we always dream about where people work together towards a common goal".

For example, HOAS, Non-profit assistance center (NAC), and the City of Seattle are working together to bring together kids from different areas (East African youth, African American youth, Afro-Latina kids).  These groups might look at themselves as different, but they all share something.    Each group will be discussing issues (violence for example) in a forum.  The project is six months of focus groups that will help us understand youth issues.  The media aspect will help us pull out the stories of what is going on with youth in our community.