Men of Tomorrow, Today (MOTTO) was a topic of discussion in Bo-Kaap last week.
A programme that encourages academic growth, independence and clear sense of belonging for youth has been started.
Founded during lockdown, Youth Mastery is a programme designed to develop the youth’s level of thinking.
“Instead of trying to correct the behaviour, we work on the foundation of which that behaviour stems from,” said director Achmat Solomon.
They work in different in different communities, running programmes for children between the ages of eight and 12 years, moving them from fantasy and discovery to logic and building moral foundation. Children aged between 13 and 19 are helped to develop identities and moral reasoning and prepared to find their place in the economic and social world.
Last week, they ran a project called Men of Tomorrow, Today (MOTTO) in Bo-Kaap where they discussed and educated young and old men on how to become catalysts that empower positive change in the community.
Mr Solomon said their purpose was to consciously engineer the next generation of adults. “Working with current adults often we find people are stuck in their ways, but working with youth from a younger age, we have a chance to influence what adults are going to be like in the future,” he said.
“Getting them to understand the self first, they are able to understand what works for them and what doesn’t work for them,” he said.
Since starting the programme, he said, the youth were already showing great improvements and parents had given them positive feedback.