30 STORIES IN 30 DAYS
Author: Salesian Life Choices
In June 2014, Salesian Life Choices launched a ’30 Stories in 30 Days Campaign’ to celebrate South Africa’s National Youth Month.
The 2020 campaign will share one inspirational youth story from the 16th to 22nd of June, honoring the youth of today and their life struggles.
This year, the impact of the Covid-19 public health emergency is woven in the stories as youth express their unique responses to the pandemic in their lives.
The 30 Stories in 30 Days campaign is a platform for youth voices to be amplified. Youth make up 37% of the population in South Africa but are seldom “heard” in mainstream media. The post-Apartheid generation referred to as the “Born Frees” are stereotyped in unflattering descriptions such as, among others;
The “lost generation”
Unemployed, or unemployable, and
Preferring the welfare provided by the state rather than study or work
(Garman & Malila, 2016)
The 30 stories in 30 days’ campaign is a showcase of the Born Frees and their personal stories of triumph over adversity. The stories are intimate narratives of personal transformation and all underscore the theme of “Victim to Victor.” The campaign captures stories that cover a range of issues that young people navigate in their lives including the effects of poverty, depression, bullying, gangsterism, abuse and loss.
Salesian Life Choices MD Sofia Neves explains: “Salesian Life Choices works with young people from the low-income communities of the ‘Cape Flats’ and provides services in employment, education, leadership, health and family stability. Since 2014, the 30 Stories in 30 Days Campaign has served as a social series of the various pressures youth face in Cape Town, especially when living in less privileged neighborhoods.
To read the stories compiled for the 30 Stories in 30 Days campaign visit the Salesian Life Choices Facebook page.
To learn more and support the work of Salesian Life Choices visit: http://www.lifechoices.co.za/