Busani Ngcaweni, Senior Policy
Analyst, Office
of the Deputy President, South
Africa
Interview
by Paula
Fortner,
Talloires Network Service
Fellow
In
May, ICP
co-sponsored an International Experts Meeting
at the World Bank titled
“Measuring the Impact of Youth Voluntary
Service Programs.” At this meeting,
Talloires Network Service Fellow Paula Fortner
had the opportunity to interview
one of the participating international
experts, Busani Ngcaweni. In his conversation with
Paula, Busani spoke
about his motivations for working in youth
development, the benefits of youth
service programs, and the future of youth
service in South Africa.
Busani
currently
serves as the Senior Policy Analyst on Policy
Coordination & Advisory
Services in the Office of the President, South
Africa. He started
his career in youth policy at
Umsobomvu
Youth Fund, a
government-funded program tasked with promoting
entrepreneurship, job
creation, skills development and skills
transfer among South Africans between
the ages of 18 and 35.
In 2004, the
South African government officially launched a
National Youth Service unit,
which was able to continue and expand upon the
work of UYF through greater
infrastructure and systems. Following
the launch of the National Youth Service unit,
Busani was appointed to the
Youth Desk in the Office of the
Presidency.
When
asked about
his motivations for working in youth
development, Busani explained that the
personal stories and poems he heard from young
people was the most meaningful
aspect of his career.
Through his work,
he has been able to observe and experience the
change that occurs in the lives
of participants in youth service
programs.
He recognizes that many young people
have not had the opportunities in
life that he has had, but he is proud that the
National Youth Service unit
creates positive paths to success for many
disadvantaged young people across South
Africa.
According
to
Busani, there are numerous benefits of youth
service programs.
These programs provide opportunities,
skills
development, and productive activities for
young people who might have
otherwise been unemployed or out of
school.
Young people not only develop essential
skills for the workforce, they
also develop the self-confidence necessary to
overcome obstacles and
succeed. Busani
has witnessed many of
these young people transition from a state of
not believing in themselves to
developing a sense of self-worth and
confidence in their abilities.
On
a greater scale,
Busani has also begun to see change happening
at the community level as a
result of successful youth service
projects.
More and more people are beginning to
understand the benefits of youth
service programs, and are asking to be
involved. The
participants are able to see the positive
change resulting from their work, which
contributes to a trend of continuity and
solidarity for youth
service.
When
asked about
his favorite youth service program, Busani
spoke about a housing project in the
Moses Kokane municipality in the Northwest
province. This
program takes place in a rural area
where young people build quality, beautiful
homes for community members who
otherwise may have taken many years to build a
house. Seeing young
people building these homes has
changed the village, and community members are
beginning to see young people as
valuable community assets. The young
people themselves take pride in the houses
that they build, and many of them
acknowledge that this experience has helped
them decide what to do with their
lives. Busani worked with this program from
its conception to its first
graduation, and he felt extremely proud to see
what the young people had
accomplished, both in the community and in
themselves.
As
Busani related, the
people of South Africa have very positive
views about youth service programs,
and hope that there will be even more youth
service opportunities in the
future. Adults have embraced and celebrated
these programs, and also advocated
for their expansion.
Many hope that
someday all young people can be involved in
these programs, and that it will
eventually be able to cross racial lines and
attract young people from many
diverse backgrounds. Busani believes that the
youth service movement in South
Africa is only going to grow and become
increasingly entrenched in government
programs for social action. He sees the
development of youth service programs
as parallel with the development of all social
services.
As
Busani
explained, the most important lesson he has
learned from his career in youth
service is the need to share the philosophy
and vision of his organization. Busani emphasized that
people working in the
youth service field need to have a passion for
their mission, and they also
need to be able to understand what the young
people in their program
experience. They
must visit the service
projects and interact with the participants
and community members frequently. This type of deep
involvement will develop both
a passion and a perspective for working in the
youth service field.
Busani
believes
that the most exciting thing happening in
youth service policy today is the
ongoing discourse about developing a body of
knowledge for youth service based
on experiences in different contexts.
This allows policy makers and
practitioners to learn about the state of
youth service policy around the world, and
begin to develop a strategy for
handling this body of knowledge. Although
youth service once carried connotations of
military service, now many programs
operate at the citizen level to develop human
and social capital.
The goals of most youth service programs
are
to promote change in communities while
simultaneously enhancing the lives of
young people.
Thus, transformation
occurs at both the community level and the
personal level. As
policy makers and practitioners continue
this discourse, the field of youth service
will expand and progress to new
levels.
Finally,
Busani
noted that South Africa is institutionalizing
its National Youth Service unit,
and embedding it in the government so it can
be strengthened.
Busani emphasized that exchanges such as
this
World Bank Experts meeting were critical, in
that they could provide ideas
about gaps in existing research, and develop a
plan for how to fill those gaps,
expand upon the body of knowledge, and
increase support for youth service
programs worldwide.