100 young people open minds

"Making A Difference" was organised by the Western Education and Library Board (WELB) Youth Service Inclusion Unit and took place at the Fir Trees Hotel, Strabane.

Lynsey Cathcart, WELB Youth Officer for Social Inclusion introduced the aim of the event.

"The Make A Difference conference will challenge stereotypical thinking, prejudice and racism through discussion, debate and experiential learning," she said.

"We would like to challenge young people to think about how to make a difference in their life, in their community, in their country and in the rest of the world."

The young people were treated to a Drama performance by The Spectrum Youth Group which highlighted the issues that young people from Poland have faced in making Northern Ireland their home.

Eddie Kerr, of the Solidarity, Equality, Education, Diversity and Support (SEEDS) organisation was guest speaker at the event.

He challenged young people to forget the notion of living in a small spot of land in the north west of Ireland and to view the place where they live as one world.

As part of the One World Festival, the SEEDS organisation had guests from various countries across the African continent at the conference.

In round table discussions facilitated by youth workers and members of the North West Forum for Peace and Reconciliation young people were able to engage with each other and the guests from Africa.

Discussions during the morning session included how funding for Peace & Reconciliation should be spent, how young people can contribute to Peace & Reconciliation and examine racism and how young people can help to reduce it?

In the afternoon, young people had the opportunity to participate in workshops to celebrate diversity. This was created through Dance (Echo, Echo Dance Company), Music (Harmonicity), Art (Jim Collins) and Drama (Gemma Walker).

Darren Mc Connell, a member of the North West Youth Forum for Peace and Reconciliation praised all the young people who took part. "I want to thank everyone for the hard work they put into today's workshops; there was loads of energy and excitement. We hope that you will feel more confident when it comes to making a change in your community."