Young they may be, writes Sara Abou Bakr, but their potential for leadership is all but realised "I couldn't believe it," exclaims Noha Ezzat, one of the participants in Siraj, a three-day workshop for developing leadership initiative among the young organised by the non-profit organisation Save the Children: "Egypt is full of capable young men, and they come from all across the country, from Alexandria to Aswan." Patrick Crumps, head of Save the Children, was rather more precise: the programme aims to provide young Arabs with inspiring, affirmative role models and networks to demonstrate practical ways of making a positive contribution to both society and economy. "The target," he said, "is to make young people realise their leadership potential. People talk about leadership and youth all the time, but they rarely let the young define how to be leaders. Siraj is all about individual development." A Save the Children initiative, Siraj is nonetheless supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), working in partnership with government bodies and NGOs. According to David Barth, USAID office director of the Middle East Programmes, the organisation plays the financial part: "we're very interested in programmes targeting the young, who are in the right position to make right choices. Such initiatives help the young become productive members of society. Eventually they will have jobs and get married." USAID had funded the Siraj programme in Jordan when Save the Children suggested implementing it in Egypt, and they were all too happy to oblige. Crump says that, as an Arab initiative to help the young realise their potential and build on their strong points, Siraj as a three-year programme involving various workshops is being implemented in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen as well as Egypt and Jordan. It was on a tip from Siraj-Jordan that the initiative's representatives in Egypt first sought out talented people in the 15-30 age bracket for the programme. "I found about it from Third Eye," says Mohamed Yassine, a medical student, 20, referring to a community- service youth initiative made up largely of university students with branches in both countries. He stressed networking, explaining it will be one of Siraj's focuses. According to Nour Al-Rasheed, Siraj regional programme manager, "it is common sense to use new technology -- that's why we'll establish a website with a view to young people communicating across borders." Thus Siraj will bring together "dynamic young leaders" practising and promoting effective models across the Arab world. Al-Rasheed pointed to mind-mapping as a prerequisite to networking: questions like, 'who am I?', 'what are my strong points?' and 'what is my community?' are essential. But the present workshop will provide for only two lectures, the rest of its activities being practical training, including mind-mapping and community-oriented practices. But as Crumps points out, Siraj does not stop there. Capacity building and learning forums are, unlike much other leadership training, based on developing self-knowledge. "They actually listened to us," as Ezzat put it. "They asked for our feedback and pushed us to produce an idea of the framework within which we could best function in the long term. Which is great." One result of this is the Siraj leadership toolkit -- a bundle of leadership applications, case studies and skills to be examined and shared at national and regional levels. This three-day workshop involved a youth-led focus on how to produce a toolkit with which to work in the next three years; and, as Yassine explains, "it was we who put down the strategy, with their help. I suggested a questionnaire to help define leadership, for example -- and we did it." Like many other participants, Yassine was thrilled with the fact that someone was finally listening to him -- a young person, and taking his suggestions to heart. "In another programme," Crumps recounted, "we started a support group for women to share their experiences and it's been really successful." For Save the Children, letting people know that they are not alone, that they have similar experiences and can benefit from each other's presence, is a major priority that Ezzat can relate to: "it made me realise that, since there are others like me, life is not so depressing and there is still hope." But support is a dynamic factor, something that suits the young. As Al-Rasheed puts it, "if someone did something good in Mansoura, we want people to know about it so that they can replicate it elsewhere." At a simple but vital level, in other words, the initiative is about spreading the word. With this end in view, starting last October in Jordan, a monthly newsletter is published outlining five cases of successful youth initiative. The project may be replicated in Egypt, though Crumps has his eye on a rather more effective medium: "we want to spread the word through television, which is the most effective communication medium in Egypt, but the obstacle is expense." The idea, therefore, is to find donors who will work alongside USAID. And one hopes they will manage to, for Siraj works with young people as individuals whose futures, instead of being shaped by consumerism or some other negative factor, are perhaps given the chance to shape themselves. As Ezzat says, "it's all about potential.
