Children's Village Forum - Starting point for the next generation of leaders?

Child forum leaders
Monday, October 31, 2016

"Joining the children’s village forum has helped me become a responsible leader" said Maria Elfika, a member of children’s forum in Du village, which is part of the Sikka Area Development Programme in Indonesia. She was talking about her experience at the Children’s Gathering 2016, which was the culmination of a series of village and district children’s forums, attended by 385 children from 21 villages.

Children share their ideas

The main theme of the Children’s Gathering was "Sikka Children are GREAT". Why? Because we believe that children have the talent and the potential to become great leaders, to contribute to improving their communities and society. The Wolomotong village chief, Romanus Rabu, attended The Gathering and remarked, "I feel so proud to see our children motivating and inspiring each other like this. I feel humble and insignificant in front of them. They are very great. Seeing the children share their experiences and encouraging one another, it’s a real motivation for me."

I am so encouraged to see children from the village forums going on to participate in the province gatherings, and coming back with even more confidence and passion.

To be honest, there are still some people in the communities, in the local government and even some parents, who do not understand the importance of the village children’s forum. And in most villages, we have a lack of good facilitators, with good mentoring skills. These are the obstacles we face. But we will continue to support the village children’s forums and we will continue to discuss these challenges with the village and district government.

This is the second year that we’ve supported children from Sikka to participate in National Children’s Day events at the province level. Last year, at the provincial event, Sikka children led some of the sessions. This was a very good experience for them, and gave them the confidence to stand up in public and share their ideas and perspectives. The foundation for all this is the village children’s forum. This is where the children have a safe and supportive environment to grow and develop. I am so encouraged to see children from the village forums going on to participate in the province gatherings, and coming back with even more confidence and passion. I see this change in character also helps the children to do well at school.

"the voice of children is necessary in our village development."

"I feel happy and proud to participate in this event, I can learn a lot of things. We get to know each other. We learn about how to use social media wisely and that the voice of children is necessary in our village development. We are inspired and motivated to become great children in the future." said Frendy Neang, the Chairman of Forades Lusitada.