In 1976, the Raiwai-Raiwaqa youth committee and adult advisory committee organised a leadership training camp at Colo-i-Suva for a group of happy, voluntary youth leaders.
According to an article published by this newspaper on June 14 that year, the president of the youth centre, Tomu Vunakece, who initiated and activated the four-day camp, said the purpose was to assist the personal development of potential leaders.
“Experience shows, unfortunately, that too often those who take the initiative of bringing young people together fall short of ideas,” he said.
Some of the subjects discussed during the course included the role of youth leaders, types of leadership in youth organisations, and the roles of the chairman, secretary, treasurer, social group, and its relevance to youth work, programming, and community work, as well as communication between youth groups and other voluntary youth groups.
The executive secretary of the Fiji National Youth Council, Hassan Khan, spoke to youth leaders on the role of a secretary in a youth organisation.
He advised leaders in the camp to try to reach an agreement regarding youth work in the community through the discussions.
“A good secretary of any youth club should get along with all the members of the organisation and should always keep them informed of activities undertaken by the youth club,” he said.
Mr Khan told youth leaders to make their meetings informal so that youths may feel at ease in expressing their personal views.
The article concluded with Mr Khan expressing that an “aggressive youth club which has members always questioning everything in it is a progressive one”.
