Youth

The term "jóvenes" in Spanish literally means "youth." But the concept of youth in Nicaragua is different from the concept of youth in North America, at least in my experience.

For one thing, in my North American experience, once a person is out on their own (aka college), she is a "young adult" or some other useless term, but not a youth. When you're out of high school, you don't go to youth group anymore. You don't get youth prices at ball games or movie theatres. There are occasional youth nights at church, but those are geared toward teenagers. Once you hit twenty or move out of the house, you might even be taken seriously as a person rather than as a representative voice of the "youth." (Okay, that's a bit harsh... but sometimes it's true).

In my Nicaraguan experience, young people live with their families until they start their own families, and even afterwards there is usually a strong connection with their parents. "Jóvenes" can refer to anyone from 12 to 30, really, and the rules stretch for exceptions. Anyone who is unmarried without children counts as a youth, and they are invited to and expected to participate in youth activities. However, the youth are also more in charge of their own activities. They direct the weekly youth services at church. Young adults are in charge of organizing activities for other youth, but also for an entire congregation. Young people work in and out of the house to make money and to contribute to their families.

So in Nicaragua, the youth are a special segment of the population in some ways, but they are not isolated. They are given responsibilities in their communities from a youth age. When I visit with ETU teams who are directing a model of community development in their neighborhoods, I am with a range of people from age 16 to 60. The teenagers are not taken less seriously than the experienced pastors in the group.

With this outlook, I have begun to accept again that I am a "youth." Though I am not fully considered an adult here, I still have responsibilities in the greater community.

I have also been thinking about "youth" lately because this week I am involved in a training session for a model of working with youth called Impact Clubs. The trainers have come from Romania, and I am their guide and helper this weekend. Next week I will participate in the sessions with 35 other people to learn about how to lead these youth groups in my specific setting. I will write more about the IMPACT club training when I learn more. So far, I have been getting to know Octavia, telling her about my interpretation of Nicaragua, and learning about Romania as well. In other words, I'm accompanying her and walking alongside her in preparation for this intensive training week. It's a pretty appropriate role for me in this program of Missioners (Caminantes in Spanish) where our goal is to engage in many facets of life with people around us. And all the while, I'm a youth who can reach out to other young people as well as play a leadership role with other adults.