24 Apr Noah activates creativity in El Alto, Bolivia

Noah is volunteering in El Alto, Bolivia as a Facilitation and Training Assistant with Canada World Youth and Youth Challenge International’s EQWIP HUBs project. Read on to learn how he activates creative problem solving to help find solutions that propel #YouthForward.

¡Buenos días desde Bolivia! My name is Noah (in the middle), and I am a Facilitation and Training Assistant, working from EQWIP HUBs El Alto in Bolivia. I’m 9 months into my year-long placement, and without a doubt, my experience working with EQWIP HUBs has been full of learnings, challenges, and memories! Of the many abilities I’ve developed along the way, creativity has been most essential in every aspect of my work here.

One of our main objectives here at EQWIP HUBs is to help prepare youth for their future professional ventures through employment and entrepreneurship training. We use an innovative and dynamic methodology to engage youth in facilitations. As a Facilitation and Training Assistant, I’m always thinking of creative ways to explain some of the more complex or technical concepts to the participants to ensure they are able to understand and utilize what they learn outside of the classroom.

Before the launch of each training, we hold an “Adaptation Workshop” where EQWIP HUBs, along with local experts and youth, sit together to best decide how to adapt the training modules to a Bolivian context. Thinking creatively of how to adapt various examples, success stories, and situations so that it resonates with Bolivian youth is key to our success in training.

One of the highlights of my experience working with EQWIP HUBs has been the ability to partake in other components of the project outside of training. In December of 2016, we worked alongside El Alto’s municipal environmental department to train youth from Don Bosco Technical Institute on environmentally sustainable practices and held an art competition. Participants were asked to blend creativity with what they had learned in the facilitation and to create pieces only using recycle/reusable material.

EQWIP HUBs El Alto is more than just a training center, it is a place where Bolivian youth come to interact, meet new people, learn about different cultures and countries, and have fun! At the end of October, instead of Halloween, Bolivians celebrate Día De Todos Los Santos. To mark the occasions, we held a combined event with elements and traditions of both celebrations.

Without question, the innovative and creative thinking I’ve learned to apply working with youth throughout EQWIP HUBs training and activities has allowed me to prosper as a young professional. These skills are of immense use in problem-solving, adapting to various cultural contexts, and learning to communicate effectively. I am certain that the skills I learned and developed here will be key to my success in future work or volunteer placements. Thank you EQWIP HUBs!

EQWIP HUBs volunteers are helping change the way we approach global youth employment and steering their careers in bold new directions.

Join us and activate change by volunteering internationally with EQWIP HUBs.