H.Y.P.E stands for, Helping Youth Pursue Emancipation. I learnt about this programme via facebook about a year ago and was intrigued by what I saw. The movement began in the U.S. by a group of Tongan young people who were concerned about high school dropout rates, incarceration rates, and death rates among young Pacific people in their local community. They wanted to be engaged in bringing about a positive change and they wanted to be involved in a grassroots movement that would bring all youth together.
The movement has now begun in NZ. Last night I had the privilege of attending the H.Y.P.E Fundraising Ball in Auckland. There was a room filled with inspirational people – young talented sports people, musicians, academics, artists and parents who have done and continue to do – a fantastic job of supporting their children to reach their potential.
The movement is not easily packaged as it’s deliberately designed in a way that young people (12 – 25 year olds) have the room to interpret and define the programme as they go. Currently there are 300 H.Y.P.E projects happening across the globe. The projects are all in response to social issues that directly impact on young peoples lives/ well being. Once the young person/ people, identify the issue – they then go on to develop ways of addressing/ responding to/ resolving, that particular issue.
It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to watching how it develops in NZ!
” The movement began in the U.S. by a group of Tongan young people who were concerned about high school dropout rates, incarceration rates, and death rates among young Pacific people in their local community.”
I think this is a great idea and I applaud the initiative but I find it really interesting that the same issues for PI youth in NZ happen in so many other country’s as well.
Glad to see a group like this taking a positive action to fixing problems in their own communities.
That’s awesome Carmel!
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