Coronavirus disrupts community youth cultural activities

The Community Youth Cultural Centre had their jubilant dream mood suddenly cut short by the worldwide Coronavirus, months after the celebration of the National Festival Arts at Koforidua, which spiced up cultural activities in the Eastern region .

Platform?

The festival created a big platform for the arts and artists to showcase their products creating a big marketing hub for the Ghana artists. The festival was intended to put hopes and smiles in the faces of artists. Following the heels of the national festival of arts, the Community Youth Cultural Centre was in a jubilant preparation towards the 30th anniversary of the Centre’s establishment.

Disruptive COVID-19

In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic among other challenges, the centre went ahead to use technology to show case their activities using zoom, video shows and a miniature exhibition for the press alone.

Background of the Centre’s status and its activities.

Community Youth Cultural Centre is a non -profit making institution under the administrative wings of the National Commission on Culture. The Commission after its Establishment, gave several thoughts to create the Community Youth Cultural Centre mainly to handle training programmes for the youth.

This drive was to provide entrepreneurial and vocational skills training in the field of arts towards building their youth capabilities as future leaders and partners in development.

The focal point of the initiative was to streamline the skills acquired into social development and ensuring that the youth would be well skilled in the future to contribute positively towards the development of nation and to cut down the unemployment situation in the country.

Aims and objectives of the centre

The thrust of the programme therefore had its concentration on fruitful engagement of the young people during their free times and was done with the compliment of their Parents during holidays.

In accordance with administrative rules, the centre’s operational mandate defined Programme areas that included; training in the field of fine arts, performing arts, and physical culture.

This was done in cognizant with the cultural policy of Ghana which talks about diversity in unity. And on that note much of the emphasis were on promoting patriotism among the youth intended to set the space for the evolution of the youth cultural movement.

Most of the youth trained were people living in deprivation and disaffection. . The Centre has appealed to the government and benevolent individuals and institutions to support them to meet the needs of the youth and to give them life and hope, choices and aspirations.

This will make it imperative to provide an equal window of opportunity for the young people to join hands with other lead children organisations to increase the understanding and a wider visibility of their plight.