The Praxis e-zine is put out (roughly!) monthly. We try to make it help (your feedback is welcome). Read on for:

• The TOHU Project –job opportunities and new professional development options.
• Visit by Richard Rohr
• Your invitation to the Pacific Youth Development Forum hosted by Praxis in Fiji in November (yes YOU!)
• Inner City Immersion experience in Wellington in October.
• AE Awards project update

News

We are about to kick off the second Ola Fou course out in the Pacific Islands, next week 60 youth leaders from Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, PNG and Fiji will join us for our first combined block course. We are also being joined by a small group from Norana Indigenous People’s Centre via the Praxis team in Victoria in Australia.

Paul Mather and Andy Balcar have been appointed by our team to co-lead the Praxis course in New Zealand. As we continue to struggle with future funding, Lloyd has been released by the team to work on this and develop new projects (see TOHU project and AE Awards below).

Congrats on your wedding Matty! (former Southern student)

Members of our team have been working with the Social Services ITO to develop the new degree in Youth Development (first ever in NZ!). The degree is due to be launched late 2010. We are re-aligning our courses, and have just finished our NZQA accreditation process (yay!!) to include the National Diploma in Youth Work as part of the Praxis course. As a result our Diploma will shift from level 5 to level 6, and make it easier for Praxis graduates to move directly into the new degree.

 

Tohu Project

In August we plan to launch the TOHU project, a new initiative aimed at providing professional development for youth workers through local organisations and networks. The project is offered in association with the National Youth Workers Network and has the following features:

· It will lead to the achievement of the National Diploma in Youth Work (level 6) through a combination of work place assessment and short workshops/wananga.

· It is offered as a professional development option for experienced youth workers who are already in employment (in any combination of paid or voluntary roles) and not as a course of study for those wanting to enter youth work.

· It will be accessible to youth workers throughout the country through participating youth worker networks and organisations. We will bring the learning and assessment process to each area to minimise disruption for those with work and family commitments.

· The project will employ a small team of mentors who will work with local groups of youth workers to assess what they already know, arrange for short professional development workshops to fill in the gaps, and support their assessment process towards the National Diploma requirements.

The August Forum (6th and 7th in Wellington)

A face to face discussion with youth worker networks and organisations who would like to register their interest in the TOHU project. We plan to pilot the project with a limited number of groups over the next 12 months, you need to be there if you want to get involved.

Interested in becoming part of the TOHU workshop facilitation team?

· Please email Lloyd@praxis.org.nz if you would like to register your interest and get a list of the subjects we are developing workshops in.

Interested in working with youth workers in your area to support them through the assessment process?

Each of these are part time (paid) roles, we will discuss them and provide training. Please make contact with Ariana (below) to register your interest in either of these roles.

Please email ariana_youthworkers@xtra.co.nz for more details and to register for the forum. The forum is on a koha basis (it is not government funded).

Richard Rohr

Richard RohrO.F.M., is a Franciscan priest, author and inspirational speaker of international repute who presents another way of seeing and another way of living. Life is to be balanced between action and contemplation. His is a profoundly gospel view of the world. His books, Adam’s Return and From Wild Man to Wise Man, are classics on male spirituality. He is presenting a series of lectures around the theme of bringing up boys in Auckland over July 21 and 22. For more information contact Valerie at: MERCY SPIRITUALITY CENTRE Ph 09 638 6238 or programmesmercycentre@xtra.co.nz

Pacific Youth Development Forum Pacific Harbour, Fiji Nov 10-13 2009 Please help us spread the word!

Young people make up over 50% of the population in many Pacific nations. They are a vulnerable group when it comes to access to education and finding employment. Much of the social unrest across the Pacific over the past few years has its roots in a lack of opportunities for young people. Churches and traditional community structures are facing the challenge of remaining relevant to youth as communities are impacted by a breakdown in traditions, western media, AIDs and poverty.

Ola Fou is an initiative aimed at developing youth and community workers from churches and villages across the Pacific. Since 2006 youth workers from Samoa, Tonga, The Solomons and Fiji have trained with Ola Fou and are involved in supporting the development of young people in their communities in projects ranging from starting businesses, community infrastructure projects, working in schools, churches and with those in prison.

Our goal is to build support around what communities in the Pacific are doing for themselves.

We hope to involve a small group of church and community organisations who are interested in supporting the people involved in this exciting initiative. You are warmly invited to send a representative to the first Pacific Youth Development Forum to find out how you can be involved in partnering with a local project to bring about change in a community in the Pacific.

Come and enjoy some excellent local hospitality and get involved in the heartbeat of the Pacific.

The Forum will be an opportunity to find out firsthand about needs in the Pacific, to meet local people involved at village and community level, and learn from practitioners about creating effective partnerships to support their work. Small amounts of support make a big difference!

The Forum will be held in Fiji over four days (Nov 10-13 2009) at Pacific Harbour (Deuba). We can send you more information on paper or by email please contact Maureen@praxis.org.nz to find out more.

Inner City Immersion Experience

Praxis is offering another inner city immersion experience in partnership with Urban Vision in Wellington in Oct. This will take place over 10 days (dates to be confirmed) you will stay in a community house, visit a number of local mission agencies, discuss the nature of poverty in New Zealand and look at ways of doing urban mission as a way of following Jesus in the cities. Please contact Paul@praxis.org.nz for more info

AE Awards Project

This project is targeted at church and community groups working young people in Alternative Education and other community settings, it is aimed at supporting their learning to continue working towards NCEA subjects through a coaching process towards unit standards.

Now that our NZQA approval process is through, we are ready to continue our work on this project. If you are interested in being involved –either to gain access for young people you work with, or to train up to work as a tutor, please contact Lloyd@praxis.org.nz and let us know.