The youth in our diocese are categorized under:
*Out of school (Senior and Junior)
*In School. (Young Christian Students)
All of them have their own Coordinators. The youth programme in the diocese is designed to help young people get an all-round formation as they grow up.
Senior Youth
For the senior Youth, faith is celebrated through various programmes. These programmes are meant to target various aspects of young people, including;
Ø Spiritual/ mental formation
Ø Social/ communal projects
Ø Income generating projects
The activities to celebrate this faith include:
Ø Workshops/ Seminars (usually one week long at specified times)
Ø Youth rallies/ Mass (one full day)
Ø Talks (in parishes/ schools)
Ø Exposure Programmes (within and without the diocese, Locally and Overseas)
Ø Retreats/ Recollections
Ø Music/Drama festivals
Ø Ballgames competitions
Ø Participation in Liturgical celebrations
Ø Evaluation/ Planning meeting (from station (School); Zone; Parish; Diocese; National Offices)
Junior Youth
For the junior youth; faith is focused on preparing the young boys and girls for growth of faith. This is done via various activities such as Sunday schools; offertory dancing; mass serving (for altar boys); junior youth music/ Drama/ ball games.
The structure:
The Diocesan office is headed by the Youth coordinator, who works under the Youth Chaplin/ Vocations Director. For the youth in school/colleges, the office is headed by the Young Christian Students Coordinator, while the junior Youth has its Coordinator.
The coordinators work with a diocesan Youth committee elected by the youth themselves via representation from all 24 Parishes.
For the youth-out-of-school (senior and junior), there are youth committees at the deaneries, parishes, Zones and finally out-stations (grass root). These committees are responsible in coordinating the youth ministry at their respective levels.
In the case of Youth-in-schools; the YCS Coordinator has a diocesan YCS Committee. The diocese is then divided into six zones, each zone comprising of several schools/ colleges.
Youth programmes
Due to the fact that most of the youth members are at home during the vacations (after closing schools in April, August and December) there are various activities planned in the diocese for them.
In April, it is time for balls games, where out-station teams meet at the parish level to play against one another, selecting teams to represent that parish at deanery level, who in turn select their teams to compete at the diocesan level.
Normally, the ball games involved include football (soccer); handball; netball and volleyball. A parish or deanery may include other ball games it deems fit and entertaining. A part from handball (for boys) and net ball (For girls only), other games are represented by both boys and girls teams.
In August, the diocese holds music festival, where choirs from outstations, after competing at the parish level are selected to represent that parish during the diocesan competitions.
The entries are normally classified from D Class (the least challenging, for new emerging choirs) followed by C, B, A Plain, A Special and National Class being the most challenging.
All these entries, safe the National class, will stop at the diocesan level. The choirs that are selected from the diocesan level to represent it in the National class compete against other choirs from other dioceses in the national Catholic Youth choirs Music festivals.
During these festivals, these choirs present various articles composed from the given themes by the diocese (or national office, in the case of the National class). The melodies include own original compositions, adaptations of the existing melodies, set pieces, and traditional sacred dances and folksongs. In these festivals, the junior and senior youth articles may be held in the same or different days. Though the festival is under youth programmes, it has drawn wide interest from adults who have joined the choirs
In December, the youth programme has drama festivals, where articles including stage production, poems (in English, Kiswahili or Kamba language) and choral verse speaking are staged, both for junior and senior youth. The Class entries remain the same as in Music festivals.
Non-Physical programmes
Apart from these physical programmes, the youth have other programmes that focus on behavioral change; Income generating; vocational discerning; Liturgical participation/ Music; recreational activities such as ball games; Drama; Exposure (within and without the diocese); Leadership skills; spiritual formation (Retreats/ recollections/ catechesis) etc.These are the activities that are held through workshops, rallies and recollections, Youth Masses, exposure visits, evaluation meetings et cetera.
Challenges In The Youth Ministry
Dynamism: Members of the youth are always people on the move and it is very challenging to develop a sustainable programme for such dynamic group.
Poverty: Majority members of the youth are unemployed and thus have very little or no source of income at all. This has made most of them dependants in their families, in the community and above all in the church. A challenge has been developing sustainable incoming generating projects for them.
ADDRESS:
Vocations/ Youth ministry office
Catholic Diocese of Kitui
P.O. Box 123 -90200 Kitui, Kenya.
Tel: 254 44 22844
Email: cdokvocations@dioceseofkitui.org
cdokyouth@dioceseofkitui.org
VOCATIONS/ YOUTH PROGRAMME
THE YOUTH
