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ROWANNE HALEY
SPECIAL FOR THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| African Youth Leadership conference keynote speaker Amina Mohamed, left, and sister Sumeia Mohamed watch the African Fashion show, part of the fifth annual event held last month at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization in Mid-county. PHOTO COURTESY OF: ROWANNE HALEY |
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| African Youth Conference attendee Medina is enthralled by the fashion show, produced by her peers, at the conclusion of the fifth annual African Youth Conference held at Mid-county’s Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization. |
| MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN |
In keeping with the nature and purpose of the conference, it was planned and organized by the youth themselves. Under the supportive supervision of IRCO’s Africa House staff, more than 20 young people on the organizing committee have met every Saturday morning for the past three months, leading and staffing committees in charge of food, volunteers, transportation, workshops, keynote speakers, entertainment and a fashion show.
In the process, the young leaders learned about teamwork, compromise, the value of brainstorming, accountability, responsibility and deadlines.
The theme of this year’s event was Integrating African and American Cultures, and that theme was evident throughout the four workshops: cultural heritage, higher education, the justice system and health.
Theresa Gibson, assistant professor and practitioner of family medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University, helped participants recognize and deal with the confusion that occurs when their African culture tells them one thing and their adopted American culture says the opposite.
For example, lots of body fat is a mark of good health in African culture, while American culture says it is evidence of poor health choices. African culture expects people to marry and begin childbearing in their teens but American culture teaches teens to wait until later in life.
Staff members from IRCO’s domestic violence services and Brian Davidson, a deputy district attorney for Multnomah County, also talked about cultural differences, pointing out that acceptable family behavior in Africa can land people in jail in America. Davidson talked about Measure 11 and the serious impact of criminal behavior on youth. He warned them of not just immediate legal actions but of a very real probability of being deported when they later apply for citizenship if there is a felony record.
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| Models display two of the dozens of African fashions featured during the concluding event of the fifth annual African Youth Leadership conference held last month in Mid-county. | ||
| MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN | ||
Additional struggles, besides being a teenager, included being misunderstood by other students because of religious issues at school, academic burdens, dealing with changing family life between two cultures and the challenge of planning for the future.
In 2007 Mohamed graduated from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Science in social science and black studies, the first person in her family to complete college. She said, “I pride myself for having the strength and opportunity to go to school and come out at the end of the tunnel because not only was this my dream, it was also my mother’s dream and also set an example for my younger siblings.” Mohamed wants to continue her education by receiving a master’s degree.
At the conclusion of her address, Mohamed urged the more than 200 conference participants to pursue their own dreams, especially of education. “Know that knowledge will open many doors,” she said. “Even though sometimes we struggle, we still have to get up and open more doors because if we don’t get up, then we cannot triumph at the end.”
Other features of the conference included a question-and-answer forum with two young Portland police officers, a panel discussion with board members from IRCO’s Africa House, an African dance performance by Loveness Wesa and an African fashion show. The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization is located at 10301 N.E. Glisan St., the phone number is 503.234-1541 and the IRCO Web site is www.irco.org.
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