Give Sudanese Teenagers a Place to Speak

A lot of people ask me, why the youth never take a stand and become more active in their communities by themselves. I talk so much about youth power and potential, and my last article was based around the idea that we cannot only change Sudan but the world. And yet where is everyone? Where are the Sudanese youth?

As I was reading the comments to my last article, I felt blessed and in awe that so many people took the time out to not only read it, but welcome me and urge others my age to do the same. That’s when it hit me.

There isn’t a place for teenagers to really speak their minds and gain a voice. Many of you ask me where all these future change makers are, but yet they have nowhere to go.

We’re surrounded by an endless number of social media sites and technology; currently I am writing this from Virginia in the United States, while you could be anywhere in the world reading this. I have Sudanese friends here in America, myself included, who struggle to keep with their Sudanese identity and culture because in reality they never get to interact with other Sudanese kids.

But the root core of the problem is there isn’t a place to connect to Sudan itself and the other teenagers in it. In reality, there isn’t a place to really gain a voice – a place to be heard. And it’s time we change that.

Last year I created a program called #RealTalk, an online radio program for teenagers to unite youth by engaging them to listen, talk and gain awareness of topics ranging from religion to sports to politics.

Perhaps, I, we, can make a program strictly for Sudanese youth, around those same principles. A SudaneseTalk or a Teen Sudanese Online, a place where they can write their own article, make videos, take picture and talk about what is going on whether they’re in Sudan, America or anywhere else in the world.

Our generation has the power and resources to really solve them problems we found ourselves surrounded by, but first, they need to be heard. Through this we can finally grant our generation a place to voice their opinions, gain perspective on the world, and hopefully become inspired to change it. Inevitably we finally grant teenagers a place to voice their opinions, speak their minds and gain perspective on the world we live in today, as well as hopefully talking to other Sudanese kids their own age learning about their cultures along the way.

Arabic Forum