By ECM correspondent
Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement in Malawi, a grouping of Catholic youth, has embarked on an ambitious project to develop a strategic plan which aims to determine where the movement is going, how it is going to get there and how it will know if it achieved its goals once it gets there in the next five years.
This was unveiled at the 2015 YCW Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held from 5th – 7th February 2016 at the Mzuzu Diocesan Pastoral Centre in Nkhatabay, northern Malawi, where over 60 YCW members from all the 8 Catholic Dioceses in Malawi were in attendance.
In his opening remarks during the AGM, President of YCW Malawi, Mike Chibwana raised concern over lack of proper documentation in the movement; hence the idea to develop a strategic plan which he said would provide guidance on various things. “I’m excited because for the first time in the history of the movement in Malawi, we shall have a guiding document which would provide clear information in terms of the direction the movement should take. We need to be clear on the values of YCW movement in Malawi, as well as the values of the Catholic Church in general, hence this idea to come up with this strategic plan…” he said.
The YCW national president further said Malawi will be one of the local national movements in the world that have this guiding document. “Should this project come to pass, Malawi will be among countries that have strategic plans, a development which speaks volumes of the type of movement that we have in Malawi.”
Among other things, the YCW strategic plan is expected to define clearly the drive of the movement; establish realistic goals and objectives consistent with the movement’s mission; provide a compass direction of the movement and a base from which progress could be measured; establish a mechanism for informed change when needed.
YCW follows the model of See, Judge, Act and Reflect. Young people in the movement are encouraged to See the situation around them in their communities in order to identify issues through their rational Judgement. Once they see and identify such issues, they discuss and debate whether or not such issues are worth taking Action on. After having taken the action, the young people later sit back and Reflect whether or not the action that was taken was rightly done and had any impact worth pointing at.
In his presentation on ‘Strategic Planning Process,’ Noel Mtonza of KMC Consultants congratulated YCW members in Malawi for embarking on this project and further challenged them to come up with a document that would be owned by the YCW membership as well as the Catholic Church in general. “It doesn’t matter which way the movement is going if you don’t know where you are going because where you want to go depends on which way you decide to take. That’s what strategic planning is all about,” he said.
Mr. Mtonza offered his services at the YCW general meeting for free, a gesture that was commended by the National Youth Chaplain in Malawi, Rev. Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa. “We are so thankful to the facilitator of this strategic planning process for being a proud Catholic by accepting to come and make a presentation to this gathering. This is an encouragement to all of us to make very good use of the talents that we have in our various capacities as Catholic Christians,” he said.
The National Youth Chaplain further expressed hope that once the strategic plan was developed, YCW members would be properly guided in their mission for evangelisation, prayer and giving. “YCW is about giving our all to Christ in our spiritual and social lives.
“Let us strive to live like Christ by praying always, preaching the gospel to others and having a spirit of sharing what we have with others,” he concluded.
A team of taskforce members, whose Terms of Reference (ToRs) aim to come up with a draft strategic plan by June 2016, has been put together to steer the process and is being led by Nellia Yalaukani from Mzuzu Diocese, Raymond Mwalughali from Karonga Diocese, Augustine Mulomole from the Archdiocese of Lilongwe and James Gubudu from Chikwawa Diocese.
Also present at this AGM were Diocesan Youth Chaplains and leaders of YCW movement at National, Diocesan and Deanery levels from Blantyre, Chikwawa, Dedza, Karonga, Mangochi, Mzuzu, Lilongwe, and Zomba Dioceses.
Other agenda items that were tackled at this general meeting included proposals to amend the YCW National Constitution; adoption of YCW handbook; discussions on climate change effects.
YCW movement was established by a Catholic Priest in Belgium, Rev. Fr. Joseph Cardjin in 1924, who had the passion for the youth and encouraged them to work hard following the effects of the industrial revolution that were impacting negatively on young people. The youth movement is recognised by the Catholic Church, and has branches across the globe, Malawi being one of them after having been established nationally by Rev. Fr. Sam Saffroy at Mua Parish in Dedza Diocese in 1956.