continued from coverAfter assessing the issue in both cities, Camp Fire youth are approaching solutions from different directions, said Nav Deol, director of programs for Orange County Camp Fire. The Santa Ana high school students in the Camp Fire "Speak Out!" campaign were part of a successful effort in May to persuade school board members to reject an "abstinence-only" curriculum, since research has shown that these curricula do not prevent teen pregnancy or promote reproductive health as effectively as curricula that combine information about abstinence with information about the effective use of contraception. The Costa Mesa "Speak Out!" group, consisting of 10th through 12th graders, chose to promote communications between youth and adults. At one local high school, they made presentations, put on skits and met with the principal to raise student and administrative awareness of the high occurrences of teen pregnancy and related health problems. They hope to initiate parent workshops to improve parent-teen communications about healthy adolescent sexuality. "It’s sometimes frustrating to teenagers to realize that these are long-term projects, and results aren’t usually immediate," Deol said. "They’re learning there are no guarantees when it comes to advocacy projects." There are, however, benefits, she added. "They form friendships and learn some very important skills, such as leadership and how to research, interview, make presentations, support arguments and write letters. Two of our students have enrolled in nursing programs as a result of what they learned in Camp Fire." Advocating for a Healthy Environment
Recruiting high-school-aged youth and minimizing turnover are ongoing challenges for advocacy programs, said Oscar Flores, project director of Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) in East Palo Alto, which is using a three-year, $100,000 TCWF grant to bring environmental problems to the attention of the community, regulatory agencies and policymakers. "Long-term is two to three years when you’re working with high-school-aged youth," he said. "There is a constant process of training." At YUCA, where the advisory board and staff are all under the age of 30, manuals have been developed, youth train their peers, and young adult staff provides information and support. "YUCA stands out because it is an organization made up of youth working for youth," said Fatima Angeles, TCWF program director. "It’s a great model for engaging young people and developing their leadership potential." The TCWF grant supports YUCA’s Environmental Justice Accountability Campaign, which targets numerous environmental hazards affecting the health of low-income people of color in East Palo Alto. Among the perils is a toxic waste recycling facility that emits unidentified substances from its smokestacks, a concrete batch plant that produces airborne contaminants that cause respiratory diseases, a Superfund site, and several abandoned and contaminated industrial sites known as "brownfields." Although YUCA is in an ongoing struggle to hold large companies accountable for environmental dangers, they have tallied some successes, such as preventing a second cement plant from being built and exposing a waste recycling facility for operating under a temporary permit since 1992 and with no Environmental Impact Report. One successful technique for bringing environmental problems to the forefront has been YUCA’s youth-led “toxic tours” of five sites in East Palo Alto. And through a community survey, the organization is also quantifying the types and numbers of environment-related health problems. “We’re using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to correlate cancer and industrial sites to the community’s health,” said YUCA’s Flores. “Then we’ll give the information to the schools, city council and community to see what we will do about it.” At all three agencies, the issues attract the youth while the relationships keep them involved. “Motivation isn’t the hard part,” Flores said. “They see community needs, health problems and injustices in low-income communities of color. These issues affect their lives, and youth understand that. Instead of complaining and letting injustice happen, they choose to do something.” |
Summer 2003
| Young Californians Advocate for Healthier Communities
Recruiting Native Americans for careers in health professions Center’s services for at-risk women aim to reduce infant mortality |
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