‘I felt that I was benefiting someone’: youth as agents of change in a refugee community project

Jihad Makhoul; Maysam Alameddine; Rema A Afifi

doi:10.1093/her/cyr011

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‘I felt that I was benefiting someone’: youth as agents of change in a refugee community project

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

‘I felt that I was benefiting someone’: youth as agents of change in a refugee community project

Jihad Makhoul, Maysam Alameddine and Rema A Afifi

Health education research, Vol.27(5), pp.914-926

10/2012

DOI: 10.1093/her/cyr011

PMCID: PMC3442377

PMID: 21464150

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Abstract

Youth can be ‘powerful catalysts’ in their own and their community's development. The paper describes the experience of youth based on their participation as decision makers in and implementers of a community-based research project in a Palestinian refugee camp of Beirut, Lebanon. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 youth and 10 of their family members or friends. The participants were asked to describe the reasons they joined the project, why they stayed on, what they liked most/least about the project, how the project influenced their lives and what they would change about the project. Thematic analysis identified recurrent themes. Youth joined the program because of its benefit to children and their community. They stayed with the program because of the solidarity they found with the team and because of their relationship with the children. They perceived that they had an important role to play in the project's success. Youth acknowledged all the skills they gained from the project. Focus groups with others corroborated their statements. This project confirmed that youth can be powerful change agents in their own development and that of their communities. An Enabling Attributes Model is proposed for projects that aim to actively engage youth as community catalysts.

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Title: Subtitle: ‘I felt that I was benefiting someone’: youth as agents of change in a refugee community project
Creators: Jihad Makhoul - Department of Health Promotion and Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh, 1107 2020 Beirut, Lebanon
Maysam Alameddine - Department of Health Promotion and Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh, 1107 2020 Beirut, Lebanon
Rema A Afifi - Department of Health Promotion and Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh, 1107 2020 Beirut, Lebanon
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Health education research, Vol.27(5), pp.914-926
DOI: 10.1093/her/cyr011
PMID: 21464150
PMCID: PMC3442377
NLM abbreviation: Health Educ Res
ISSN: 0268-1153
eISSN: 1465-3648
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Language: English
Date published: 10/2012
Academic Unit: Injury Prevention Research Center; Community and Behavioral Health
Record Identifier: 9984063132802771

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