The Rosh Pinah Youth Forum
It is a universal truth that the power of youth is a common wealth that if not realised, is lost in age. It is our youths ability to deal with their past, live in the present, and dream for a better future that makes them important role players in global futures. With their courage, idealism and enthusiasm there is no power that can match that of young people.
OpenUp in partnership with the Trevali Mining Corporation hosted a three day Youth Summit between 26 and 28 July 2022 in the small town of Rosh Pinah, Namibia. The youth in the town attended a series of workshops on problem solving, leadership and self reflection.
On the final day of the summit, a Youth Forum was elected to be on the forefront of the affairs of the youth in Rosh Pinah consisting of 12 members with seven portfolios and five additional members. The projects that the youth in Rosh Pinah collectively decided to implement together with the Youth Forum were
- Having reliable access to internet
- Hosting series of social events for youth
- The creating food gardens and,
- exploring ways to access sports equipment for youth.
Beyond the Youth Summit
The Rosh Pinah Youth Forum has an objective to create an annual plan of youth focused social events in the town.
The OpenUpteam implemented an online digital literacy workshop to capacitate the Youth Forum members in preparation for their roles.
Coupled with the above workshop, we hosted a series of handover sessions with the Youth Forum members. Each portfolio had its focus area and the handover sessions were as follows:
- For the Chairperson, deputy chairperson and treasurer , the focus was onProject Management. This included an introduction to Trello.
- For the Communications officer and deputy communications officer , the focusCommunications and Branding
- Stakeholder and partnerships officer and secretary - Stakeholder Management
- Training and development officer and additional members - Training and Development Methodology
What came out of the handover sessions with the Youth Forum
The different groups had different outcomes to accomplish from the handover sessions, they were divided in the following fashion:
The stakeholders and partnerships team developed their own stakeholder matrix along with a stakeholder database that will be used in conjunction with the communications team in relation to the various matters that affect the Rosh Pinah Youth Forum and the general youth in Rosh Pinah.

The training and development team were taken through a training session where they learned how to use the online graphic design tool, Canva where they designed posters for the events that they had coming up. They also created their first slide deck to be used as a template for future training sessions.

The project management team went through an intense workshop where the OpenUp senior project manager was also in attendance to provide guidance and clarity. The second half of the workshop consisted of a walkthrough for the project management tool, Trello.

The communications team learned how to write blog posts and how to maintain an online community through the use of newsletters. In addition the Youth Forum members will be sending out these newsletters to communicate the progress and updates with the youth and broader community of Rosh Pinah.
Subscribe to the Rosh Pinah Youth forum newsletter by the following link: http://eepurl.com/ien8pD and follow Codebridge Youth - Rosh Pinah on Facebook.
