Identifying the Organized Youth

between the age of 15 and 26. The informants were confronted with this assumption and they confirmed that this age group represents a group of young people in Malawi who would participate in organizational activities. Why this age group would be involved in

organizational work is due to several factors according to the informants. One factor was that this group of young people has resources and abilities to initiate and work in organizations for and by the youth. Vigh (2006) argues that youth do not have access to resources making it possible for the youth to adjust to new economical, political and social changes in the society.

Based on his findings it was therefore interesting to investigate what is being identified as a resource among the NYD youth.

5.2.3. Access to Resources

Most of the NYD youth in the member organizations claimed they did not have resources in terms of money or physical assets, but they had other resources that were evident for them to be able to contribute in organizational work. Most had finished school, were in school or had some higher education. Some had paid jobs in addition to their work in the organizations and was able to make a living. All of the youth spoke English and was able to communicate with me by using English. From my understanding English is taught in school and hence a person speaking English will normally have some educational background.

Visiting some of the NYD youth in their homes made it apparent that these youth came from well established households that was considered good standard in Malawi. There were often relations between resourceful people in the communities and members of the local youth organizations. This relation made resources, such as land plots for agricultural purposes, more accessible for the organizations. These two points support the assumption that some of the youth who participate in youth activities and organizations have resources or a background with resources. These resources according to informants could be education, having a job, access to land, market places, capital and access to communication and knowledge. One organization had involved the chairman of the village by asking him for a plot of land where they could build a school. This was possible because the leader of the organization was the nephew of the chairman. This is not to say that all the youth who are active in organizations comes from a background with resources. From my observations it seemed that the initiators of the organizations most likely had a background with access to one or more of the resources

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mentioned above. This observation supports Durham (2000) findings that youth will adjust to social, economical and political changes. During the process of adjustment the youth will use accessible tools, such as relations and education, and join groups to raise their voices and be present in the society.

5.2.4. Gender

During the Annual General Meeting (AGM) the member organizations had to participate with equal gender participation. In many of the member organizations, equal gender participation were not the standard, but during the AGM gender participation and gender related issues was stressed by having gender exercises. During an exercise about women’s involvement in society one female participant stated that “[in Malawi] most women are not respected and men are prioritized”. By this she meant that men are more visible than women leading to situations where women will often be neglected.

Most active members were male, but during interviews and visits it seemed that there was an interest in involving more females in the organizational work. An important factor that

influences this suggestion is the cultural gender differences that exist in Malawi. Most women between the age of 15 and 26 are married. I was informed that many young women quit participating in organizations when they get married which was considered a dilemma in most organizations. The reason for this, according to several informants, is that the husbands do not allow the women to be active in organizational work after entering marriage. One female informant said during a gender exercise that women in Malawi allow for men to be decision-makers in the household and that this was a challenge for women.

During the meetings with the organizations and conversations with the female members it became evident that many of the females were single. They confirmed that being married and still an active member might be a problem if the husband does not agree to the activity. There might be many reasons for why there is not a higher female participation in youth

organizations in NYD. This research was not set out to investigate gender issues and hence will not draw any conclusions regarding women’s participation. It was however interesting to observe that the subject of gender and women’s rights seemed to be evident in the work of many of the member organizations. This indicated that there is awareness and a wish for

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change among the NYD youth when it comes to gender based issues and especially women’s rights. During the discussions following the gender exercises at the Annual General Meeting there was an agreement among both the male and the female participants that women’s rights and gender issues needs more awareness.

5.2.5. Urban and Rural Participation

NYD has both urban and rural member organizations with four organizations based in cities, three in townships and four in rural areas. The difference in location also showed differences in the area of interest and projects between rural and urban organizations. There were also differences in gender participation between urban and rural organizations. Not in the sense that there were more females participating in urban or in rural. Most female who were participating in organizations in urban areas were older and more of them were single, than the female participants in the rural areas. This might be explained with indicator such as the urban females have higher education, access to more resources and less pressure from cultural genders settings, than the women living in rural areas where access to education and other resources are limited. Another reason might also be that women in rural areas marry earlier than the women in urban areas. This assumption was difficult to confirm as most married women were not present in the organizations investigated in this research. There was also stronger female participation in the urban areas in a sense that they were more present in the organization. They had higher positions in the organizations and participated more in decision making processes. They were also more present in group discussions by raising their voices and answering question. Saying that this is purely due to urban and rural cultural differences might be very limited as there are other factors such as age and personal experience that may also influence these women’s behavior patterns.

5.2.6. Identifying the Organized Youth

Based on the discussion; identifying the youth who would most likely be an active participant in an organization would be a person who is a male or a single female in the age group of 18 to 22. The person has a background with access to one or more resources. These resources were identified by the informants as being; education, having a job, access to land, to market

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places, to capital and access to communication and knowledge. There are no distinctions between a member living in an urban or a rural setting. This description eliminates many of the members and it does not credit social and personal settings. There were many different people with diverse backgrounds and personalities that were active members in the different organizations in NYD. The NYD youth had a drive and a wish to change the life situation of themselves as well as fellow citizens, neighbors, family, friends and countrymen, and very often this drive had its foundation from personal experiences. This description of the NYD youth supports Dahl’s (1997) assumption that youth can generate their resources and join organizations. Vigh (2006) argued that youth lack resources to be young, meaning that they are not able to mobilize between the phases of childhood and adulthood. This assumption was not apparent with the NYD youth and can indicate that the NYD youth is able use the

resources they have available to benefit themselves and their communities.

5.3. Identifying Why the NYD Youth Become Members of an Organization