Theme Meeting on Working With Youth From Ethnic and Indigenous Minorities on Drug Prevention, 2-7 June 2002, Brisbane, Australia
The latest in the ongoing series of hands on meetings focused on working on drug abuse prevention with young people from ethnic
and indigenous minorities. It was organised from the 3rd to the 7th of June, in Brisbane, Australia. Youth and youth workers from Guyana, Finland, Lithuania, Canada, Australia and New Zealand took part. The meeting was held at the Yungaba cultural centre, a heritage building that was originally a receiving office for new migrants to Australia and has now been dedicated to the indigenous community in and around Brisbane. One corner of the complex is also devoted to a radio station that broadcasts in the various native languages and addresses themes relevant to the target audiences.
The objective of this meeting was to write a "How-To" guide on working with youth from ethnic and indigenous minorities on substance abuse prevention that youth around the world could use to develop relevant programmes. This time, we tried a new methodology based on using personal narratives or stories about participants' own lives and experiences. It was very interesting to see that despite huge differences in the circumstances and types of minorities that were involved, a number of common themes emerged. The meeting was conducted by Ben Norris, Professor Cindy Shannon and Gautam Babbar. Myrene Portman provided logistical support and ensured that the participants learned something about local culture while working hard. To contact any of the participants of the meeting, please visit our web site at: www.undcp.org/youthnet/youthnet_whats_on.html