BY JOY OFASIA
FORMER facilitator of RISE UP Program under the flagship of Young Women Christian Association, Clarin Toki says she has a very strong passion to serve and help young women in the communities in the Solomon Islands.
“My passion is to help and motivate young people to go into studies,” she told Solomon Women.
Rise Up Program is formed in 2010 by some of the talented and dynamic women in the country. It is designed to support and build young women with the necessary confidence, knowledge, and skills to become leaders in their families and communities.
Toki said it has been 8 years since she started her involvement with the Rise Up program.
“I have been empowered by the positive values to make a change in our society, which I realized hidden within me.
“Therefore, since I joined this program I have taken on board my dream and vision to help young women like me who might not know their rights and their potential knowledge and skills to influence change in both their urban and rural communities in the country,” she said.
The World Young Women’s Christian Association (World YWCA) is a movement working for the empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 120 countries.
The members and supporters include women from many different faiths, ages, backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures. Their common goal is that “by 2035, 100 million young women and girls will transform power structures to create justice, gender equality, and a world without violence and war; leading a sustainable Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) movement, inclusive of all women.”
She strongly hoped to strengthen the capacity of young women to, influence change in the Solomon Islands.
“She wants to encourage women who are still hiding away in their nut shells to come out.
“Do not let your mind hold you back, we must get out and express our rights because we are created by God. We must exercise our potentials and skills so that others will realize who we are and what we have to be part of developing young people in our communities,” Clarin said.
Clarin Toki is currently undertaking a certificate program on Youth and Community Development, which is funded under the New Zealand scholarship program.
“The main reason to undertake the scholarship is that I have seen the immediate need to support young women in the country; therefore am looking forward to completing my studies and hopefully graduating this year.
“This will be one of my biggest achievements as someone ambitious to help young people in the Solomon Islands,” she added.
