Life-skills based education has a positive impact on flood affected adolescents and youth

On Easter Sunday 2021, eighteen-year-old Celina watched in horror as her neighbors’ house in Dili, Timor-Leste, was swept away in the muddy churning waters of the river near her house. The devastating floods followed four days of intense rain. It caused extensive damage in some areas of Timor-Leste, killing 34 people, and affecting over 30,300 households across the country.  

“It really saddened me to see my neighbors’ house get swept away by the flood as they stood helplessly along the riverbank watching all their belongings get quickly submerged and disappear from view,” she said. Later, her neighbor gave birth while being housed in an evacuation facility for flood affected families. 

Prior to the flood, she was one of 21 volunteers from APFTL and the Youth Parliament who had taken part in trainings to be LSBE volunteers which were organized by the APFTL with support from UNICEF. When the Alumni Association of the Youth Parliament of Timor-Leste (APFTL) called for volunteers to support life-skills based education training (LSBE) for adolescents and youth affected by the floods, Celina was amongst the first to volunteer. 

“I never had the opportunity of working with adolescent children. I thought it would be difficult,” she says. “But with the training we received, we learnt how to engage with adolescents, and how to conduct the training on the wide range of topics covered.

Ultimately, we had a great time, and I enjoyed my time teaching life-skills based education to these children at the flood evacuation facilities”.

“The activity changed my life as well,” said Celina. “. I was reserved before but learnt how to manage conflict [in my personal life] and address challenges I faced.” 

In total, the APFTL and Youth Parliament facilitators trained and engaged with close to 300 adolescents and youth on violence prevention, empathy, loving oneself and others, decision making skills and interpersonal communications. 

The LSBE initiative was organized by the APFTL and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to ensure adolescents were engaged and received support during the traumatic events of losing homes and belongings, and displacement owing to floods. 

Eleven-year-old Megaléncio Carlos was one of those who were relocated to one of the evacuation centers with his family following the floods. “This activity broadened my mind and gave me the confidence to speak in front of other people, prevent violence, and communicate better.” he said. 

The LSBE training and engagement with the APFTL were supported by UNICEF as part of the European Union – United Nations Spotlight Initiative, a partnership to eliminate violence against women and children around the world. 

UNICEF is supporting the expansion of LSBE training and activities in communities. 

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