Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) announced that it will hold a four-day workshop for ROTA Youth Service Club members to further develop their skills as youth leaders and global citizens. The program is sponsored by Vodafone Qatar, who partially funds the clubs activity through the QR9m corporate donation given to ROTA late last year.

The training will be held from the 26th to the 29th of October, 2011.

"Our aim is to create young, global leaders," explained Mr. Mohamed Abdulla Saleh Community Development Manager, ROTA. "To best achieve this, we have created the training session to be held in a so-called 'cocoon' - a closed and safe working environment, away from the distraction of everyday life. It is the ideal environment to train the participants in three themes we believe were crucial to develop their skills: leadership, service learning, and global citizenship. It is our hope that with the tools we provide, participants will be able to self-develop as youth leaders on all fronts."

The training is a highly interactive program aimed at high-school and university students between the ages of 14-22. The four-day program includes workshops, seminars, and skills-training sessions that focus on leadership skills, teamwork, project management, and advocacy skills. This RYSC Leadership Training comes on the heels of an introductory workshop held for new ROTA Youth Service Clubs recruits in January 2011.

"The training is part of our on-going Vodafone/ ROTA sponsored programs to provide tools to build up leadership skills for ROTA Youth Service Clubs members," said Ms. Luisa Gentile, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at co-hosts Vodafone Qatar. "There are three primary objectives for the workshops: create awareness and understanding of participants of the ROTA Youth Service Clubs aims and to connect them to each Clubs' core values, strengthen the capacity of the Clubs' executive boards to manage their ROTA/Vodafone projects more effectively, and to create a platform for Club members to network and share experiences in a creativity-promoting social/community responsibility."

Although the training is focused on all ROTA Youth Service Clubs Executive Board members, it is mostly targeted at 60 youth who are very active within their respective Clubs. Almost all of these targeted members have applied for funds from the ROTA/Vodafone Change Grant to carry out their annual service learning projects in the coming ten months.

"In addition, 10 ROTA Youth Services Clubs are also targeted," added Mr. Mohamed Abdullah Saleh. "The participants will be encouraged to run service-learning projects using the event themes, and will be equipped with case studies, tools, and techniques to help them carry the projects out."

ROTA Youth Service Clubs, established in 2007, are designed to unlock youth potential and to empower the young people of Qatar by developing the skills they need to tackle community projects and become leaders. The Clubs are essentially a network of self directed, extracurricular groups which are supported by ROTA and Vodafone Qatar, and provide a unique opportunity for youth in Qatar to develop leadership skills, gain understanding of international and community development issues as well as practical experience to carry out creative projects that address local and global issues.