BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE three-day training on Team building and Youth Leadership Programme at the Youth Centre (Pusat Belia) concluded yesterday leaving participants with confidence and hopes that the programme would be expanded to all the country’s youth.

The training programme was focused on empowering and equipping alumni of Life Skills Training (LESTARI) under the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council (BDAC) with skills for themselves and the workplace, said Hamnorzekri Hj Abd Hamit, one of the facilitators of the workshop.

The three-day workshop was initiated by the BDAC and its Penyinar Club.

Hamnorzekri told _The Brunei Times _the workshop was held to enhance these individuals’ capabilities, leadership skills and management, by carrying out team-building activities and showing them how to conduct meetings, among others.

Among the facilitators were teachers, the president of BDAC and individuals working in the workplace.

Hamnorzekri said he hoped participants, aged between 17 to 25, would walk away with the confidence to be leaders.

“Nowadays, there is competition everywhere and one needs to stand out in the crowd. So we hope these participants will be able to do that after this,” he said.

Hamnorzekri said the BDAC does not only focus on creating awareness about AIDS and its prevention, but also on empowering individuals so they could make right choices in life.

Participant Ak Mohd Al-Mughni Pg Hj Abu Bakar, 20, said the workshop was beneficial for him because it has enhanced his ability to understand people around him, and work better in a team.

“We all have our own ways but when we gather all the information, we will always be able to find a solution,” he said.

“The workshop was very helpful because we had two days of learning to realise we need to communicate and connect with people around us, rather than simply using social media as a platform to do so,” he said.

Nurul Haziqah Aripin, 23, said the workshop was “amazing” because she gained skills which would help her in her journey in job hunting.

“I have been unemployed for eight months now, and it was my sister who told me about this workshop through reading The Brunei Times. I have been staying at home, and after this workshop, I realised sharing ideas have opened me from my shell,” she said.

Nurul Haziqah said she is now confident in public speaking and in understanding people. “I think these traits will now help me get a job, and I now have an idea of how to manage people around me,” she said.

She said this workshop should be expanded and made available to the public, and that youth should participate in it.

The Brunei Times