Youth activities

Konkani youth

The Northern California Konkani Youth look forward to hosting everyone at the 2008 Konkani Convention in Santa Clara, CA on July 3-5, 2008.

The team planning the Youth Activities at this year's Sammelan was active in many aspects of the 2006 Sammelan in Canada, and planned and organized a successful Youth Sammelan in San Francisco in 2007. We plan to leverage many of the learnings from both events to ensure that the 2008 Sammelan really makes an impact and expands the Konkani Youth community. We'll have separate events for 13-17, and 18 and above to ensure we have focused discussions and have activities that are tailored to the needs of the Youth Community

Some highlights of what we have planned

Youth Keynote — Dr. Sumeeth Bhat has accepted our invitation to be the 2008 Youth Keynote speaker. Sumeeth has applied his passion and his knowledge to make a significant impact on the well-being of the communities around him, including the Konkani community in the U.S. and in India.

Seminars — We had some great discussion at the Youth Sammelan, and we want to take advantage of the energy around them. We are planning 2 to 3 great seminars that will be both Youth Only and joint adult and youth. Keep a lookout on the site as the Sammelan approaches for more details.

Seminar Topic	Description	Scheduled Time	Duration	Audience
How the Foundation was Laid: The History of Konkanis in America	Knowing where you come from has a great impact on understanding yourself and moving forward. We are all here today because of the decisions and actions of our Konkani elders. What was it about that past environment that motivated people to keep close ties with the dispersed Konkani community in America? How did these early relationships evolve into the strong Konkani community we have today?	2:30 – 3:30	45 Minutes	Youth Only (13 and Over)

Konkani Passion:Highlighting Standouts in the Konkani Youth Community	Do the Konkani Youth do anything besides win local karate competitions, do well in school or get married? They sure do and it's about time we let them shine. This seminar hopes to highlight some of the more amazing activities, professions and experiences that our youth are involved with that you never hear about. Get to know the passions of your Konkani community and get involved.	4:00 – 4:45	45 Minutes	Youth Only (13 and Over)

Teens and the Law:	Additional details coming soon….	4:00 – 4:45	45 Minutes	Youth (teens) and Adults

The Future: What are our roots and what values do we want to teach our children?	Many of our parents grew up in an environment much different than our own. Today, we take for granted many of the everyday conveniences that were often not available to those in our parents' generation. Yet they were still able to hang on to the essence of what it means to be Konkani and pass it down to us. As a generation in an ever changing world, what are the values of our Konkani culture and surrounding society that we would like to pass on to the next generation. Let's take a look at their past, our generation today and how we can shape things to come.	4:45 – 5:30	45 Minutes	Youth and Adults
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Icebreakers — Not everyone coming to the Sammelan has been to one before, so we want to be sure everyone feels welcome. We have some great ideas for ice breakers, different from the usual, so come with an open mind and be ready to meet some cool people. For now, we'll just show you this picture, and let your mind explode!!

Social Events — What Sammelan would be complete without a few good old fashioned parties. We're in the middle of organizing these, so as updates become available, we'll be sure to keep you up to date.

Konkani Idol — The famous Konkani Idol event is planned, organized and executed by the Youth Team. This year will not disappoint. If you are interested in participating, be sure to sign up http://www.konkanichatter.com/KonkaniIdol2008/.

We have several sources to help share information with everyone:

Konkani Chatter— A forum that was established after the 2005 Youth Convention to help bring the youth closer together. We have dedicated a section of the forum for the 2008 Sammelan and we will be posting information, discussion topics and ways for the youth to get to know one another before the convention.

Facebook — Since so many people have Facebook accounts, we thought we would leverage this method to create a group.

If you're interested in seeing what the 2007 Youth Convention was like, here's a quick video recap of our weekend.