Nobody is born a leader. It is a unique quality that is inculcated in a kid who is born with a predisposition to lead, and it is evolved through guidance and training over time. Gluco holds a significant amount of credit in its share for supporting and encouraging kids endowed with extraordinary capabilities. These are the kids who may not belong to affluent families, but are in need of a platform - a stimulator to showcase their finesse.
Nobody is born a leader. It is a unique quality that is inculcated in a kid who is born with a predisposition to lead, and it is evolved through guidance and training over time.
Gluco holds a significant amount of credit in its share for supporting and encouraging kids endowed with extraordinary capabilities. These are the kids who may not belong to affluent families, but are in need of a platform - a stimulator to showcase their finesse.
It is widely prevalent in our society that many kids fail to explore their hidden talents owing to the lack of supervision from their families. They do as they are told and not what they are made to do. A huge responsibility lies on the parents to motivate their children in choosing careers they are passinate about.
For the past seven years, Gluco and School of Leadership (SoL) have been making it possible to galvanise kids in an exciting Junior Leaders Conference (JLC). The objective of the conference is to instil and develop leadership potential through a distinctive blend of experiential and lateral learning, interactive sessions, attitudinal training, simulations and group-based activities.
The 7th edition of JLC ‘Art of Life’ took place at Arena, Karachi, bringing together 200 children between the ages of 10 to 16, representing diverse socio-economic backgrounds, under one roof.
As participants embarked on the three-day journey to discover ‘Art of Life’, the first day provided them with the inspiration and motivation to choose their own directions. The participants were divided into teams with one ‘youth facilitator’ assigned to each team.
The inauguration ceremony was an elegant affair with notable personalities gracing it, including the likes of Shaniera Akram, wife of Pakistani cricket legend Wasim Akram, and Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Siddiqui. They eulogised the importance of such productive events and assured their support at all levels.
The theme of Day One was ‘Inspire’, in which participants explored themselves and chalked out their interests after undergoing thought-building sessions. They were given a chance to creatively express their insecurities and shun their fears by using the medium of art. This was followed by a keynote session on ‘stereotypes’ by Shireen Naqvi, a renowned speaker and founder of SoL. The issue of children’s rights was put into the spotlight with the kids performing different skits on this important topic.
Muneeba Yaseen, Hanzala Shahid and Zuhab Khan - young stars from the recent animated movie ‘Teen Bahadur’, and Pakistan under 15 champions in different sports, Iman Basrai, Hasham Hadi and Zaid Umer also made an appearance. They inspired participants by sharing their success stories and the laborious stages they had to endure in becoming the shining stars.
The theme of Day Two was ‘Create’, in which participants created innovative models out of everyday items. The segment ‘Discover a spark in you’ was a real-life simulation of the multiple intelligence models. With eleven different options ranging from graffiti, 3D game development, digital animation, photography, painting, creative writing, robotics, choreography and music, the kids learnt new skills by choosing one of the categories of their interest under the mentoring of an expert.
The keynote session entitled ‘Creator, Creation & Creativity’ was moderated by a well-known trainer, entrepreneur and social worker, Umair Jaliawala.
Umair, while talking to Us, shed light on the importance of encouraging kids to do what they love. He said, “This is not the age of information deficit. Kids need freedom to make decisions in tandem with the counselling of their parents and elders. We need to create a value system where kids are nurtured, and given confidence and exposure. JLC has always focused on cultivating leadership qualities in children by incorporating futuristic ideas.”
Other highlights of the day included expeditions to some interesting places like the Oxford University Press Museum, Commune Artist Colony, Botanical Gardens, Patients Welfare Association and Glitz Productions. The idea was to give the participants a glimpse into these famous locations.
The third day revolved around the kids sharing and showcasing all they had learnt and created over the past two days of the conference.
This was followed by a panel discussion entitled ‘Bridge the Gap’, moderated by Abid Naseem, a distinguished trainer and consultant. The panel featured a parent, teacher and counsellor, allowing them for a constructive discourse about their expectations, and the remedies they need to adopt to address the issues facing the kids. It was agreed upon to bridge the communication gap between the concerned parties to create a win-win situation for all.
The conference was concluded with a session encapsulating the purpose of activities, sessions, simulations, field visits, panel discussions and exercises held throughout the conference.
All the participants are now required to complete different social action projects to assume their civic responsibilities before being awarded certificates.
For Salma Khan, the conference’s head this year, it was the culmination of months of hard work and dedication. “I can only say that I’m extremely proud of my team in helping me make this experience memorable,” she remarked.
“I never thought I would learn so much in such a short period of time. All the activities we participated in helped us learn a lot,” shared Sidra, a participant from Karachi.
“This was definitely an experience I will never forget. Each day was full of activities, memories and learning that really helped me develop as a person,” said Nabeeha
A 10th grade student from Chiniot Islamic Public School said it was a great experience for him. “I loved it that I got to choose myself to learn playing guitar, which was a whole new happening for me.” he added
For the sixth grade’s Mahad from St. Patrick’s High School, he made many friends and learnt to maintain discipline which will help him in his routine life, too.
Gluco and SOL have been playing a noteworthy role of a “nutcracker” by influencing the lives of many young individuals. The conference helped the kids discover new qualities and developed a new level of camaraderie by engaging with others in different activities throughout three days. JLC is certainly a fruitful initiative which fosters and boosts confidence in the young future leaders.
