title: 'I felt that I was benefiting someone': youth as agents of change in a refugee community project.
abstract: Youth can be 'powerful catalysts' in their own and their community's development. The paper describes the experience of youth based on their participation as decision makers in and implementers of a community-based research project in a Palestinian refugee camp of Beirut, Lebanon. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 youth and 10 of their family members or friends. The participants were asked to describe the reasons they joined the project, why they stayed on, what they liked most/least about the project, how the project influenced their lives and what they would change about the project. Thematic analysis identified recurrent themes. Youth joined the program because of its benefit to children and their community. They stayed with the program because of the solidarity they found with the team and because of their relationship with the children. They perceived that they had an important role to play in the project's success. Youth acknowledged all the skills they gained from the project. Focus groups with others corroborated their statements. This project confirmed that youth can be powerful change agents in their own development and that of their communities. An Enabling Attributes Model is proposed for projects that aim to actively engage youth as community catalysts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh, 1107 2020 Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Jihad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Makhoul
authors.forename: Maysam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alameddine
authors.forename: Rema A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Afifi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D009042:Motivation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012036:Refugees; D014838:Volunteers; D055815:Young Adult