A group of 14 young people in the UK have successfully completed their country’s first Roots of Success class and will graduate next week from a program co-sponsored by The Otesha Project and The Prince’s Trust in London, England.
Otesha, which means “reason to dream” in Swahili, is teaching Roots of Success as part of the organization’s work to empower British youth to create social and environmental change. Young people involved with The Otesha Project learn to live sustainably and inspire their peers to take action towards a cleaner, greener, and more just world. “Roots of Success is a key part of what we do” explained Otesha Project leader Hanna Thomas, who taught the first class, “students remained engaged and we were able to have some really great, thought-provoking, discussions.”
Roots of Success partnered with The Otesha Project earlier this year to translate and develop materials for a customized UK version of the curriculum, and we are already seeing demand from programs across London and beyond. In the coming months The Otesha Project hopes to incorporate the Roots of Success curriculum into their work with colleges, trade unions, local government, businesses and NGOs to create more opportunities for unemployed young people to enter green jobs. They are also working to get the curriculum recognized by industries and sectors in the UK that would benefit from integrating environmental literacy their trade skills courses — including agriculture, construction, fashion, and cosmetics. If you are in the UK and interested in brining Roots of Success to your program, give us a call at +00 1 510 4700803 for more information (please be aware that England is 8 hours ahead of California.)