A group of “deadly” Young Mob competition winners from Sydney – Karlie, Raymond, Cain and Tilani – made a special trip to Melbourne late last year.

The trip rewarded their winning responses to the question: What does it mean to be a part of Young Mob?  

Young Mob, or the Sydney Koori Leadership Program, aims to develop leadership skills amongst Indigenous youth. It’s supported through donations to World Vision’s Linking Hands.

Entrants could write a speech, create a rap song, a video or make a presentation. The prize included a visit to World Vision headquarters. Here they had lunch with World Vision CEO Tim Costello and presented a speech about their Young Mob experiences to World Vision staff.

“I was the only one from my school to enter a rap,” explains12-year-old Raymond, whose favourite thing about Young Mob is “learning stuff about my culture”.

“I can’t speak for everyone else, but after Young Mob, I came back to class proud,” fellow winner 15-year-old Karlie explains.  

She credits Young Mob with giving her the confidence and support to help make important decisions for herself and to help her think about how she can contribute to her community.

Karlie proudly spoke the Acknowledgement to Country during her visit to World Vision, which honours the past and present traditional owners of the land. This was something she didn’t know how to do prior to Young Mob.

Cousins Cain, aged 15 and Tilani, aged 13 entered the competition together, submitting DVD footage of a speech they co-presented.

Both Cain and Tilani attended the Young Mob Leadership Camp, held in Sydney in December 2010. During the camp they took part in a Koori radio workshop where they were encouraged to speak up about culture and community.

The Young Mob Leadership Program seeks to increase culturally appropriate leadership opportunities for Indigenous Australian youth, with the long-term aims of building resilience, life skills and reinforcing cultural identity and knowledge.

The program currently runs as a curriculum for schools in urban Sydney, with an adaptation of the program being piloted in the Pilbara in Western Australia. World Vision is currently redesigning the program to build on successes and ensure that the project is meeting the needs of the community.

Support the development of strong and “deadly” Indigenous youth. Donate to Linking Hands today.