Junior club has been the youth center for a mix of recreational and educational activities. Every Thursday, celebrities and experts in different fields are invited to give presentations, to stage performances and to exchange experiences. As youth center, it has hosted seminars on different topics which fitted in well with the development of youth.
Although people commonly identified the place as junior club, its official name is aderash daero (Ficus vasta hall). The ficus vasta is a large shade tree that grows in the highlands of Eritrea and the spreading rounded crown is often used by village inhabitants as a meeting place to discuss important issues. Junior club is operating under the supervision of the central office of the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students. The hall was named daero to symbolize the traditional meeting place of discussion of Eritrean society. Traditionally, daero as a center for social gathering gives young people somewhere to go, something to do, some space of their own and someone to talk to and to be heard.
The establishment of aderash daero (junior club) as a youth center in Asmara it is one of the many expressions of commitment of the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students to nurture its youth. NUEYS must go further to equip the center with appropriate facilities required to make the place a safe and comfortable environment. An expensive facility is not required to expand the services. Junior club, as a youth center, has a great potential to become an ideal place for an information centre, a quiet space for studying and reading, alternative space of relaxation and for various kinds of meeting. NUEYS should also aim to expand and integrate special services, such as counselling to young people.
By its current conditions, Junior club is giving access to a range of programmes, services and activities that contribute toward youth development. It offers various training such as Arabic language, literature, drama, film production, editing and graphics, computer maintenance, painting, music and so on. It also conducts weekly presentations on issues identified by NUEYS and stakeholders. Junior club has become the Union’s center for improving the knowledge and skill of youth. To be a competitive educational and recreational center for youth it needs to equip, among others, communication and information technology facilities, psychosocial services, recreation services i.e., outdoor, and indoor games. Those facilities will transform the club into more appealing environment for young people to interact with their peers.
Written by Simon Weldemichael