YMCA Africa

YMCA Africa The official Page of YMCA Africa. YMCA is a place for self-discovery. You can find us on www.africaymca.org We help young people to discover themselves.

We are an alliance with a focus on youth development that unites YMCAs in 17 countries in Africa to promote cooperation within the continent and the worldwide YMCA family.

Across the continent, YMCAs are not waiting for change, they are making it. The May 2026 edition brings together the sto...
12/06/2026

Across the continent, YMCAs are not waiting for change, they are making it. The May 2026 edition brings together the stories, milestones and voices that define what it means to consolidate impact, scale youth power and build a sustainable movement.
From our General Secretary's message to the ground-level action of National Movements, it is all in this edition.
Read the full May 2026 Newsletter via👉 : https://buff.ly/IpjDA78

YMCA ZIMBABWE Ymca Sierra Leone YMCA South Sudan YMCA Ethiopia YMCA Cameroun Ghana YMCA YMCA of Liberia YMCA Madagascar YMCA Senegal South Africa YMCA YMCA - TOGO Zambia YMCA Nigerian Ymca YMCA MALAWi Young Men's Christian Association-YMCA Kenya World YMCA

7 young Africans. 6 countries. Hundreds of lives reached through digital platforms, community dialogues, art therapy and...
09/06/2026

7 young Africans. 6 countries. Hundreds of lives reached through digital platforms, community dialogues, art therapy and peer-led sessions that went where the system couldn't.
Howard built a mental health platform used across 4 countries. Beth spent 3 years walking into classrooms with 40 traumatised adolescents - and walking out having changed their lives. Halima pulled one young person back from the edge. Ruth turned a documentary into a movement toward a lupus clinic. Mohamed gave Somali youth the language to say: I need support. Chuka refused to let menstrual stigma steal another girl's future. Derrick made mental health education something young people in Uganda could finally find and access.
This is the SAWA Project. This is what happens when young leaders are trusted, resourced, and given room to lead.
Read the impact stories👉 : https://buff.ly/I8Yz7Fe

Youth leadership is not a title you're given.It's a responsibility you grow into.In this episode, we sit with Simon W Br...
08/06/2026

Youth leadership is not a title you're given.
It's a responsibility you grow into.
In this episode, we sit with Simon W Brian - Youth Representative, Ys Men International - as he traces his journey from participant to leader and unpacks what it truly means when young people stop waiting for a seat at the table and start shaping the table itself.
From the corridors of the YMCA movement to the frontlines of youth advocacy in Kenya, Brian speaks to how organisations like Young Men's Christian Association-YMCA Kenya are not just building young leaders - they are building the very systems those leaders will one day influence. Because real empowerment does not stop at personal growth; it reaches back and transforms communities.

Watch on YouTube → https://buff.ly/yRGHnKE
Listen on Spotify → https://buff.ly/QScflzT

YMCA ZIMBABWE Ymca Sierra Leone YMCA South Sudan YMCA Ethiopia YMCA Cameroun Ghana YMCA YMCA of Liberia YMCA Madagascar YMCA Senegal South Africa YMCA YMCA - TOGO Zambia YMCA Nigerian Ymca YMCA MALAWi

Today marks 182 years of the YMCA Movement - a bold belief that people deserve a place to belong, grow, and become.Acros...
06/06/2026

Today marks 182 years of the YMCA Movement - a bold belief that people deserve a place to belong, grow, and become.
Across Africa, that belief lives on. We continue to build spaces of hope, dignity and transformation in communities across the continent.
182 years of service.
How has the YMCA shaped your story? Share it with us in the comments or tag us.

05/06/2026

And sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do for someone isn't a programme, a campaign, or a hashtag.
It's simply showing up. Being present. Listening.

In the 15th upcoming episode, Brian Simon, a youth leader shaped by the YMCA movement, reflects what youth-centred systems & spaces are built to do : that when young people are equipped to show up for one another, entire communities are transformed. That is youth power. That is real impact.
Simon W Brian YMCA Central Branch Young Men's Christian Association-YMCA Kenya
While you wait, catch up on previous conversations on:
📺 YouTube → https://buff.ly/7cMEwVi
🎧 Spotify → https://buff.ly/I6yD5oR
Stay tuned.

What if every young person in Africa could access mental health support, no matter where they live?That's the question H...
02/06/2026

What if every young person in Africa could access mental health support, no matter where they live?

That's the question Howard from Malawi set out to answer. Through Chat Therapy Africa, he and his team are building a digital platform that connects young people to mental health professionals and Psychological First Aid resources, while going directly into schools to meet students face to face.

4 countries. 109+ students. 1 co-created PFA manual. And a growing community of youth who now know they don't have to face their struggles alone.

"The SAWA project has helped us bring our vision to life by giving us the knowledge, mentorship and tools necessary."

SAWA Project | Malawi | Chat Therapy Africa | MCW Global | Kofi Annan Foundation Mental Health Matters Mw

They came with pencils and paper. They left with something harder to name, but easier to carry.In three districts across...
31/05/2026

They came with pencils and paper. They left with something harder to name, but easier to carry.

In three districts across Malawi, Halima and her team from DENEYA brought mental health education to young people through digital messaging, community sessions, and art therapy. Youth drew caterpillars becoming butterflies, their own transformation on the page.

And through it all, one life was pulled back from the edge.

That is not a statistic. That is everything.

🦋 SAWA Project | Malawi | DENEYA | MCW Global | Kofi Annan Foundation

Nazzinda picked up a camera and pointed it at the truth.Her documentary Shining A Light On Lupus didn't just tell a stor...
30/05/2026

Nazzinda picked up a camera and pointed it at the truth.

Her documentary Shining A Light On Lupus didn't just tell a story, it opened a room. A room where patients, advocates, nutritionists and youth leaders sat down together and said: enough silence.

One screening. One community dialogue. One fundraising campaign toward a Lupus clinic in Kampala.

Because when storytelling meets advocacy, communities heal.

🎬 SAWA Project | Uganda | BAREEL | MCW Global | Kofi Annan Foundation

In a country rebuilding from decades of conflict, Mohamed Dahir Omar didn't wait for systems to change. He built one.Thr...
29/05/2026

In a country rebuilding from decades of conflict, Mohamed Dahir Omar didn't wait for systems to change. He built one.

Through the Bahdoon Initiative, Mohamed is meeting Somali youth where they are - in communities, in classrooms, in conversations - teaching them that mental health is not weakness, it is wisdom.

3 districts. Digital outreach. Peer-led sessions. And a growing movement of young people who now have the language and the courage to say: I need support.

This is what community-led change looks like.

SAWA Project | Somalia | MCW Global | Kofi Annan Foundation

26/05/2026

She walked into a room of 40 traumatised children — and walked out having changed their lives.
Beth Atieno Omondi didn't wait for the system to catch up. She trained, she showed up, and she gave young people in Kenya the tools to heal from what they never chose to experience.
3 years. 40 adolescents. Countless breakthroughs.
This is ACEs prevention in action.

The SAWA Project — Africa YMCA × MCW Global x Kofi Annan Foundation
Equipping healers across Africa.

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Nairobi
Nairoba

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Tuesday 08:30 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:30 - 17:00
Thursday 08:30 - 17:00
Friday 08:30 - 17:00

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