Iteka Youth Launch Event

Launch Day 22nd of October 2022

Thank you to everyone who came to the official launch of Iteka Youth Organisation (IYO) held on the 22nd of October. Although the day started off gloomy and the heavens were heavy with rain, much to our delight, the sun eventually shone .

We kicked off the Launch with a speech from our inaugural Chairperson, Chanceline Irakoze, who paid respect to the traditional owners and custodians of the kulin nations as well as to those who fought for the freedom of Burundi. Chanceline also explained how IYO was founded, the goals of the organisation and the overall impact we would like to have.

Our first performance of the day was by the very accomplished Club Iteka, the progenitor of Iteka Youth organisation. Club Iteka delivered a graceful presentation of traditional Burundian dance, the audience was delighted as usual. Following on from this, the Iteka Leadership team spoke about our plans for the near future. More specifically we discussed programs such as Kirundi classes and traditional dance workshops. Through out this part of the launch, we engaged the audience with some trivia games that were not only fun but also illustrated the need of our programs. It was really heartwarming to both young and old participating in the activities. we hope to be able to do more of this in the future so as to address the inter-generational gap that exists in our community.

Subsequently we had a very special performance by the Club Iteka Kids as a demonstration of what is possible with our programs. There were many proud parents in the room as could be concluded by the numerous mobile phones held up to record. We especially wish to congratulate our youngest performers Genevieve and Kayla, at 7 and 8 years old, respectively.

Having introduced our organisation and it's goals, we then opened up the floor to questions and suggestions. The audience was very forthcoming with advice and also commended us on having founded such an organisation. We also had a lot of people wanting to volunteer in our future programs as well as join our organisation.

To conclude the evening, we invited Club Iteka for a fabulous final performance and gave the audience a chance to show off their moves before providing them with light refreshments.

Thank you once again to everyone who came to support us, we hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. We are also very grateful to Melton City Council who made this launch possible with an establishment grant. This is the start of something great, and we hope you join us on the journey.

Written and edited by Chanceline Irakoze.