Youth Story_Mahima Turhi

Mahima Turhi Agrawal, YMCA India

Q: Can you tell us about yourself?

A: My name is Mahima Turhi, from YMCA India. Professionally I’m a psychologist and a sportsperson. In YMCA, I’m the Vice-President and Youth Chairperson of YMCA India, Member of the APAY (Asia & Pacific Alliance of YMCAs) Youth Committee, World YMCA Change Agent 5.0 graduate and President of YMCA New Bhedaghat (my local Y). I’m also a member of the Generation Unlimited Youth Centrality Taskforce.

My vision is to work for youth and women empowerment, child development, financial literacy and a sustainable future. I aim to support and develop relevant skills and sporting values in the community and create awareness about positive mental health.

Q: Tell us about your YMCA journey?

A: I’m socially sensitive and want to spread happiness and uplift people. Being a sportsperson and while travelling to various countries, I realized that YMCA is the place to fulfil my hopes. In 2017, I met some like-minded people who supported my idea and joined me. Specially mentioning my encouraging mother, who fulfilled our financial needs. Finally, in mid-2017, we established our YMCA New Bhedaghat. It was the start of an everlasting journey, the local activities are focused on empowerment through sports, growing green and financial literacy. The YMCA India has been a great support in my present journey; its diversity has enhanced my abilities. APAY and World YMCA empowered me to make change happen.

Q: Share a positive influence that YMCA has on you?

A: I believe the YMCA has had a positive influence on me from the moment I stepped into it, it felt like I finally found a place to express myself, a place to learn from experiences and interactions and importantly to be and build the same for others. The YMCA environment and people have given me the space to learn and build ideas from diverse perspectives and an opportunity to work for and with young people. I’m extremely grateful that I get to meet young people through Y and work towards the betterment of the world.

Q: How do you feel about your role at the YMCA?

A: I’m passionate for youth empowerment, through skill development, sports, art, and expression. I feel it’s necessary for my role at the YMCA to provide young people a space and sense of belongingness to contribute and interact. In my current position, I work on providing insights, contributing my skills and making sure that young people get the platform. I’m grateful that I have a team of supporting people around me.

Q: What is the significance of your work in YMCA and how does it relate to Vision 2030 and its pillars?

A: My work involves a lot of responsibility and belief in young people and myself. The YMCAs and youths play a key role in aligning the Vision 2030, making sure it is relevant to the communities and environment. The most important part of my work is to help individuals find and know their strengths, provide guidance and build confidence.

I’m grateful that, I have various roles in various leadership levels of the YMCA, which has helped me bridge the gap between voices and actions. It’s necessary that the voices are tuned into actions, and they are aligned to the Vision 2030 pillars. I also work on support and coordination for those actions. When young people have the confidence and space to ideate and contribute, it significantly contributes to Vision 2030.

Q: What issues do you think young people are facing today?

A: Mental wellbeing is a challenging issue. It is greatly affecting their personal life and work life, while uncertainty and various pressures limit their ideas and actions. Their leadership roles are also affected, with lack of inclusivity of mental wellbeing within organizations. There is also a lack of space and awareness for mental health support.  Mental wellbeing of young people is an important part of the community wellbeing pillar.

Q: Any idea for this issue and how to increase youth participation and empowerment in YMCA?

A: I have mentioned about space/place for young people in the previous questions, a few times. So, it starts with inclusivity and space. This helped me in my YMCA journey, and I definitely feel that the same can help in empowering youth. For participation, safe spaces for mental health support are required for young people to go to.

When there is inclusivity in all ways and a peaceful mental space for young people, it improves and benefits their mental wellbeing and gives them the opportunity to find solutions through togetherness and experiences.

Q: Your final encouraging words or message for the youth?

A: It is crucial for the young people to empower each other by sharing ideas, developing empathy and working together.

Now, it’s all about shared progress.

Let’s stand TOGETHER and bring the CHANGE!