Saratoga News
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Youth matters is an organization that shows what candia can do
By Shannon Burkey
Alexandra Candia always knew she wanted to do more with her life--she wanted to change the lives of others who might not have the opportunities she had been given.
So in 2003, just a year after graduating from Saratoga High School, Candia incorporated her own nonprofit organization, Youth Matters, as a way to "bring resources and assistance to people around the world who have different circumstances but similar hopes and visions."
The organization's first project is to build a library and fill it with books in the West African country of Ghana, a place where libraries and books are scarce.
The idea came to Candia after she returned from a monthlong teaching stint in Akatsi, Ghana, the summer after her high school graduation. While in Ghana, she developed strong ties and affection for the community and began to think of ways she could be of help in the future.
"It was an amazing experience and did a lot for me," she said. "It gave me the incen tive to go back, and continue doing this type of work on this level."
She also began to see just how important education is to the people who lived there. Ghana spends close to a third of its budget on education. But for a budget that is small to begin with, a third does not go far.
"This is the only place I have ever been where the kids are running up to you asking for a pencil and not money," she said. "These kids really want to go to school and learn, but the classrooms don't have the dynamics to foster creative thinking and education. So when I left there, I left with the idea that I wanted to see how to get books to them."
Even though she was back in California, working with inner-city youths in San Francisco's Hunters Point area and attending school full time at San Francisco State University, she decided the best way for her to help the people of Ghana get the education they crave was to start a nonprofit group that could look into ways to make it happen.
"At first we were looking into ways to get more books over there, but then we started to think of what the best way to share the resources would be. A library seemed like the best idea," Candia said.
With a plan for the library in the works, Candia made another trip to Ghana in the summer of 2003 to get the people of Akatsi on board.
"Overwhelmingly, people would tell me that they wanted books in Ghana and they would always talk about a library," she said. "When they heard we were planning a library, there was so much excitement you would think an amusement park was being built."
"Akatsi and Hunters Point are very similar in that the people themselves know exactly what resources and programs they need, but lack access to materials and assistance to make it happen," she said on her website.
As a way to bring the children from the two cultures together, she began a pen pal program between children, ages 11 to 14, in San Francisco and Ghana.
"It's been really fun for them to develop these relationships and get to know each other's cultures," she said, adding that the children hope to compile their letters to each other into a book.
Although they have found a common ground through their letters, Candia said there are still differences in the resources available to them.
"Even the poorest kids in this country can get on a bus and go to a library if they want to. They don't have that option in Ghana," she said.
That she would take on such a large project doesn't surprise those who know the 22-year-old Candia and her passion.
"She has always had that nature and free spirit of giving," said Candia's father, Xavier Candia. "During the times we live in, we don't always see kids making sacrifices. What she is doing is awesome and a real credit to not only her but to her generation."
Candia hopes the library will be finished by the end of the summer. Once completed, it will be run by the people in the community so they will take ownership of it. She hopes it can serve as a model for future libraries in the country.
"I don't want this library to be one thing in one town. I want to use it as an example of what we can do elsewhere," she said.
Candia hopes that others will be inspired to try to make a difference, even if only on a small scale.
"It's important for people to open their eyes to the world around them. Everybody needs help. I want to do what I can to try to make a difference," she said. "We all belong to this world and we were all given the chance to breathe and live, but not everyone has the opportunity to take it to the next level. I want to give them that chance."
