CREATIVE youngsters Zal Kanga-Parabia (23) and Bella Ndayikeze (22) will drive Youth Week WA 2019 celebrations in April.
Youth Minister Peter Tinley recently announced that Mr Kanga-Parabia will be WA’s youth ambassador for the annual event and Ms Ndayikeze the deputy ambassador.
Mr Kanga-Parabia is a musician and photographer with a passion for community engagement, diversity, storytelling and science communication through astronomy.
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READ NOWHe has a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in photomedia and physics, and has curated exhibitions showcasing research.
He has volunteered in the arts for six years, including as creative co-ordinator at Propel Youth Arts WA for the KickstART Festival during Youth Week 2018, as well as with the Youth Affairs Council of WA and with Ru, Refugee Welcome Dinner Performance.
He will work with the planning committee, Propel Youth Arts WA and the Department of Communities to promote, support and develop ideas, as well as encourage young people to participate in Youth Week WA 2019.
Mr Tinley said the Shenton Park resident, who grew up in Cockburn, was an inspirational young man who was a finalist in the youth category of last year’s Western Australian of the Year awards.
“Both he and deputy ambassador Bella Ndayikeze work hard to contribute to the community and are leaders among their peers,” he said.
Mr Tinley said Youth Week provided a platform for young people “to showcase their talents, creativity and achievements as well as facilitating discussion and sharing experience about issues important to them”.
Miss Ndayikeze is an advocate for young people and will be the public face of Youth Week in the media and at events.
She works as a youth programs co-ordinator at the Edmund Rice Centre and founded Ignite Creative Media.
The Morley resident has been involved in Youth Week activities since 2017 and has been on various boards and committees, including the Ministerial Youth Advisory Council, North Metropolitan Health Service Mental Health, Public Health and Dental Services Community Advisory Council.
She was a founding member of the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network and was a guest speaker at the United Nations.
This year’s Youth Week WA theme is ‘Nurture the Now’.