Rural Youth Federation works for problematic rural youth
With broad representation from Cerro Largo in the governing body, the Rural Youth Federation holds 4 annual meetings where it defines the lines of action in practically the entire national territory.
Tertiary education and access to land are just two of the issues that concern the institution.
“All our work focuses on the problems that we have as young people and the training of us as young people. We have the SUL, the Agricultural Plan and the INIA that are always writing to us to present the courses they have in the short and long term. They are institutions that give us the possibility of training” stood out Pablo Lugo.
“Access to land is an issue that we have been discussing since the Congress that was held in 2023 here in Cerro Largo. A few days ago I had contact with Minister Luis Alfredo Fratti and he told me that when he is in Melo we were going to talk about it. It is something that has not been given to us, but that we also know is complex due to the issue that the young man has to have a certain economic position to be able to enter a property, to start working” said the Vice President of the Rural Youth Federation.
“In any case, the issue is not elusive, we know that the percentage and the chances are not what we intend and want. Young people are generally not taken seriously. That is why we often knock on the door of the Ministry of Livestock” he stated.
“We are not being listened to, that’s why I thought it was appropriate to seek contact with Fratti because he is a man from Cerro Largo. We are going to insist on this matter” he pointed out.
Access to education, whether at the intermediate or tertiary level, is not a simple issue if we really want to keep young people rooted in the countryside. “It is possible that those who live near the cities benefit the most, but for those who live in the countryside it is not easy” he admitted.
“One never wants to leave one’s love. When we go to the city, we leave the family, we leave our affections, so it would be essential to have the chances of improving ourselves close to home. We cannot continue traveling 400 kilometers to continue studying. The possibilities have to come to us. The discourse based on the fact that we do not want people to leave the countryside is repetitive, but where are the possibilities for the boys to continue in the countryside?” Lugo asked during the live interview THE PROFESSIONAL Radio.
ALMOST 20 GROUPS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY
“The 17 groups we have around the country are dedicated to different things because we do not all live the same realities” he pointed out.
“We at Cerro Largo are dedicated to the training of young people and we give constant support to rural schools” stood out. “We have to live up close some realities that sometimes are not the most beautiful to experience, but we continue to put our backs into them” he added.
He explained that the Expanded Board of the Rural Youth Federation had stopped functioning in 2004 and that it resumed its activities from 2020. “We are also in the Mercosur Rural Forum at the youth level” said.
SUPPORT FOR PONCHO AND ESPUELA AND ACTIVITY IN FEBRUARY
“The closest thing we have now is to support the institution A Poncho y Espuela that holds its Creole festival now in the month of December. From there they prepare for what is going to be La Patria Gaucha” expressed Pablo Lugo.
“Our festival is the third weekend in February. We already started working on it a month and a half ago or so” hill.
