Y.M.C.A. International Centre - Kumasi

There is no doubt that for a society to improve and in particular develop there is the need to help each other in the Society or Community. Current reports on the Social development of peoples show that in spite of unsprecedented scientific advancement and economic prosperity, over a billion people that is, one in every five persons, lives in severe poverty and destitution. (Source -YMCA World - a quarterly of the World Alliance of YMCA). They suffer from hunger, disease, malnutrition and a variety of other’ ills due to scarcity of resources. In almost every country, the number of unemployed has increased, the real wages of a great number of people have declined as industries and nations adapt to the tide of global economic and technological changes. In many parts of the world, religions and ethnic conflicts and roars have increased due to deep rooted political and economic differences. In these entire crises the youth are always the most affected group. The impact of Non-Governmental organizations (NG.O.) in this case cannot be under-estimated. They have been so kind in the provision of services to a lot of communities and the under privileged in the society both in the rural and urban settings. Christian organizations in the country that are inter- denominational such as the; — Christian Council of Ghana — Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA — Young Women’s Christian Association (WCA) have been helping in the development projects and leadership training help the under privileged in the society. 1.2 BACKGROUND The Young Men’s Christian Association is a worldwide service organization which is based on Christian principles. it is defined by a worldwide fellowship united by a common loyalty to Jesus Christ for the purpose of developing Christian personality and bringing to Christian society it is an inter--denominational Christian organization which is geared toward the provision and fostering of good relationship among all the different sectors of society by way of direction. The YMCA has been engaged in the provision of opportunities to men and women through leadership training and development. The YMCA as an association has multi functional duties and thus provides premises for use by the youth and the general public at large. Today the aim and vision of YMCA is to see to the needs f society and see to solving it. Thus YMCA is a versatile organisation that is aimed at making the young people useful and productive in society. 1.3 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT The YMCA movement was founded in 1844 by George Williams and a group of his friends. George Williams was 22 years old, then working as a clerk with a drapery firm in London, England. His main aim was to improve the spiritual condition of young men in the drapery and other trades. This aim was quickly expanded to cover the spiritual and mental interests of the participants. Religious meetings and personal counsel to young men coming into the city were primary activities and the first centre was a reading room. As a result of the rapid growth in the movement it spread to other countries with the greatest development taken place in the United States and. Canada - In 1855, a world conference of NKD was held in Paris and established the World alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations with its headquarters at Geneva — Switzerland. There came a declaration which has since been referred to as Paris Basis which actually set up the purpose of the YMCA. This was later reaffirmed in Kampala - Uganda in 1973 and, thus adopted the Kampala principles. The YMCA founded as a self-help and Evangelical

Source: KNUST