The Dignity of Work and the Silent Voices of the Unemployed Youths

Abstract: The African youths have been subjected to massive Eurocentric narratives depicting
them as unfortunate and destined for perennial life of want and pain due to their colour of skin.
The continent of African has been depicted in negative terms and the leadership portrayed as
beyond redemption. Young people see themselves as unfortunate to be born in Africa and hence
the skills flight into diaspora. Neither the missionary theology of self-denial in order to win
heaven nor the theological rhetoric of the Gospel of prosperity have the capacity to satisfy the
21st century youth. Frustrated by the burden of an education system that no longer provides
opportunities for employment, African youths have found solace in drug and substance abuse,
crime, sex, and violence among others vices. Using a phenomenological approach, this paper
justifies the adoption of an African spirituality of work in the pastoral care of the unemployed
youths. We argue in this paper that the silent voices of the unemployed youths is no longer the
preserve of governments, private organizations or lay leaders, but an invitation for religious
institutions to adopt approaches rooted in the solid African spirituality of work.