By Claudia Liburd
Nevis Reporter - SKNVibes.com
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| President Rohan Isles (left) and Vice President/Public Relations Officer Ron Daniel (right). |
(Charlestown; Nevis): On Friday, March 16, at around 11 a.m. members of the H.O.P.E. group gave a progress report to the press on the group's contribution to the community since its inception.
HOPE, which strives to Help Our People Excel, gathered upstairs the Credit Union building on Chapel Street, where President Rohan Isles and Vice President/Public Relations Officer Ron Daniel sat at the head table to answer questions posed by the media.
Other notable members of the organization present were Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Joel Pogson and inducted members Tashron Tyson, Kyle Weekes and Shennel Pemberton.
Isles explained the group's intention to award scholarships to children in need of financial assistance namely the HOPE Deserving Child Award.
"What we want to do is implement a program where children in need can receive books, school supplies and hot meals; we just want to show young people helping young people," he said. "The members of HOPE are versatile and we hope to offer assistance to young people in all avenues whether it is Mathematics or other extracurricular activities such as cricket.'
In response to questions of whether parents of children in need would accept the program without bias, President Isles expressed his desire to highlight the issue instead of its implications. ~~adz:Right~~
"While we realize that there would be an issue with the selection of young people, we want to do it in a manner that would highlight the issue that there are a number of young people who need assistance," he said.
He continued: "We have established a relationship with Principal Education Officer, Mrs. Jennifer Hodge and we have said to her that we would like to help the young people of Nevis in any way possible. While we are not a rich group we would like to be able to better enable the youth of Nevis."
Isles also took the opportunity to encourage other young people in the community to continue to focus on their goals.
"Stick to it, because at the end you can come out like someone of great importance and make a valuable contribution, seek positive means and avenues," he said. "A positive attitude breeds a positive attitude and influence is great; one man can make a difference, if you just find the root of the problem. It is very important to talk to people to find out the root of the problem. Talking is a powerful tool and it is important to resolve conflict through dialogue."
Daniel discussed mentorship and explained that HOPE intends to have a continuous relationship with other community-minded organizations such as the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Gender Affairs hosted on LINX program.
"We have a member Vincia Jeffers who is involved with the LINX group and we anticipate that her involvement would show that there is no competition but a sign of collaboration," he said. "We at HOPE do not want to compete with other existing bodies in the community we just want to help the youth as more hands make lighter work."
Daniel said that they also go out into the community and give motivational speeches and recently they went to the St. John's Primary School and we did a motivational program.
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| Choice F.M. Officials carrying press conference live. Photos by Claudia Liburd |
"We made presentations on the importance of perseverance and also offered assistance to young people in the community in any area which they are in need," said Daniel.
The HOPE executive board expressed their desire to make a meaningful contribution to the community.
Daniel also discussed the distribution of energy-saving light bulbs which were acquired through Cuba.
"We hope that the distribution of these energy-saving light bulbs would help in the reduction of the high cost of living. We say this as everyone knows about the new fuel surcharge on electricity and we just hope that this contribution would assist in the reduction of electricity bills across the board," he said. "What this means is more money is in your pocket to invest in your future and the education of your children."
The HOPE President ended by elaborating on the group's intention to share their experiences with the youth of Nevis so that they in turn can be motivated to success.
'In sharing our experiences the intention really is to show them that not all of us may have been that good at academics in school but even if at certain points in life you are not all that good at academics in school, sticking to it means something because at the end of it you can come out of it as someone of great importance," he said. 'Even if you are not the Premier in line you can be the backbone and make a valuable contribution."
