BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A regional video conference was hosted yesterday (Aug. 13) by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to launch the 2015 Financial Information Month’s Theme, Song and Video.
Eleven islands participated in the video conference held under the theme “LEAD”, which is an acronym for Learn, Empower, Achieve and Develop.
In her opening remarks, Marketing Manager of the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla-National Bank, Shirna Pemberton said, “Financial Information Month was introduced in 2002 to build awareness to inspire lasting financial success in the ECCU region.”
Four presentations were made on the Theme, whereby each presenter had to expound on one word of the acronym.
The first presenter was Petipha Lewis-Smith, Executive Director Grenada Chamber of Industry and Commerce, who defined ‘Learn’ as being in knowledge through studying, teaching or through one’s experience, or the experience of others.
She went on to say that “knowledge is power and we have learned and moved from slavery to independence”.
‘Empower’ was assigned to Steve Manners, a freelance journalist in Nevis, who was unfortunately unable to attend the conference. As a result, Sybil Welsh, Adviser Corporate Relations Department of ECCB, recited an informative poem that spoke to Empowerment and the Theme as a whole.
Dawn French, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister and Secretary of the National Awards Committee in St. Lucia, presented on ‘Achieve’.
She said: “To achieve one must set goals. Its not a matter of how much money we have, but the management of that money.”
French suggested a 10:10:80 ratio, in which 10 percent should be provided for tithe or a charitable organization, 10 percent for savings and 80 percent for living expenses, such as food, clothing and bills.
The final word, ‘Develop’, was assigned to Cheverlyn Williams, Director Strategic Management and Administration within the Ministry of Communication, Works and Labour with added responsibility for ICT in Montserrat.
“To develop we must plan, which means prioritising, act, by practicing personal and professional skills and attributes and finally review, evaluate yourself,” Williams said.
An upbeat song, entitled ‘Time to Lead’, written and performed by Oronde ‘Bomani’ Charles of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was chosen as the 2015 Financial Information Month’s Theme song.
The song and associated music video were artfully crafted and, according to Welsh, embodied the Theme perfectly.
In a brief telecom interview with the artiste, Bomani indicated that he wrote the song in an hour and a half under a coconut tree at the back of his home.
A raffle was conducted in each of the 11 participating islands, which resulted in one lucky member of the various audiences won a cake with this year’s Theme and Logo crafted on it.
