BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN KEEPING with this year’s theme of ‘Cherishing our children’, we must take time out to applaud all those who are opening new opportunities for the nation’s youth, and those who, because they have a bigger vision for themselves and our nation are striving to make things better for their communities.
We applaud SKNYPA (St Kitts Nevis Youth Parliamentary Association) on their eleventh anniversary, the high standards they have brought to exposing the youth to parliamentary procedures and for being “the champion for youth causes relative to pertinent national issues”.
Their high ideals were recently unfolded in the words of their President who said this:
“We are reminded of the importance of working alongside the youth of the Federation in supporting their growth and development towards the building of a better world.”
We applaud the SKN Agricultural Youth Forum and the statements made recently by their President, Stuart Versailles:
“We have recognized that representation of youth was a missing essential component if agriculture was to be effectively addressed.”
He hoped that new inroads could be made and new opportunities be opened with new partnerships being formed. Said he:
“Those polluting the environment and reluctant to change their lifestyle cannot claim to have the interest of children and young people at heart because you will be most adversely affected in the future as the environment deteriorates from a variety of stresses and pollution.
We encourage establishing and strengthening partnerships between governments, parties, youth, allied agencies, and academia that address and advance the cause of young people in agriculture, hence the birth of SKN Agricultural Youth Forum.”
We must also strongly applaud the youth of the Sandy Point Agricultural Co-op (SPACS) who are also promoting cooperation in agriculture, working with the profound conviction that
“Agriculture not only bestows riches upon a people and a nation, but agriculture is genuinely the only riches a nation can call its own.”
The members of SPACS have succeeded in reopening the Market at Sandy Point and are working hard on their own farms and opening opportunities for other young persons to pursue backyard gardening ‘with added fun and excitement.’
There are other young groups making small but impressive steps in agriculture, and they all deserve our encouragement and support.
Those who yearn to learn are finding more opportunities to do so and are now able to obtain certification while remaining at home.
We applaud those who are opening new opportunities for students to study on line – persons like Educator Tamu Browne who now offers CAPE courses online, and Dr Robertine Chaderton (North Eastern Caribbean Accounting School (NECAS) who also offers her Accounting courses via the Internet; and Leah Sahely, representative of Education for Advancement (EFA) that enables young persons to pursue degree level even Masters Courses on line.
Then we must not fail to applaud those who are community minded and give the youth the opportunity to become civic minded and culturally oriented; those who provide mentorship enabling them to become focused and who stoke the fires of their ambition.
In this group we place SPIRIT, (Sandy Pointers Inspiring Real Improvement Throughout); the Rotary Club with their mentorship programme; Zion Moravian and their initiative in the training of Counsellors; and ‘Hope Tears’, a group of young professionals who mentor the young at risk.
Also working alongside the youth and supporting and engaging them in body awareness and dance are the many dance directors at a growing number of ‘dance schools’. What is great about these adults is that in providing opportunities for these young dancers to develop their bodies, they strive to develop other aspects of their character as well.
Heidi Slack, founder and director of Fireflies dance group, has said that she sees the need as well to improve their self esteem and confidence, body awareness, imagination and creativity, concentration and focus, co-ordination, rhythm, flexibility and fine-motor skills.
Many of the opportunities these dance groups provide had their genesis in the Children’s Dance Theatre under the direction of Julie Martin, who for over thirty five years has influenced the expansion of excellence in dance in St. Kitts.
Also very worthy of our praise and applause is LEAP – the Learning and Empowerment through the Arts Program group. They provide opportunities “to nurture healthy minds, personalities and bodies through the power of the arts.”
But their vision goes beyond that. They state that their rich programme
“seeks to inspire students to become national, regional and even international leaders through the arts, challenging them with innovative ideas and concepts, as they evolve into more well-rounded and successful adults in a competitive global community.” Kudos, kudos, kudos!
In recent times we have seen an increase in the numbers of many young drummers and drum corps groups. Much applaud for this must go to Rhoyd Phipps who passionately introduces drumming to the youth and has been instrumental in forming the National Drum Corps.
He gives of his time to conduct free drumming sessions for the youth. His goal is to act as a role model for the kids.
"I would like to see the kids change their thinking about life and get into something positive like drumming," he said. "I show the kids a lot of love and respect so mainly just to act as a role model for them would be something great and life achieving."
His efforts must be roundly applauded.
It would be remiss of us if we did not heartily applaud at this time Winston ‘Zack’ Nisbett aka Doctor of Culture, who annually holds workshops for children teaching them to play the Fife, Banjo, Quattro and Guitar. 35 children graduated from this year’s summer workshop and there is no doubt that he cherishes the children and has provided priceless opportunities for them to become part of our musical cultural tradition.
In applauding these persons and groups, we recognise that in providing such opportunities for our youth, they contribute to the evolution of our societies and indeed our Federation.
We know that there are many in Nevis as well who are nurturing the youth and helping them to be all that they can be. We applaud them also even though we may not be as familiar with their names and activities.
The country owes a debt of gratitude to all those who through an inner calling give of their time and energy to expand the experiences of our youth and put them on a positive path of activity and success.
We concur with the President of SKNYPA on the remarks she made at the 11th anniversary on 13 September of this year... She said:
“The youth of today are OUR Federation’s future leaders. Accordingly, I encourage our adults to play a supportive role. Have an open mind to new ideas shared and allow youth space to grow and rise beyond expectations.”
