Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 06, 2015 (SKNIS): Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports, the Hon. Shawn Richards, handed over several cheques to young innovators in the federation, as part of an initiative funded by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP).
The project, called Social Innovation for Change, awards young people who are spearheading social development activities within their communities and even at the national level.
Project Teen View (Project TV), headed by young writer and filmmaker James Galloway, aims to engage young people in the development of a short film and train them in media and arts, specifically script-writing.
The St. Kitts-Nevis Agriculture Youth Forum received the grant for their project, which aims to place greenhouses in every high school in the federation and provide training in agricultural practices for students and teachers. Other projects include one aimed at engaging persons in Her Majesty’s Prison in creating positive messages to deter crime and violence; an agro-processing initiative designed to create products from local crops; and Positively Inclined, which seeks to empower our youth to live positive and productive lives.
Minister Richards spoke directly to the youth leaders who he said must be a source of inspiration to their peers.
“Young leaders, you have done it. You have placed your best foot forward and contributed your creativity and ideas to offer a better direction for your less focused peers,” said the Minister. “You have risen to the occasion and leant your heart to a unified vision of positive change. You have indeed made us all proud.”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Christopher Herbert, said that the ministry is looking for the opportunity to provide support for the groups to expand their ideas in the future.
“We are very impressed with the mindset and the position of all of the groups,” said Herbert. “We are very impressed with the fact that you have put yourselves last for the benefit of your fellow youth and communities. We seek to ensure that the projects demonstrate sustainability and we will constantly be looking for opportunities to extend these programmes beyond the funds that have been made available.”
Participants in the project have also received business training and will be further supported by the Ministry of Youth to ensure sustainability.
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