[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he month of April will be celebrated nationwide in 2018 as Youth Month. The Department of Youth and Sports within the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Empowerment, Youth Development, Sports, Culture and Local Government, in collaboration with the National Youth Council (NYC), will be hosting activities inclusive of all aspects of youth empowerment.
On Wednesday March 21, 2018 a press launch was held to highlight and promote all major events in the upcoming weeks. Youth Overhaul will kick off this year’s Youth Month with “worship and thanksgiving” for youth. It will include a parade of uniformed groups and a counselling session as well as pastors and gospel music artistes using their skills and talents to minister to young people. This will be held on April 8 and a location is yet to be announced but may be in Laborie, as will be the Wayne Louis Memorial Lecture.
This memorial lecture is dedicated to the late Wayne Louis who was an active participant in youth empowerment and a former president of the National Youth Council. Since his family established the Stephen Wayne Louis Foundation twenty years ago, eighteen annual lectures have been held. “The Stephen Wayne Louis Foundation is extremely honoured to have a native of Laborie, as Wayne was, delivering the annual lecture this year,” announced Mrs. Louis of the Foundation. Former Governor General of Saint Lucia, Dame Pearlette Louisy, will deliver the nineteenth lecture on April 14.
Interested persons are asked to keep posted for the venues of these two events. Both are public events that the island’s youth is encouraged to attend.
The NYC will host Youth Festival 2018 at the Derek Walcott Square on April 20. “One of the main aims of the National Youth Council is to provide a platform for young people in various fields to showcase their talent. Youth Festival will give an opportunity to young people across diverse backgrounds to showcase their talents,” explained Nyus Alfred, first Vice President, NYC. The first segment of the programme will cater to performing artists and the second will feature an exhibition of art, creativity and business as well as information booths for youth organisations. Any organisation wishing to have a booth at Youth Festival is encouraged to contact the NYC.
Youth Festival will also have some exciting twists, such as a cornrow battle and make-up competitions, to look forward to. This event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
‘State of Mine, State of Mind’ is an “evolutionary youth arts and culture project” in the form of a two-part, short film with adapted poems for scripting. The play on the words “mine” and “mind” is meant to signify the film’s portrayal of a young person’s perspective of their societal surrounding. The messages in the project will be empathy and acceptance and the process is meant to be a therapeutic platform to participants.
From April 16 to 21 young people in Saint Lucia are encouraged to volunteer in their community organisations, with youth groups or on their own accord by contributing their time and effort to social causes. Youth are encouraged to “do something great and share some love” and to also take pictures then post on Facebook using the hashtag #YSW18. The Department of Youth and Sports is planning to award youth volunteers who participate in this week-long activity.
Nearing the end of Youth Month on April 26 and 27, NYC will host its Caribbean Youth Conference, which invites young leaders to interact with leaders in government concerning policies, agendas, laws and government discrepancies that affect youth. The theme “Framing Caribbean Youth Development from Rhetoric to Action” indicates that conversations are meant to promote action and change from the conference. Applications for this activity should be completed by April 4.
Culminating Youth Month’s activities will be the annual Youth Awards hosted by the Department of Youth and Sports on April 28. Young people who have been nominated to be nationally awarded for their skill, talent and societal contributions will be duly recognized.
Other activities are scheduled on smaller community and organisation-based levels throughout the island for the duration of Youth Month. The Department of Youth and Sports encourages the island to celebrate the nation’s youth and their empowerment in the month of April.
