Renewing our youthful strength

Today our youths must be encouraged to do the utmost within the limits of human possibility to maintain the forward vision for development necessary in our country’s circumstances. Whilst it cannot be doubted that there are many fierce challenges which we will face in our quest for excellence, our youths must proceed along a progressive path, maintaining our focus and steadfastness as we push ahead.

It is today more than ever before that the duty of each young citizen dedicated to the cause of our people’s progress must be fulfilled in its most committed sense. In this fight each individual must not act selfishly, but must see the interest of the collective as a personal good.{{more}}

How often have we witnessed the sorry spectacle of our youths falling prey to so many of society’s ills? We must counteract such malignancy with a spirit to succeed. We must ensure that at all times, we do not allow orchestrated ignorance organised by a select few, any opportunity whatsoever to dictate any aspect of our daily activities, lifestyle or more so our culture.

Within our struggles we must not forget to inform all our actions in a foundation built on the supreme importance of the Divine. Our youths today must charge ourselves with establishing the forum wherein we, who claim the liberty, freedom and position to speak directly and openly against injustices against our fellowmen, and against the desertion of core principles of love, togetherness and faith and thereby allow our voices to be heard loudly. The challenge is clear. The solution must come from within. It is here that within is best described as ‘within’ our self firstly, then ‘within’ our families, ‘within’ our schools and churches, and by extension ‘within’ our nation. We must be convinced that without a concerted effort by the willing our accomplishments would be short lived.

In the context of our practicing democracy there is no doubt that our Government has facilitated the machinery for our voices to be heard. Today, our youths are able to hold esteemed positions at all levels within the machinery charged with the governance of our State. It is in this regard, that mention must be made of the importance of education in the processes necessary for our future development. I interact with youth on a daily basis and there is an unquenched thirst for excellence. Today more than ever before there has been a conscious effort by those in authority to ensure that the social imbalances created by inequalities in opportunity are removed. This is self-evident when the small northern village of Orange Hill has produced a Forestry Engineer who is less than twenty-seven years old and has over five years of University training. It is apparent when Saint Vincent and the Grenadines can boast of having the largest contingent of students at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus other than Barbados, the students being from working class, middle class and upper class families. What would our youth make of their opportunity? Would we squander or would we utilize?

The strength of our democracy in years to come will be grounded in our firm belief in our faith and the teaching of our minds. In this millennium, there should be no place for those who would want to propagate a school for the mass ‘miseducation’ of our people. With the advancement of technology, information is reaching our youths at a quicker pace than ever before. With the advent of widespread internet access and the prevalence of FM stations in our nation, our youths must learn to sift the information that we chose to digest.

However, in many instances our youths have failed themselvesselves. In many ways we have already failed in our efforts to correct many of the mistakes of the past. Our failure to be ever vigilant to assure that the mistakes of today are not repeated in the future has been slighted, for reasons which find resonance in our failure to act as leaders of our destiny.

It is of great importance that we build on the achievements of our past. Hence, some must be willing to be taught by the experiences of our seniors, be it in areas of public office, sports, agriculture, in our approaches to both formal and informal education and in many other aspects of human relations.

There are many new and hybrid challenges to be spurned within our regional political sphere characterized by a push towards integration. Did your ever stop to think how heavily dependent is the future of the integration process on the next generation? If this question is answered in the affirmative then how informed are you about the process that be?

Our youths must never settle for the position on a global scale to be labeled as third and fourth class citizens. This is important if we are to succeed in our fights against the full blown attacks of HIV, issues of drug abuse, gang related activities, teenage pregnancy and the multiplicity of other well known problems for which we are to fully mobilize an antidote.

Our young men deserve special mention. More than ever before we have seen the greatest availability of jobs in our country for young men who have not obtained the opportunity to receive formal training. The construction industry is booming in our nation yet many of our youths are not willing to “get up and get”. Parents must foster the necessary entrepreneurial spirit which will be needed for our youths to become more attuned to the fundamental principles and precepts of personal independence.

In considering the specific problems before us, we sometimes may be discouraged and we may hardly find more cause for optimism or for hope of easy and early solutions. However, we must confront negativity with that which is positive. Our philosophy must not be one mortgaged to the past, but one secured in our personal confidence and willingness to work together for the better of the whole. In this regard our youth must be patient and attentive to learning. Uncontrolled haste is usually the hallmark of destruction, so we must respect the guidance of evolutions. We must be the ones to take calculated risk. May we all move forward in singleness.